Watch Bringing Down the House on NBC.com and the NBC App. We must destroy this backwards institution and system before the poison sets. Thats appropriate, since the filmwhich earned $130 million domestically and become 2003s 13th-biggest grosseris a product of Disneys Touchstone imprint, whose comedies tend toward blandly upbeat, pop-music-saturated efforts with the look and feel of Disneys live-action offerings from the 1960s and 1970s, the kind that starred Dean Jones and involved some manner of supernatural or animal-related hijinks. I thought I heard Negro! The fraternity system is far from the only element of American society and culture that perpetuates evil isms. But what makes fraternities so particularly dangerous are mechanisms of exclusivism and secrecy that preserve backwards practices and values. But culturally, it seems to take place sometime between JFKs inauguration and The Beatles first American show. Verified purchase. In the end, the unlikely pair has the chance to put each other's lives on higher ground?if they don't end up bringing down the house. If those people are on this block and not holding a leaf blower Peter Sanderson Moving into their new office, Peter is surprised by Charlene, and they exchange thanks for their impact on each other's lives. Peter Sanderson (Martin), a divorced, straitlaced, uptight workaholic attorney, meets a brainy bombshell lawyer in an on-line chat room and they make a date. Why did we allow Bringing Down The House to happen, and what can we do to ensure that it never happens again? These cult-like institutional mechanisms facilitate the perpetuation of societal evils such as racism and sexism. and there are so many funny and A little racist perhaps but there's no denying that this is a funny film that will please the right audiences, and probably offend everyone else. Its a race- and culture-clash comedy as bland and hopelessly Caucasian as a Yankee Candle store. Kimberly J. The Greek system is as an institution responsible for the large-scale shaping of impressionable young Americans who will likely become influential members in society. It is largely due to a network of fraternity brothers who are encouraged to offer fellow brothers employment opportunities. Please enable Javascript to watch this video, Penelope Spheeris on the long-overdue return of her, In 1978, audiences couldnt get enough of Burt Reynolds, A 1996 double feature looks at the year of John Travolta. She then manages to infiltrate herself deeper into his life . The script loses its way several times, particularly with a tasteless plot line about Peter's racist society party girl of a sister-in-law. Lawyer-girl turns out to not be the professional Peter was expecting, but rather Charlene (Queen Latifah), who begins shouting incomprehensible slang at him as soon as they meet. In that house and with that family they are molded according to what theyve what theyve been taught day-in and day-out for years on end. America apparently really wanted to see Steve Martin duded out like Ali G, speaking a 60-year-old white hack comedians conception of black English. Bringing Down the House review by Jordan R - A racist film about racism. It is honestly a pity that a movie like this ever gets made; even more so when you consider that millions of people will see it without ever giving a second thought to what a movie like this really says. Product Description. He tosses it out the window and they kiss; downstairs, Charlene and Howie appear to do the same. That prejudice extends to Peter, who regularly talks to Charlene in ways that are condescending at best and racist at worst, like when he complains that she obviously got someone to type for her during their online flirtation (because clearly someone who uses Ebonics so extensively is incapable of writing coherent sentences). The material in this movie is every bit as tired as Steve Martin's sadly static delivery. Michael Rosenbaum. But he lucks out with online dating and meets a . Martin plays Peter Sanderson, a divorced workaholic tax attorney who, though still in love with his ex-wife (Jean Smart), has become so lonely, he develops a online relationship with a woman he believes to be a blonde lawyer. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Movie Info. Despite the clear prevalence of institutionalized sexism in fraternities, the Greek systems premium on secrecy conceals the true extent of sexist practices. Charlene (Queen Latifah) is not the bombshell blonde lawyer she sold herself as, instead she's a full-figured, ex-con black woman with ten tons of attitude and a whole lot of persistence. The Shadiness of Congressional Stock Trading. Just about the only positive thing that can be said of Bringing Down The House, and the public that made its success possible, is that history has at least been kind enough to half-forget the film, and in the process make us all feel just a little less guilty about having contributed, even a little bit, to the success of a project that implicates its audience as well as its creators. | Ten Years Post-Reform, How Are Californias Congressional Maps Still Unfair? The Berkeley Political Review was founded in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks by U.C. The experiences, values, and beliefs formed during these leaders younger years in frat houses will inevitably be expressed in conscious or unconscious ways: from discriminatory hiring practices and pay-grades, to sexual harassment and even rape. This page was last edited on 28 October 2022, at 06:26. | There was a problem. By Jordan Ash on April 20, 2015. Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman and starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Full . You will receive a verification email shortly. Studies have shown that fraternity members at one university are shockingly up to three times more likely to rape than non-members, and these numbers are based only on those cases that have been reported. Official Sites We have to brush your hair differently. No, no, they were looking to buy. Bringing Down the House has no such lofty ambition. Forgotbusters re-examines movies that were among the top 25 grossing films the year of their release, but have receded culturally, in order to explore what originally attracted audiences to them, and why they failed to endure. Just as Peter is about to meet with a difficult client, Mrs. Virginia Arness, he is ambushed by Charlene, who draws the lustful attention of his friend and colleague Howie Rottman. When the day to meet his cyber-love face to face finally arrives, Sanderson finds he got more than he'd bargained for. Senators have been fraternity members, as have 18 U.S. Presidents. Charlene tries to blackmail Peter into clearing her name of armed robbery, claiming she is innocent, but he throws her out after several attempts. The hilarious Steve Martin (Father of the Bride) and Academy Award nominated Queen Latifah (Chicago) star in the blockbuster, laugh-out-loud comedy Bringing Down The House.Peter Sanderson (Martin), a divorced, straightlaced, uptight workaholic lawyer, meets a brainy. Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American comedy film, written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman. If the Greek fraternity system is molding the leaders of tomorrow, then tomorrow is going to look an awful lot like the past. However, families uncomfortable with a young boy reading aloud from a porn mag, or country-clubbing bigots cracking Aunt Jemima jokes, will leave the theater more rankled than regaled. Technical Specs. Steve Martin. Since 1900, frat members have composed 63% of presidential cabinets. Oh, please. She isnt a character so much as a kaleidoscopic array of stereotypes and clichssome negative, some ostensibly positive, all reductive. Bringing Down the House: Directed by Adam Shankman. UC Berkeley's only nonpartisan political magazine. Repeating every tired old gag he's probably done a hundred times before, Martin is simply going through the motions in a hopelessly bad movie on the last shreds of autopilot. Returning home, Charlene coaches a drunk Peter on winning Kate back, and they are caught in a compromising position by Peter's bigoted neighbor, his boss sister. The films existence and success isnt horrifying, its perplexing. Add to Watchlist. Girls in these events are encouraged by the hosting fraternity to compete with each other and make a spectacle of themselves for the benefit of a mostly male audience. Charlene is saved from the bullet by Peter's titanium cell phone, and Peter reveals that he recorded Widow's confession on a boombox, leading to Charlenes exoneration and Widows arrest. Mrs. Kline : Those latin people that were skulking around here earlier. Both Steve Martin Queen . For it would be hilarious without it with decent morals. Bringing Down The House (2,450) 5.6 1 h 55 min 2003 X-Ray A guy meets a woman on the internet with disastrously funny results. Berkeley students who wanted to offer a source of impartial analysis on important issues. Modern American society has been at war with backwards isms, including exclusivism, sexism, and racism. : 2003. Charlene calls Howie to drive her to the home of Mrs. Arness, who refuses to let Charlene explain herself, leading Charlene and Howie to kidnap Mrs. Arness and her beloved French bulldog. Some people may be offended by some of the racist language and stereotypes, but the movie is clear that it is offensive and stupid to be bigoted and cowardly and foolish to be silent when those views are expressed. :^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$? Charlene doesnt just humiliate Peter in ways that constantly call attention to herself; after she calms down and cuts it with the hippety-hop sliggety-jiggy rap slang, Charlene teaches the uptight Peter how to dance by embracing the rhythms buried within his hips. Charlene calls Sarah and realizes Peter went to the club, where Peter attempts to blend in but is captured by Widow. Outside of a fraternity. A TV news report declares Charlene a fugitive, having broken out of prison, and includes security footage from a bank robbery, appearing to prove that a masked Charlene committed the crime. 