Today, we’re talking about  the 1983 classic Trading Places, which tells the tale of the extremely wealthy Wall Steet tycoons - the Duke brothers - who decide to place a friendly bet to see if nature beats nurture. They take the star employee at their financial firm,  Louis Winthorpe III, and try to see if a destitute Black man, Billy Ray Valentine, can effectively take his place and learn the ropes of the finance world if he’s given all of the privileges of his predecessor. The Dukes' exercise their power to take away Winthorpe’s job, home, and wealth and transfer it to Valentine to see whether nature or nurture wins out. And then blackface, the n-word, and bad Jamaican accents ensue!

The film stars Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, and Denholm Elliot. It is directed by Jonathan Landis and has a run time of 1 hr 56 min.

Film Sins: Racism, black face, bad accents, and a gorilla

CREDITS

Hosted by: Kristina “Krissie” Rettig & Erin Maxwell

Edited by: Russ Lichter

Theme song by: Spooky Dan