I haven’t seen Breakfast at Tiffanys in years, but from what I gather, people it was Rooney in yellowface that really pissed people off (and rightly so!) that pissed people off, much more than the character’s stupidity.
Right. We all can point to a lot of people who are considered perfectly ordinary folk, who are even talented in many areas, who nonetheless do really stupid things. Bad decision making, ignorance, gullibility, are not disabilities.
The critical issue, of course, is to make sure the characterizations clearly communicate that you are mocking ignorant dumbasses, not the developmentally challenged.
Boy, I know what you mean.
On the other hand, there are plenty of modern characters who are depicted as intellectually challenged for comedic purpose. The dumb comic relief is a stock character that makes the audience feel superior about themselves by comparison. Off the top of my head,
Chowder (Chowder)
Cosmo (The Fairly OddParents!)
Patrick Star (Spongebob Squarepants)
Ralf Wiggum (The Simpsons)
Fry (Futurama)
Chris Griffin (Family Guy)
Ed (Ed, Edd n Eddy)
Ed (The Lion King)
Brick [Steve Carell] (Anchorman)
Alan [Zach Galifianakis] (The Hangover)
Cat [Ariana Grande] (Victorious, Sam & Cat)
But note that sometimes, like in Forest Gump or Rainman or Dinner for Schmucks (all comedies, mind you), the writers purposely cross the line into unfunny.
~Max
I really don’t see Fry as being a dumb character. He was meant to be a “Billy Averageman” character—not a genius like the Professor or an mutant like Leela. But then his characterization did vary by episode.
Fry has an explicit mental defect caused by extreme inbreeding.
I think he was maybe one standard deviation above Homer.
Has Being There been mentioned yet? The Peter Sellers character is unequivocally developmentally disabled but his disability is used to mock the intelligentsia.
Spoilers For Futurama.
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IIRC Fry was his own grandfather. Due to past nastification, his brain lacked a wave common to all animals and some plants. Fry was at times comically stupid. Mostly, he was just lazy. When Fry actually puts in time and effort, he can learn new and complicated skills (like piloting the Planet Express ship and towing stars to spell out I LOVE YOU LEELA)
That’s actually something I’ve noticed as a difference in how I enjoy Family Guy vs The Simpsons.
Homer and Peter are both really, really dumb. But Homer is like a lovable funny dumb, and somehow it doesn’t feel mean spirited. Peter on the other hand has a bit of a nasty streak, but more relevant to this thread, his stupidity also feels… different. I can’t put my finger on it, but where Homer is just a bit stupid, Peter’s characterization at times feels like he’s got a real mental disability, rather than being dull. And that makes me like Family Guy much less than Simpsons.
I think this is the major factor. If you’re making a movie about someone who is truly mentally challenged, using a mentally challenged actor can cause problems - they might not be capable of “acting” or remembering their lines. So you use an actor who can remember their lines to depict this character.
But with Blackface, there are plenty of good Black actors out there, who are more than capable of depicting any character you might want. So, why exactly are you using a white actor in blackface? That’s a deliberate, usually unnecessary*, choice you made.
*The only exception I can think of is the aforementioned Tropic Thunder, in which the self-indulgent actor using blackface was used to make a point about these very issues.
Gene Wilder in Silver Streak.
I haven’t watched Family Guy in several years, but my impression of Peter is that he has a severe lack of intellectual curiosity as opposed to lacking in intelligence. He’s more ignorant rather than stupid, even to the point that he seems to take pride in his own ignorance. Maybe his characterization has changed in recent years, but that’s the impression I got from the episodes I have seen.
It might be a flanderization type thing. That may bbe what he was like early on, but I feel like as the seasons went on they kinda doubled down on the whole “Peter is literally mentally deficient” angle.
RE Family Guy
In one episode (I forget the title) Brian is pissed that Peter keeps claiming to be a genius after winning family game night. Peter agrees to take an IQ test. He discovers he is legally developmentally disabled. This has been referenced in a few other episodes, including one where the family flees to Texas.
Homer, on the other hand, has a crayon lodged in his brain.
You be the judge.
In general, it’s not acceptable to make fun of anyone with an organic brain disorder. But, it is OK to find humor in people who are willfully ignorant, or who choose physical pursuits over intellectual development (e.g. the classic dumb jock).
By the same token, it’s not acceptable to make fun of anyone with organic physical disorders. But, it’s OK to find humor in people who choose intellectual pursuits over physical development (e.g. the classic awkward brainiac).
And, I should add, it’s OK to find humor in people with no organic physical or brain disorder who choose not to develop either physically, or mentally (e.g. the classic Karen).
Or develop socio-politically (e.g. the MAGAts).
Like it or not, bad taste is usually funny. And I thought Mickey Rooney in Breakfast At Tiffany’s was hilarious. He was so out of character, and he was so over the top. How could that offend anyone? Now someone w/ a disability, or a handicap as it was once called, is different, at least I think it is. But everyone’s taste in comedy is different.
I really don’t like this age we live in now. In the 60’s, 70’s and even the 80’s, people had a good, healthy sense of humor. Not today! People get offended over nothing, in my opinion anyway. I generally watch films from those eras because, well, people were smarter, more creative and open minded. You didn’t have to worry about offending this group or that group, you had the freedom to use your talents.
As far as I am concerned, using “karen” as a pejorative is bigoted, sexist and hurtful.
It is amazing how many people who claim to be liberal and even woke, use that term, proving they are hypocrites.