I just saw the Trailer for "The Mist" at IMDB and surprise surprise, the only black guy in the trailer, was the first to die. Is there some important reason why Hollywood still uses this cliche, even though entertainment is trying to be more PC? Is it psychological? Like if the first person to die is some one the audience doesn't sympathize with, does it keep their sense of grief from overriding their sense of dread and foreboding?

The first thing I thought of when reading this was House on Haunted Hill.

It's a myth, just like the red shirts on Star Trek, and the teen couples who have sex in horror films.

"Go turn on the electricity, black man! The dinosaurs won't eat you!"

sorry for mangling that quote

I thought it was pretty accurate myself...

And it's even more accurate if you consider the book characterization of Hammond was, well, how shall we say, much more "old-fashioned".

Didn't Tyrese survive the Skorponok assault? Didn't he survive THE WHOLE FILM for that matter?

Did Anthony Anderson die from eating those donuts?

Did Bernie Mac have internal damage which caused him to drown on his own blood after being subjected to the radio blast Bumblebee emitted?

Me-thinks that you're still looking at films in the old mannerisms, "Conspiracy Theorist." There's plenty of newer films where the "Token Black Folks" are supporting characters that survive the initial first attack. For example Feast. The Marine dude got past a couple of other characters deaths in that one before having his final scene.

Danny Glover survived in Saw even AFTER having his throat slit the first time he met the bad guy.

I'm too lazy to find any more examples so I'll just say "Fheh" and carry my own merry little way out of this thread. But, before I do: it is kind of sad that once a "formula" is created for how to treat certain movies and their genre's, it gets repeatedly driven into the ground. Why can't more movies have mind bending turns that aren't so easily figured out without being "dumbed down" for the blue collar imagination lacking drones just wanting to kill time away from their miserable life's downward spiral?

I was thinking more of Conspiracy Brother, but either-or.

Jazz died.

Jazz was silver.

More to the point, Jazz was an alien robot from outer space.

Perhaps, but we all know that at heart, Jazz was black brotha from the streets. Ergo, point still stands.

So he died because he got his Earth-speak from Gizoogle?

I remember the black guy on JP3 dying second from that spinosaurus

Though in scream 2 the black couple died first male then female

Just pointing out some movie examples not being mean or anything

AVP, Predator 2, and Scream come to mind, too.

Hornet makes a good point. I just got finished watching "Boyz in The Hood".........................

Hope springs eternal.

but he wasnt the first to die
the first one was a white guy killed by frenzy

My World picture flat-lined about here.

That caught me off-guard!

Fix'd!

Blackout?

BLACK OUT?

Sounds like a Klan statement more than a name. BAN THIS RACIST FILM NOW!!!111!!!

oh yeah i forgot that part and i have no idea why
well the people killed by frenzy were the first ones that were shown dead

Not counting that soldier in the desert who got the Scorponok spinal tap.

wasnt he the guy being worked on by medics after scorponok attacked the desert ruins

wow this thread is mad deep! ok let see, 1st I hear the white people out there "unofficialy" defending their race. & I hear the black (& i'd imagin other races including white), attempting to make their point about black people's re-acuring theme of "only or 1st person to die". so let's stop danceing around the issue at hand here. we ARE talking about Jazz! & yes, I've read where some of u have pointed out that either jazz was'nt the only person, black or other wise to die. so let me explaine it as I see it. 1st, it IS TRUE! for many-a-decade black people have been the 1st or only to die. next is the reason I believe Bay (& yes, I seirously doubt this lil tid bit slipped passed him), offed jazz is because he need the death in the flim to seem as non-violent as possible, all the while keeping the hardcore fans satisfied! so the solution was simple! not only give jazz a black personality, but make it HEAVY on the stero typeing. this was done because black people's deaths in film has for decades been seen as "life dieing, but not realy human life". which is just what Bay was n despreate need of to get his presicous PG-13 rateing! & as for all the other deaths in the flim, well althought the count, the reason why some of us took offence to jazz's death & not seem to notice the humans death, is because w/the TFs being SO POORLY underdevoleped, we were despreate to make some kind of personal connection to "these TFs". up until this point all we've gotten from them is that one liner from OP. so when jazz was killed, it was our only real chance to personaly connect to the TFs. thus, drawing our attentions that much more to "why does the black guy gotta die". well I hope this helps. the doctor is now out!

