MovieChat Forums > Ghostbusters (1984) Discussion > 'I have seen shít that will turn you whi...

'I have seen shít that will turn you white' makes no sense


Yeah, yeah, funny line and all, ha ha.

But think about how much sense it makes.

01) How does seeing something change your race, exactly? Or your 'color', whatever else he could have meant by it..?

02) How does Winston know this will happen?

03) If HE has seen feces that _WILL_ (not just CAN) turn him white, why isn't he white? He's still black, so obviously the feces he saw that WILL turn you white, DID NOT turn him white. So what is going on here?

04) He is saying it to a 'white' guy, right? So it, again, makes no sense, because how can a 'white' guy TURN 'white', when he's ALREADY 'white'?

So this saying, as 'funny' as it is, makes NO SENSE from _ANY_ angle you look at it.

Unless 'turn white' means something completely different than the expected meaning, which is the only way this is even funny (so in THAT case, it would cease to make sense as a joke), this whole thing makes no sense.

So even if 'white' means something else, it still makes no sense, because in THAT case, it doesn't work as a joke. So if it's supposed to be 'just a joke', it makes no sense for the reasons I listed. If it's supposed to be something else than a 'racial' thing, it doesn't work as a joke, and again, makes no sense.

Any way you turn (no pun intended) this, it makes no sense!

Why was this nonsensical thing included in the movie? Can't movies at least sometimes make a little bit of sense? I guess not on this crummy planet.

P.S. Just to poke at hypocrisy again... can you imagine this joke with races reversed? Why is race not a social construction, but gender is? Can you imagine a white guy saying to an asian guy:

"I've seen feces that will turn you asian!"

Can you?

The only reason why this 'white' joke even marginally works, is because a 'black man' is saying it. What if it was a 'white man' saying it? Suddenly it would not work anymore, even though it should still retain the same, exact sentiment.

So can anyone explain these racial hypocrisies and all this nonsensical humor to me?

reply

I think of it as being scared to the point of fainting.

reply

🤦‍♂️

It’s a common expression. It means that you would be so shocked and scared that would go pale.

Yes they intentionally gave the the line the black guy to give it a funny double meaning.

Anyone that understands social norms should understand that it was done as a joke, and it wasn’t meant to be taken so literally.

reply

It's not racial.

It's a joke about fear causing the blood draining our of your face and even having stress causing hair to lose pigmentation

https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/why-does-your-face-turn-pale-when-youre-scared.html


reply

What everyone else said, it's about looking pale from fear, not changing races lol.

The fact a black guy said it made it funnier yes. Also, his delivery was hilarious and added to the humor.

reply

BEWARE! Avortac4 is a troll trying to waste everyone's time with such idiotic comments. Look at his posts. He doesn't think anything in any film makes sense. His post may seem like it makes sense in the first sentence or two. But he always quickly wanders off into a completely idiotic idea, and then writes a wall of text that makes no sense. And his sole purpose is to waste your time, thinking he's cute for doing so. Don't feed the troll. If you write a comment, you're giving this troll EXACTLY what he wants. Don't comment after my comment.

reply