Yesterday I saw Transformers. It was a fantastic movie. It had a sense of humor — and there were a few
moments where I laughed out loud.

It had great action and it made me feel like I was eight-years-old again. Optimus Prime’s dialog was pretty cheesy, but in my mind it was just staying true to the cartoon. So despite what I’m going to write below, I give the movie a thumbs-up. (Also see the image at the end of this post — how cool is that!)

It wasn’t until after the movie got out that I realized Transformers fell victim to a totally unnecessary movie stereotype.

As the movie progresses we are introduced to Optimus Prime and his crew of autobots. There is Bumble Bee, the lovable character who was closest with the kids (staying true to the cartoon) and three others — including a medic and a weapon specialists. The third and final autobot was named “Jazz.”

The first time you see Jazz he is doing what can only be called break-dancing. As Optimus introduces his autobot colleagues they each get a line or two. The autobots learned English through the Internet — and I’m not sure what sites Jazz was crawling on — because he spoke slang. I can’t remember exactly what he said — but it was probably something like “Yo, how’s it hanging in the hood.”

It was unmistakable — Jazz is the token black Transformer.

(Warning: small plot spoiler)

Once Megatron is awakened the autobots meet him in battle. The last 20 minutes of the movie are fantastic. Chases, explosions, etc etc.

At one point Jazz is forced to engage Megatron all alone. He is killed.

That’s right, the only autobot to die is Jazz, the black autobot.  Cliche — yes.

more))