Is King Kong Racist?

[Dr. Shane]

COLUMN: IS 'KING KONG' RACIST?

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Any movie that features white people sailing off to the Third World to capture a giant ape and carry it back to the West for exploitation is going to be seen as a metaphor for colonialism and racism.

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the "implicit racism of KING KONG - the implication that Kong stands for the black man brought in chains from a dark island (full of murderous primitive pagans) and with a penchant for skinny white blondes." Indeed, a GOOGLE search using the words "King Kong racism" yielded 490,000 hits.

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Director Jackson took people of Melanesian stock - the dark-skinned peoples who are indigenous to much of the South Pacific, including Jackson's own country of New Zealand - and made them up to look and act like monsters, more zombie-ish than human. Indeed, one is moved to compare these human devils to the ogre-ish Orcs from Jackson's mega-Oscar LORD OF THE RINGS films. The bad guys are dark, hideous and undifferentiatedly evil.

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[Neil D]

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Is KING KONG racist? asks Jim Pinkerton in his Thursday NEWSDAY column.

"Lots of people say it is. And, if it is, why does the film keep getting remade? What does it say about us if the new KONG is a huge hit?"

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Maybe because it isn't looked that way...Maybe the Drudge report is looking to create rasism where none exist. Maybe this whole shebang [that is, puting up this report, the Drudge report, this reporters misplaced concerns, the immediate reation to this report and attempt to control and manipulate, ect.] is a farce.

Just my opinion...but to make a sensational movie, about an island that is not on the charts, to find prehistoric animals and a large ape, is just a bit of a stretch to racism....

It's like saying that the LOTR is against vertically challenged people..... sigh

[Dr. Shane]

I think relating Kong to "the black man brought in chains" is a bit of a stretch. Although I don't fault the Drudge Report for reporting on a Newsday column.

However I think there are other points that are valid.

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white people sailing off to the Third World to capture a giant ape and carry it back to the West for exploitation is going to be seen as a metaphor for colonialism and racism

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White people taking treasures from the Third World certainly can be seen as a metaphor of colonialism... I think it is a stretch to take it to racism.

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The bad guys are dark, hideous and undifferentiatedly evil.

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Here we find a negative stero-type which is very close to racism. Why did the native people have to be portraited this way?

It is an interesting column that makes one think about something in a way different from how they have thought of it before.

[Amelia]

people are going to find racism where they want to. I very much doubt that Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper created King Kong with a racist eye. Cooper himself was an adventurer, in the military and a mercenary. He created a story of derring do.

[Amelia]

I like this reply to one of the columns:

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I have read Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings and did not find it offensive. The movie is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen and Peter Jackson was true to the story. As a black woman, I think as a group we rely too much on whites to portray us positively and accurately on-screen. Most of the movies I watch by black directors, and/or with headlining black actors show mainly negative stereotypes of blacks. The characters range from sociopathic gang-members and pugnacious black women to the wise-cracking black side-kick for comic relief. We cannot choose to portray ourselves negatively, cashing in on Hollywood's preference for such characters, while at the same time complaining that white directors and scriptwriters constantly paint us in bad light. Adegoke Kemi, London

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[Dr. Shane]

I doubt the intent of the movie was racist but it reflects the racist society of its time. I refer specifically to the portrail of the natives on the ficticious island.

[Neil D]

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Shane said:

I doubt the intent of the movie was racist but it reflects the racist society of its time. I refer specifically to the portrail of the natives on the ficticious island.

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In every story telling, there are assumptions being made....What assumptions are being made with KK?

For that matter, have you seen the current KK, directed by Jackson? I haven't as I thought it comes out today...? I am not sure as I plan to see it on DVD...I don't think it's worth going to see on the big screen.

Besides, I don't like being scared...Those stories I prefered to see in the comfort of my home...