2022 Pitchfork Media Inc. All rights reserved. [6], NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bringing_Down_the_House_(film)&oldid=1118666158. However, the fact that these chants and practices are being taught to all or most members suggests a widespread institutionalization of racial prejudices. Since 1910, 85% of Supreme Court Justices have been fraternity brothers. The reason for this is not because they are the most able or worthy members of society. Kate arrives at Peter's house to find the children waiting while the FBI search the premises. Having secured Mrs. Arness as a multibillion-dollar client, Peter and Howie start their own firm. Defenders of the system often justify its existence by pointing to the millions of dollars it raises every year for charities. "[5], On a budget of $35 million, the film became a surprise hit, spending three weeks at No. This means that all the problems associated with college fraternities extend far beyond the college campus. She also teaches him how to satisfy a woman by explicitly telling him to embrace his inner king of the jungle. Viewers who cackle hysterically over those two subjects will find Bringing Down the House a laugh a minute. When a lily-white babysitter (Elizabeth Shue) journeys to the ghetto to rescue a runaway friend who's stuck in the heart of darkness, she and the kids she's caring for encounter the full spectrum. The list of examples is endless. Rather it fills itself to the brim with a culture of racist clowns. Not long after this revelation was the chance discovery of a secret pledge book belonging to an NC State Pi Kappa Phi chapter. What Im calling attention to is the Greek system as a whole. Jean-Pierre told Doocy that America's options to negotiate with Russia boiled down to two choices: bring home Griner or no . Casing it? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Peter gets Widow to confess to having committed the robbery disguised as Charlene. She blackmails and tortures him into getting what she wants, all the while feeding his WASP lifestyle by playing the fool around all the racist, elitist white folk. Why did a movie this grotesque and nakedly offensive get made and distributed in 2003? Modern American society has been at war with backwards "isms", including exclusivism, sexism, and racism. Peter engages in the kind of mild deception endemic to online flirtation, making himself seem younger and less white-haired than he actually is. Fraternity members also make up 85% of Fortune 500 Company Executives. The Delta Kappa Rho chapter at Penn State was yet another fraternity that found itself at the center of controversy after two private Facebook pages were discovered in which members posted and commented on pictures of passed out girls. Peter takes Charlene to dinner, and Kate is upset to spot them dancing together. Reference: Quiz: Bringing Down The House . The NC State pledge book that joked about lynching also had jokes about raping inebriated women. In the world of Bringing Down the House, white people are all half-witted bigots and racism is something we all should just learn to accept. Directed by Adam Shankman, Bringing Down The House has the Touchstone comedy house style down pat: a smooth jazz score (from Lalo Schifrin), bright lighting, peppy pacing, and broad, hammy performances from movie stars typecast to perfection. Agreeing to help expunge Charlene's record and let her stay at his house, Peter lies that she is his nanny. Bringing Down the House. It peaked at 111 on the Billboard 200 and 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Uptight attorney Steve Martin gets a lesson in learning to lighten up from an ex-con (Queen Latifah) who needs his help. He meets a lady who goes by "lawyergirl" (Queen Latifah) in a legal chat room and, thinking she is an attractive blond lawyer, invites her to his house for a drink. 2003 PG-13 1h 45m DVD . She solves his daughters romantic problems by dangling a boy who got rough with her sexually off a ledge until he apologizes, and teaches Peters son to read by showing him porno magazines. It is an institution that ensures the presence and operation of backwards isms in America. We rightly champion the American values of merit, equality, and tolerance. Peter Sanderson is a workaholic tax attorney, separated from his wife Kate and often too busy for their children, Sarah and Georgie. It's a race- and culture-clash comedy as bland and hopelessly Caucasian as a Yankee Candle store. Overall it was still good and a good laugh but don't recommend watching it with young kids. This being the case: why is the Greek fraternity system allowed to remain a pillar of American culture and society? Martin's character tries to throw Charlene out on her ample behind, but Charlene needs free legal help and thus cannot be swayed. They are being made in minds that have been significantly shaped by the college experience. