by Saprina Howard MFKZ, short for motherfuckers, is a tasteless anime film written, produced, and directed by a slate of non-American men. It follows the life of an African American alien character named Angelino, who is “ just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. ” (IMBD Synopsis) Aside from the obvious ode to Los Angeles in the protagonist’s first name, this synopsis is LOADED with coded racial language like “deadbeats” and “Dark Meat City.” The film may be fantasy, but it is clearly a portrayal of non-Hollywood Los Angeles. One may argue that to critique a “fantasy” film on the terms of real life is unreasonable. Oftentimes where race is present in anime, a colorblind audience is quick to discredit any harmful meaning in the overtly offensive depiction of African American culture. However, to truly dissect a film we should put it into context-- into its place and time. Whenever a hideously drawn Black character makes their way onto the screen, Black viewers cringe. Too many times Black anime consumers must quell a sickening feeling as they watch caricatures perform violent, loud, or inhuman behaviors. Many of the Black characters in this film are racial caricatures lifted straight out of Jim Crow era Minstrel shows! They remarkably resemble a mix between a Pickaninny and a Buck. Even in anime, known for its limitless potential and imagination, Black people are not imagined outside of the confines of reality’s burdensome stereotypes. The directors of this film and their internalized anti-Black ideas are to blame. The professional team behind the creation of this film are from France and Japan; nations that refuse to acknowledge their Black population. Japan denies Japanese identity to half-Black citizens and France suffers so badly from colorblindness that it’s illegal to consider race! Anti-Blackness is programmed into the citizens of both of these societies. With small Black communities unable to represent themselves in French and Japanese societies, both countries remain largely persuaded by negative portrayals of Blackness in the media. If art is a reflection of one’s values, then this film reeks of the creators’ anti-Black sentiments. It is a highlight reel of every racist thing they have ever thought about Black people. Let us focus on the depiction of one neighborhood from the film: In the film a neighborhood named Palm Hill seems to be an interpretation of the Palmwood cul-de-sac and Baldwin Hills, both historically Black communities. MFKZ embraces the trope that Palmwood is violent, filthy, and that gun violence, drugs, and joblessness run rampant. In the movie the neighborhood is so chaotic that even people’s homes are falling apart. These myths about Blackness and Black neighborhoods have been popular since the Transatlantic Slave Trade. After emancipation in 1863, codes and vagrancy laws criminalized Black people who were unable to find work and justified terrorizing free black folk for demonstrating their human right to freedom. Since then, vagrancy myths that conjure stereotypes of laziness, deviance, and aggression were popularized by the western world’s media and have remained the main examples of African American culture for some homogenous societies to this day. The film's atrocious depiction of Black inner city life misses the mark, as well as an opportunity to creatively engage an anime version of the beauty that already exists in Baldwin Hills and the Palmwood neighborhood. Instead, the hideous Palmhill neighborhood in MFKZ serves as a cesspool of racial tropes and plotless violence. Japanese anime creators endlessly reimagine medieval Europe. With eurocentricity and whiteness so romanticized as part of anime’s visual appeal, this is evidence that anime is not colorblind. Race and reality are augmented within anime worlds and if white culture earns reverence by anime creators, then they can certainly find it in themselves to revere Black culture too.
Black people are famously consumers and lovers of Japanese pop culture who deserve more respect than anime currently alots its Black audience. When anime creators finally appreciate the richness and nuance of Black culture instead of demonizing or bastardizing Blackness, maybe Black audiences can breathe a sigh of relief instead of holding their breath for not knowing which racist portrayal comes next.
41 Comments
Reginald Jones
2/7/2021 08:23:29 pm
Show me on the doll where the cartoon hurt you 🙄🙄🙄🙄🖕
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Saprina
3/16/2021 02:32:05 pm
Why are you offended by this article?
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Green
11/23/2021 04:21:57 am
Anime is gaining more popularity than ever kids will undoubtedly see this and if there view on race is skewed and wrong they will grow up to see that view so representation matter one to be kind to the race one is depicting and two to set a precedent on how people really are and not harmful stereotypes
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Ghost
12/11/2021 04:17:45 pm
Why are you so offended that black people want good representation and to idk not have offensive racist caricatures and stereotypes as their representation?
