Comments on: N-word Futures http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-word-futures/ art • games • change Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:31:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Tom W http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-word-futures/comment-page-1/#comment-15386 Tom W Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:48:02 +0000 http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-is-for/#comment-15386 (Is it me or does the n-word seem to be used more often in white-directed films these days than black ones?) This jsut goes back to the amount of whites verse blacks in america... simple census issue. If there were more blacks in the US, there might be more blacks in film, if there were more blacks in film, id imagine it would be more blacks using the N word in their movies... just a thought. maybe im just playing devils advocate, but I really dont think this is a problem.. like someone said, it wont give blacks more rights or mke more jobs available or take away racism... Constatnly bringing up "injustices" like these only widen the gap between races... Im not racist, but when I see things like this, it makes me feel like im hated by the black community or that there really IS a difference... I know there isnt, but it creates this sense of "Well, blacks want to be in games, (blacks are different) so we should work towards (blacks are different) that sort of equaly portyrayed wolrd (blacks are different)" anyway, its just getting later and im sure i sound racist as all heck, please, dont take it this way, im just brainstorming by writing... i hope you take this all as a way to brainstorm yourselves.... :) g'night (Is it me or does the n-word seem to be used more often in white-directed films these days than black ones?)

This jsut goes back to the amount of whites verse blacks in america… simple census issue. If there were more blacks in the US, there might be more blacks in film, if there were more blacks in film, id imagine it would be more blacks using the N word in their movies…

just a thought.

maybe im just playing devils advocate, but I really dont think this is a problem.. like someone said, it wont give blacks more rights or mke more jobs available or take away racism… Constatnly bringing up “injustices” like these only widen the gap between races…

Im not racist, but when I see things like this, it makes me feel like im hated by the black community or that there really IS a difference… I know there isnt, but it creates this sense of “Well, blacks want to be in games, (blacks are different) so we should work towards (blacks are different) that sort of equaly portyrayed wolrd (blacks are different)”

anyway, its just getting later and im sure i sound racist as all heck, please, dont take it this way, im just brainstorming by writing… i hope you take this all as a way to brainstorm yourselves…. :) g’night

]]> By: Jason http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-word-futures/comment-page-1/#comment-2075 Jason Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:36:44 +0000 http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-is-for/#comment-2075 Good points! I agree the word can be quite poetic when used in the right context and your example is a fantastic one. It's too bad that more people don't have the same thoughtfulness and discretion using the n-word as August Wilson. I wonder if that will change someday. Good points! I agree the word can be quite poetic when used in the right context and your example is a fantastic one. It’s too bad that more people don’t have the same thoughtfulness and discretion using the n-word as August Wilson. I wonder if that will change someday.

]]> By: Aparna http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-word-futures/comment-page-1/#comment-2063 Aparna Thu, 14 Dec 2006 03:43:41 +0000 http://microscopiq.com/2006/11/n-is-for/#comment-2063 As a foreigner to this country my perspective is limited at best. Racial prejudice is pretty blatant in the US and for that matter anywhere in the world (perhaps just more subtle in some places) and anyone who thinks otherwise is blind. But coming back to the n-word I think the power of the word is not just in its subversiveness but also in someways weirdly it can be poetic. I have to agree with the critic at the New Yorker about a play by August Wilson "Two Trains Running" - the lines he quotes are: "A nigger with a gun is bad news," Holloway says. "You say the word 'gun' in the same sentence with the word 'nigger' and you in trouble. The white man panic. Unless you say, 'The policeman shot the nigger with his gun.' " I couldn't put it better than John Lahr when he says "That's magnificent writing. I left the theatre exhilarated, glad to have been alive in Wilson's time" Now substitute the n-word with 'black man' or 'african american man' it just doesn't convey that same sense of injustice or maybe thats because we have been desensitised by those phrases and not yet de-sensitized by the n-word - since it is in some ways banned. As a foreigner to this country my perspective is limited at best. Racial prejudice is pretty blatant in the US and for that matter anywhere in the world (perhaps just more subtle in some places) and anyone who thinks otherwise is blind. But coming back to the n-word I think the power of the word is not just in its subversiveness but also in someways weirdly it can be poetic. I have to agree with the critic at the New Yorker about a play by August Wilson “Two Trains Running” – the lines he quotes are:
“A nigger with a gun is bad news,” Holloway says. “You say the word ‘gun’ in the same sentence with the word ‘nigger’ and you in trouble. The white man panic. Unless you say, ‘The policeman shot the nigger with his gun.’ ”
I couldn’t put it better than John Lahr when he says
“That’s magnificent writing. I left the theatre exhilarated, glad to have been alive in Wilson’s time”
Now substitute the n-word with ‘black man’ or ‘african american man’ it just doesn’t convey that same sense of injustice or maybe thats because we have been desensitised by those phrases and not yet de-sensitized by the n-word – since it is in some ways banned.

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