MovieChat Forums > Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) Discussion > South Africans and Racism

South Africans and Racism

posted 16 years ago by StuSenrab
50 replies | jump to latest

One thing I find that p!sses me off about this movie or any Hollywood movie or TV show that has anything to do with South Africa, is they way Hollywood always makes reference to racism. South Africans are being portrayed as being as being the biggest racist in the world.

This movie is the perfect example. Lethal Weapon 2, has Mel Gibson playing a white LA cop. Hollywood is trying to show the world that white LA cops like black people. Martin Riggs has a best friend and colleague that is black..hooray!!!Look everyone LA cops like black people.

But wait, here’s the funny part...This movie was made in 1989. Now what happened to 2 years after this movie release…what happened to a black motorist by the name of Rodney King at the hands of white LA cops…"People that live in glass houses…". Need I say more.

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] torgouda 16 years ago

I think you are shifting the focus a bit. It's wasn't about showing that white LA cops like black people, it was showing that the whites in power in South Africa didn't. Let's be honest, at the time the movie was made, the political climate in South Africa was not exactly friendly towards blacks.

[–] StuSenrab 16 years ago

Are you saying that every white South African is a racist. It would it be fair if I must say every German is a Nazi, every white southerner in the United States is a member of the KKK.

Apartheid is a walk in the park compared to what other European settlers have done the moment they landed on the shores of the lands they colonized. I mean they committed mass genocide. Why do you think Native-Americans (red-indian/eskimo), Aborigines and Maoris are now the minorities in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The only difference between a white South African compared to white American, white Australian, white Britisher etc. is that white South Africans made apartheid a law, carved in stone. Although the Americans might no longer have it as a law, it’s still engraved in their minds.

I myself am a non-white South African, and I’ve picked up more prejudice from overseas whites living or visiting in South Africa than the local (even afikaaner) whites.

I'm not shifting the focus...this movie is an attack on South Africans.

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

[–] torgouda 16 years ago

Are you kidding me with this? No where in my post did I even insinuate that every white in South Africa was racist. My exact words,if you care to check again, were that whites in power at the time were. I'm not condemning, I'm stating. The political climate at the time was not friendly towards blacks. You being pissed about a movie doesn't change that fact. Apartheid in relation to the genocides of other countries has nothing to do with it, or with the movie. The argument "Yea well, maybe it's bad, but THIS was worse" is invalid and smacks of desperation. For the record, I am Native American, so yea, I know why we're the minority here.

And don't pretend to know what anyone else has in their minds. Is there racism in America? Absolutely. Is it still the 60s where there are no opportunities for people of color? Absolutely not. I won't even pretend to know all of the nuances of South African history. I don't know the climate you guys are living in, have lived in, or will lived in. Reading about it is no substitute for living that. I would never claim any different. Of course, you shouldn't be claiming any different in relation to my country, because quite frankly, you seem to have no idea.

This movie was not an attack on South Africans any more than "Red Heat" is an attack on Russians. If anything, it MIGHT be construed as an attack on apartheid, but that wouldn't be an attack on all of South Africa, because as you yourself pointed out, all South Africans are not racists, right?

Get out of here with this stuff. If you're serious, your delusional or illogical. If you're trolling, the logic is so ridiculous and faulty, it doesn't even make for a good troll thread.

[–] cru-7 16 years ago

Basically what i'm getting from your comments are "How dare you call white south africans racist!! All the other white people are racist pigs, not south africans."

Way to be a hypocrite.

