# "Martin Lawrence has done more damage to black people than slavery and apartheid" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319 "2008-02-27T01:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/41 "2008-02-27T19:07:15Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] For. Of. One of those prepositions. :o [/QUOTE] Sorry, I wasn’t trying to embarrass you. I just wanted to be sure of the film you were referring to before I replied. I haven’t seen _Song of the South_ since I was a kid, so I may have missed a lot of subtleties. (Heck, I doubt it even occurred to me to think of the cartoon animals as black, since they were obviously cartoon animals.) But comparing the clips I have seen recently to clips I’ve seen of _Norbit_,\* I have a hard time believing _Song of the South_ is more demeaning to any group of people. \*I know, an Eddie Murphy picture, but Martin Lawrence is barely a blip on my radar. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/42 "2008-02-27T19:08:28Z")
I like Will Ferrell. Yeah, I said it! ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/43 "2008-02-27T19:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] I like Will Ferrell. Yeah, I said it! [/QUOTE] Well, it was obvious that _someone_ must, or nobody’d be paying him to make movies. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/44 "2008-02-27T19:18:25Z")
[QUOTE=TWDuke] But comparing the clips I have seen recently to clips I’ve seen of _Norbit_,\* I have a hard time believing _Song of the South_ is more demeaning to any group of people. [/QUOTE] I think the difference is in both the makers and the intended audience. _Norbit_ aims for a black audience, and more than likely many black writers. I doubt the same can be said of _Song of the South_. Definitely a case of “we can make fun of ourselves, but you can’t make fun of us”. > [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I like Will Ferrell. > > Yeah, I said it! Your therapy group sessions meet Tuesdays at 8 at the VFW hall. Please attend. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/45 "2008-02-27T19:22:52Z")
[QUOTE=TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW] This is something my co-worker said earlier, in reference to Lawrence’s latest movie, “College Road Trip.” I kind of have to agree. It’s surprising that in a post-segregation , post-racist america, someone like Lawrence can make a career out of being a wide-eyed caricature. “Black Knight” was literally like an Al Jolson movie, a straight minstrel show - at one point, Lawrence _even gets tarred and feathered_. What the hell is wrong with that guy? No, what’s wrong with the people that support his films? It’s so regressive that it’s unbelievable. Whenever I see him utter that “It a hoooodini pig!” in the commercials for his new movie, I literally feel like I just saw someone in blackface walk on and say “Massah.” [/QUOTE] What’s even worse, I’ll bet he spends the entire movie “cracking” on, playing “the dozens” with, signifying in reference to, and generally “ridiculing” the other Black characters, "in public, in the workplace, and on the bus, “no matter what their socioeconomic status is.” If it helps at all, Eddie Griffin is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/46 "2008-02-27T19:34:43Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] What’s even worse, I’ll bet he spends the entire movie “cracking” on, playing “the dozens” with, signifying in reference to, and generally “ridiculing” the other Black characters, "in public, in the workplace, and on the bus, “no matter what their socioeconomic status is.” If it helps at all, Eddie Griffin is even worse. [/QUOTE] Most regular posters here are well-acquainted with **TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW** ’s “fascination” with black and African American culture in modern America. This post, however, is a very straight-forward, honest question about the way Martin Lawrence and other black actors often get portrayed in movies. Is there really a reason to bring up **TLDR** ’s less shining moments here on the SDMB when the OP can stand on its own? Buffoonery in comedy has a long, profitable history. The difference between this and the old Al Jolson stuff, IMO, is that the leads are laughing all the way to the bank, and often have considerable say in how they are portraying themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/47 "2008-02-27T20:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Will Ferrell has done more damage to the white race than Cheez Whiz and disco. [/QUOTE] Is Will Ferrell better or worser than Wonder Bread? ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/48 "2008-02-27T20:28:25Z")
Oh behalf of white people everywhere, I’d just like to think \*\*TAFKAVCO3 \*\* for saying what we’ve all been thinking for all these years, but were too afraid to say because we’d ebe viewed as racist. Thanks for taking that “Martin Lawrence isn’t funny” bullet man. We owe you. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/49 "2008-02-27T23:22:59Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Is there really a reason to bring up **TLDR** ’s less shining moments here on the SDMB when the OP can stand on its own? [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/50 "2008-02-27T23:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] I don’t know what he’s done to the cause of civil rights, but I can tell you right now, if someone put a gun to my head and tried to force me to watch one of his movies, I’d take the bullet. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t it be better to watch the movie and use the seething hatred that would be generated by doing so to first plan and then execute your revenge which would naturally involve cloning Martin Lawrence several thousand times and then imprisoning the clones in a vat and then dropping your tormenter into the vat so the clones could eat him and then tossing in the original ML and then firing the vat a dying sun? Or is that just me? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319.md?page=2)