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5 Lovable Movie Racists

5 Lovable Movie Racists

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 11 months ago
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Don’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people.

Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust.

Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated.
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Brad Pitt Pompadour. Clip of the Day

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago
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A new R-rated trailer for the Coens’ Burn After Reading showed up online this week, and though it reminds me of a lot of Coen favorites, particularly Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, it initially made me think of Tom DiCillo’s Johnny Suede. I don’t know if you could classify Brad Pitt’s hairstyle in Burn After Reading a pompadour, but that first shot of him in the trailer called to mind his tall greaser ‘do in the 1991 cult classic.

So, here’s a few clips from the earlier film (for the Burn After Reading trailer, go here) in which the title character (Pitt) encounters Freak Storm (Nick Cave, who would later appear in and score Pitt-starrer The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Note the conversation Freak has in the bar. It in turn reminded me of the Coens, who always seem to have a variation of “I need my money” or “where’s the money” or something like that. It’s too bad DiCillo never rose to the Coens’ status or talent, despite working with Coen Bros. regulars like Steve Buscemi and John Turturro.