.....

So, every white person is a member of the KKK?

I would love to shred to pieces your entire post, but, quite frankly, it would be useless, for anyone who is so stuck in the 'black-white' dichotomy as you are can no longer be enlightened by the light of wisdom.

u seem to have selectivly focused on only certain parts of my statement. if u look closer u'll see where I did indeed write "black & other races including white people attemting to make their point about the black guy getting killed". & do I think all white people are KKK? don't be absured! of corse not. but u would only be kidding your self if u thought the "white Hollywood Machine" didn't realy exsist. for intance. there's a lot of talk these days about a Green Lantern movie in the works. i'd lay my Nosecone on a chopping block & bet that the GL to be brought too the big screen will either be Hal or Kyle. & its not that DC or even "Hollywood" has anything againts a John Stewart GL. its jus a social fact that white america will not bring the same box office sale as a white GL. in phycology its referred to as "Hero identifacation". all people want & need both their Heros & Gods to look as they do in order to establish a more personal connection w/the hero or god. so its not just white people who are guilty of this, its all people (i.e. white Jesus in white foke home. & black Jesus in black people's home).

Paragraphing Plz K Thx.

And Jazz was a freaking ALIEN. A SILVER ALIEN! ROBOT!

Hmmm. u know before I leave this topic alone, I kinda feel the need to say something to not just this thread or even just this chat room. but to all of us "Hero worshiping" Si-Fi fans out there where ever u are. I ask u all now. why do we love our Marvel, DC, TFs, & all the rest? if I had to hazzared a guess i'd say its because many of us feel differant in one way or another. & many of us think that the world just is not gonna accecpt us for who & what we are. & I'm sorry to say, but that accecment has proven to be all to correct all to offten. so at some point or aother we've all felt the lashing sting from an unforgiving world that turns a crule shoulder to us. which I guess is why we find such delight in these fantacy hobbies of ours. but in a bizzar twist of irony, we have proven that race bias reaches even in to this fantacy world. we love our Marvel mutants! who better to empathize w/about being treated differant & rejected. & then we turn right around & make unspoken demands on the writers & creaters to make these heros look & act like us, or atleast how we see ourselves if we were in that sisuation. now not even a robot like poor Jazz is not safe from this unconsicence bias. no wonder LORD MEGATRON wants to steirlize this mud ball of a planet.

... Cos they're Giant Powerglideing robots who kill eachother.


You know, when I look at Jazz I don't think "Wow, theres a black guy, hes so gonna die" I think "Duuuuude! A FREAKING ROBOT THAT TRANSFORMS!"

Maybe I'm just a bit weird, not seeing racism and sexism in every minor detail of my life.

Throwing the "race card" at white people all the time is just another form of racism. Move on 'tards. IT'S ROBOTS!!!

Also, it was reported that Bay killed Jazz because he hated his crappy car mode, he felt it didn't do the character justice. Sounds like a real racist now doesn't he?

FYI Tyrese Gibson is rumored to be playing John Stewart / Green Lantern.

Didn't we discuss this already in the last meeting? We where supposed to keep this quiet. That's it, I'm shredding your membership card and buying you a rap CD. You're out of the race, goodbye.

wow! I hope the acter can do the chacter justice. but I still doubt we'll get a black GL. but anythings possible.

as u Brits would say IM I NOT SPEAKING THE KINGS ENGLISH! I never call Bay or anyone else a raceist. only that the "white hollywood machine" is very real. & as for that lme excuse as to why Bay killed jazz, well I'm not ready to swallow that one. & the very exsistance of this tread proves that a good mesure of people felt as I do. that jazz was treated in a "token" fashion. like the Transformers them selves would say, there more going on here than meets the eye.

A: Hornet is a flamy lil Biatch and was (Probably) joking.
and
B: Queens English.

Why throw a racist jab at British people? OF ALL THE THREADS!!!

INH is the place to rip on Brits FYI!

