Slightly racist? (Was that an option?) Marketing, schmarketing. If it was just as question of photo composition, why not take out another couple and leave the black couple in? And if you say "Well, the black actors are probably not that well known in the UK and they want to sell tickets," then you're also trying to tell me that Brits are very familiar with Kristin Bell and Malin Ackerman (and I live in the U.S. and I don't know who they are). So yeah, not sure who's responsible (the US distributors who may have shuffled this version of the poster to the Brits without giving them an option or some Brit distributors who sais "Blimey! We can't have this!"), but, yeah, slightly racist. #couplesretreat
I'll throw in the Old Whitey McWhitneyness comment: I'm sorry. I barely know who the white people are in this movie. If name recognition helps sell tickets, I sorta get why....OK, it's racist. Wait, maybe it's weightist. #racism
@Phyllis Nefler: Agreed. British shows are an interesting hybrid of weirdly racist (early-morning kids show with bit characters named things like "Mocha" and "Java") to defiantly [whatever the opposite of racist is, e.g. groovy]--Sir Trevor McDonald, Doctor Who and Freema Agyeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor in... everything. I would never accuse another country of overt racism while we still cast Morgan Freeman as the "magical negro" 95% of the time. #racism
My sample size is admittedly small ("Love Actually," "Dirty Pretty Things," and "Secrets and Lies," among other examples), but I'm inclined to say that British films traffic in fewer offensive stereotypes about black people than their US counterparts. In which case, I'm starting to wonder if the folks behind the British version of the poster decided that it was "Couples' Retreat" that was racist in its depiction of black people, and opted to erase them as a way of implicitly distancing themselves from what I can only imagine is the typical tomfoolery handed to black actors in white movies.
Anyway, I know the above guess is a stretch. My point is that I'm too busy pressing the "THE ENTIRE US FILM INDUSTRY IS RACIST" button to be outraged by this.
Yeah, i paid 23.50 plus concessions to see this with my wife. I'm not even mad, I knew it would be terrible when I agreed to see it, so I don't want my money back even though we left at the 50 minute mark. I just expected something a little more tolerable from "the guys who brought you Swingers."
I hate to be this person, but the simple fucking grammar mistakes are just intolerably frequent on Gawker these days. Moylan, Rushfield, and Belonsky need to go back to the 2nd grade and learn the difference between its and it's (among other things.) I mean, c'mon guys, you're getting paid for this. Have a little respect.
@Tattertotter: What do you expect? How much are these guys paid per post? How many posts do they have to crank out to be able to eat and pay rent? Does Gawker even employ a copy editor? And what's the volume of copy that comes through? Get used to it, folks, this is the New Journalism.
That's "Swingers" era Vince Vaughn... the mistake no one regrets making all that much.
Current Vince Vaughn is that bloated neighbor who gets drunk way too early at the neighborhood block party and slurringly hits on someone's horrified teenage daughter right before passing out on the lawn. His long-suffering wife leaves him there all day, and one of his buddies throws a wet towel over his face once he starts to sunburn.
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#couplesretreat
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But Time consistently has the slowest servers on planet Earth. It's like they are powered by hamsters. #racism
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Anyway, I know the above guess is a stretch. My point is that I'm too busy pressing the "THE ENTIRE US FILM INDUSTRY IS RACIST" button to be outraged by this.
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At this point, it's just marketing! #racism
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That's "Swingers" era Vince Vaughn... the mistake no one regrets making all that much.
Current Vince Vaughn is that bloated neighbor who gets drunk way too early at the neighborhood block party and slurringly hits on someone's horrified teenage daughter right before passing out on the lawn. His long-suffering wife leaves him there all day, and one of his buddies throws a wet towel over his face once he starts to sunburn.