Jackson outburst shows problems with 'other' faces

The "interesting" thing for African Americans is the arrest on a positive id, now that is a whole other story

This happens to all races but it turns yet again into poor black people being picked on etc..

@falseflagsteve

Despite the evidence from experts on th subject you still dont get it. Ignorance truly is bliss is it not?

@Silvfan

Please show some evidence rather than speculation. I get what racism is and how it effects people. People of all colours and races have bias, some more than others but some use it as an agenda.

Samuel L. Jackson does lots of TV commercials, so it is no surprise that someone would get which ones mixed up. I saw the full video of the "outburst" and it is clear that Jackson was really just joking around with the flustered entertainment reporter "busting his balls". The main point of Jackson's barbs was the fact that it was an entertainment reporter, who is supposed to know everything about celebrities. That is what made is humor worthy. If the mistake had come from a regular reporter, it would not have meant anything.

I once mentioned to a Japanese friend that she reminded me of an aunt of mine. She was dumbfounded. 'Is your aunt Japanese??'

Silcafan, just because 'the experts' have done a study on it, don't mean it's true in all situations. In a culture where you have ethnic groups living next to each other, each regarding the other group(s) as 'other', then you likely will get people getting confused on account of their seeing a person as 'other' before they see them as an individual. But we don't all live in that kind of culture.

The way the 'experts' see it, if I mix up the names of (eg) my son-in-law and his brother, it's because I'm seeing them as 'other' because their race is different to mine (even though they're part of my inner circle), while if I mix up the names of (eg) my UK nephews (who I've met only a couple of times) I'm just having a senior moment because they're the same race as me. And when my aged mother-in-law gets me mixed up with her daughter (we couldn't look more different...), it can't be a race thing so it must be ..... old age?

In Japan I've been told I look like Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and a couple of other white celebrities, none of whom look alike to each other, much less me.

I'm usually good at picking faces- bad at names, like a lot of people; but even I got momentarily confused when the media had a chuckle at the company which accidentally ran a tribute of Nelson Mandela using Morgan Freeman's face. A friend of mine with a Vietnamese mother told me she still has problems picking Caucasians out from each other, even though she's lived among them for 30-odd years. I think the reaction in this case was overblown and I can sympathise with the hapless reporter- despite the sensitivity surrounding race relations in the U.S.

@falseflagsteve

What speculations are you talking about? The evidence are the experts on the subject that were interviewed in this article. The only speculations being made is you stating that some one is complaining that black people were being picked on. The expert explained why this happens sometimes using this situation as an ideal example. The only agenda I saw was you seeing this as an opportunity for you to whine about black people.

Like Suzu1 has stated, Samuel was busting his balls because he is an entertainment reporter. He should have known better.

@Cleo

When did I or anyone in the article say this is always the reason? However, if the expert has strong evidence supporting an idea with similar ideas from other experts in the field then I will probably believe them over your anecdotal evidence. This was the point I was making.

`Silvafan

The actor moaning about this is black and this would unlikely be talked about if the actor was white, Asian or Hispanic. The experts do say this is inherent in all races but as ever it is the black people moaning which is thinly veiled complaints of racism when none was in fact there. We had it recently from Oprah about looking for a posh bag.

Don't always take for granted what "experts" say, look into further. For instance Fox News and CNN will have experts who will have differing opinions on the same subjects even though both seeing the same data.

@falseflagsteve

Falseflagsteve wrote:

which is thinly veiled complaints of racism when none was in fact there.

Once again you are the one speculating. Do you not see the hypocrisy in your comments? :). Where is your evidence you were so quick ask for earlier? The only person moaning here is you and you like that you are being called out on it.

Don't always take for granted what "experts" say, look into it further

You didn't even read what a wrote! Look again, I said if that expert has strong evidence, backed by other experts with similar ideas then there assessment has more weight than Cleo and an anonymous poster whining without any real proof.

I would say don't take for granted your own believed expertise, and look deeper beyond your own thinly veiled bias.

I said if that expert has strong evidence, backed by other experts with similar ideas then there assessment has more weight than Cleo and an anonymous poster whining without any real proof.

Did I whine? No, I simply pointed out that the same action/mistake/slipup can be construed differently in different situations.

