http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/movies/2012/01/seeing-a-new-south-in-joyful-noise-and-undefeated/ Seeing today's cinema through the movies of the past Mon, 29 Oct 2012 22:05:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/movies/2012/01/seeing-a-new-south-in-joyful-noise-and-undefeated/#comment-428 Social Media Watchdog Sat, 12 May 2012 00:23:15 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/movies/?p=618#comment-428 I disagree I found Joyful Noise to be shockingly backwards in terms of race-relations and felt comically out of touch with reality. Frankly it's just another example of African-American characters, in this film it's the buffoonish one dimensional male characters, being shown poorly while the female lead Keke Palmer is a classic example of the Chief's Daughter stereotype thus making her the best "prize" in the village which is easily won over by the Mighty Whitey stereotype. It's not racist but there are strong racial undertones. What makes it worst is the overall cheesiness of the whole movie. If this is the "New South" then I appreciate their tolerance of interracial relationships but I wish they could display it without the "Black guys = bad, White guys = good" formula. That would be the next step to showing progress. I disagree I found Joyful Noise to be shockingly backwards in terms of race-relations and felt comically out of touch with reality. Frankly it’s just another example of African-American characters, in this film it’s the buffoonish one dimensional male characters, being shown poorly while the female lead Keke Palmer is a classic example of the Chief’s Daughter stereotype thus making her the best “prize” in the village which is easily won over by the Mighty Whitey stereotype.
It’s not racist but there are strong racial undertones. What makes it worst is the overall cheesiness of the whole movie. If this is the “New South” then I appreciate their tolerance of interracial relationships but I wish they could display it without the “Black guys = bad, White guys = good” formula. That would be the next step to showing progress.

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