Adam Eaton "Racial" Tweet Controversy

[knightni]

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[iamshack]

Oh for the love of Pete...

[Hatchetman]

Freedom of Speech is a two way street. Just because you have the right to say something stupid, doesn't negate somebody else's freedom of speech to respond as to exactly how stupid it was.

 

We're all going to say something stupid eventually and there are a million people out there just waiting to pounce. That's why I don't ever post to facebook, twitter, etc.

[Quin]

This is now a Filibuster topic. Meaning the Filibuster rules apply.

[Jenksismyhero]

First of all, I don't think many white people saw The Artist, Carol, The Room or Brooklyn, either...to respond to an earlier comment. I also doubt many white people saw Beasts of No Nation or the documentary about honor killings in Pakistan. That's not the point. When they constantly make movies and "whitewash" the characters like in Aloha or Gods of Egypt, there's a real issue.

As far as Asia goes, what Jimmy said is largely true. Denzel Washington action movies like Man on Fire or the Equalizer don't sell well here at all. Now if you throw Chris Pine and a train into the story, great. Same thing with stories involving interracial romance unless it's mostly white men with Asian women. The only way you can be embraced is as a martial arts crossover star. And, in general, comedies don't translate...so you'll never have a Kevin Hart movie. About the only exception was the Rush Hour series with Tucker and Chan and Zhang Ziyi, but, even then it got banned by the third movie for negative stereotypes about Chinese triads/criminal activity.

 

On the other hand, Kobe Bryant and Stephon Marbury (plays in Chinese league still) are wildly popular, as well as some of the African footballrs in the Euro leagues...but, once again, not in the context of movies and tv shows.

 

In general, I typically hear comments like "black people are dirty/meaning not white or pale skin as well" and the worst one, that lots of black people (students here from Africa mostly) all have disease/s. Most Chinese parents and grandparents won't allow their children to date men of color as well. While I do see quite a few college or university interracial couples...the eventual marriage rate is infinitesimal.

 

There is a legitimate reason for that though and people just want to ignore it. If Ridley Scott wants to make that 100% authentic film he won't get nearly the same budget (or even a green light) to do it. The studios know it simply won't make the same kind of money. It has nothing to do with studio heads not liking black people or thinking that they're inferior human beings. As Chris Rock correctly pointed out, Will Smith can't b**** about lack of opportunity when he got 20 million to make Wild, Wild, West. So the question is, is it Hollywood's responsibility to lose money and "force" people into watching movies they don't want to see as much as others?

 

And the response has been equally ludicrous. Russell Simmons created his own award show SOLELY FOR BLACK PEOPLE. Because what better way to combat discrimination and racism than to discriminate and be racist.

 

edit: and the whole basis of this thread, Eaton's tweet, truly proves what a pathetic society we've become. So much white guilt. So much trying to prove how not racist you are by being unreasonably and stupidly outraged over nothing.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Jenksismybitch

[caulfield12]

It works both ways.

 

Chris Rock took a cheap shot at Asian-Americans (for being smart and hard-working, and doubling down with a child labor bit) and almost nobody in the world noticed, except for Jeremy Lin, who I guess is now the defender of all Asians in the minds of the media because he went to Harvard and is the most famous Asian athlete most Americans know.

 

As for Gods of Egpyt, you should at least make an attempt to diversify part of your cast simply because it does make economic sense these days.

 

Look at Star Wars and especially the Fast and Furious series...audiences want to see women as action stars, Hispanic or black characters they can identify with, more diversity. The melting pot, as long as it feels natural and organic.

 

Just as insulting is integrating Chinese stars for maybe three to five minutes into X-Men and Transformers movies to pander to the audience here in China. It worked to an extent, but now expectations have risen and Chinese studios are demanding more or simply creating more co-productions as well as buying up US studios and theatre chains.

 

To summarize, Affirmative Action or required participation in movies based on being 12% African American, 14% Hispanic, 7% Asian (but Asian worldwide dominates due to India and China) and 1% Native Americans won't work...so what is your suggestion that's actually feasible?

