NASCAR's public image is not quite where it should be...

Spike

Spike

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As many know, the upcoming movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", features 3 heroes who transform into CoTs. One into Dale Jr's #88, another in Jimmie's #48, and finally a third in JPM's #42.

While its nice to see, and understandable to see why they went with the drivers they went with(and considering the franchise has an exclusivity deal with General Motors, they didnt have a plethora of options), one sad fact remains...

The characters in their robot modes are designed as stereotypical NASCAR fans. Beer guts, ballcaps, beards/goatees, sunglasses, and mullets. All 3 of them. I guess they couldnt find a way to incorporate shorts and a wife beater.

Whatever good it does to get NASCAR associated with a summer blockbuster is instantly nullified by the need to go overboard with the rest of their design.

Sorry for the rant, it just makes me angry.
 
Nascar will always be thought of as a redneck sport. Just go read some of the stuff online and you will find proof of that. Despite the fact that most of the drivers aren't even from the south you still get endless amounts of people saying it's just a bunch of rednecks driving around in circles.
 
I guess you didn't look at nascage's "agony of defeat" thread. It doesn't come as a surprise.....
 
Transformer is a Juggernaut! Nascar's Huge!! Megan Foxx was right in 1 &2!!
 
Stewart Fan said:
Nascar will always be thought of as a redneck sport. Just go read some of the stuff online and you will find proof of that. Despite the fact that most of the drivers aren't even from the south you still get endless amounts of people saying it's just a bunch of rednecks driving around in circles.
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I get that on a regular basis, and yet, I'm not even a redneck. I'm the farthest you can get from redneck!
 
VaDirt said:
I guess you didn't look at nascage's "agony of defeat" thread. It doesn't come as a surprise.....
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You beat me to it. That's it, that is a prototypical NASCAR fan.

Sorry Spike, but it is a redneck sport. Though many of us are far from true redneck it's videos like the one mentioned above that get splattered all over the place so that's what most people associate NASCAR with.

To me it's like the local news. Ever notice whenever they interview someone that witnessed a tornado or car accident, its almost like they go out of there way to find the one person in a 5 mile radius that has one tooth, rollers in the hair or a mullet, noticeably hasn't bathed that day and can't speak a lick of proper English? It's like that, someone passing through your town immediately thinks everyone that lives there is like that.

I felt that way when that movie The Firm came out that was filmed in Memphis. I lived in Memphis at the time but the movie made everyone come across as some half wit redneck with an annoying southern drawl.

.
 
Maybe the worst thing here is that Nascar is gonna be involved with garbage like Transformers.
 
Garbage. LOL!! The Movie Goers around the World Love Transformers, & Toy makers & buyers too.
 
I happen to love them. Granted, I am a child of the 80s and I mainlined Transformers and GI Joe growing up.

The third installment is supposed to be quite good.
 
Stewart Fan said:
Nascar will always be thought of as a redneck sport. Just go read some of the stuff online and you will find proof of that. Despite the fact that most of the drivers aren't even from the south you still get endless amounts of people saying it's just a bunch of rednecks driving around in circles.
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I grew up in the south, but have spent some time in Montana and Vermont. Redneck liniage crosses over the Mason Dixon line and has infiltrated the rest of this great country. According to what I heard, there are a few found in California as well.
 
GREAT AMERICAN RACE FAN said:
I grew up in the south, but have spent some time in Montana and Vermont. Redneck liniage crosses over the Mason Dixon line and has infiltrated the rest of this great country. According to what I heard, there are a few found in California as well.
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I can vouch for that:D
 
While most are focusing on the fan sterotypes, it's interesting to see who they chose for drivers- The prototype for redneck stereotypes in Dale Jr., The suave and tanned Californian in Johnson, and the dashing Latino in Montoya. Whether this cross-section was intentional or not, it echos the carefully cast futuristic NASCAR cartoon series of a few years back.
 
I'm just talking about The 2 Transformer Movies in this Decade, Great Comedy & Special effects!!
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
No Megan Fox. :( Not worth watching.
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The girl that replaced her is much hotter.
PettyBlue said:
While most are focusing on the fan sterotypes, it's interesting to see who they chose for drivers- The prototype for redneck stereotypes in Dale Jr., The suave and tanned Californian in Johnson, and the dashing Latino in Montoya. Whether this cross-section was intentional or not, it echos the carefully cast futuristic NASCAR cartoon series of a few years back.
Click to expand...
Hasbro signed an exclusive deal with General Motors prior to the start of filming to keep costs down(i.e., Bumblebee is a Camaro, Sideswipe is a Corvette, Ironhide is a Topkick, Ratchet is a H2, Skids and Mudflap were Chevy Spark concepts, Jazz was a Solstice, etc.) so it kind of limited the direction they could go.
 
GREAT AMERICAN RACE FAN said:
I grew up in the south, but have spent some time in Montana and Vermont. Redneck liniage crosses over the Mason Dixon line and has infiltrated the rest of this great country. According to what I heard, there are a few found in California as well.
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some are even hispanic rednecks. <g>
 
The girl that took Megan Fox's place...
Dark_of_the_Moon_Carly_Miller.jpg
 
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Some people are always going to associate NASCAR with rednecks, and some people are always gonna go out of their way to perpetuate the stereotype, like these folks did at the Phoenix Cup race this year.

It is what it is. As far as being concerned with what conclusions people will make from this movie, all I can say is this: People who matter, don't mind. People who mind, don't matter.

And another thing, it seems this isn't the first time these movies have had people crying foul over stereotypes. Read this article, called "Transformers 3 to Offend Again With Mullet-Wearing, Redneck NASCAR Robot?". Here's a snippet:

You might have assumed that Michael Bay learned a lesson when essentially every critic who viewed 'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen' took him to task for the racist caricatures embodied in Skids and Mudflap, two robots who spoke in hip-hop slang and constantly bickered as a form of comic relief. Maybe Bay did learn something, because 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' looks set to feature a new character named Topspin, who's a blue racer from the NASCAR circuit. Naturally, this means he's sporting a mullet.
 
The flack he got over Skids and Mudflap was ridiculous considering that is how the voice actors decided to portray them. It wasnt scripted that way.
 
I will say this again, I dont understand how people actually find Danica Patrick attractive. It just boggles my mind.
 
I think we are missing the important part of this...it proves Jimmie cheats:D his cars a freaking transformer:p
 
I think it is AWSOME that some of the cars will be in Transformers...I know that some will have a sour taste in their mouth due to the "stereotypes" being used...but I am sure it is for comic relief and as someone who has been called a redneck a time or two...or two million, but who is counting, I have no problem with it.

On a side note, I love the movies. But like someone said earlier, I am child of the 80s and grew up on Transformers.
 
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