racism may lay in the eye of the beholder

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 2011)

First of all, excuse my French. But kind of bull***t are North American viewers seeing when they see that movie?
Sorry to disappoint the people who think that movie offensive to Black people, but French people are far from dumb and racist. Are you saying that all these people with all kind of origins who laughed out loud at the screening are wrong? So are the Japanese jury who gave it 2 awards.
Yes, The original guy was Arabic and Omar is black. But the directors knew him and wanted to work with him again (his show on the Canal + channel is quite hilarious), maybe they shouldn't have. Yes, they should have taken a white guy, so Omar wouldn't have played the part because of the colour of his skin and American viewers wouldn't be shocked what do you think?
From the NA reviews I've read, the fact that the Black guy serves the white one is shocking. From what I saw a lot of white people didn't feel the the position to be demeaning.
As for me I didn't see a Black guy but a guy from the poor suburbs of Paris. The clichés are unfortunately true, in Paris suburb 10% of the population are living in overcrowded accommodations. Life can be pretty hard when you have nothing to look forward to. So yes, Driss enjoys the fact that he's got his own bathtub, he likes playing the tough guy, and so on. He won't become a fan of classical music and ballet. It's real life, not Disneyland!! I think this is the way the American remake will be (can't wait not to see it!)
Personally when I watched the movie, I just wanted a laugh and I did!! Non-stop laughing is what we need when every time you turn the radio or the TV on, news are so bleak...