 

 

I would counterargue that more movies aiming for small niche Hispanic and African-American audiences are profitable than the average "almost all white cast" movie...but the studios do typically role the dice on four quadrant movies that can lead to huge profits or four baggers as they're called.

 

Tyler Perry movies, for example...almost always profitable until recently. Friday and most of the early Ice Cube movies.

 

As a culture, can we honestly be satisfied only with "buddy" comedy movies with one black and one white star paired together...or anything with Will Smith or Denzel Washington since white America is more comfortable with them?

Edited March 1, 2016 by caulfield12

[Jenksismyhero]

It works both ways.

 

Chris Rock took a cheap shot at Asian-Americans (for being smart and hard-working, and doubling down with a child labor bit) and almost nobody in the world noticed, except for Jeremy Lin, who I guess is now the defender of all Asians in the minds of the media because he went to Harvard and is the most famous Asian athlete most Americans know.

 

As for Gods of Egpyt, you should at least make an attempt to diversify part of your cast simply because it does make economic sense these days.

 

Look at Star Wars and especially the Fast and Furious series...audiences want to see women as action stars, Hispanic or black characters they can identify with, more diversity. The melting pot, as long as it feels natural and organic.

 

Just as insulting is integrating Chinese stars for maybe three to five minutes into X-Men and Transformers movies to pander to the audience here in China. It worked to an extent, but now expectations have risen and Chinese studios are demanding more or simply creating more co-productions as well as buying up US studios and theatre chains.

 

To summarize, Affirmative Action or required participation in movies based on being 12% African American, 14% Hispanic, 7% Asian (but Asian worldwide dominates due to India and China) and 1% Native Americans won't work...so what is your suggestion that's actually feasible?

 

 

I would counterargue that more movies aiming for small niche Hispanic and African-American audiences are profitable than the average "almost all white cast" movie...but the studios do typically role the dice on four quadrant movies that can lead to huge profits or four baggers as they're called.

 

Tyler Perry movies, for example...almost always profitable until recently. Friday and most of the early Ice Cube movies.

 

As a culture, can we honestly be satisfied only with "buddy" comedy movies with one black and one white star paired together...or anything with Will Smith or Denzel Washington since white America is more comfortable with them?

 

I don't know what the solution is. I'm just saying I think there's a non-racist reason why there aren't more opportunities for minority actors in this country. It has more to do with profit and risk than it does race, especially when it comes to bigger box office movies.

[illinilaw08]

I don't know what the solution is. I'm just saying I think there's a non-racist reason why there aren't more opportunities for minority actors in this country. It has more to do with profit and risk than it does race, especially when it comes to bigger box office movies.

 

Hold on. I'm confused. If the reason minority actors don't get opportunities is because there is less profit and more risk in casting minority actors, then how is race NOT the driving force behind the lack of opportunity?

[greg775]

I might vote for Trump for just that one reason alone: to combat political-correctness and the increasing stifling of free speech.

 

It's turning into an Orwellian nightmare these days and it has to be stopped. If anyone might be the slightest bit put off by a comment, people are guilt-tripped into apologizing even if no real harm was done. No one can freely speak their minds anymore and it's BS, it's definitely not America.

 

Eaton shouldn't have apologized, he instead should have pulled "a Trump" and boldly denied that he said anything that could even be remotely construed as racist. He shouldn't be catering to the PC extremists. By apologizing, it makes it looks like he DID do something wrong and helps to fuel more PC in a vicious cycle.

 

I sincerely hope that Sox management didn't order him to apologize. That would be a serious chicken-poo move.

Supurb post. You capture my sentiments 100 percent. I'd never apologize for that inocuous (sp?) post. Post more often please. Great post!

 

We're all going to say something stupid eventually and there are a million people out there just waiting to pounce. That's why I don't ever post to facebook, twitter, etc.

