The 'racism' rap against Wes Anderson.

Because the e-zine Slate is all about kicking things up a notch in the "contrarianism" department, it was not content to post Dana Stevens' entirely predictable (the word "twee" is used) pan of The Darjeeling Limited last week. (Stevens' point, a hardly original one, is that Wes Anderson needs to start making movies that are less like Wes Anderson movies.) It went for a one-two combo, with Jonah Weiner's "Unbearable Whiteness" intended as the knockout punch.

Weiner doesn't come out and call Anderson a racist, but the piece's rhetoric does play to the very special, considered self-righteousness of its ideal reader. "That queasy feeling you get when watching a Wes Anderson movie" reads the subhead. Oh yes, I wondered about that. Please do tell from whence it stems, Jonah Weiner. The hed above the address bar is even more exciting, in its way: "How Wes Anderson mishandles race." Tsk, tsk.

Mr. Weiner's main argument has to do with a fairly substantial plot point that comes a little before the final third of the picture, which I won't give away here; if you believe that the event suffices to pull off the "genuine awakening" of the Whitman brothers, one could say he has a point. My own reading of the picture is that while the depicted event is galvanic, the brothers are still some ways away from straightening out—that's why, Mr. Weiner, the shot of the porters trailing behind their moped is there in the first place—but while I disagree with Mr. Weiner's interpretation, I suppose it's not entirely unsupportable. (Especially for people who, like Mr. Weiner no doubt, care about strangers, who care about evil, and social injustice.)

So, having put forth a not entirely unsupportable reading, Mr. Weiner seeks to buttress it with examples from other films, drawing an analogy between Bottle Rocket's Ines and Darjeeling's stewardess Rita. Both are "service-industry [hotties] with whom...depressed Anderson hero[es]...become obsessed." Never mind that Jason Schwartzman's Jack Whitman's "obsession" with Rita is almost entirely provisional—at first she's a conquest, then a would-be sounding board—and that Rita's hardly the picture of sweetness that Ines was, or anything else. Anderson's major sin would seem to be that he made these women supporting characters.

Weiner also invokes Rushmore's Margaret Yang, a character who, if you go merely by her bearing and dialogue, could just as well have been Margaret Smith. This is real damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't territory, and of course Weiner knows this. He definitively overplays his hand, however, in his description of Danny Glover's Henry Sherman in The Royal Tenenbaums. "[A] black accountant who wears bow ties, falls into holes, and meekly endures Gene Hackman's racist jabs—he calls him 'Coltrane' and 'old black buck,' which Anderson plays for laughs."

Two problems here, one of which should have been caught by Slate's crack fact-checking department, ar ar ar: Glover's Henry Sherman by no means "meekly endures" the racist jabs thrown at him by Hackman's Royal Tenenbaum. Rather, the "Coltrane" crack sets off a furious shouting match between the two which is all the more powerful for the fact that Glover's character has been so quiet for so long. Also, the insults set Sherman into action—he soon exposes Royal, who has told his family he's dying, as a complete fabulist and presides over Royal's expulsion from the Tenenbaum house. But hell, I don't know, maybe to a guy as hardcore as Mr. Weiner that sort of thing constitutes meek endurance. (But my best guess is that Mr. Weiner merely couldn't be bothered to go back and check the scene.) Then there's Weiner's assertion that Anderson plays Royal's bigoted verbal thrusts for laughs. Well, says who? At two semi-public screening of the film I attended back in 2001, the "Coltrane" bit elicited a lot of gasps, but no chortles. I'm reminded of Edward Burns' indignation about a cop-killing scene in the Coen Brothers' Fargo: "When that cop gets killed, they went for a laugh. I fail to see the humor in my old man getting shot." (Burns' father is a cop.) Now tone is admittedly a tricky issue in Coen Brothers' movies, but it takes a real act of will to imagine the incredibly unpleasant scene Burns is referring to as intentionally comic. But Burns needed to believe what he needed to believe; so Mr. Weiner needs to believe what he needs to believe. After all, he's got two pages of Slate to fill.

Comments

[bill]

Hear, hear! I haven't seen "Darjeeling" yet, but Weiner's points about "The Royal Tenenbaums" are ludicrous.

And if I thought that scene in "Fargo" was supposed to be funny, I would have been as outraged as Burns. It wasn't, and I wasn't.

[bill]

Oh, a couple of other points, which aren't simply repeats of points you already made: if the character of Henry Sherman had been written as Weiner describes, I hardly think Danny Glover, of all people, would have agreed to play the role.

Also, if I remember correctly, on one of the extras on the "Tenenbaums" DVD, somebody points out that having Royal call Sherman "Coltrane" was Glover's idea.

[cinephile]

God, Slate's movie coverage has really gone downhill since Edelstein left, eh? Maybe they need to work up this foam of self-righteousness to distract readers from the site's support of the iraq war, the crackpot media rantings of jack shafer, and the continued publication of Christopher Hitchens (talk about fabulism...).

