Films You Have Watched This Week: With a Vengeance

[usman]

Local Japanese consulate is having a mini filmfest a local uni. Playing some anime film called 'Brave Story' and another actual film called 'Robo G'.

I've seen Robo G, was a really nice, heartwarming kind of film with a lot of warm comedy. Wouldn't mind seeing it again. Anime/anime films I don't get on with really so not sure I'll go for Brave Story.

Did you miss the huge movement online to boycott the film? It's been everywhere. Much bigger than the pressure behind Exodus: Gods and Kings or Pan.

Wow, no. Had no idea. Mainly because this kind of thing is standard in American cinema, independents too.

Read on FB a confused angry hipster announcing why he was boycotting it. Some muddled idea about 'whitewashing mental illness' while also himself stereotyping Japan at the same with the tired usual 'rigid conformist mental health-denialists'.

These 'Millennials' seem to get worked up on a dime and announce it to all and sundry. There have been much worse films in the past year. Where were these boycotters and American Sniper? The Forest is benign in comparison. What a stupid boycott.

Also as a psychology graduate, I will say that laypeople vastly overstate mental disorder in general.

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Also saw a documentary on NHK World called a "Postwar Portrait of Japan". Wow, a Japanese documentary that actually had the cajones to speak somewhat negatively about the American Occupation and the bully Douglas MacArthur. Maybe one day NHK will have the fortitude to discuss MacArthur's censorship of mass rape of Japanese women in coastal cities.

[Asura]

These 'Millennials' seem to get worked up on a dime and announce it to all and sundry. There have been much worse films in the past year. Where were these boycotters and American Sniper? The Forest is benign in comparison. What a stupid boycott.

People did boycott American Sniper. Not every film people boycott becomes a failure; it depends how big the non-boycott audience is.

Pan was a failure this year, and some pundits have argued the boycott was a large part of the reason - as it was marketed in the USA as the "Peter Pan for a new generation", but it seems that generation didn't want to see a Pan film in which Tiger-Lily was played by a white girl.

[Dogg Thang]

I reckon Pan failed because the world has no desire for it no matter who played Tiger-Lily. Should have called it American Pan and I might have seen it.

[eastyy]

When i saw pics of hugh jackman in PAN kept thinking Richard O' Brian

[Neon Ignition]

Peter Pan is like Tarzan and Robin Hood. Everyone knows the story so well they don't want to see it repeatedly retold and its beloved too much to hold any interest when reinterpreted. Studios are stupid for repeatedly blowing millions on them when they keep failing.

Last night was
Rocky V
Still the weakest but I felt that Rocky was better portrayed in this one than in 3 and 4 and I could at least appreciate what was intended by the film even if it was unsuccessful in achieving it.

[PaTaito]

Never understood the whole boycotting based on the race of a chosen actor...what does it really matter? Did they boycott django because he was a black cowboy?

My personal favorite quote regarding the pan boycott: "Telling children their role models must all be white is unacceptable"

Really??? 5 year old kids are going to even comprehend the politics of it all lol? I guess it takes all sorts in this world we live in...

[Dogg Thang]

It's far simpler than that. Children are forming their world view based on what they see. If all main characters and heroes are white, that gets filed away as a thing and can negatively affect any child's view of other people (or themselves if they aren't white). When there happens to be a rare non-white character and that character then gets changed into a white person, that's a problem. Diversity in cinema, books and really across all media is very important.

[PaTaito]

It's far simpler than that. Children are forming their world view based on what they see. If all main characters and heroes are white, that gets filed away as a thing and can negatively affect any child's view of other people (or themselves if they aren't white). When there happens to be a rare non-white character and that character then gets changed into a white person, that's a problem. Diversity in cinema, books and really across all media is very important.

I think its rather making something out of nothing personally.

Perhaps from a movie studio point of view its more marketable to use a popular actor, and perhaps there isn't many native american options that would give the film that star quality?

I'm all for diversity in everything, but this kind of thing really gets on my nerves.

[Dogg Thang]

No you're clearly not all for diversity in everything.

[PaTaito]

No you're clearly not all for diversity in everything.

Its absolutely harmless casting of a known star to help elevate the film. Nothing more nothing less. The fact i don't care about this non issue means i generally don't care for diversity? Oh please.

[eastyy]

Thing i think with prequels is they retrofit things for stuff not originally planned. So in Pan you get these things where you see almost like a knowing on screen to say and you know what happens in the original films and how we linked it together.

Also my irk with reboots and remakes is the fact there will be kids growing up when you say a film name to them they think of the terrible remake/reboot first.

Film critics do irk me though some films that have been knocked i actually thought were ok (like the 2005 fantastic 4 film while it has loads of flaws to me it was a decent comic book movie that was pretty close to the source material)

[Dogg Thang]

The fact i don't care about this non issue means i generally don't care for diversity?

Exactly.

[PaTaito]

Exactly.

Wrong. I just understand the reason they made the choice.

[Dogg Thang]

Okay, so you care about diversity unless there Is a reason not to have it, in which case it's a non issue.
[MENTION=3349]eastyy[/MENTION] From the sounds of it, in this case not all that many kids will be growing up thinking of this movie first when they think of Peter Pan. I haven't even heard if the film is any good or not but the marketing gave no reason to see it.

[PaTaito]

Okay, so you care about diversity unless there Is a reason not to have it, in which case it's a non issue.

Well, being as having actual stars in big budget films can make a huge difference to marketing/sales....yeah pretty much.

But then i don't buy into the theory that children form negative views of race based off these things.