Midnight showings for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen are sold out all over the country. The question is, how offended will some viewers be by the time the lights come back up. No, I’m not talking about how lots of fans are still pissed that megatron was never made into a gun. I’m talking about two new robots who’ve been added to the sequel: Mudflap and Skids. Voiced by the same man who provides the annoying laugh fro Spongebob Square pants, Mudflap and Skidz are being hailed as the Step and Fetch it of the Decepticons. That’s right, they are two highly stereotyped “black” robots. No, they are not actually black, but they do fit into some serious urban stereotypes including a gold tooth and the fact that that they are both illiterate.
I am not a PC person. Those who know me in real life will attest that if an off-color, offensive or wildly juvenile joke needs to be made it’ll likely be me making it. I think people are too sensitive in the modern world, and I don’t think any topic is off-limits when it comes to laughs.
The two bots start their lives as an old beat up ice cream truck before they get the upgrade from conjoined twin to a pair of Chevy concept cars. Adding to the stereotype is what some people call a “monkey-like appearance” with wide faces and big ears… Does that make Alfred e. Newman a Monkey? Oh… they also rap and call each other things like ‘bitch-ass’ or ‘punk,’
This isn’t the first time that the Transformers movies have had a problem like this. In the last movie, Jazz was accused of being the black transformer because he break danced. He also died…
That said, What they’ve done here makes Jar Jar Binks look like Malcolm X.