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Agree
3/6/2021 07:10:58 am
This is a great article! This anime was so anti-black
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Saprina
3/16/2021 02:57:59 pm
Thank you for reading!
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Zabral
3/9/2021 09:05:19 pm
Unless you yourself are black and/or African-American, you do not get a say. I despise those who decide to be offended on others’ behalf.
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Saprina
3/16/2021 02:31:11 pm
I am indeed African American. Aside from that, empathy is important in the struggle for peoples rights and so I think its alright to feel outrage on other peoples behalves, thats the whole point of politics, parenting, friendships-- its human nature to strive for the safety and happiness of others, wouldn't you agree?
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Saprina
3/16/2021 03:04:04 pm
If this article has offended you, then you were my intended audience--embrace this moment of personal introspection and growth. Thank you for reading!
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Sean
10/28/2021 02:57:14 pm
Does the race of the characters truly matter? Also, Angelino is a freaky alien. Not African American at all?
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Ibith
10/30/2021 10:37:02 pm
No one is gonna grow or change their mind when you only acknowledge one side of the story and fail to see the other, the intended audience here is other biased haters, not people who are in the shadows. Please do them a favor and educate yourself.
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Danny
1/16/2022 08:37:53 am
Okay i didnt read half the article honestly but the gang thing between the green and the purple crew/ that whole scene/characters/actions/slang whatever was a reference to GTA SanAndreas
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???
3/17/2021 10:48:17 pm
this is a great article and it really opened my eyes on now anime portrays certain groups. would you be able to enjoy this movie and like the plot/characters but also be aware and acknowledge the anti-blackness and racism in it?
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Saprina
3/21/2021 02:34:14 am
this is such a cool question! my answer is complicated but to keep it short, no I don't think its possible to acknowledge the antiblackness in this film specifically and still enjoy it. Fully acknowledging how dehumanizing this film is at its very core makes nothing in the film worth enjoying. I think liking anything riddled in anti-blackness would depend on how antiblack you're allowing yourself to be-- like, it's in the same realm as complicity. Being socially conscious and aware is draining/can easily steal the joy and enjoyment out of a lot so I sympathize with your question at the same time (I'm an avid anime and manga fan, i'm constantly having to take breaks rewatching or reading my fave things when a "thug" or "drug dealer" in the middle of Tokyo shows up as a hideous Black man wearing gangster clothes). I think the only answer I have for you is that, when you notice you're not enjoying something anymore, it likely means you no longer have the tolerance for it, and at the end of the day continuing to enjoy things that dehumanize others depends on you.
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Joan
10/13/2021 05:33:02 pm
I love how you grab onto a movie to express how enlightened you are. It’s a adult, R rated, violent movie. It’s not roses and peaches darling. Django? Where they drop the hard R over 100 times and I’m guessing you revere that one. Step off your high horse and give a non biased review of a movie.
Ibith
10/30/2021 10:35:27 pm
Darling the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows like Joan said, I literally live in Los Angeles and some of my friends are in really bad neighborhoods, movies like this bring awareness and hope to change these places rather than represent anti-Black as you claim. Please educate yourself before posting these biased answers and try to understand both sides because this movie is the best depiction of non-hollywood Los Angeles I've seen before, Do you think stock images and news media cover the worst neighborhoods? Nah they cover the safest areas like suburbs and urban cities, look into investigative journalists/muckrakers who really bring awareness of these issues into the spotlight.
