Oh lord... the body paint name shocked me sooooo much more than the concept itself. Kind of like the way my grandma insists the N word is completely fine if followed by 'brown' and used as a colour descriptor. Luckily, this is only a theoretical opinion and she isn't crazy enough to actually use it in conversation...

What are they supposed to do, import some? While I agree that they could easily have picked an all-white musical instead, Hairspray is a great show with a great message. It's not as though the kids are blacking up here, we're just being asked to pretend they are black characters. It's called acting. Like when a black…

Yeah, I (optimistically) think you might be right. Any good film should find an audience - this is why The Artist's success is making me so happy right now :)

As for African-American culture, I would hazard a guess that most people's knowledge relates to hip-hop music and the gangs which our youth occasionally tries to imitate (painfully). It's difficult to say, because I am a bit of an American history enthusiast, so I am maybe a little more informed about the roots of…

I certainly agree with The Blind Side, although I think Westerns are pretty deeply integrated into our moviegoing culture, if not our history. Take a look at the box office for The Blind Side:

Also, J. Edgar has a huge star, which is what really counts. And I don't know many people here who wouldn't know who J. Edgar Hoover was, but I will take your word for your own experience and am consequently disappointed with the sample of my countrymen you have encountered ;)

Yeah, but if you have a look at the article I linked above, it shows that the swing from domestic to foreign box office as a determiner of success happened relatively recently (2004). It also has a lot to say about the affect this has on the major movies getting made in the last few years.

Do you not think that might be related to culture, though? I don't think it can be put down to race when, as you said, Attack the Block and Kidulthood were big successes here. Perhaps your average British casual moviegoer is relatively uninterested in African American culture, just as they generally are in any foreign…

This article has some quite good analysis of this trend and what it means: [campusprogress.org]

The essential fact, though, is that stars are what sells abroad. Movies considered absolute pieces of star-vehicle shit do obscenely well in non-English speaking countries, with the murkiness of translation clouding the awfulness of the dialogue, performances etc. Some of the actors in Red Tails might be well-known in…

Apparently the issue with Red Tails was not race-related (although there will always be people who never buy this argument in any circumstances), but concerned with international distribution. The vast majority of Hollywood's money comes from foreign box office, and a film about a historical event largely unknown…

I think you'd have sufficient grounds to complain when your shoes would be covered in piss :D

A urinal with a tongue hanging out? You can't see the issue there?! ;)

I'm talking specifically about this incident and ones like it, though. Pranks and challenges for new members are perfectly acceptable and to be expected, but this crosses the line into sadism, as well as being dangerously unhygienic. And anyone with the lack of self-worth to participate willingly in such extreme…

For me personally, I would have equal contempt no matter the gender of the humiliators or the humiliatee. Although if it was a woman, surely they would not be able to join an all-male group anyway? Or do you mean they would be the only woman in the club? In any case, people who make other people behave like this and…

Geez, you trying to kill my whole social life??? ;)

Oy veh, I guess that African drumming class is out, too.

Are sleepovers a pretty big deal in America? They sound pretty dramatic (tales of cat fights, mountains of pizza and ice cream, and, of course, the ever-present threat of molestation necessitating Philip Marlowe levels of investigation of other parents). Over here, it was always more a case of grabbing a sleeping bag,…

At this stage, there's no evidence of anything. It could well be that she confided in a friend who broke her trust. But hypothetically no, it isn't okay to go around claiming someone sexually assaulted you if you aren't willing to say the same thing to the police, just like it isn't okay to go around calling someone a…

I understand why a victim could be reluctant to come forward and publicly declare she had been assaulted and go through everything a prosecution entails. However, when it comes down to it, you have to decide whether or not you're going to pursue the case or not. Just informally passing the rumour that some guy is a…