10 Potentially Racist Undertones In Family Films You Never Noticed

10. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

The first Ace Ventura film was a surprise hit. It helped launch Jim Carrey, made megabucks at the box office, and spawned a sequel; Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was just as huge, but attracted its fair share of criticism. Set in the fictional African country of Nibia, a British representative enlists Ace's help in finding a sacred white bat, to stop two tribes - the Wachati and the Wachootoo - from declaring war on one another. Whilst it's fairly uncomfortable as it is that a white man's being given the task of sorting out the Africans' squabble, Ventura only exacerbates things; there's one scene where he's told not to stand on an altar, but as soon as everyone's backs are turned, he's dancing on it. Whilst it's passed off as a bit of fun, When Nature Calls doesn't seem to have qualms about portraying Africans as bat-worshipping, spear-throwing, war-mongerers, and even less worry about its protagonist mocking them. It's a franchise that Jim Carrey owes a lot to, but he surely wants to forget about this film.