To me, this was like when Carrot Top made Chairman of the Board. The movie overly caters to fit around his brand of comedy rather than just being a vehicle for him to branch out into comedic acting. Some of the parody videos within the film feel very shoehorned (such as the money for nothing parody). Also, I know the 80s was kind of a clueless time period so I don't judge it too harshly, but the casual racism of having gong sound effects whenever an Asian character appears on screen just makes the movie not age well.
Oh brother!
It's okay if you have a different opinion.
Yes, but bringing out the 'casual racism' is a bit of a stretch.
You're right. Its just my imagination. Hollywood has always been totally cool with its portrayal of Asian people.
UHF is a fun film. I think I've seen it 27 times at least...
I'm a huge Weird Al fan. Al does quite a bit of original material, which always outshines the parodies on his albums. I've seen him in concert on each major tour since the "UHF - Music from the motion picture and other stuff" album came out. He puts on a great show. He's also one of the friendliest, most humble people I've ever had the fortune to meet. I'm presently working on a book proposal for one of his albums and am planning a massive retrospective for my blog in the upcoming months on Al. His song at the end of the Captain Underpants movie is completely original and well done.
I have the movie on VHS, DVD and Blu Ray. The DVD actually has a few features they omitted from the BD release and vice versa. Another great release to check out is the mocumentary, "The Compleat Al," which Shout Factory released around the same time as UHF.
Sorry, I think my inner nerd is showing. If anyone ever wants to talk Al, discuss concerts, rarities, etc, I'm just a PM away.
Also, I bought the new Squeezebox career retrospective box set on vinyl of all his work...
Oh stop being so touchy, its not racist. It may be in poor taste or stereotypical, regarding UHF but its not done as malicious or to put forth they're an inferior race.
Some of those example arent even Asian. Fisher Stevens and Peter Sellers are supposed to be Indian.
Im Italian and nothing about how we're portrayed in the movies offends me or anyone else I know thats Italian.
If you read the oral history on AV Club, they said they probably wouldn't have included the Kuni character if they were making the movie today. I don't think they had any mean intentions. It was just a different time, and there were certain ethnic groups that were "safe" to caricature. The actor who portrays him actually speaks with a midwestern accent and is affecting the broken english.
Of course, but I think the word racist gets used too much or incorrectly. Id agree with something in poor taste, or a bad stereotype. And ok, India IS part of Asia but we were talking about the Japanese and Chinese and how they're used. If you were to go that far, you could have just said how Hollywood portrays 'ethnic stereotypes'.
Always enjoyed Al's music and made it a point to see UHF as soon as I heard he was involved. Loved it. I haven't seen it in quite a few years. Will need to try to dig it up again.
Oh stop being so touchy, its not racist. It may be in poor taste or stereotypical, regarding UHF but its not done as malicious or to put forth they're an inferior race.
Some of those example arent even Asian. Fisher Stevens and Peter Sellers are supposed to be Indian.
Im Italian and nothing about how we're portrayed in the movies offends me or anyone else I know thats Italian.
I would aruge this but I would probably just end up getting stabbed walking out of my apartment.
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. We'd quote it all the time in school. Even at the time I thought it was such a weird thing that Weird Al had a feature film.
Comments
To me, this was like when Carrot Top made Chairman of the Board. The movie overly caters to fit around his brand of comedy rather than just being a vehicle for him to branch out into comedic acting. Some of the parody videos within the film feel very shoehorned (such as the money for nothing parody). Also, I know the 80s was kind of a clueless time period so I don't judge it too harshly, but the casual racism of having gong sound effects whenever an Asian character appears on screen just makes the movie not age well.
Oh brother!
It's okay if you have a different opinion.
Yes, but bringing out the 'casual racism' is a bit of a stretch.
You're right. Its just my imagination. Hollywood has always been totally cool with its portrayal of Asian people.
Al tends to show up in odd places including the Naked Gun series and doing the theme for Spyhard.
Contributed to the Transformers and Pokemon movies too.
Forgot all about Dare To Be Stupid!
UHF is a fun film. I think I've seen it 27 times at least...
I'm a huge Weird Al fan. Al does quite a bit of original material, which always outshines the parodies on his albums. I've seen him in concert on each major tour since the "UHF - Music from the motion picture and other stuff" album came out. He puts on a great show. He's also one of the friendliest, most humble people I've ever had the fortune to meet. I'm presently working on a book proposal for one of his albums and am planning a massive retrospective for my blog in the upcoming months on Al. His song at the end of the Captain Underpants movie is completely original and well done.
I have the movie on VHS, DVD and Blu Ray. The DVD actually has a few features they omitted from the BD release and vice versa. Another great release to check out is the mocumentary, "The Compleat Al," which Shout Factory released around the same time as UHF.
Sorry, I think my inner nerd is showing. If anyone ever wants to talk Al, discuss concerts, rarities, etc, I'm just a PM away.
Also, I bought the new Squeezebox career retrospective box set on vinyl of all his work...
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Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
Some of those example arent even Asian. Fisher Stevens and Peter Sellers are supposed to be Indian.
Im Italian and nothing about how we're portrayed in the movies offends me or anyone else I know thats Italian.
PS India is part of Asia.
I can't wait to see UHF. Saw a couple clips on YouTube, looks like gold. Weird Al is awesome.
After that show, rented this movie (while still on vacation in SC) and remember thinking it was both stupid and amazing.
Saw Black Sabbath either later that year or in 1999, during the Reunion tour. Interesting first two concerts for sure.
Oh stop being so touchy, its not racist. It may be in poor taste or stereotypical, regarding UHF but its not done as malicious or to put forth they're an inferior race.
Some of those example arent even Asian. Fisher Stevens and Peter Sellers are supposed to be Indian.
Im Italian and nothing about how we're portrayed in the movies offends me or anyone else I know thats Italian.
I would aruge this but I would probably just end up getting stabbed walking out of my apartment.
"This ones from the boss, guitarzombie"