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. The film begins with divorced tax attorney Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) flirting blandly with a woman calling herself lawyer-girl on a legal message board. Is everything okay? The sexist attitudes and practices that permeate the Greek system are the reasons no other institution has been so closely associated with sexual assault. Charlene is an escaped wrongly convicted felon that seeks out the help of Peter Sanderson, played by Steve Martin, who is a divorced white tax attorney. When a lonely guy meets a woman on the internet who happens to be in prison, she breaks out to get him to prove her innocence, and proceeds to wreak havoc on his middle-class life. The primary exception is Peters friend and affiliate Howie Rottman (Eugene Levy), a skirt-chasing womanizer who gazes at Peters unwanted houseguest for the first time and instantly falls into a state of lust with her, to the accompaniment of Jungle Love. In any other film, introducing a glib interracial romance with a song called Jungle Love would represent a horrifying low. Bringing Down the House. Lawyer-girl, meanwhile, engages in the kind of extreme online deception more common in the television program Catfish, sending Peter an image that implies shes thin, young, white, and blonde. PLOT: Peter Sanderson (STEVE MARTIN) is a constantly busy and thus divorced tax attorney who's met a woman in a law chat room. The movie appears to have been made for an . We have a responsibility to speak out and intervene against the wrong being done to our country. Peter drops Charlene off at his house, saying he is returning to the office, but instead goes to the club. Laura's Review: C-. May 12, 2012. The site's consensus reads, "Though the cast shines, they can't save this comedy, which is overly contrived and filled with outdated and offensive racial jokes. Two fellow lawyers luck out with online dating and match with one another. (It really is as if the filmmakers are working their way through a checklist of mothballed, outdated stereotypes.) In the world of Bringing Down the House, white people are all. Peter Sanderson Bringing Down the House. NY 10036. 1 in the United States. But Peter doesnt realize lawyer-girl isnt the woman at the center of the image: Shes the large, angry black woman being arrested in the corner of the frame. There are attempts at humor, all at the expense of intelligence and sanity. It is not. Better comedies, like last year's raucous Undercover Brother take racial stereotypes as fodder to find humor in celebrating and poking fun at the differences between us. Bringing Down the House (2003) Betty White: Mrs. Kline Showing all 5 items Jump to: Photos (2) Quotes (3) Photos Quotes Mrs. Kline : Mr. Sanderson! If she looked like Halle Berry and wore conservative business suits, the shrill culture-clash at the films center wouldnt register. When Peter attempts to kick Charlene out of his home upon her arrival, she begins screaming things like, You told me I was your little African queen, and I loved-ed you for that! and taunts Peter for neglecting their nonexistent progeny, a little chocolate-vanilla swirl from that magical night at the crack house!. The book contains graphic jokes written by members about lynching black people. But the contrived script and bland direction prevent the film from ever developing a comic life of its own, leaving what fun there is seeming like the foundation to a rumpus room that's never finished. Rather it fills itself to the brim with a culture of racist clowns. "[3] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[4], Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine wrote: "There are certainly good laughs to be had. On the fast track to Eddie Murphy sized failure, Martin plays a lonely, rich, attorney/divorcee who finds love on the Internet. Is everything okay? We'll talk more about this later, Mrs. Kline! . This would be a much better movie had it not been for all the language. I think the trailer phrased it "She's not his soul mate she's a soul sista!" I thought I heard Negro! Peter Sanderson (played by Martin) is a workaholic tax attorney corresponding with an online friend known only as "lawyer-girl." On their first blind date, Peter learns that "lawyer-girl . We fight these wrongs in the name of progress. Bringing Down the House panders to preconceptions of race and culture white people are uptight, black people are earthy in such a way that, as innocently as it is probably offered, only reinforces those stereotypes, and it's only amusing if you buy into these attitudes. Lawyer Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) wants to dive back into dating after his divorce and has a hard time meeting the right women. SAE has recently come under fire after its Oklahoma University chapter was recorded singing outrageously racist chants. Purchase Bringing Down the House on digital and stream instantly or download offline. Steve Martin is one of the most influential