Red Stripe Commercial Quandary

I'd like you to watch this commercial if you have the time.



(If not, a quick description: The Jamaican Red Stripe promoter is dancing to reggae holding a beer. An obviously confused white guy can't seem to figure out what to do. The promoter gives the white guy the beer and now he can dance.)

Now, I'm a fan of Red Stripe beer commercials. The beer itself tastes more to me like a moldy Otis Spunkmeyer muffin (you can ask, if you must), but the commercials I enjoy. Even this one. However, couldn't I be offended by the content if I wanted to be offended?

The idea that a white man cannot dance unless aided by a beer is a bit stereotypical. Sure, most white men probably are less comfortable at dancing to reggae, and probably aren't very good at it either. I, as a white man, am okay with that. I prefer to dance to a good country song anyway, and I feel like I can do it just fine.

But what if the roles (and perhaps for the sake of argument, the product) in this commercial were altered? Now, I don't want to go into any specifics, but if this were to be a white man peddling a product that would improve a black man's ability to do something that black men are stereotypically regarded as being poor at, would this commercial fly? Or if this were a white man and an Arabic man? Or a Latino? Even if the subject of the inadequecy was somewhat lighthearted...nothing political or whatnot...I still feel this would never even make it off the runway in a brainstorming session.

Why is this? Is it because I simply could care less about being offended, and others would rather raise an objection and receive that offense? I don't think you can say it is because I've never been treated differently because of race, religion, gender, etc. because I have. When I was applying for collegiate scholarships I was flat-out told that "because I am a middle-class white male I will have a great deal of difficulty receiving any scholarships." And the person telling me this was correct. There was a scholarship specific to every person on earth I felt, except for myself. There was American Indian only, African American only, Latin American only...you name it. No caucasion American only, though.

When I played football for Texas A&M, I was merely a walk-on trying to live a dream. However, after my first season, the athletic department came to to the football coaches and told them that due to Title IX (equal opportunity legislation for female athletics---which has done a lot to advance women's athletics by the way---) the team had to stay at 120 players. It could not go above this because it would cause there to be an unequal ratio of men to women athletes.
S
o nine players had to be cut. Nine. On a freaking college football team. I obviously didn't make it. I am obviously disappointed. But at the same time a lot of good things that happened to me would not have happened had I kept playing football.

But the point is, I've been discriminated against. You've been discriminated against. We all have been. It's a part of life. If we were all the same color, people would still find a reason to congregate together in groups and other small minded people in different groups would make fun of those groups.

"Look it's the brown eyes!!! Ha, ha...losers have brown eyes!"

Or..."Tatooed people smell! Everyone with a tatoo smells like a week old kolache!!!"

Look at the new Jetta commercials, for example.

You get my drift. So, am I wrong for being okay with being made fun of for a stereotype in a commercial? Should I be pissed off and raise hell to Red Stripe in defense of my race?

Or should we all lighten up and realize that we're different and that's okay?We are all different, in and out of our races. No big deal.

Or is there some middle ground where a line is drawn, but good natured fun-poking is just part of life?

Maybe the answer is in building relationships with groups (racially based or not) that are different from us. I have a friend who is white. His best friend is a black guy. They both know that the other would step in front of a bullet for each other if only to preserve the other one's life for one more second. The white guy calls the black guy "Big Color." Someone may have just been offended. But not this particular black guy. He knows there's not a racist bone in his friend's body. His friend may not like you, but it has nothing to do with your race. He knows his friend and loves his nickname for him.

So maybe it is about relationships, maybe it is about defending when defending is called for and maybe it is about letting stuff go as lighthearted, non-malicious jocularity when necessary. Like I am doing with the Red Stripe commercial. Even though I think I'm a pretty awesome reggae dancer.

Things That Piss Me Off

Well, if you're a Mavericks fan and you watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals last night, then you are most likely pretty irate. I am. I did. And, well, I am. There's several reasons for my attitude.

First, the Mavs needed this win. And before the game even begins the worst-run league in all professional sports suspends Jerry Stackhouse for a hard foul on Shaq in Game 4. Yes, the foul was hard, but in no way warranted a suspension. Why the NBA insists on taking the focus off of the games and putting it on the league I will never understand.

Secondly, Dwyane Wade is being treated like Michael Jordan. This warrants two notes: (1) He's not. (2) Even if he was, you cannot call fouls that are not there just because you assume a player is so good he can't miss unless he is fouled.

Thirdly, the refs decided this basketball game, and I'm being told by writers and sports radio folk around the area not to be pissed off. They say that the Mavs missed free throws (they were 21 of 25.) They say the Mavs should've taken the ball to the basket more and need to be more aggressive (why be aggressive if you are getting knocked around but not getting a call.) Here's my problem. The Mavs were in a position to win the game, up by one, 9 seconds left. Dwyane Wade makes an erratic and out of control drive to the basket, throws up a shot, and it misses. Replays clearly show nothing but great defense. No foul. To call that foul and to not be sure of it is wrong. And that pisses me off.

True. The Mavs could've done a hundred things better to be up by 10 instead of by one. But the bottom line is they were in a position to win the game and the rug was pulled out from under them.

So now that I am good and fired up, I feel like writing about some other things that piss me off. Right or wrong, they make me mad. And listing them will probably make me feel better. In no particular order:

A driver who has the right of way at a four-way stop, but absolutely insists that I go ahead. By the time we finish with our hand signals if said driver had just gone like they should've we could've gone through the intersection about 8 times.

Bad Saturday Night Live sketches. Seriously, are they even trying anymore.

The fact that people advance through this life just because they are good-looking. I've seen so many bimbos and mimbos in Dallas without a brain cell to their name who rake in cash simply because of their...other assets. Just watch a reality show if you can stomach it. And answer me this: How come there are no ugly people in the last decade with good enough voices to get a record deal? There's gotta be at least one.

My golf game, when I care about it.

The Cincinnati Bengals finally have a great season and are only awarded 2 prime time games, but the Green Bay Packers go 4-12 and get 3.

Forgetting something and having to turn around to go get it.

Stopping for gas and having to re-pass all of the cars you had trouble getting around initially.

Steve Dennis on ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas. You know if you live in Dallas. He's the worst and least intelligent of all sports personalities in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. He must be good-looking to still have his job.

Shaquille O'Neal intermixed in Superman Returns previews.

When I was a kid and someone would accidentally hit the cord connecting my controller to the Nintendo. It would totally freeze my game and I'd have to start over!

Getting shot at, and consequently peppered with bb's, while hunting with a dude from Detroit.

Accidentally ordering my burger without telling the order-taker that I want mayo instead of mustard.

Well, I'm sure there are more, and like I said before, I'm probably completely wrong in letting most of this stuff anger me; but it does and so does the Mavs game last night.

Here's to hoping we rebound and win this thing...