The Skids and Mudflap Debacle

Skids and Mudflap are apparently the most offensive characters in summer movie history. For those of you out of the loop (all two of you), I’ll let you in on what I’m talking about. Skids and Mudflap are two characters from the new Transformers sequel. They’re twins, who love to speak with urban slang, can’t read, and have gold teeth. This has led everyone to call them the all new “Jar Jar Binks,”   or “Stepinn Fetchit.” These characters are under major scrutiny and everyone is offended by them. So, are they really this hugely offensive racist stereotype? I give you another option…

Before I saw Transformers, I actually read several reviews where they pointed out several problems with the film and a lot of time was spent on Skids and Mudflap and how offensive they were. I couldn’t wait to see the film to see if everything I’d read was actually in the movie. Could these two jive talking robots truly be more offensive and annoying than Jar Jar Binks? I sat down in my seat, spoke with my friends about it and we all laughed at the idea. Yes, the characters were annoying, but unlike Jar Jar Binks, they actually had a moment to shine and kick some Decepticon ass that didn’t involve bumbling around and accidentally being responsible for their combat skills like Jar Jar at the end of Phantom Menace. And then it occurred to me that I don’t know a single black person like these guys. Are they a stereotype? YES! But of what? I couldn’t put my finger on it and then it hit me. WIGGAS! These are like all the white guys I went to high school with who lived in the suburbs and tried way too hard to fit into a culture they don’t understand. They try way too hard to speak in urban slang, and often come off as insanely offensive. I even knew a kid who at only 16-years old had his first real gold “grill.”

Now it made sense. Of course these characters were offensive, most Wiggas are! They thrive on being a part of a culture that they simply can’t understand because of where they come from so when they try to act hard and gangster, it comes off as goofy and offensive. Could this really be the case with Skids and Mudflap? Who knows. I’m simply stating that there are options as to what kind of person they could represent. If they’re Wiggas though, does that really diminish the offensive nature of the Twins? Maybe. But who’s to say what they really are. Michael Bay’s response to the characters was really underwhelming. He called them harmless fun, but in reality I think they’re anything but.

While the racial nature of the characters can be strewn several different ways, the language coming out of their mouths can’t. When you take a kid to a movie they will talk about it for days afterwards, especially a young kid, and no one’s going to want to see Transformers 2 more than 5 to 10 year old boys. The kids will eventually get their hands on the Twins action figures, if they haven’t already, and what do you think those kids are going to say when playing as The Twins? You think they’re going to have heroic lines like Optimus Prime? Optimus Prime says things like “One shall stand, one shall fall,” or “Autobots transform and roll out!” Cool heroic phrases! But Skids and Mudflap say things like “I’m going to bust a cap in your ass,” or “That’s because you’re being a pussy,” and while I’m not completely sure of what I heard, my friends and I thought we heard one of them drop the “N” bomb. Maybe it was our subconscious minds messing with us. This is really only one of several things I didn’t quite think belonged in this movie because of the fear kids could emulate it, but that list is long and annoying to even think about.

Transformers is a franchise based on action figures by Hasbro. Says so right after the movie ends, and it actually brought a laugh from the audience members I was sitting with. I don’t remember my Transformers being so crass or offensive and it just kind of makes me wonder where the mind set of the writers and Michael Bay had been going. The film is garbage, but you know kids are going to see it several times, and they don’t pay attention to critics like us. I can’t wait for the first news story of a kid getting detention for saying something inappropriate and then passing it off as “But Skids and Mudflap say it!”