[–] chris12345678 16 years ago

For American whites it's common sense really. According to US statistics a black man is 56 times more likely to commit a violent crime than a white man. So it takes 56 white men to commit as much crime as one black man. Since 1960s blacks have killed over 56,000 white people in racial murders, compared to about 3,000 of white on black murders. That's as many people as died in the Vietnam war. So don't be surprised that when US whites go to South Africa they eye all blacks as potential murderers, rapists, muggers or thieves. This view is slowly changing but it's up to the blacks to improve this image, not up to the whites who show only normal human reactions (which in medias is called "racism").
Now, what is happening in South Africa does not help either. SA cities are currently the most violent cities in the world. Since 1994 when ANC took over, over 500,000 (according to some sources 800,000) people have been murdered. The current murder rate is 56 a day, 147 rapes per day. Theft and other crimes - impossible to count. American cities such as Detroit, St Louis, or Washington, DC are as safe as granny's ole house compared to SA cities. Over 3,000 white farmers in SA have been butchered since 1994, including women and children, in over 6,000 attacks on farms. That's almost as many as the number of people killed by the apartheid during its 40 year rule (3,800), and those were not defenseless farmers.

[–] jeffoneonone 15 years ago

"Now, what is happening in South Africa does not help either. SA cities are currently the most violent cities in the world. Since 1994 when ANC took over, over 500,000 (according to some sources 800,000) people have been murdered. The current murder rate is 56 a day, 147 rapes per day. Theft and other crimes - impossible to count. American cities such as Detroit, St Louis, or Washington, DC are as safe as granny's ole house compared to SA cities. Over 3,000 white farmers in SA have been butchered since 1994, including women and children, in over 6,000 attacks on farms. That's almost as many as the number of people killed by the apartheid during its 40 year rule (3,800), and those were not defenseless farmers."

Finally, someone tells the truth. I recently visited South Africa and let me tell you, any white resentment towards the blacks is well-earned.

If you love IMDb user Ape_Walk and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make it your signature.

[–] psdhart 13 years ago

Re Detroit

http://www.seedetroit.com/pictures/urbandecay/

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 8 years ago

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, the media sweeps all of this under the rug while making heroes of murdering scum like Mandela. Don't expect the truth from the media, the entertainment industry or what I call the academic industry. They're all controlled by the left.

[–] fwsauerteig 11 years ago

For American whites it's common sense really. According to US statistics a black man is 56 times more likely to commit a violent crime than a white man. So it takes 56 white men to commit as much crime as one black man. Since 1960s blacks have killed over 56,000 white people in racial murders, compared to about 3,000 of white on black murders. That's as many people as died in the Vietnam war. So don't be surprised that when US whites go to South Africa they eye all blacks as potential murderers, rapists, muggers or thieves. This view is slowly changing but it's up to the blacks to improve this image, not up to the whites who show only normal human reactions (which in medias is called "racism").
Now, what is happening in South Africa does not help either. SA cities are currently the most violent cities in the world. Since 1994 when ANC took over, over 500,000 (according to some sources 800,000) people have been murdered. The current murder rate is 56 a day, 147 rapes per day. Theft and other crimes - impossible to count. American cities such as Detroit, St Louis, or Washington, DC are as safe as granny's ole house compared to SA cities. Over 3,000 white farmers in SA have been butchered since 1994, including women and children, in over 6,000 attacks on farms. That's almost as many as the number of people killed by the apartheid during its 40 year rule (3,800), and those were not defenseless farmers.

Excellent post. That's not the sort of facts the mainstream media will tell you.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Drew914 16 years ago

Exactly, this movie was made in 1989, when apartheid was a hot button issue. Besides, it's funny to hear "but sir...you're...blek!" LOL! Dead Afrikanners are funny.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] herrkilman 16 years ago

What the hell is this supposed to be? What are you babbling about?

[–] chris12345678 16 years ago

It's called "fiction vs reality". Still too difficult for you to comprehend?

[–] herrkilman 16 years ago

It's called *beep*

[–] chris12345678 16 years ago

You mean this movie? Yes, you're correct: that's exactly what it is. Just read up on SA a little and you'll know how big.

[–] Toby_gibson002 16 years ago

I agree that a lot of if not most American movies are completely dumbed down and stupid. Occasionally though a gem comes up.

But people in general tend to be pretty stupid no matter where they are from, and stupid people demand stupid movies.

