History Sandbox / SaltAndPepperTLPDraft

The black brother, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's more cool, crude, casual, and culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by being {{Street Smart}} (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to break the rules, possibly with a criminal past (in the LovableRogue sort of way). Exaggerations may make him a LeeroyJenkins or the PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.

* ''Film/FortyEightHrs'': The TropeCodifier, spurring the rise of this trope's popularity in {{Buddy Cop|Show}} films (as well as the buddy cop genre as a whole). Inspector Jack Cates (Creator/NickNolte) decides to [[RecruitingTheCriminal Recruit The Criminal]] Reggie Hammond (Creator/EddieMurphy) to help track down and stop Reggie's old criminal partner. Something of an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} case, though, as Jack is a hard-boiled CowboyCop, and the differences between him and Reggie are rarely PlayedForLaughs.

* ''Film/FortyEighthrs'': The TropeCodifier, spurring the rise of this trope's popularity in {{Buddy Cop|Show}} films. Inspector Jack Cates (Creator/NickNolte) decides to [[RecruitingTheCriminal Recruit The Criminal]] Reggie Hammond (Creator/EddieMurphy) to help track down and stop Reggie's old criminal partner. Something of an UnbuiltExample, though, with Jack being a rough-and-ready CowboyCop.

* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Creator/SamuelLJackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the arms dealers who killed his partner.

* ''Film/TowerHeist'': In order to get revenge on a millionaire who defrauded him and his employees, apartment building manager Josh Kovaks (Creator/BenStiller) tracks down Slide (Creator/EddieMurphy), a childhood friend who's since become a petty thief and carjacker, to plan a heist and steal the employees' money back.
* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Creator/EddieMurphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they pull off a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.

* PlayedWith in the ''Film/RushHour'' films, with Creator/JackieChan's Inspector Lee taking the place of the white bread, acting polite and stoic when he's on the mission. Creator/ChrisTucker's Detective Carter is the black brother, being wisecracking MotorMouth who's despised by his supervisors for his recklessness.
* ''Film/TowerHeist'': In order to get revenge on a millionaire who defrauded him and his fellow employees, apartment building manager Josh Kovaks (Creator/BenStiller) tracks down Slide (Creator/EddieMurphy), a childhood friend who's since become a petty thief and carjacker, to carry out a heist and steal the employees' money back.
* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Creator/EddieMurphy) team up after they both have their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they carry out a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.

* Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and Friday are probably the UrExample. It should be noted that Friday was a native Carib in the original book, but so many adaptations over the centuries have {{racelift}}ed him as black that most people [[AdaptationDisplacement now think of him as such]]. Crusoe and Friday also share the traditional characteristics of this trope as a straight-laced, rather stodgy white man and his more flamboyant, exotic, and "ethnic" sidekick.

The white bread is the StraightMan (both characters are AlwaysMale) of the duo.He's from a respectable middle-class or white-collar background, a stickler for rules, and has no real history of troublemaking. He's likely a FamilyMan, too. He takes his work seriously, possibly to the point of being TheStoic or TheKilljoy when on the job, and doesn't take it well when someone tries to upend his precise routine. Exaggerations may make him awkward, nerdy, neurotic, or [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy way less hip than he thinks he is]].

The black brother, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's far cooler and more culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by having plenty of {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to break the rules, possibly with a criminal past (in the LovableRogue sort of way). Exaggerations may make him a LeeroyJenkins or the PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' with a [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20070724 fake advertisement]] for a movie titled ''The Black Guy'', starring Creator/ChrisTucker as [[CowboyCop loose-cannon cop]] Tom Black and Creator/BruceWillis as hardened ex-Agent Alex White. "So when they're teamed up, the results are surely hilarious! And ''not racist'' at all!"

* ''Film/TheMan'': ATF Special Agent Vann (Creator/SamuelLJackson) accidentally ropes nerdy dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler (Creator/EugeneLevy) into his mission to take down an arms dealing ring responsible for murdering Vann's partner.

* Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and Friday are probably the UrExample. It should be noted that Friday was a native Carib in the original book, but so many adaptations over the centuries have {{racelift}}ed him as black that most people [[AdaptationDisplacement now think of him as such]]. Crusoe and Friday also share the traditional characteristics of this trope as a straight-laced, rather stodgy white man and his more vibrant, flamboyant "ethnic" sidekick.

The white bread is the StraightMan (both characters are AlwaysMale) of the duo.He's from a respectable middle-class or white-collar background, a stickler for rules, and has no real history of troublemaking. He's likely a FamilyMan, too. He takes his work seriously, possibly to the point of being TheStoic or TheKilljoy when on the job, and doesn't do well when someone tries to upend his routine. Exaggerations may make them awkward, nerdy, neurotic, [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy way less hip than they think they are]].