Agreed
2/15/2022 03:44:55 pm
It was a movie about a kid in the slums, and slums do still exist. I watched the moving not as a stereotype about black people, but as a window into conditioned faced by some that needs to be fixed, and that it paralleled GTA (even including a joke about how it isn't GTA when the skeleton kid wanted to grab the guys gun). If there was any political push it was left, including big politicians and corporations polluting the earth to kill off mankind with global warming, Also, did everyone miss that at the end of the movie the next president was a black woman that was addressing these issues??? yeah, just horrible... (sarcasm)
Japanese people use colorisim and are fucking racist
4/15/2021 07:42:36 am
Anime is a sin racist and gay
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Michael
12/31/2021 11:52:10 pm
I don't understand how animation as a whole is racist? Saying it's gay makes you a homophobe. You honestly do not care what this article has stated and you're just being an asshole. Why be so ignorant?
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Drew
8/1/2021 08:23:45 pm
Why not touch on the portrayal of Hispanic people? You're just gonna get pissy about the black people in the movie when in reality thats how many people of all races live. Poverty and gang violence should'nt be cencored.
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King
8/2/2021 01:18:34 am
This isn’t an accurate depiction of poverty or of gang activity.
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Hi
2/5/2022 11:11:03 pm
your right, its a caricature of poverty and gang violence...
Lmao
9/26/2021 03:05:16 pm
You are lame, bro. Enjoy a movie sometime.
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Ibith
10/30/2021 10:32:28 pm
Fr
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Qexiah Avila
11/9/2021 12:28:36 pm
You do realize his name is Angelino Diaz and that he's a hispanic right? Yes his father Taz was a black man but Lino's mother and Lino himself are Hispanic, also the aggression of the crows was by fault of the Machos, an alien representation of Lechuza and Tzitzimitl, demons of pre-hispanic Mesoamerican/Aztec/nahuatl/Mayan/taino/Toltec/Ucatecs mythology and lore who attempt to help their sister/mother devour the earth Coatlique by defeating Huitzilopotchli which Lino is parallel to, hense why Vinz' head is always on fire and why Lino's heart ignites when using macho powers, as a nahuatl/taino person(the last type of Mesoamerican still left due to us facing racism and extinction/outbreeding in Mexico and Brazil I loved this movie for having representation of us that isn't either dumbed down for children, depicting us as savages that the christian Spaniards had to overtake to survive or mythological people who never existed, plus Angelino's whole visual imagery with Angels, chinos, Guadalupe etc is cholo/gangster based, the whole movie is about racism, gang violence and religious turf wars no shit it's offensive, enjoy the art and do something real about the issues it brings up
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Mary
12/30/2021 05:21:17 pm
Thank you!!! Hopefully the writer takes this into consideration. We need to acknowledge all of the injustice we as humans face, and work towards ridding ourselves of it. We need to speak up! We need the world to know what life is really like for those who are stuck in that “inner city” loop. Lose Angeles and cities all over the country face prejudice and injustice. Making it about color only brings more hate and racism. This movies only intention was to bring to light the culture many live, instead of glorifying the hardships like the rest of the media.it’s a huge plus these creators decided to thoroughly dive into indigenous culture, and properly portray it 🙏🏽
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Zack Chance
11/18/2021 01:56:42 pm
Saprina, despite some of the ways a few of these views were presented, most of the replies above make a good point. Not that yours isnt valid, as it is a possible interpretation that some readers or viewers would get from the text. However, it is just a starting point and by no means the final analysis. The last comment left above regarding the Latino aspects of MFKZ is spot on with her remarks -- and highlights just how much of the text you missed. And there is more to delve into beyond even that. Failure to properly evaluate a text is similar to drawing conclusions based on stereotypes. Much racism, one could say, comes from stereotyping, racial profiling, ignorance. Snap judgements purported as fact but based on little. Unfortunately, while you mean well, you are guilty of the same here. Solving the problem of racism is your goal, but unwittingly, by not knowing how to really analyze this text, youre only adding to the problem instead. Its a lot more complex than you might have realized, and not nearly as "black and white" as the thinking which lead you to draw your conclusions. Stuff to ponder, eh?
