Editing King Kong (1933 film) (section)

=== Racial stereotypes ===
''King Kong'' has undergone extensive analysis of its portrayal of race. NPR producer Robert Malesky remarks that, "To many, the eroticism and racism of the original film are just side themes and part of the fabric of 1930s America."<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |date=2008-06-29 |title='King Kong': The Eighth Wonder of the World |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/92000622 |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=NPR |language=en}}</ref> Author Ryan Britt feels that critics were willing to overlook the film's problematic aspects as "just unattractive byproducts of the era in which the film was made". He adds, "the meta-fictional aspects almost excuse some of the cultural insensitivity".<ref>{{cite web |date=October 24, 2011 |title=Think He's Crazy? Nah, Just Enthusiastic. Rewatching King Kong (1933) |url=https://reactormag.com/think-hes-crazy-nah-just-enthusiastic-rewatching-king-kong-1933/}}</ref> In the 19th and early 20th century, people of African descent were commonly represented visually as ape-like, a metaphor that fit racist stereotypes further bolstered by the emergence of [[scientific racism]].<ref>Grant, Elizabeth. (1996). 'Here Comes the Bride.' In: Grant, Barry Keith (ed.). ''The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film''. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 373</ref> Early films frequently mirrored racial tensions. While ''King Kong'' is often compared to the story of ''[[Beauty and the Beast]],'' many film scholars have argued that the film was a [[cautionary tale]] about [[Interracial relationships|interracial romance]], in which the film's "carrier of blackness is not a human being, but an ape."<ref name="GoffEberhardt20082">{{cite journal |last1=Goff |first1=Phillip Atiba |last2=Eberhardt |first2=Jennifer L. |last3=Williams |first3=Melissa J. |last4=Jackson |first4=Matthew Christian |year=2008 |title=Not yet human: Implicit knowledge, historical dehumanization, and contemporary consequences. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=94 |issue=2 |page=293 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.94.2.292 |issn=1939-1315 |pmid=18211178}}</ref><ref>Kuhn, Annette. (2007). King Kong. In: Cook, Pam. (ed.) The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute. p. 41. and Robinson, D. (1983). King Kong. In: Lloyd, A. (ed.) Movies of the Thirties. Orbis Publishing Ltd. p. 58.</ref> Jordan Zakarin of ''Inverse'' quotes author and professor Christopher Michlig, who explains that even though many modern viewers see the film as racist, it exhibits 1930s perceptions of obscure locations and peoples.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Zakarin |first=Jordan |date=2017-03-09 |title=King Kong's Long Journey from Racist Monster to Woke Hero |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/28860-king-kong-skull-island-politics-racism |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Inverse |language=en}}</ref>

The film has been criticized for racial stereotyping of the native people and Charlie the cook, the latter of whom exclaims, "Crazy black man been here!" when he discovers Ann has been kidnapped.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 June 2021 |title=''King Kong'': Special Edition  |url=https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dvd-review-king-kong-special-edition/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=www.starburstmagazine.com/}}</ref> Filmmaker Fatimah Rony argues that Charlie is feminized in his occupation and gesticulations.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=175}} She also views the native people's "savagery" as being associated with their dark skin.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=177}} In 2013 ''[[Atlanta Black Star]]'' described the people native to the island "as subhuman, or primate...[without] a distinct way of communicating".<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2013-11-22 |title=11 of The Most Racist Movies Ever Made |url=https://atlantablackstar.com/2013/11/22/11-of-the-most-racist-movies-ever-made/3/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Atlanta Black Star |language=en-US}}</ref> Rony points out that African Americans and a [[Yaqui]] man were cast to portray Indonesian people.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=177}} In her view, racial undertones are present when Ann is preferred for the sacrifice rather than the girl who is native to Skull Island.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=177}} [[Wayne State University]] film professor Cynthia Erb remarks that "Ann's prized whiteness" is "the most disturbing racial" component, rather than "Kong's blackness".{{Sfn|Erb|2009|p=105}} Erb explains that in jungle films "the depiction of natives was often patronizing, stereotypical, racist." She adds, "I think it does happen with the Skull Islanders."<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Malesky |first=Robert |date=June 29, 2008 |title='King Kong': The Eighth Wonder of the World |url=https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/92000622/www.thearcjslc.org |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=NCPR}}</ref>

Critics have also seen Kong himself as a perpetuation of racial tensions. ''Atlanta Black Star'' perceived a racial allegory between Kong and black men, remarking that Kong "meets his demise due to his insatiable desire for a white woman".<ref name=":02" /> Erb argues that the portrayal of Kong is one of a "[[noble savage]]" and a fighter rather than a "sexual aggressor".{{Sfn|Erb|2009|pp=89, 117}} In her analysis Rony relates Kong to the "noble savage"  because he fights off the dinosaurs due to his affection for Ann.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=180}} She remarks that Kong is "not exclusively black", as he is connected to Asia due to his Eastern-inspired name as well as the Indonesian location of Skull Island.{{Sfn|Erb|2009|p=102}} She calls it "one of the most outrageous 'racial films' ever made",{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=154}} opining that it is one among several films of the time that portrays a person with African, Asian, or Pacific Islander ancestry "as an ape-monster".{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=15}} According to Rony, Cooper decided to make Ann blonde to emphasize the difference between her and Kong,{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=172}} and as a white woman she was established as "a kind of lure for the monster-like beast".{{Sfn|Rony|1996|pp=165, 181}} Her fair complexion contrasts with his dark complexion, which film analyst Rhona Berenstein argues is implicitly associated with his "monstrosity".{{Sfn|Berenstein|1996|pp=163–164}}

Concerns surrounding biracial interactions in the film have also arisen. Rony claims the film "ultimately celebrates cinema's tendency to create monsters which mirror the anxieties of any given age".{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=189}} According to Rony, Kong symbolizes biracial sexual relationships, which were looked down upon at the time of the film's release.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|pp=165, 176}} Berenstein sees Kong and Ann's relationship as "a vehicle for racial crossing", arguing that the film both "confirms" and "destablizes" the idea of "[[white supremacy]]".{{Sfn|Berenstein|1996|pp=195–196}} She explains that Ann serves as a warning against and as a summons for "the monstrous possibility of [[miscegenation]]".{{Sfn|Berenstein|1996|pp=163-164}} Writer James A. Snead and German Studies professor [[Dagmar C. G. Lorenz|Dagmar Lorenz]] compare Denham to a colonialist and link Kong's capture to the slave trade.{{Sfn|Rony|1996|p=176}}{{Sfn|Lorenz|2007|p=159}} Erb takes the idea of Denham as colonialist to argue that, following the prologue, the film appears to "challenge" colonialism.{{Sfn|Erb|2009|p=106}} Zakarin claims that elements that may be seen as disturbing stemmed from what Cooper believed would make the film adventurous.<ref name=":22" />