"Eh, Just Take Them Out"- Couples Retreat

In the Summer of 2010, a comedy was released, Couple Retreat. The plot is focused around four couples and their quest be happy in each of their relationships. Out of the four couples, only one is of a different ethnicity. Shane and Trudy are african-American. The movie is sub-par at best but the controversy is derived from the movies promotional poster.

Notice how in the American version of the poster (on the right) the Black couple is clearly visible. They are the furthest away and seem the least important,yet they hold just as much importance to the movie as the other characters. This jab aside, we must look to the European version of the poster (on the left). The Black couple is completely non existent.

The movie received much flack for this change, many calling the movie racist. The production company simply stated that to "condense the poster, certain characters had to be removed." How convenient that it was the Black couple.

With such Hollywood heavy hitters such as Malin Ackerman, Vince Vaughn, and Jason Bateman, I'm surprised we didn't hear more outcry from these popular actors. If they honestly felt that a wrong was done, the production company would have changed the poster. Vaughn was even a producer for the movie and this travesty still occurred.

While Hollywood has made strides toward equal treatment of ethnicities, it still has a long way to go as evident by this poster mishandling.