Bay Defends the Racial Stereotypes in Transformers 2

Published by Jeff Leins on June 24, 2009

This morning I posted my review of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a sequel I basically considered to be far worse than even the middling original.  I even sat through the first movie again so I would give the second a fair comparison and not what I remember to be an unpleasant, disappointment.  The new giant robot bout is equally unpleasant only multiplied by six (the number of extra minutes I had to endure this time).

Today, I was happy to read other critics felt the same way as I watched the RottenTomatoes meter plummet to 20% positive.  Reviewers were funny and creative with their collective loathing, but I thought Roger Ebert’s was great when he called it “dumber than a box of staples.”  General audience reviews are also down on the site too.  (Curiously absent is Steven Spielberg, who said it was “better than the first” and “probably [Bay's] best.”)

In my review I pointed out two “street” characters, Mudflap and Skids, the supposed comic relief from the movie.  I’m sure they kill in robot comedy clubs, but in this film they’re just a couple of jive-talking stereotypes.  Aside from the obvious voices and lingo, the movie takes time from its busy 150 minutes to point out neither can read.  The one with the gold tooth jokes to the other with big ears they should “pop a cap” in another robot.  The Associated Press critic calls them “Jar Jar Binks in car form,” referring to the controversial Rastafarian caricature in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Director Michael Bay defended the characters by telling the AP:  “We’re just putting more personality in,” Bay said. “I don’t know if it’s stereotypes — they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it.  I purely did it for kids.  Young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them.” The voices were done by Reno Wilson (black) and Tom Kenny (white, also does SpongeBob Squarepants).

I’m not much for political correctness so I’m mostly indifferent, but essentially claiming “they’re only robots” is like saying no one should be offended if I draw a cartoon bunny that spews the same hateful speech as Hitler.  I know that’s a bit of an extreme analogy, but you get the point.  After all, he’s just a cute little rabbit.

Before finishing the interview, Bay leaves us with one more nugget of wisdom.  “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.”