I am a pretty big Wesley Snipes fan. Well not really but I do like him and I used to like a lot of his movies. White Men Cant Jump is one of my favourite movies. Another cool Wesley Snipes movie is Money Train ( I also like Woody Harrelson ). Snipes was kind of like the top black action hero in the 90's but I was just trying to think now of some Snipes action movies and all I could think was that he was in that cool action movie with Harrelson ( Money Train ) and of course Snipes is Blade ( Im not a Blade fan ) but Snipes was already a big name before Blade and had Action Hero status but I really couldnt think of another big action movie that he was in apart from this one that had something to do with sky diving ( Drop Zone ) and there was another one called Passenger 57 which is the film that I have taken my title from but he was already a big name by then really as well. One of my favourite movies of all time is Demolition Man and Snipes is in that along with fellow Action Hero Stallone but Snipes was a big name by then too. So I am just looking through his movie list and wondering how he got Action Hero status and it seems to be a run of mediocre action films right after he hit the big time with White Men Cant Jump. Before White Men Cant Jump Snipes wasnt a big name and the only early pre-White Men Cant Jump movies that I could think of him being in were as black guys in a few Spike Lee movies and I also remember he was in some gangster called New Jack City. Looking at his filmography just now I notice that his first film was Wildcats with Goldie Hawn which is a great gridiron movie I remember watching as a young kid but I had no idea that Snipes was in it. And I see that he was also an athlete in the awesome movie Major League which was also before White Men Cant Jump. So really Snipes got most of his early work as either a black guy or as athlete or as a gangster. It wasnt until just after he hit the big time with White Men Cant Jump that we see him become the action hero. You often hear about how minorities are stereotyped in film and how actors of certain minority often say that the only jobs that they can get are as stereotypes and really the filmography of Snipes is proof of this. but then - I think we have come a long way since when Snipes was starting out as an actor. Anyway, I like Wesley Snipes and to me he is the top black action hero and certainly a fellow of the action hero elite which is why he is part of the Expendables franchise. Snipes certainly deserves his spot. One thing that every action hero needs is a memorable and repeatable one liner. I consider Arnie to be the alpha of the action hero alpha ( with Stallone and Willis close behind ) and of course we cant expect all action hero to have their own set of 'Arnie-isms' like Arnie but an action hero should have at least one good action hero one-liner and the one that comes to mind for Wesley Snipes is - "Always bet on black". So I was a teenager in the 90s and this was the height of the popularity of African-American culture in my opinion. African-American culture is pretty lame these days and not as popular but back in the 90s the coolest thing since sliced bread was African-Americans because Micheal Jordan was the biggest name athlete in the world and the NBA was the most popular sport and it was full of African-Americans. The 90s was also huge for corporate sports brands like Nike, Reebok, Converse etc and all the big name NBA players had shoe deals and cool commercials for their shoes. In these times of cynical and political 'political correctness' the Snipes one-liner Always Bet on Black almost seems racist. It seems like I should be offended because if I said something like 'Always bet on white' these days I am sure that someone would be able to claim that I was being racist somehow. But back then watching Passenger 57 in the 90s I would have thought that 'Always bet on black' was a cool and natural thing for a black action hero to say. I wasnt even offended by the movie White Men Cant Jump ( Brent Barry could jump ). There nothing wrong with being proud of who you are - you should absolutely be proud of who you are - and a healthy egoism is a likeable characteristic. There is no reason that I as a white guy should be offended by a black guy that is proud of being black. Why wouldnt a person be proud of being African-American? African-Americans are awesome. And the same can be said for a guy like Jack London who had quite a healthy egoism and was a very proud Teuton. There is nothing wrong with being proud of being white and there is nothing wrong with being proud of being black. So here in Australia we have recently had a cynical public debate on race due to footy crowds booing an Aboriginal athlete that is the face of an anti-racism campaign here in Australia. The liberal Australian media and establishment claimed that anyone that booed this player is a racist but to me this is ridiculous and offensive. The anti-racism campaign that the player is the face of is an angry campaign that is not promoting the idea that Aborignals should be proud so much as that they should feel angry. The campaign has Goodes saying that Australia is a racist country and that racism "Stops with me". It