“Transformers” Racist? “Transformers” Sequel Accused Of Racial Stereotyping

June 25th, 2009 by Castina

Tagged as: Movies

Paramount’s Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is making a killing at the box office, but the sequel to 2007’s blockbuster has fallen under fire for featuring two shape-shifting robots as “racial stereotypes,” according to The Associated Press.

Some filmgoers are complaining that Skids and Mudflap, who speak in street slang, cannot read, and sport gold teeth, are racial caricatures designed to poke fun at people of color.

It is a claim director Michael Bay vehemently denies.

“It’s done in fun. I don’t know if it’s stereotypes – they are robots, by the way,” he says. “These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it… [They] were kind of written but not really written, so the voice actors is when we started to really kind of come up with their characters.”

Bay added: “Listen, you’re going to have your naysayers on anything. It’s like is everything going to be melba toast? It takes all forms and shapes and sizes.”

Actor Reno Wilson, the voice of Mudflap in the film, is defending his portrayal of the robot.

Mudflap, he says, is “an alien who uploaded information from the internet and put together the conglomeration.”

“If he had uploaded country music, he would have come out like that. It could easily be a Transformer that uploaded Kevin Federline data. They were just like posers to me.”

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned $16 million from midnight showings on Tuesday night and took in a total of $55 million on its opening day.

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12 Responses to ““Transformers” Racist? “Transformers” Sequel Accused Of Racial Stereotyping”

On June 25th 2009, Lola wrote:

Those 2 robots were the comedy of the movie… Good Lord, they were twin robot cars and hilarious…People just want to find something to complain about
On June 27th 2009, Jon wrote:

Yeah, guess you laugh att ministrel shows too right? Imagine these two characters not beeing robots and try defending them? “Being robots” and some sh*t bout “uploading information” is just irrelevant trivalisations of the fact the character design in it’s whole is nothing but a outrageous and clearly obvious stereotype.
On July 1st 2009, Mr. Gray wrote:

I guess we see transformers in third movie with flat asses and good credit scores. Maybe just maybe we’ll see transformers who sleep with their sisters and love nascar. Who cares, it’s just as stereotype.
On July 2nd 2009, pat wrote:

It is stereotypical, but who cares. If they had been portrayed by black (human) actors it would be different. They weren’t the slightest bit funny, by the way. And the movie kinda sucked.
On July 2nd 2009, Josh wrote:

Anyone who truly is calling this racist has their own agenda. As a matter of fact, I’d say that anyone who has made such a comment is the true racist. And who’s to say they’re portraying blacks? That’s a conclusion that you drew for yourself, meaning you had the stereotype in your very own head.
On July 3rd 2009, Jorel wrote:

No more stereotypical or racist than the dozens of well known BLACK comedians who build half their show on berating, mocking, or stereotyping “their observations” of white people.

Not to mention the way they portray whites or Asians in “their” movies.
On July 7th 2009, Andy wrote:

The robots are just going by how they learn english. They learned it from the Web and what do you think is “In” at the moment? White guys acting like “G’s” and blacks just plain acting ghetto, even the ones living in suburbs. I blame Tyler Perry and the (sarcasticly) great role model Madea he created. Where else is there for references to current black characteristics?
On July 9th 2009, Hypersensitive? wrote:

I get it. There are reasons to be sensitive to the issue and then there are those who are hypersensitive. I think it is racist, yet I question people who are hypersensitive enough to cry “foul” without thinking about why they are doing it. Someone should be able to refer to a female dog as a the B-word and not be censored. Same goes for race. You can’t say the N-word or other racist terms, even when you are not being derogatory. I see people’s frustration and understand people being tired of hypersensitivity. But if you are one of the people who are complaining about people complaining, realize you are just as bad. You are not looking at it in it’s context. Context is important, and in the context of Blacks in entertainment history, this is racist.
On July 11th 2009, Alecia wrote:

Why is it that certain people find racism in every little thing? What a sad pathetic life you have, never enjoying anything, always looking for things that are not there. Get over it.!!!!!!!! I can go on and on every day too. But I choose not too.
On July 12th 2009, Dave wrote:

Everyone knows that the Transformers are white with the exception of Blaster and Jazz. Michael Bey needed some African-Cybertronians in order to get a more money from the film, oops, I mean have a broader appeal to a more diverse audience.
On September 13th 2009, banes wrote:

If I, as a director/producer, saw any sign of prejudiced/racism/stereotype in the rough draft of my film, I would immediately pull it and re-edit……..that’s if if I’m a neutral-minded, non-racist individual. However, the film was released with all nonsense left intact. I would have to agree that Hollywood is infact racist and will always be until people of color have an executive say-so before a film is released. That is my $.02 thank you and goodnight
On November 20th 2009, Robert Alexander wrote:

Just because a white person say what they do is a joke and it’s all in good fun doesn’t mean that people won’t get offended. Honestly, sometimes I feel like if major horrible steroeotypes of white people were on the media ALL THE TIME like it is for black and latino people, then maybe people would understand the feelings of those who see a robot who has a gold tooth, overly violent (even for a robot), and who can’t read can find that to be a bit f’ed up. When does the joke thats made in good fun go too far? Let me tell you, I’m black and jokes can go over the line way before someone does blackface or says nigger. The line hasn’t moved, we have just gotten closer and closer to it. Michael Bay crossed it.