Hollywood has had its fair share of good and bad cinematic projects, with some even exceeding the bar to be termed as “racist” or “controversial”. One of these movies was the 2004 comedy/crime White Chicks, starring the renowned Scary Movie actor Marlon Wayans. This film recently celebrated two decades of its existence and, in the meanwhile, also ended up sparking a heated debate.
This debate was regarding the controversy surrounding the movie. Apparently, one viewer deemed this critically panned but fan-favorite piece of work as “the most racist movie that ever came out of Hollywood.” Ever since then, fans have been engulfed in a heated debate on whether this opinion is actually laughable, or laudable, when literal pieces like the live-action Dragonball: Evolution exist!
Marlon Wayans’ White Chicks Has Sparked a Controversial Debate on its 20th Anniversary
Helmed by filmmaker Keenen Ivory Wayans, one of the many siblings from the Wayans family, White Chicks was a comedy-crime movie released in 2004, centering on an incredibly controversial plotline. It starred Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans in the lead as brothers working for the FBI, who had to disguise themselves as white women to thwart a kidnapping plan.
Obviously, this piece of work was slammed by critics at the time for being controversial for one too many reasons, as can be especially observed while looking at the critics’ consensus’ 5.8/10, 15%, and 41% ratings for this respectively, on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. But over the years, this film scored the achievement of becoming a cult classic despite its controversy.
That said, on the 23rd of June, 2024, fans were busy celebrating the 20th anniversary of this very movie when a critical comment popped up, earning the attention of the 51-year-old Marlon himself. As the actor reposted on his X handle (@MarlonWayans) with a “Do y’all agree?!” caption, the original backlash tweet from @Spikex1 read:
The most racist movie that ever came out of Hollywood!
Do y’all agree?! https://t.co/5NfrDxWD7g
— marlon wayans (@MarlonWayans) June 23, 2024
Ever since then, a heated debate has taken place in the comment section of the tweet from Wayans (@MarlonWayans), with fans adding respective points of view of their own to let everyone know just what they think of this. And, just as expected, a lot of them are pointing out other controversial films to explain their point about why White Chicks is anything but racist.
Fans Aren’t Calling White Chicks “Most Racist” When Other Controversial Films Exist
Taking to the comment section, fans are arguing how this satirical comedy-crime from 2004 was actually nothing more than a humorous stock of the Wayans performing one of their best works to date, and not of a racist piece of work like the original The Birth of a Nation from 1915. In fact, fans are trolling the user of this controversial tweet for not being able to handle absolute humor.
All in all, here’s what a majority of all those tweets (which are most defensive, unsurprisingly) in the comment section of Wayans’ retweet read:
No lol. It’s comedy.
And there is literally a movie that is the most racist ever: original Birth of a Nation. THAT is a horrid movie.
— 🤷🏾♀️ Queen of Sheba 🏴🏴☠️🇵🇸🇺🇸 (@SabaSmw) June 23, 2024
Absolutely not 😂😂 the movie is hilarious actually
— Domnic (@domthedent) June 23, 2024
Of course not. Keith doesn’t know film and he doesn’t understand the word racist. We can take this all the way back to The Birth of a Nation just for starters.
— Lexington Concord (@carlsson808) June 23, 2024
*definitely not pic.twitter.com/bJSJ5Rt1ON
— Naomi Nicole (@Naomii3006) June 23, 2024
I did think white chicks was racist any more than I thought tropic thunder was racist. People need to reclaim their sense of humor. You guys were hilarious 😂 ❤️
— ivanhoe (@skivanhoe) June 23, 2024
Birth of a Nation, and Song of the South were full of racism. White Chicks was funny. It looks like Keith needs to be re-educated on the subject.
— Porche de Rossi (@porchederossi) June 23, 2024
I’m white and find it hilarious. My white friends and I still quote it to this day. “Hold mah poodle!” I think it has less to do with race and more to do with poking fun at that early 2000s vapid rich girl aesthetic. 🤷🏻♀️
— Ashley Kosciolek (@SlyJabroni) June 23, 2024
No. Not at all. The poster has not seen very many movies if that is what he thinks is most racist. Smh.
— Michele Lambiase (@MicheleLambias2) June 23, 2024
Birth of the nation is a racist movie; this is comedy genius like we still calling this racist? Just let us know Keith that u don't have no funny bone in your body lol
— 💜Slides🤷🏽♀️ (@BabyGirl25135) June 23, 2024
Needless to say, fans’ argument is only as valid as ever, especially when films like Dragonball: Evolution exist — one that is still as critically panned and deemed controversial as ever before. That said, citing all of these fan reactions, entertainment buffs really need to start viewing satirical pieces as just that, rather than terming them “racist” or “controversial.”
You can watch White Chicks on Netflix.