is an aggressive and angry message in my opinion that is in no way constructive or helpful to Australian unity. The fact is that most Aussies are great people and are not racist. I do not hate Adam Goodes - I like him. I am not a racist person and I try to be nice to everyone and I try to avoid judging people because I know how it feels to be judged and stereotyped. I do not see Australia as having a racist culture and in my opinion Modern Australia is perhaps the least racist nation on the earth. Australia is the most multicultural nation and we have a very progressive, modern and inclusive culture. Australia certainly is not perfect and we should always try to get better but I feel that the anti-racism campaign that Goodes has been the face of is unfair on Australia and this is the main reason I think people are booing Goodes. Goodes also often comes across as an 'angry black man' when he does things like celebrations that are Aboriginal war dances where he throws an imaginary spear into an opposition crowd. I know that this 'angry black man' stereotype is a stereotype that for the most part has been created by Spike Lee and it is somewhat unfair for me to label Goodes as an 'angry black man' but the truth is that being angry about a situation is not constructive and this type of attitude does more to divide us than unite us. Another thing that makes the Goodes racism campaign insulting to many Australians is the fact that Australian culture - which is influenced by both early and modern Aboriginal culture - looks down on people that take themselves too seriously or cant make fun of themselves. Much of what may seem to be surface racism is in fact good natured Aussie larrikinism which encourages seemingly disparaging, self depreciating and sardonic humour between friends - and is evidence of a familiarity born of Australian unity. One of the reasons Aussies have embraced Greek-Australians in modern times is because of media like 'Acropolis Now/Wogs Out of Work' which was Greek-Aussies making fun of the themselves through Australian Greek stereotype and this is something that traditional Aussies really respect due to our larrikin and culture. We have similar media in modern times with the Fat Pizza Lebanese-Aussie media that makes fun of the Lebanese-Aussie stereotype. Aussies do not respond well to intimidation so when Goodes appears on tv looking angry saying - "Racism stops with me" - I think - "#$#$ you! Im not even racist but I am now you #$#$ #$#$." This is just how traditional Aussies think so the Goodes propaganda does not work and it does more to divide Australian society than it does to unite us. Rugby League is a great sport and we have had many great Aboriginal players throughout the games great history but even in Rugby League culture we have to walk on egg shells making sure not to offend an Aboriginal because we know that if we do we will probably be forced to front a firing squad or something. It is fine to make fun of a Kiwi ( League is full of Maori players ) and it is ok to make fun of Lebanese-Aussies ( Lebanese-Aussies are huge supporters of Rugby League and many support the Bulldogs - or 'Doggies' ) but you cant say a wrong word about Aboriginals and in my opinion it is ridiculous. It is not this way in real life because I know and have known lots of Aboriginals and the majority of them do not at all take themselves so seriously and you can have a joke with them - and them with you. We need to stop searching for chances to be angry or to be offended. At the end of the day the things that people say - positive or negative - should not change or threaten your own self image. I fully agree that racism is unacceptable and we do need to make sure that all members of Australian society are fully aware of that - but to be overly hysterical is not helpful and more importantly - we need to give ourselves credit for how unracist Aussies are as well as promoting the idea that racism is unacceptable. Australia is not a racist nation and if we start to promote that idea it will become a self fulfilling prophecy. We need to be positive rather than so negative. I think the same thing for USA. USA is not a racist nation and I think that Americans deserve credit for how inclusive and welcoming USA society is to people of all races rather than to focus on the minority American racists. It is the racists that are the real minority and we need to make sure they understand that their thinking is unacceptable and the best way we can do that is by refusing to become overly hysterical about racism and by doing so tarring all of society with the same brush. Most of us are not racist and we need to give ourselves credit for how far US, and western society in general has come on race relations over the last few decades. Hysteria and anger over racism we make the problem of racism a tar baby that we cannot escape no matter how hard we struggle. [video=youtube;9xCO3Ie0xp8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xCO3Ie0xp8[/video] [video=youtube;yrotsEzgEpg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrotsEzgEpg[/video]
edit - # Hysteria and anger over racism makes the problem of racism a tar baby that we cannot escape no matter how hard we struggle.