[Dave Kehr]

I think Wes made a big mistake, if a courageous one, when he outed Pauline Kael for her petty cruelty and manipulativeness in a Times Magazine story some years back. There are a few critics in this business who will never forgive him for that.

[bill]

Man...even a discussion about Wes Anderson's critical reception gets people fuming about Hitchens (who is terrific, by the way).

Now I have to go track down that Times story...

[don]

Wes Anderson is to the "art ilm" what M. Night Shyamalan has become to the "geek film," the whipping boy. People bag on these 2 for (gasp!) making movies that look like Anderson/Night movies! The nerve!!

And why is calling someone Coltrane insulting? I mean, some African Americans might bristle at being called Ornette Coleman, but Coltrane is a badass. Oh, and Slate is stupid for even going there, missing the point and not checking their facts.

[Joel]

Actually, the Kael piece was rather kind, if deadpan, using her illness as a way of making Anderson look vain and foolish. If it were so cruel, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been re-printed as the Introduction to the Rushmore script. Also, except for maybe Edelstein, what evidence do you have that Kael followers are exclusively writing stupid things about Anderson? The accusations are baseless--yet another excuse to even the score with someone who has been dead for six years. Is it a fair fight now?

[G. Kenny]

While I always appreciate Dave K's comments, we seem to have gotten off on a tangent here. The villain in this case is one Jonah Weiner, who completely misrepresented a scene from an Anderson film in order to bolster his flimsy, facetious case. I want to focus the attention back on his lame, dissembling ass. Let me give it a shot.
[Throat clearing]
I'M GONNA SEND YOU TO SING SING, WEINER!! DO YOU HEAR ME?? SING SING!!!
Okay. As you were.

[Ryland Walker Knight]

The "Coltrane scene" in _RT_ has more, uh, "truth" than any clip I've ever seen of _Crash_. Also, it's hilarious. The way the two of them completely self-deflate when their scene is intruded upon... deadpan genius. Ooh, boy, tomorrow at noon: call me fanboy in overdrive. But I think that kind of excitement is part of the fun of it, right? The opportunity that you might see something to reorient your eyes towards the sublime. Or something. Or, I just think it will be funny and delicious looking.

I get silly anticipatory about the other (PT) Anderson picture, too, but that's not for a while... I mean, you must get giddy at the prospect of stuff right, GK? You wrote that into your _Eastern Promises_ review so I know you are not immune. I like it when critics cop to their unabashed loves. Jim Emerson going crazy for the Coens' new movie at least in part because it's a good Coen Brothers movie makes me smile wide. I can't say the same about, uh, Ebert's devotion to something like _Crash_ but, hey, when he lets a little nugget slip about how much he likes looking at Queen Latifah enter a room I can't quit giggling.

[G. Kenny]

RWK—No, not immune at all. Also, I think at this time, and in this particular medium, a critic does him or herself no favors by camouflaging his or her enthusiasms...

[gareth]

hey guys, you all can't deny that the non-white characters in wes anderson's films are merely charicatures without a great deal of dimension. the fact that they've been created by the white wes anderson is certainly going to generate some discussions - so, get over it. like you, i've enjoyed watching wes anderson films and i've felt that he's truly had a resonating voice when he first began making films that made me and many others believe we had a cultural representative in the movie world. but, let's face the fact that he deals in exhibiting indie white boy fantasies and there's been some racial naiveties at play in his work. weiner is on point in diving into this area.

[bill]

How is Henry Sherman a caricature?

[G. Kenny]

Also, does the "fact" that Wes Anderson indulgences in "white boy indie fantasies" make it okay to support an argument by either sloppily or deliberately misrepresenting his films? And also—let's say Weiner is spot-on. Having handed down the judgment, what sentence does Anderson get? Do we boycott him until he remakes "Nothing But A Man," "maybe? I don't think so. The main function of an exercise like Weiner's is to allow the writer and his kind an opportunity to deliver themselves a nice fat pat on the back. This kind of self-congratulation is more genuinely repellent than anything you'll find in an Anderson movie. Or in an Eli Roth movie for that matter.

[WP]

Hey Gareth--of course I can deny that. And I do. One can argue that there are aspects of caricature or willfull naivete or fantasy in ALL of Anderson's characters, but I've never seen evidence that he's anything other than an equal-opportunity fantasist. Your post comes uncomfortably close to calling him dumb.

[gareth]

henry sherman: weiner makes a point to suggest that sherman's character seems weak and bumbling. no? (i don't have the article in front of me.) this is true - he does fall into a hole at huston's excavation site. is it minstrel-esque? no - not particularly - i think it expresses simply the character's nervousness and anxiety in being himself around a love interest. simple as that, right? what weiner doesn't touch upon is that sherman carries this disposition around with him the whole movie. he kind of comes across as this lovey puppy dog that's sweet and cute and we all get a warm feeling inside when we view him get the girl and ward off royal. does it carry some weight in racial fetishism? i'm not entirely sold. what i do see though is a character that's rather simple and one that has been adorned in color to make the character more intriguing or possibly more cute and loveable. i can see how some would perceive this character as an example of "positive racism." it's hard to say no. anderson's minority characters either offer their white leads exotic "love salvation" (sherman, ines, margaret, and rita) or offer some punchline in simply being called a funny name (apple jack) or they're seen delivering some uttered denouncement of the "zany" white characters' antics (kumar). they don't act like minstrels, but they are used for simple laughs and they don't receive scenes that allow them to become multi-dimensional. hey - this happens all over the place in american cinema - it's not some ludicrous notion. it certainly doesn't make me queasy and i don't believe anderson to be some destructive personality, but i do see this as a sign of his ignorance.

