Oh man, I love this table but...

[Heretic]

can this thread be locked politics correct silly or itherwise has no place here its gonna stink of yuppie bull****

 

[superballs]

Right. So let's have a pin called Mammy with Al Jolson in blackface on the backglass. Or maybe a football themed game called Redskins. Because those certainly wouldn't offend old white people,right?

Maybe certain people are overly sensitive, that doesn't make it any less racist because it doesn't apply to you.

Never occurred to you I might be native eh?

Point dismissed...next!

 

[Heretic]

supes is my brother from a cannuck mother

 

[Wizened]

Never occurred to you I might be native eh?

Point dismissed...next!

Native what? American?
You know some of your "brothers" ARE bothered by the Skins?

Dismiss the point if you like, but also let me know when you were appointed tribal spokesman.

 

[superballs]

And what makes "some of my brothers" spokesmen?

 

[jaredmorgs]

The characterizations aren't mocking ethnicity, it is political satire. The characters are stereotypes of politicians from the late 80's, relics of the cold war. This table is an historical artifact more than anything. A hundred years from now, the humor and political messages in the table will be lost on most except for perhaps historians.

Correct Answer to all questions about race, accents, and any other political correctness issues one may have with this table relic of the 80's.

It is a snapshot in time of the zeitgeist. Pinball developers were affected by it, and they translated it into a theme for a pinball.

The fact that folks are offended by it today is totally OK as well. It's their right to be offended by it if they want to be. It isn't going to change anything though in the context of this pinball.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I'm offended that people are offended!

 

[TomL]

I'm not offended, but the cheesiness of the voice acting did annoy me. We need better voice actors for pins!

 

[DanBradford]

IBTL

i'm with Heretic, this thread is indeed nonsense and is out of place here. especially this "Maybe certain people are overly sensitive, that doesn't make it any less racist because it doesn't apply to you". so by that logic, if i take offense at something, that makes it offensive? bull****, offensiveness is not determined by the person with the thinnest skin (carbon-nanotubes, as fantastically referred to above. i wish this forum had the 'like' feature). it reminds me of an old Freak Brothers cartoon where everyone is busy getting offended by everything. "The fact that folks are offended by it today is totally OK as well. It's their right to be offended by it if they want to be."

as stated above, pinball represents a time capsule. it is what it is. this bloody word 'racist' causes more problems than it fixes sometimes.

 

[Annorax]

The characterizations aren't mocking ethnicity, it is political satire. The characters are stereotypes of politicians from the late 80's, relics of the cold war. This table is an historical artifact more than anything. A hundred years from now, the humor and political messages in the table will be lost on most except for perhaps historians.

This becomes a bit more evident when you realize that sound effects from Taxi (like Gorby's pickup effect) play when Boris is the lit customer. Maybe it's lost on people now, but I'd have hoped the Taxi references would've helped some of us get it.

 

[dtown8532]

can this thread be locked politics correct silly or itherwise has no place here its gonna stink of yuppie bull****

I agree with the drunk guy. These threads go nowhere but down. Diner's audio is a product of its time just like film, music or any other piece of art. Yes, Diner the pinball machine is art. It was created by people and is appreciated by other people. MANY other people if you go by the comparitive price for a System 11 pin.

Oh, and as far as accents go, if you travel to other countries, some people think Americans sound funny too. So lets lay off the stereotype bullsh!t before I get nasty and, possibly, banned.

 

[David T. Melnick]

Political Correctness

The table is basically mocking each ethnicity.

It would be like someone saying that just because you're from South Africa, then you must ride elephants all day.... or something stupid, ignorant, and nonsensical as that. lol[/QUOTE
----------
yea...if one has seen Jerry Seinfeld's: "Seinfeld", one will laugh at the political correctness politicians & media make a big deal of. That is, it has been around forever; it just has not gotten a big negative "push" 'til these last few decades.

 

[shimoda]

Forget this thread, I'm gonna go play the Diner in my living room right now. After all, I don't have all day

 

[superballs]

IBTL

i'm with Heretic, this thread is indeed nonsense and is out of place here. especially this "Maybe certain people are overly sensitive, that doesn't make it any less racist because it doesn't apply to you". so by that logic, if i take offense at something, that makes it offensive? bull****, offensiveness is not determined by the person with the thinnest skin (carbon-nanotubes, as fantastically referred to above. i wish this forum had the 'like' feature). it reminds me of an old Freak Brothers cartoon where everyone is busy getting offended by everything. "The fact that folks are offended by it today is totally OK as well. It's their right to be offended by it if they want to be."

as stated above, pinball represents a time capsule. it is what it is. this bloody word 'racist' causes more problems than it fixes sometimes.

Actually,
I'd been thinking and I did, earlier, want to agree with his example of actors in "blackface" (with the exception of the genius role played by Robert Downey Jr, in Tropic Thunder). See, here's my often misunderstood belief: There's nothing wrong with racism, but everything wrong with bigotry. Racism is an attitude that derives from generalizations and in an extreme form, from lazy thinking and ignorance. Bigotry is preventing someone an opportunity due to racism sexism, not liking gay people (I refuse to use the word homophobia) etc.

Blackface, is an example of bigotry, where a black person could do a job, and actually be the most qualified for it, they used a white person and painted them black. Now, unless there were no black people available, or willing to take the part portrayed, that is removing the opportunity from someone based on their skin color.

Just wanted to give him that point.

 

[jaredmorgs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HCT1clqci3I#t=58 pretty much sums up how this table should be viewed. Thanks Whoopi Goldberg...

s/cartoons/Diner

 

[Zaphod77]

Forget this thread, I'm gonna go play the Diner in my living room right now. Really, I haven't got all day

fixed for you.

 

[TomL]

fixed for you.

Nice! Man, we truly are too slow.

 

[Baramos]

I think the stereotypes in this are fairly inoffensive. I don't think Pepe or Haji are anymore offensive than the Texan, and the other two are based on Boris Yeltsin and Margaret Thatcher. Actually I just read something surmising that Pepe is based on Manuel Noriega and Hajj is based on Bill Gates. Obviously the stereotype enters in that Noriega being Panamanian is conflated with a Mexican mariachi, but that also serves as an insult to Noriega, who certainly deserves to be insulted.

Haji is a bit more confusing, but he's no more offensive than Haji in Johnny Quest. Not to say that Haji wasn't offensive but there's a difference between something that is merely offensive/stereotypical and something which would increase discrimination. I don't think this rendition moves into the latter category.