Experts can produce 'strong evidence' to back up whatever it is they are trying to prove, and other experts will produce equally strong evidence to prove the exact opposite. Sometime you need to look at what both sides are saying, compare it with your own experiences, and reach your own conclusions.

The article points out that for black people, being mistaken for someone else can have a special sting and asks why Jackson reacted so strongly.

One explanation given is “It’s a big deal because it erases your achievements. You’re just another interchangeable Negro actor,” Neal said. “Your body of work does not stand out enough to see what you’ve done is unique and distinct from what they’ve done.” So if I mix up, say, Sharon Stone and Kate Winslet, should either of them get upset because she's 'just another interchangeable blonde/female/pretty actor' whose 'body of work does not stand out enough'? Or would the adult thing be to just shrug and assume that I made a mistake?

As I said in my first post, people will have a different reaction depending on the culture they are familiar with. Not all of us live in cultures where ethnic groups constantly set themselves up as being 'different'.

@Silvafan

I don't have a bias, i am neutral.

@cleo

I never said you whined. I was speaking to the other person speaking directly to me. You should read a little more carefully. Cleo says "One explanation given......" Did the author or the expert say that was the only reason? You even said it was one explanation not that it is the only explanation. The experts in the article explained why it sometimes happen. Seeing that America has had a longstanding majority culture that likes to label other ethnic groups as being different then this could be one of several valid explanations for these situations. That is evaluating both sides of the issue. By the way, I don't believe that many ethnic groups especially African Americans who had to fight for everything they have achieved in America have been trying for 400+ years to set themselves up as 'different'. It was placed upon them. Therefore, I have confidence that if it was Cleo's 'culture' then another reasonable explanation would have been offered.

@falseflagsteve

If you didn't see your own hypocrisy in your comments then I doubt you would see your own bias. People seldom do!

@falseflagsteve: It's important to watch the video before making sarcastic comments about "poor black people" Sam Jackson was busting the guy's chops. Your sarcasm says directly about how you feel about blacks if some of them complain about something.

@Falseflagsteve shame on you poor choice of words moaning, whinning, poor etc and you say you are not racist most of your post seem as if you have to defend your comments which tend to make readers think you are hiding your true thoughts. Also Sam Jackson is far from being poor? Whats in your wallet?

I get this a lot in Japan, being white. I always thought it was natural. Whatever.

I don't know, I understand that there can be some prejudice involved, but I think it is a pretty innocent thing where our brains file information in a certain way, such that I continually called my high school friend Corey "Cody" and called Cody "Corey". It pissed them both off to no end, and sure, if I focused I wouldn't make the mistake, so there's an aspect of insensitivity on my part, but in the heat of the moment, it just comes out. Even though that's a sound mistake, I think visual cues can be the same.

I can't tell you how many times I have been told I look just like Brad Pitt or L De Caprio here in Japan. And I just don't look like either. When I saw Samuel Jackson's thing, I just wished I were able to say what he did "Sure we're all black (white in my case) and rich and famous..." Oh well, not in that club!

@Kaimychal

No, i don't have any positive or negative feelings against any people of any country or nation, that's why i can say stuff without bias.

I don't give a damn what is anyone's wallet except mine and i am fine even though having to bring myself up from a poor background, i will not blame others for any of my failures. Also if you judge someone soely by their worth then you have a bias.

caribjustice

I don't make sarcastic remarks just quote on what i see around the world. Same comments made by a white,Asian,Muslim or anyone else would not make headline news as this type of news is used by those with an agenda.

i give no more a crap about blacks than i do whites, yellow people or whatever, if people deny my right to observe and speak, they are bigots.

I liked the reaction when kofi Annan was confused with Morgan Freeman. He humbly thanks the interviewer and says he wish he was that popular and famous as Freeman.

That's nice, Change,

but Samuel Jackson is as popular and famous as Freeman and Fishburne, so by not being recongnized he got his ego hurt, as opposed to massaged, like Annan.

When I came to Japan I got people's faces wrong all the time. And they got my face wrong too, thinking I was some other foreigner, or occasionally, a famous pro wrestler. Not a big deal.

Yeah, it has nothing to do with the hypersensibility of a lot of blacks. Must be white racism. Never mind that I, a white guy in Japan, have been compared to Brad Pitt, James Hetfield and Nicolas Cage (?). Laught it off.