Short Circuit (1986)
November 16, 2022 7:29 AM - Subscribe

After a lightning bolt gives it human emotions and intelligence, a military robot escapes and finds refuge at the home of an animal-loving pacifist (Ally Sheedy).

Also starring Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens.

Directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever). Written by S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock.

61% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Hulu and Hoopla. JustWatch listing.

Today, I'm going to post six movies that are problematic and/or made by/starring problematic people, but also either: have merit/are acclaimed; won some awards; are very popular; have a certain amount of cultural cachet. I'll be tagging these #problematicmovies.

This one makes the list because of the Fisher Stevens character Jabituya, who is both shockingly racist and portrayed in brownface. Fisher Stevens has since said he regrets playing the role, but also, confusingly, that he hopes to reprise the role when the series is brought back.
posted by DirtyOldTown (12 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I loved... absolutely loved this movie as a 14-year-old nerd.

It is only in the last couple years that I learned about the brownface (I always wondered why I never saw that actor doing other roles... yeah, I was naive) - and am horrified and flabbergasted, still trying to process how it was "allowed" - even in the 80's.
posted by rozcakj at 7:48 AM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


I also loved this as a kid, and am just literally finding out now about the brownface. Wow. Yikes.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:43 AM on November 16, 2022 [4 favorites]


Man, Steve Guttenberg was everywhere for a while there.
He found his niche and just rolled with it.

I feel like he is one of those guys that is due for a comeback in a Christmas movie that ends up on repeat all December.
posted by madajb at 9:04 AM on November 16, 2022 [4 favorites]


Also, Short Circuit, great movie.

Endlessly quotable when you are having technology issues.

"Malfunction"
"Need input"
"No disassemble!"

"It's a machine, (pause)
"It just runs programs!"

Also, I recommend saying it without the fake Indian accent but "We are wasting valueless time here" is applicable in more situations than you might expect.

posted by madajb at 9:16 AM on November 16, 2022 [4 favorites]


Guttenberg seems like a mensch. I've read where he realized around 1990 that what he was getting out of fame was no longer as interesting to him as what he was giving up. He has tended to do more theater and spend more time with his family in the years since, though he still does screen work from time to time, some for love, some for money.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:18 AM on November 16, 2022 [3 favorites]


> I also loved this as a kid, and am just literally finding out now about the brownface. Wow. Yikes.

Same! Admittedly, I haven't seen the movie since I was a kid (the occasional clip while channel surfing notwithstanding, and even that would have to be at least a decade ago, when I still had cable), but this is shocking to me.

I vaguely remember the character having a stereotypical accent and being a bit of a racist caricature, but I had no idea he was played by a white guy in brown face...and then they made a sequel in which he was the main (human) protagonist! Yikes.
posted by asnider at 12:53 PM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


So we watched this movie a few weeks ago in my weekly watch party. Someone dug up the trivia that Fisher Stevens (the dude in black face) was originally cast to play a white grad student named Ben. The director, John Badham, decided that it’d be better to have the character be Indian. Instead of recasting the role, they decided to transform Stevens into an Indian man. Apparently he was so convincing Aziz Ansari said he considered Stevens to be one of the few representations of Indian men in film growing up. He noted his surprise when he found out that the character he’d looked up to was actually white.

Stevens said in a 2009 interview that he really enjoyed preparing for the role. “Back then, I loved it. I went to India and I studied Hindi. I got into yoga. And this is in 1985. I lived with Indian people. I really immersed myself. I used to be a total Method actor, so I was really deep in the deep end. And I had a great time. And the malapropisms, they worked. I thought they were great. So I really loved it."


Last year Stevens said in an interview that he regrets the role and it haunts him.
posted by miss-lapin at 1:19 PM on November 16, 2022 [2 favorites]


It is only in the last couple years that I learned about the brownface (I always wondered why I never saw that actor doing other roles... yeah, I was naive) - and am horrified and flabbergasted, still trying to process how it was "allowed" - even in the 80's.

Too bad that most of the movies that I'm thinking of off the top of my head have already been on the purple, because that would be an interesting list: good white actors doing awful portrayals of people of other races. Besides this one, there's Jenette Goldstein as Vasquez in Aliens, Joel Grey as Chiun in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Brando in Teahouse of the August Moon, Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Judy Garland.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:33 PM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


...or maybe they haven't been? (Aliens is the only one, probably.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:01 PM on November 16, 2022


Count me as another person who had NO IDEA at the time that Fisher Stevens was a white dude in that movie. NO IDEA. LIke, it was a bad idea all around, but...I admit, he seemed quite convincing.

The robot is darned cute and charming, though. No disassemble! I have also watched the sequel way too many times, including the "Johnny 5 joins a gang and gets an outfit" bit and the time he reads Hound of the Baskervilles.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:26 PM on November 17, 2022


also, confusingly, that he hopes to reprise the role when the series is brought back.

Hmm, that's clearly the way TMZ is framing it, but in the video itself there's no indication that he's saying the talks are about him playing the same character. They could just have him in a completely different role/cameo as a nod to the original movie.
posted by Pryde at 11:19 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Can I speak to the chief warmonger?
posted by Scattercat at 11:25 PM on November 30, 2022 [1 favorite]


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