The black brother, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. He's a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's far cooler and more culturally in-touch than the white bread character. He's defined by having plenty of {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to break the rules, possibly with a criminal past (in the LovableRogue sort of way). Exaggerations may give him a HairTriggerTemper or make him the PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.

This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The studios' takeaway was "black-led films can't turn a profit," so the conventional wisdom was to only cast black protagonists alongside white co-leads, and possibly relegate them to the ComedyGhetto too. By the mid-1990s, it had increasingly become a DeadHorseTrope--the success of actors like Creator/EddieMurphy demonstrated that black-led films were still viable, and the trope was increasingly being subverted or parodied to hell and back. Nowadays, it's very unlikely to see this played completely straight.

* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Wealthy New York stockbroker Louis Winthorpe III (Creator/DanAykroyd) and small-time con man Billy Ray Valentine (Creator/EddieMurphy) both end up having their lives upended by the machinations of the Duke brothers; the second half of the film sees them joining together in spite of their different backgrounds. Thanks to Winthorpe's financial acumen and Valentine's experience running cons, they carry out a scheme that leaves the Duke brothers bankrupt and themselves fabulously wealthy.

* Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and Friday are probably the UrExample. It should be noted that Friday was a native Carib in the original book, so many adaptations over the centuries have {{racelift}}ed him as black that most people [[AdaptationDisplacement now think of him as such]]. Crusoe and Friday also share the traditional characteristics of this trope as a straight-laced, rather stodgy white man and his more vibrant, flamboyant "ethnic" sidekick.

(Indices: BlackIndex, ComedicReliefCharacters, DuoTropes, {{Foil}}, RaceTropes, WhiteIndex)

The white bread is the StraightMan of the duo. They're from a respectable middle-class or white-collar background, sticklers for rules, and have no real history of troublemaking. They're more likely to be FamilyMen, too. They take their work seriously, possibly to the point of being TheStoic or TheKilljoy when on the job, and don't do well when someone tries to change their routine. Exaggerations may make them awkward, nerdy, neurotic, [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy way less hip than they think they are]].

The black brother, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. They're a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha (or SassyBlackWoman) from the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's far cooler and more culturally in-touch than the white bread character. They're defined by having plenty of {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to break the rules, possibly with a criminal past. Exaggerations may give them a HairTriggerTemper or make them the PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.

This trope peaked in prominence due to several factors in 1970s Hollywood: the decline of {{Blaxploitation}} films, the shift from urban single-screen theaters to suburban multiplexes, and the failure of big-budget black-led movies like ''Film/TheWiz''. The conventional wisdom studios took away from this was that black-led films weren't nationally viable, so black leads were paired with white leads and often relegated to roles in the ComedyGhetto. It became a DeadHorseTrope in the 1990s, as the success of actors like Creator/EddieMurphy proved that black-led films could stand on their own, and other works began subverting or parodying the trope to hell and back.

-->-- ''The trailer to'' '''Cleopatra Schwartz''', ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie''

The black brother, on the other hand, is the [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Wise Guy]]. They're a [[JiveTurkey jive-talking]], wisecracking SoulBrotha (or SassyBlackWoman) who grew up on the WrongSideOfTheTracks who's far cooler and more culturally up-to-date than the white bread character. They're defined by having plenty of {{Street Smart}}s (often in lieu of higher education), [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority disdain for authority]], and willingness to break the rules, possibly with a criminal past. Exaggerations may give them a HairTriggerTemper or make them the PluckyComicRelief, but risk verging into racial stereotypes like the ScaryBlackMan or UncleTomfoolery.

* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenIntights'', where Creator/CaryElwes' traditionally refined Robin Hood is accompanied by Creator/DaveChappelle's Ahchoo, a [[AnachronismStew snapback cap and Jordans-wearing]] black man who speaks in modern slang and [[MalcolmXerox quotes Malcolm X]].

Normally, these two people would never work alongside one another, but circumstances force them together. In a {{Buddy Cop|Show}} scenario, the white bread is the ByTheBookCop and the black brother is the CowboyCop or a ReformedCriminal, or the white bread and black brother being the [[OldCopYoungCop old cop and young cop]], respectively. As they begrudgingly work together, debate whether ToBeLawfulOrGood, and learn to navigate each others' worlds, they succeed thanks to their combined skills, and possibly grow to become HeterosexualLifePartners. They often learn AnAesop by the end too, with the white bread learning the necessity of bending the rules sometimes, and the black brother gaining some respect for authority.

A variation on the OddCouple, especially popular in {{Buddy Picture}}s of TheSeventies and TheEighties, where the difference between the leads is black-and-white in more ways than one.