[gareth]

equal opportunity fantasist:
not the case. many of these minority characters play it straight (inez, margaret, sherman) and they're also used for sentimental purposes that honestly dilute much of anderson's absurdist fantasies. if these roles were handled in a more tongue in cheek manner there'd be less "positive racism." instead, they are used as lifeless vehicles to play out their white leads' (and anderson's) fantasies.

[gareth]

check it - from a social psychology perspective:

"Blatant, explicit racism in much of the world is now relatively rare. But more subtle modern racism does exist, whereby people may hold overtly egalitarian attitudes and values while at the same time unconsciously having negative attitudes and exhibiting more subtle forms of prejudice toward members of certain groups. Benevolent racism and sexism consist of attitudes the individual thinks of as favorable toward a group but that have the effect of supporting traditional, subservient roles for members of oppressed groups."
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/psych/socialpsych/reviews/ch11.asp

- partaking in the creation of absurdist minority caricatures can produce a slippery slope. as a white artist you have to be careful with how you portray members of a minority. offering one minority character to an audience is like offering one representative sample. if that sample is not represented in a multifaceted way there will be negative repercussions.

[gareth]

disclaimer:
i don't think that weiner's criticism is "on point."
i meant that he's diving into an area worth analyzing.
i, like you, think much of the article was alarmist and sloppy (i.e - the whole sherman "coltrane" deal, and the outsourcing comment)

[bill]

So what if Henry Sherman is bumbling. Outside of the "Coltrane" scene, there's nothing about that character that specifically requires a black actor. If the nature of the insults in his confrontation with Royal had been changed (a scene you yourself admit Wiener is wrong about) and everything else about Sherman had been the same, AND he was played by, oh, say, Ben Gazzara, would you or Wiener even blink? I almost can't believe we're talking about the "positive racism" in Wes Anderson movies. Positive racism?? In other words, pack it up, Wes, you're not going to win.

And implying that Inez, Sherman, or Margaret Yang (to name but three) are subservient forces me to conclude that you have personally redefined the word.

Hey, you know who else has a funny name in Wes Anderson movie? Luke and Owen's brother, Andrew Wilson. He plays "Future Man" in "Bottle Rocket". Also, in the "The Life Aquatic" Michael Gambon plays "Oseary Drakoulias". I think that one's kind of funny, but if you don't, then I guess you're right: Wes Anderson is racist.

[bill]

Also, I love this:

"as a white artist you have to be careful with how you portray members of a minority. offering one minority character to an audience is like offering one representative sample."

Please don't become an artist. I have a feeling you'd be getting into it for the wrong reasons.

[gareth]

man, this is all pretty funny.
hmmm...would ben gazarra make me blink?
well, i'm blinking by the name drop, bill. wow - you could of just said howie mandell or matthew perry. hmmm...ben gazarra? ben gaaaaazarrrrrra? let me think. oh - wait. he's the one that's white, right? in those cassavettes' films? yeah - i know who he is - and...that would mean i should ask how many white people are already in the film? too many to count on two hands or even two feet i bet. yeah i guess i wouldn't blink. also, a white man in a white director's movie - no not blink worthy. hmmm. me thinking this kind of moot. it's just straight up mooty, bill. along with the future man comment. i'm glad you're opening up, though.
let me guess you're "color blind," too, right? yeah - that's a good stance, i think. let's you open up like a flower, man.
okay, so, you believe we shouldn't try to differentiate between how he handles race because he's engaging in some wacky free for all of absurdist comedy. that's what i'm reading, right? and that would be to assume that we're analysing something that's purely absurdist. hmmm...is that true? i'd love to hear what you think bill.

[gareth]

g. kenny -
"The main function of an exercise like Weiner's is to allow the writer and his kind an opportunity to deliver themselves a nice fat pat on the back."
man, the hipocracy, right?
not only are you patting your own back but you have this whole comment room patting your back too. you've gotta be feeling proud.
oh - do you gotta spa around here?

[bill]

I think your problem is that you don't like seeing minorities cast in roles that could just as easily have gone to a white actor. You're a racist. Why are you so racist?

[bill]

Oh, I almost forgot: yes, Ben Gazarra is white.

Your friend,

Bill

[gareth]

wow - did you just write that or am i seeing things. man, that's clever how you just turned things around like that, bill.
i'd give you a rubix cube but you're color blind, right?