Exactly. Tremendous post. "Pounce" is exactly the word. Twitter equals evil IMO.

[Jenksismyhero]

Hold on. I'm confused. If the reason minority actors don't get opportunities is because there is less profit and more risk in casting minority actors, then how is race NOT the driving force behind the lack of opportunity?

 

Because it's fundamentally about money concerns first. A studio deciding to cast Gellynhaal instead of an Iranian actor for Prince of Persia wasn't due to the studio thinking Iranian's were inferior people. They were concerned about their hundred or two hundred million dollar investment flopping if they didn't get a big enough actor to get people to show up to the movie theater. Hollywood has had no trouble the last 30 years casting/paying top dollar to black actors/actresses that are popular enough to carry movies. Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Denzel, Will Smith, etc. etc. were/are superstars.

 

I think when you go back to the actual racist Hollywood from decades and decades ago, then it really was blacks can't act, they shouldn't be on TV/big screens, people shouldn't see blacks/whites together, etc.

 

 

[iamshack]

That's not what I'm arguing at all, but feel free to create your own agenda. Not surprised in your next post you admitted you were supporting Trump, all starting to make sense.

 

The point is no one should be looking to an athlete for their political view on anything. No one cares, and they have no skin in the game. Can they post anything they choose? Sure. But look at what happened to this situation. What good came from it? And I don't think Eaton said anything remotely offensive. This entire topic is ridiculous.

 

Stick to hitting baseballs. That's why people follow you on Twitter, because you play for their favorite team and they are your fan. I don't need your views on racial equality at an awards show.

I smell what you are stepping in, but I can't disagree more.

 

The very power that professional athletes and other celebrities have is that they can convince those that admire them to believe in something positive, (or negative, unfortunately). To take that away from them is a waste of a lot of momentum that otherwise can take exponentially more effort to amass.

[southsider2k5]

I smell what you are stepping in, but I can't disagree more.

 

The very power that professional athletes and other celebrities have is that they can convince those that admire them to believe in something positive, (or negative, unfortunately). To take that away from them is a waste of a lot of momentum that otherwise can take exponentially more effort to amass.

 

If you are relying on Adam Eaton to do anything other than to provide a few hours of entertainment as an escape from life, you are doing it wrong.

[iamshack]

And after spending solid time with hundreds of professional athletes spanning different sports, nothing gets me more upset than masses of uneducated people taking political, financial or moral advice from professional athletes.

I respect the fact that your profession exposes you to professional athletes, but I don't think the fact that you are basically calling them stupid makes it so.

 

There is no shortage of people out there offering bad advice to uneducated people. The fact that athletes are often a subset of that does not lend to the conclusion that all athletes should only speak on matters of athletics. That is simply ridiculous.

[iamshack]

If you are relying on Adam Eaton to do anything other than to provide a few hours of entertainment as an escape from life, you are doing it wrong.

Are you two brothers or something? What is with the tag teaming lately?

 

The issue I am responding to is not just Adam Eaton - it's ALL athletes. That was the statement that was made.

 

And honestly, is the irony not lost on you that you're dispensing more advice than anyone on this forum, and yet you have the nerve to tell someone else they should not do that very same thing.

[southsider2k5]

Are you two brothers or something? What is with the tag teaming lately?

 

The issue I am responding to is not just Adam Eaton - it's ALL athletes. That was the statement that was made.

 

And honestly, is the irony not lost on you that you're dispensing more advice than anyone on this forum, and yet you have the nerve to tell someone else they should not do that very same thing.

 

If you are looking at me for advice, you are doing it wrong.

[iamshack]

If you are looking at me for advice, you are doing it wrong.

And therefore, you are hereby prohibited from dispensing any further advice.

[southsider2k5]

And therefore, you are hereby prohibited from dispensing any further advice.

 

Now this is delicious irony...

[iamshack]

Now this is delicious irony...

Oh, please do elaborate.

