The Stock Racist

Few things sink a film as fast as a two-dimensional stock character, be it the gay best friend, the renegade cop or the hooker with the heart of gold. But in the last few months I've discovered a new stock character who’s soiling the screen. I’m talking about The Racist.

I’ve known some fairly racist individuals, but I’ve never met anyone like The Racist of modern cinema, who struts around with guns blazing and a racial slur tattooed on his forehead.

It started when I finally saw Paul Haggis’ film Crash. It’s a film about race, and it certainly had some powerful moments, but several characters seemed to be speaking the subtext of bigotry rather than anything I could believe as dialogue. I believe that many white people feel intimidated when they’re approached by young black men; I don’t believe they turn to their companions and say, "these young black men are probably criminals."

Crash isn’t that over-the-top, but at times it veered pretty close. In one particular scene, Don Cheadle’s character meets with a white political operative who throws out black stereotypes like he’s talking about the Knicks game. It’s so brazen that the scene feels like an indictment of bigots rather than a portrayal of one.

It’s that indictment quality that really makes these Racist characters so insufferable. Not that racism shouldn’t be indicted, but most actors or writers worth a damn will tell you that if you judge a character while you’re creating them all you’ll get is cardboard.

Another film long on my to-see list, A Day Without a Mexican, tried to construct an entire film around the stock Racist. The ingenious plot, that one morning all Mexicans living in America suddenly vanish, is spoiled by the banal honkeys left in the wake. It’s a world where uber-ignorant millionaires spew vitriol about Mexicans while their Mexican housekeeper serves them breakfast.

The Racist character has apparently never been to a mandatory staff meeting on multiculturalism, or for that matter ever been told that "wet back" isn’t a term one should shout at the mall food court. It just doesn’t reflect anything I’ve seen in the real world.

There are plenty of racists – don’t get me wrong. But racism tends to be right below the surface. The manager at Denny’s may not hire the black kid, but he’s not so likely to announce to the wait staff "I’m not hiring this kid because he’s black." The Racist character on the other hand is more than happy to make such a proclamation, then go back to shining his belt buckle.

It’s not just that the covert racist is more real, from a writing standpoint he’s a hell of a lot more interesting. Show me a character who says exactly what they feel and I’ll show you a boring ass film. Unfortunately, that’s what I’ve been seeing.