Subject:
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Re: Not Saving Private Ryan.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 1 Jun 2004 22:27:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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1301 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Scott Arthur wrote:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Bruce Schlickbernd wrote:
> > In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Scott Arthur wrote:
> > > > > [U]nique [S]elling [P]oint. I understand he ticks all the correct ethnic
> > > > > minority boxes in one swoop. This means there is no need for other
> > > > > minorities to have a token presence in a movie, thus allowing more room
> > > > > for white guys!
> > > >
> > > > I think you need to make up your mind whether he is black or a "USP",
> > >
> > > How would 40's America have viewed him. (A genuine question).
> >
> > But an utterly non-relevant one! :-)
>
> {That} depends on what relevance one attaches to the character’s name alone.
If the character was "passing for Italian (descent)" the film probably would
have made a point of it. I just think you are making a mistake in presuming
that since Vin Diesal is black/part-black, that he is only going to play a
character that is black, even when it doesn't make sense for the character to be
black.
> I'm happy to admit to not having watched the film enough to know the
> character's name. I'm happy to admit to not knowing what typical
> African-American surnames are; are there even such names?
Yes: a great many blacks adopted their owner's (or farm's) name. A fairly
common one is King, for example (Martin Luther King, B.B. King, Rodney King, Dr.
James King, etc.). Johnson. Floyd. Green. Williams. Mostly names that would
be fairly innocuous within Britain and viewed as very common within America,
Some French, usually traceable to Louisianna.
> I thought you were referring a thread at some point in the past. It is clear
> I mentioned it 1st in this thread and that you have called yourself
> part-irish in the past. I’m not sure what your point is? Have I offended you?
No, no offense. I just thought there was irony to you faulting Americans for
not being able to identify themselves simply as Americans, and then doing the
same yourself to someone who had not done so. :-)
I thought I put smilies all over those to show show I wasn't being particularly
serious regardless of the revenge-teasing!
:-)
:-)
:-)
> > But never by the phrase "Irish-American". And I believe I have merely noted
> > my Irish forebears, not my "Irishness" (again, your phrase).
>
> To be honest, I’m not sure what your point is?
Merely that you were inaccurate in your example. You were citing me as being
"Irish-American" to back-up your example of how Americans cannot identify
themselves simply as American. I don't claim to be anything but American (well,
Californian and Angeleno: Go Lakers!). I have ancestors who were Irish, which
is not the same thing. Most Americans merely use phases like "Irish-American"
simply as short-hand for all that anyway. Perhaps it is something that the
ethnically static wouldn't understanding.
;-)
-->Bruce<--
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Not Saving Private Ryan.
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| (...) That depends on what relevance one attaches to the character’s name alone. (...) I'm happy to admit to not having watched the film enough to know the character's name. I'm happy to admit to not knowing what typical African-American surnames (...) (20 years ago, 1-Jun-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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