New York - Part 5

So we were on the flight back from New York. Well, technically we were on the flight back from Detroit, having already flown from Newark, but I think you understand what I mean.

It was a night flight - I was intending to pass out and sleep, but agreed to watch the first few minutes of Die Hard 3 with TheBloke (TM) as he said it was worth watching. It was, but for all the wrong reasons. Right near the start of the film, Bruce Willis is forced to stand in Harlem wearing a sandwich board that says "I hate niggers". Obviously, this is not a bright thing to do, and hence the drama kicks off. Except it didn't.

For whatever reason, the nice people at Northwest Airlines had decided this was a bit strong for its audience. The movie had been altered by CGI, so that the sandwich board read "I hate everyone". Wonderfully generic. Little bit misanthropic, but probably not enought to properly ire anyone, you'd have thought. Not so. A well-meaning black gentleman approaches Bruce Willis and asks him why he is standing in Harlem wearing a sign that says, "I hate" (pause for badly-dubbed voice match artist to say) "everyone".

Before long a whole crowd of black people has gathered. "What do you mean, you hate (pause for bad dubbing) fellas?" asks one disgruntled man, before threatening him with violence for his non-specific hatred. These cheery people of Harlem just can't believe that anyone could detest the whole of humanity. And are prepared to stand up against this generalistic misanthropy.

Hilarious to watch, yes, but seriously who is really being protected here? We KNOW that using the word "nigger" is likely to cause offence. The film is very much illustrating that. It isn't condoning the use of the word or glamorising it in any way. So just what the airline thought they were doing, who knows?

It did make me giggle though. And reminded me of a flight that Erica and I once took to the Dominican Republic (I think) not long after September 11. There was some rubbish Rowan Atkinson film showing on the flight, and it had one "comedy" scene that involved Arab businessmen. Nothing to do with terrorism - if memory serves, the scene was set in a casino. The airline had gone to the trouble of fuzzing out the Arabs' faces, as if panic was going to set in amongst its passengers, seeing the non-blurred faces of people in turbans.

At the risk of sounding like someone's parents - it's political correctness gone mad! But it still makes me laugh, so fuck it, bring it on.