Don’t you just hate when the movies make you care about a bigot? Sure, racists are technically humans, but that doesn’t mean we need to sympathize with them, right? No matter how great the film, it should be very difficult to accept the softening of intolerant people.
Yet the lovable racist is not uncommon in cinema. In fact, out in theaters right now are two films dealing with this type of character. The Reader presents a cold Concentration Camp guard (Kate Winslet) for whom we’re meant to shed a tear, and Gran Torino focuses on a War Veteran stereotype (Clint Eastwood) who may evoke from the audience as much amusement as disgust.
Maybe it’s like picking a scab, watching these kinds of movies. Some great films, such as Downfall, may only welcome an understanding of someone so heinous as Adolph Hitler, but other films have allowed us to totally enjoy racist protagonists of lesser offense. Check out the following examples to see some of the many intolerant heroes we’ve easily tolerated.
Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers (1956)
Compared to many classic westerns, John Ford’s The Searchers is not necessarily racist towards Native Americans. Yet it does feature one of the most unapologetically racist characters in film history, one who influenced many subsequent intolerants like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. Ethan is such a badass bigot that he’d even kill his own niece for mating with a Commanche. Despite all his racism, though, audiences can’t help but like Ethan throughout much of The Searchers, because although Ford clearly looks down upon his hatred, the film also treats the character as a heroic man of his time. It’s a love him and hate him at the same time sort of thing.
Pino (John Turturro) in Do the Right Thing (1989)
In a way, almost everyone in Spike Lee’s classic is at least a little bit racist, evident in the famous slur montage. But it’s Pino who is the most ignorant, calling black people “the N word” on a regular basis. Yet we may forgive him, just as Mookie (Lee) does, because his bigotry is brought about through a combo of stupidity and culture. After all, if he’s a fan of Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy, he can’t be a true racist. Right?
Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997)
He’s portrayed as mostly hateful towards gays and women, but Melvin is also plenty racist. He tells Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.) to “think white” and earlier, when yelling for police, he shouts, “Assault and battery! And you’re black!” But who can resist Jack? He may be a total bigot, but it’s okay, because he’s got OCD and he’s ultimately good to a sick little boy and his mother (Helen Hunt). He even reluctantly bonds with the gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). What’s not to love about this Oscar-winning character?
Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Whether you’re Rob Corddry in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay or Billy Bob Thornton in any number of films, it’s okay to be a bigot if you’re hilariously extreme in your intolerance. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the cake with his Borat character, though, when it comes to loveable racists. Hey, it’s satire! He holds up a mirror to explore our own racism, displayed best in a pre-film scene from Da Ali G Show, in which an audience of rednecks joins him in singing, “Throw the Jew Down the Well.” In the movie, he similarly gets applause at a rodeo for suggesting America kills all Iraqi men, women and children.
Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) in This Is England (2006)
He’s the most adorable little skinhead ever, so how can we stop loving Shaun when he ignorantly joins up with the Nationalist ex-con Combo (Stephen Graham)? Isn’t it cute when Shaun is being racist towards the Pakistani shopkeeper? It’s not like he’s the real bigot; that’s Combo. Shaun is just too young to understand at age 12 that losing his father to the Falkland War is not an excuse for racism.
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