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Hudson addresses “token” status

Categories: COMICS, GB3
Comments: 19 Comments
Published on: November 30, 2009

Ernie Hudson took a moment earlier in the month to talk to WebTV Deluxe – his comments on Ghostbusters 3 are similar to other comments he made at the Big Apple Comic convention, but what keeps this from being redundant is interviewer Alvin Rueda’s cheeky question about Hudson’s thoughts on being regarded as “the token black guy.” Ernie’s answer is as classy as you’d expect. Short, but classy.

[VIA GBNews.com]

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19 Comments - Leave a comment
  1. Props to Ernie. That was a very classy, well-mannered, coherent response. Winston is a character who happens to be black. His background, as it was described in the script, is who the character is. I’ve never read anywhere where it said he NEEDED to be black. In the script, or otherwise. And he’s also right in that people like to fish for something, when there was never something there to begin with. End of story.

  2. fryman86 says:

    Great answer from Ernie, but I wonder who gave this interviewer permission to speak for us all when he says, “When we all watch Ghostbusters, we view Winston as the token black guy.” We? When I was introduced to the film as a kid, no one ever said anything about Winston being the token black guy, and I never thought of him as such, probably because I didn’t know what a “token” character was. As Ryan says, there’s nothing in the script that indicates that he has to be black, or that he should be. In fact, the only benefit to him being black is that it makes his line “I’ve seen shit that will turn you white!” funnier! I don’t think the crew making the movie went in search of a black actor, they just found a really good actor in Ernie, who happened to be black. On top of that, in the slimer mode commentary on the Blu-Ray, Ivan and several others mention how important Winston’s character is for the audience to have a window into the crazy world of the Ghostbusters.

  3. Drake says:

    The interviewer is a bit of a moron.

  4. Mike N says:

    Whats he mean by token? Who thinks that deep into the movie when they watch it? To me Winston was the down to earth guy who wasnt a scientist like the others. If theres a steady pay check involved… Ernies the man!

  5. Brad says:

    *sigh* as far as archetypes go, Winston Zeddamore is the Everyman, Egon is the Brain, Ray the Adult Child, and Peter is the Con man. Race has nothing to do with it. Winston says what we want to say. “Your honor, these things are real. I’ve seen sh** that will turn you white” “We got the tools and we got the talent” “I need my own lawyer” “that’s some Twinkie” etc.

  6. Jimbo says:

    I never really thought of Winston as just the token black guy or anything of that nature. each Ghostbuster whether its the movies or cartoon had their own unique role,just like any successful team. Egon was the brains,Ray was the heart of it all,Peter was the spokesmen of the group,and Winston was the straight shooting “Im just here to do my job” type.

  7. Bannen says:

    The guy doing the interview is painful to listen to. That being said, it’s always a welcome thing if it means there’s more Ernie Hudson talking Ghostbusters… And yes, the guy’s a class act.

  8. Brandon says:

    awww,.. the little reporter man was looking for a victim and didn’t find one. It just breaks one’s heart to see a trip-over-the-shoelaces like that. We all know, he was wanting Ernie to talk about how much of a victim he was, and get the story that nobody got, …and it didn’t happen. awwww… Better luck next time mister reporter man.

  9. Wolverine7 says:

    And he is the token interviewer from “japan/cuba”?? how silly can people get? Winston Rules as any other GB, by the way my fav is Venkman..

    Cheers.

  10. barkeff says:

    I can’t wait to meet him next Sunday.He seems like a really nice guy from watching all the interviews and reading stories from people on the forums.Actually watching this makes me a little less nervous.Nothing I could ask him could possibly be as retarded as what this guy asked.And Ernie didn’t even flinch!

  11. Mills says:

    “I hear rumors that Ghostbusters are coming back to the full screen”. The full screen? You men the BIG screen? Ghostbusters are coming back to full screen format as opposed to widescreen? The interviewer needs to learn english.

  12. Jimmy says:

    That reporter is lame. Great, great, great answer by Ernie, He Shut that guy down so bad :-D

  13. Ash says:

    I still can’t believe how well he ages. He looks as though he just stepped off the set of GB2.

  14. Bryan says:

    Great answer by Ernie. Winston was the everyman, not a mere “black guy.”

  15. MattyLa says:

    I saw more clips of Ernie by this token chinese/mexican interviewer. It looks like Ernie was a having a little fun with him. http://webtvdeluxe.com/?p=74

  16. Drake says:

    Ernie looked older in the 90′s. Somehow he has reversed the aging process. I think he should give Ramis a call.

  17. Superstarseven says:

    Japanese/mexica/cuban/chinese???
    Wow guys let’s cut the whole assuming ethnicity thing.

  18. Sam says:

    I think the reason some people might think of Winston as just the black guy is because he is the only one of the main cast who was not a recognizable big name.

  19. TonyMontana says:

    Ernie Hudson is a great guy in real life. He deserves more credit. He is perhaps more fan-friendly than the other stars and he appreciates the fanbase. In a lot of ways, Ernie is an everyday man in the acting world.

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