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Kendukin
11/22/2021 05:31:32 am
My honest first assumption was that you were white writing this. Upon reading the comments, it's now apparent you more than likely grew up in a suburban area in a relatively stable household. The literal plot of the film is to target, exaggerate, and criticize aspects of the country while giving an uplifting message aimed at the underdogs of society. A decent portion of the plot delving deeper into that got cut in the adaptation from comic to movie, but it's still present within the main characters. Even Angelino himself isn't black, he's hispanic. It's just like when people instantly dismiss Lil Darkie for his black caricature and continue on with their day seeing no issue in such a limited mindset. Cite the issues with the movie's rushed, confusing plot, don't police this quick to judge dogma on an otherwise solid, albeit pure eyecandy, film. Chances are I'm on your side politically, but I think this is a genuinely misinformed piece on a movie that doesn't deserve it.
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Ricardo
12/8/2021 03:53:14 pm
I think this is a huge misinterpretation of the whole thing. It's not painting back people in a negative light at every turn. It's literally showing a caricature of crime ridden, low income black and latino neighborhoods. Obviously not all places where black and latino people live are like that, but that just happens to be the environment these characters are in. I mean, one of the top dog gang leader characters literally recites deep-cut shakespeare lines. I get we all like to virtue signal at times, but this is just a horrendous take.
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Mfkz
12/30/2021 02:45:55 pm
bitch who wrote this is retarded. Clearly you missed the entire point of the film and last I checked black people do in fact act like this in real life. Killing each other and gang violence. Black on black crime. Also what about how they portrayed every other race in the film? Everything isn’t about race dumb ass. People who do make everything about race, like yourself, are the problem. Grow the fuck up and just watch the picture. If you don’t like it then go fuck yourself no one cares. It’s a movie at the end of the day
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Michael
12/31/2021 11:57:12 pm
Bro why are you so mad? Do you not understand that racism exists? Not everything is about race but if something like a movie is depicting black people as monsters or anything less than human than people should be allowed to point that out. In reality saying all black people act like gangsters and kill each other is a stereotype and saying that is honestly just horrible.
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Lux
2/11/2022 08:24:51 pm
They didn't say racism doesn't exist they also didn't say all black people act like gangsters. They said that there are poc who act like this, which there are. That doesn't mean all poc are, but the characters in this movie are.
You're a pussy
1/1/2022 08:52:43 am
That's it. You're just a racist pussy 🤷♀️
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Uh
1/1/2022 08:48:00 am
Most people don't analyze movies with such depth, and I'd implore you to justify arguing against an anime like The Boondocks, a show with a black creator, all black writers and casts primarily black voice actors. Just because race and ethnicity are exaggerated, as is the case with literally every anime ever, doesn't mean it's creators were "tasteless", or that they created it with ignorant or malicious intent. Just because the laws in Japan are not built on a moral foundation doesn't make it's or Frances population insensitive in any way, and the same issues of racial inequality and unjust representation can be said about the U.S. It's just really stupid that you would call such attention to exaggerated stereotypes in a movie like this, but not argue the same point about The Boondocks, while also ignoring the fact that all anime, ever, is heavily exaggerated. In literally every aspect, from the lives that they live to the ways that they express themselves. Their body language and tones of voice. Literally every aspect of anime is heavily and unrealistically emphasized. Shows like South Park, anything by Seth MacFarlane, Key and Peele, must make it hard for you to sleep at night.
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no
2/5/2022 11:02:54 pm
the article didnt offend me, its just not productive. please get a real job 🙏
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kang of kangz
2/16/2022 01:23:29 pm
DAS RIIIIITE
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Y’all confused?
3/1/2022 05:36:31 pm
Mfkz is a movie produced by Vince Staples, an African American rapper, and it’s not really an anime. All the yt people that pretend to be offended, move on and educate yourself.
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Me
3/21/2022 04:59:02 pm
And there it is. The impotent internet outrage machine trying desperately again to be offended.
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4/18/2022 04:44:16 am
What an exquisite article! Your post is very helpful right now. Thank you for sharing this informative one.
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guy
4/19/2022 10:56:02 pm
if you don't like the movie, then why write a whole article about it?
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Bruh
4/24/2022 12:08:11 am
Yeah because RZA is anti black🤦♂️
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