Is the movie Gremlins racist?

Mar 19, 2007, 10:33 AM

Is Gremlins racist?

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Despite its critical acclaim and popular success, Gremlins has been criticized as racist and culturally insensitive. Some observers have commented that the film presents gremlins as African Americans[11], and in an unflattering manner. The creatures exhibit some of the worst stereotypical behavior attributed to blacks. They are wild, drunken, violent, murderous, seductive and lascivious. In one scene a gremlin spins on the floor, breakdancing.

In her book Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies, Patricia Turner examines the issue of the movie's depiction of the "African-American gremlins" as racist caricatures.

Nowhere are the negative ethnic messages clearer than in the actual depiction of the unearthly beings....
These malevolent miniature Mogwai are the most destructive and reflect negative African-American stereotypes. Soon after their unexpected birth, the pesky gremlins are devouring fried chicken with their hands. Their first target is Billy's kind, overburdened mother, and they are soon pursuing the hero's girlfriend at Dorry's Tavern. In some unexplained way, several of them have managed to acquire shades and caps that cover their eyes. Cigarettes droop from the corners of their mouths. They make haste to a tavern where they cannot get enough to drink. Here we see their love of music and their ability to break-dance.

(taken from Wikpedia)