Hit French movie 'Intouchables' has some crying 'racism'
Reporting from Bondy, France — Most everyone in the low-income housing projects in northern Bondy knows about "Intouchables," the hit French film about a poor black man from their neighborhood who is hired to take care of a rich white quadriplegic.
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Yet even as the Cinderella story has audiences applauding, a few critics scolded its unrealistic take on the struggles of France's poor, as well as its "easy stereotypes" of minorities, shown through the fun-loving hero, Driss. Driss is of Senegalese origin, and with his charming wit — but also unabashed ignorance of fine French foods, art and music — he livens up the stuffy world of his wealthy counterpart, Philippe.
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But the French reviews were harmless flares compared with the bomb thrown by Variety critic Jay Weissberg, who wrote that the film "flings about the kind of Uncle Tom racism one hopes has permanently exited American screens."
"Driss is treated as nothing but a performing monkey (with all the racist associations of such a term), teaching the stuck-up white folk how to get 'down.'... It's painful to see," he wrote.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-france-untouchables-20120102,0,6120197.story