Seriously though; I honestly believe people with this (your) frame-of-mind are searching for problems that don't exist. There are many blatantly racist things that need sorting quickly, Transformers is certainly NOT one of them. The fact that Jazz has been a prominent ("black") character since the start of the franchise must count for something, mustn't it? Did he get killed every week in the cartoon when he was a Porsche? Nope. GET A CLUE!

I think it's really grasping at straws to claim any kind of racist intent in Jazz' death in the movie. It all comes down to what you want to believe. Is most of Hollywood white? Probably, since most of the country is white. That alone doesn't mean that "Hollywood" has a racial bias.

And I would like to point out again that Jazz is a robot from outer space.

I like to think that Jazz died because he was a black transformer. Not because Hollywood made it so, but because it is a law in the universes of Transformers and other fictional stories that black guys always die. That would be humorous, all the more because Jazz is, indeed, not a black guy, but a transformer.

Do I think it is the truth? No, of course not. I just think it is funny to think so.

Well, if most of the country is white then that makes white people the largest demographic. Since Hollywood is out to make a profit, of course they're going to gear most of their merchandise towards the largest demographic.

That assumes that white people don't buy stuff with black people involved in it.

I'm sure there are white people like that.

Think about it for a second. If the only people who watched black-produced movies or listened to black-produced music were other black people, how much money would they make? You're talking about a 10% minority.

THANK YOU! that's all I was ever getting at. look, I do feel the frustration of the non-raceist white people out there. & if your not raceist then why are you so up set if othe people want to talk about a VERY REAL problem like raceism in hollywood. & if you think jazz's death was nothing more than the death of a silver robot, then I applaude you for the best impression of an ostrage w/its head in the sand. but hay, what ever helps you sleep at night!

what about Spawn! what ever happened to the major motion sequel? i'll tell u. even tho dude was only seen as a black man for the 1st 15mins of the movie, it still was enough to throw "white america" off. & for the record I don't think i'd call these white people raceist. that's a very harsh word & even tho they are subject to the follies of "hero identifaction", I still wouldn't call them a bigot. & as for black themed movies not being able to become a box office hit without the "white people's suport", well just tell that to Tyler Perry. his old lady drag gimmick has made him filthy stinking rich! & for all of you who say that hollywood is fair & imparital, well let me bring your attention to Speilburg's "Color Purple". its was up nominated for several academy awards & was up against the movie "Babe". you know, the talking pig. well as it would turn out white america was far more wowed by a talking pig & how "good it makes you feel", to be worried about a gripping story of a young black girls story of finding self love at a time when even black people hated them selves & their own kind enough to do what they did too poor Ceily. by the way, the film won absolutly nothing! so yes, america is the one w/the real problem. hollywood is only "the dealer". peddeling race bias movies to give up tight narrow minded white people their much needed fix!

...Spawn didn't get a sequel because it was Blot.

You're right, Spawn showed us how white America just isn't ready for a black dude playing an undead anti-hero. Oh right, it was called "Blade" and they made a trilogy that grossed over $200 million in the US.

Okay, how about a great movie getting shafted at the Oscars? That's never happened before. Except for lousy movies like Citizen Kane, High Noon, Rebel Without A Cause, North by Northwest, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, LA Confidential, Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Elizabeth, etc.....

You can play Conspiracy Brother all you want, but ultimately you're going to have to realize that not every single thing that happens in this country comes down to whether or not somebody's black. You might think about it all the time, but that doesn't mean that everybody else does.

I do have a bias towards pigs and ducks, though.

I've watched several Bollywood movies & I still haven't seen one geared towards white folks. That's the beauty of it! Why should Hollywood lose it's cultural identity? We should embrace diversity.

Spawn was not Blot! its was every bit as good as the 1st batman or even better in my opinion. but you do have a point about Blade. I almost forgot about how popular it was. to bad the 2 sequels that fallowed sucked. & as for moves that have gotten shafted at the academy awards, well its true. black movies are not the only ones that have been cheated. but try to understand my point here. if Color Purple or another black movie of its calabur were pitted against a "do-lolly-feelgood family value" flim, that even tho it may serve its purpose & keep kids entertained, it still has no f**king biz being nominated let alone winning the award! so if Color Purple had lost to something that's at least comprable to its class then it might not have been so bad i.e. as much as I loved Brokeback Mountain, I didn't mind or cry foul when it lost to Crash.