[Jenksismyhero]

And therefore, you are hereby prohibited from dispensing any further advice.

 

I think the problem is that people can't take what an athlete says as "just another opinion," and for many they hold athletes up to impossible standards. They're all normal people who just happen to do one thing really well. They all have faults. Some are terrible people. Just because they have a platform doesn't mean people should/need to listen to what they have to say as if it's any more important than what the homeless guy on the street is shouting. Yet for some reason in this country we put them on pedestals and then when they crack and show their real selves we wonder why.

 

[chw42]

Because it's fundamentally about money concerns first. A studio deciding to cast Gellynhaal instead of an Iranian actor for Prince of Persia wasn't due to the studio thinking Iranian's were inferior people. They were concerned about their hundred or two hundred million dollar investment flopping if they didn't get a big enough actor to get people to show up to the movie theater. Hollywood has had no trouble the last 30 years casting/paying top dollar to black actors/actresses that are popular enough to carry movies. Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Denzel, Will Smith, etc. etc. were/are superstars.

 

I think when you go back to the actual racist Hollywood from decades and decades ago, then it really was blacks can't act, they shouldn't be on TV/big screens, people shouldn't see blacks/whites together, etc.

 

Sure, you can make that argument for certain main roles. You need big names to attract audiences and I think everyone understands that. But how do you explain Hollywood casting no-name white actors in place of Asians and Arabs in supporting roles?

 

 

[iamshack]

That is your argument? Since everyone does something stupid, they should too?

 

I'm not saying athletes should be silenced. They are free to post whatever they choose, it's their social media account. No one owns it but them.

 

And guess what? They do have influence, you're right. I don't think they should, but they do, there is no way to argue that.

 

As you have seen with the Eaton debacle, in most cases they shouldn't be trusted to articulate topics that are out of their realm. I've already stated I don't think what Eaton said was even close to controversial. Clearly many did. And if I was working on Eaton's team, I would have strongly urged him not to post anything relating to race. I would simply ask the question: What's the upside here? What is the end result you hope to achieve by posting your own personal thoughts on race relations?

 

Is Adam Eaton, the guy with the nickname "Spanky", supposed to spark change in the #OscarsSoWhite campaign?

And this is your argument?

 

You're coming at this from an agent or ownership perspective...you are arguing about what is smart for the athlete to do to protect his image or the image of the team.

 

That is entirely different than what your initial comment stated, which was that athletes should shut the hell up unless they are going to use their salaries to effectuate change.

[Jenksismyhero]

Sure, you can make that argument for certain main roles. You need big names to attract audiences and I think everyone understands that. But how do you explain Hollywood casting no-name white actors in place of Asians and Arabs in supporting roles?

 

Don't they usually? I think that's probably more of an exception than the norm if they don't.

[LDF]

 

athletes in general, esp eaton, they get this delusion that they are so well liked, they can do no wrong. esp if he is trying to reinforce being the fans favorite.

 

i bet he learned on how something so out of any scope not bad, can be taken the wrong way. esp in the modern day contracts the sports people sign. the clause of imagine and community image and in a positive team image ..... i do not not the who english of such a clause.

[chw42]

Don't they usually? I think that's probably more of an exception than the norm if they don't.

 

Go look at the cast of Exodus: Gods and Kings. That's a story about Egyptians and people of Middle Eastern origin. Look at how many of them are in the cast. I'll give you a hint, it's a really low number.

 

Not to mention there's movies like 21 where they completely changed the Asian characters that were originally part of the real-life story to white characters.

[iamshack]

As I should be, as that is a huge part of the equation. And my original point still stands.

 

Can they post whatever they want? Yes, it's their right.

 

Should they post whatever they want? Probably not. Their opinion is just as valid as yours or mine, yet holds more weight given their celebrity of playing a game.

 

You want to post about your kids? The video games you play in your downtime? Plug your favorite clothing line? Cool. I don't want to hear about your feeling on Syria, our current president, race relations or religion.

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