and brilliant comic minds in history; it is genuinely painful to watch him channel Jamie Kennedy in Malibus Most Wanted. Jason Filardi's first screenplay is cobbled together from every unwanted guest/outsider helps kids over obstacles/adversaries bond together to fight common cause comedy that's come before it with . She is also the sister of Mr. Sanderson's employer at the law firm where he worked. The fact that frat boys are consistently and disproportionately being given jobs at the highest levels of society (often simply because they are frat boys) is not just an offense to meritocracy, it is an outright danger to society. What is especially disturbing is how strongly the fraternity system affects the development of its members. Published March 7, 2003 8:00PM (EST) "Bringing Down the House" is for everyone who finds the idea of a white person saying "bitchslapped" hilarious. And the problems go far beyond binge drinking and hazingthe spew of recent high-profile cases involving fraternities across the nation gives us just a glimpse of a much more deeply rooted, widespread and actively concealed system. The premise that drives most of the action in the film is that if the uptight white lawyer's neighbors and business associates find out he's friends with a black . Sure, Charlene complicates Peters life a little, but she more than makes up for it by permanently solving every problem this bland, uptight, ambiguously racist, unambiguously condescending white man has. The film stars Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman and starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. No, Peter is mortified by Charlene because shes loud, vulgar, overtly sexual, and communicates via head shaking, shouting, and long strings of nonsensical Ebonics. . If the Greek fraternity system is molding the leaders of tomorrow, then tomorrow is going to look an awful lot like the past. Representing the honkey contingent, is Steve Martin. . Brown and Angus T. Jones) because of his workaholism. Bringing Down the House. However many still protect the institution. I paid for lunch today with my face. Missi Pyle. Bringing Down The House just thinks people talking black is inherently hilarious, whether or not whats being said makes sense in context. He explains that she was set up by Widow, who is likely at a club downtown. These instances are just two of the most recent additions to a long list of racist frat practices, including the frequently reported ghetto or jungle parties where attendees are encouraged to dress according to racist black stereotypes and even don blackface. Jim Haynie as Ed Tobias, Peter, Howie and Todd's boss. : Peter is mortified to discover that the white woman of his dreams is actually black, though the film is just diplomatic enough to put his extreme discomfort in terms of class, propriety, and language rather than race. I may have that wrong, I get nauseous and dizzy every time I see that promo. bombshell barrister in an online chatroom and they make a date. Peter couldn't believe that Sarah loaned his brand new $600 titanium cell phone to Charlene. | The film stacks the deck by surrounding Peter with unabashed racists and people so obsessed with propriety that they see the appearance of an uptight, suit-wearing white man like Peter alongside a large black woman as such a bizarre anomaly that it must be confronted and explained constantly. Kate arrives, and she and Peter reconcile as his cell phone rings. Please refresh the page and try again. Twenty years ago it was funny to see white people trying to act black. Directors Adam Shankman Starring Steve Martin, Jean Smart, Eugene Levy Genres Comedy Subtitles None Available Audio Languages English Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. The Rise of Pseudo-Progressivism: What do the Federal Reserve and GameStop Have in Common? Bringing Down The House is a completely unoriginal film. It's comedy that supposedly busts conventional ideas while . Why do you walk and talk and act the way you do? The answer is that if Charlene didnt behave in such a stereotypical fashion, even when it flagrantly goes against the plot, there would be no film at all. They had just discovered that Charlene was a prison escapee. Learn more about how to apply to the Berkeley Political Review here. Nor do I think that merely ending fraternities will in any way be the key to fully ridding our society of these isms. Sexism and racism are incredibly complex social issues that have no silver bullet. The pair's longtime hater-in-chief, the British broadcaster Piers Morgan, was merciless in his criticisms, labelling the show a "grotesque whine-a-thon", "dull" and "less classy . The film features Martin as Peter Sanderson, a lonely lawyer who meets a woman on the Internet, only to learn she has escaped prison to prove her innocence. "[2] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 39 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "generally negative reviews.
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