To the first poster on this thread- you complained about how this director portrayed South Africans but you failed to give him credit for portraying the CIA as Heroin traffickers in the first one. (Albeit he made the distinction of referring to the bad guys as "mercenaries".) Really sequels should be done away with (Road Warrior being one exception- but Thunderdome was complete rubbish). This movie pretty much sucked and South Africa should rest easy knowing they weren't cast in a dismal light in a movie that anyone with half a brain could take seriously.

[–] Dan2108 16 years ago

Honest question for you, StuSenrab, since you're from South Africa. I assume the movie was not released there in 1989. Did it hit movie theaters after 1994? Were official VHS tapes stopped from entering the country as well? If so, were bootlegs distributed under the radar before or after 1994?

I ask because I grew up in the 80's in a developing country with a military government that heavily censored movies, TV, books, etc. Bootlegs were the norm for every "cultural product" that the regime viewed as a threat.

[–] StuSenrab 16 years ago

This movie was actually released in 1989, in SA’s cinemas, a few months before Nelson Mandela’s release.

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

[–] Dan2108 16 years ago

Thanks. Do you remember how it did box office-wise?

[–] StuSenrab 16 years ago

no...back then I never payed much attention to how a does at the box office.

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

[–] sepsism 16 years ago

This thread is great! The Afrikanners fight back!

I don't think this film is in any way implying that all South African whites are racist. Clearly there are plenty of non-Dutch whites in SA right

But seriously, it's just a movie dude. They are just fictional bad guy "characters" who happen to be South African. The hot white chick they were with wasn't an evil racist and she was South African?

Let me guess, after watching Once Were Warriors you thought all Kiwis were violent drunks who beat their wives?

UNCOMPROMISING UNDERGROUND FILTH

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] sepsism 16 years ago

Haha damnit! Well, I guess we do have extremely high alcohol abuse and domestic-violence statistics.

Damn stats!!

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[–] ShadySovereign 16 years ago

I think Arabs and Iranian people have it worse in Hollywood movies, because most Middle-Eastern people in Hollywood movies are portrayed as evil racist people.

"Only Spartan women give birth to real men" - Queen Gorgo in 300

[–] bensmybaby 16 years ago

I think they did this to show as little support for apartheid as possible
if it were up to me I'd chose to speak like Humphrey Bogart, but....it isn't

[–] CptHowdy87 16 years ago

Wow StuSenrab you came in here talking alot of racist propaganda and bull s h i t and when someone comes along and tells you you're talking utter crap you shut up right away and your following responses were short one liners not even dignifying any of the remarks made toward you. LMAO. Love it when imdb trolls get totally owned and walk away with their tail between their legs!, I Love it, it's.......BEAUTIFUL!!!

[–] StuSenrab 16 years ago

Well I am not ashamed of starting this topic. It will take more than a dumb remark to get my “tail between my legs”. If I may ask you CaptainHowdy187, what nationality and ethnicity are you?

And what is your perception of South Africa? Wait don’t tell me…you think we all live in huts; instead of having cats and dogs for pets, each household has a family lion or elephant…Please don’t “Druk your bek in” about things you don’t understand.

To add to ‘sepsism’s reply, I’m not afrikaaner.

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

[–] CptHowdy87 16 years ago

Well I am not ashamed of starting this topic. It will take more than a dumb remark to get my “tail between my legs”. If I may ask you CaptainHowdy187, what nationality and ethnicity are you?

And what is your perception of South Africa? Wait don’t tell me…you think we all live in huts; instead of having cats and dogs for pets, each household has a family lion or elephant…Please don’t “Druk your bek in” about things you don’t understand.

I'll answer that the moment you dignify the people in this thread with an answer yourself!, I hate it how people talk s h i t then when people call them up on it they go in hiding. So you return to the topic to call me out instead of justifying the horse s h i t remarks people called you up on? why do you bother making an arguement if you're not prepared to hear much less answer the other side of it?