Realization.
Jun. 3rd, 2010 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dejadrewMy sister and I, like so many, have been frustrated and fretting about the upcoming Airbender movie and the whitewashing of its heroes.
Sis: "I mean, I just wish there was more OUT there. With heroes of colour and diverse casts, so that we could go to them and show Hollywood that they CAN be successful. If only there was another kids' action movie with non-white stars...."
Me: "OH F$%K."
Sis: "What?"
Me: "We're gonna have to see the goddamn Karate Kid remake, aren't we?"
Sis: "....Huh. F$%k. I guess we are."
I mean, it's not like the Karate Kid movie is likely to be one-hundred percent unproblematic. There's the karate/kung fu confusion (though apparently the Kid may actually already have studied a little karate in the States before he came to China, and then gets hard core into learning Kung Fu after he arrives. If that's true, then that both kinda explains the title and acknowleges that there is a difference between the styles. So, woo). There's potential for the tired old "Westerner goes to foreign land and becomes awesomer than they are at all their stuff" plot, which is always an eye-roller. And at this point heaven only knows whether the women will get to do anything other than set up the plot. But look at this trailer.
Not a single white person. ANYWHERE. In the entire trailer. The black Kid hugs and waves goodbye to his black friends, then goes to China with his black mom, where he meets the Asian love-interest, Asian antagonists, and Asian mentor figure. It's possible that a caucasian character might show up at some point in the actual movie, but the trailer makes it clear that all the major players are of African or Asian descent, and the most important relationship in the film, to which most of the screen time will be devoted, is between the characters played by Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.
I wasn't old enough in 1984 for the original Karate Kid to be a nostalgic part of my childhood, and this isn't the kind of movie I would normally go out of my way to see. There's nothing WRONG with tween boy martial arts power fantasies, I just usually prefer robots or magic mixed with mine as a matter of personal taste. But the scenery is pretty, the martial arts look like they oughta be reasonably well choreographed, Chan will probably be funny and butt-kicky, and, well, f$%k. Time to put my money where my mouth is. I'm gonna go see the goddamn Karate Kid remake.
And if it doesn't suck, I'll see it twice.
Sis: "I mean, I just wish there was more OUT there. With heroes of colour and diverse casts, so that we could go to them and show Hollywood that they CAN be successful. If only there was another kids' action movie with non-white stars...."
Me: "OH F$%K."
Sis: "What?"
Me: "We're gonna have to see the goddamn Karate Kid remake, aren't we?"
Sis: "....Huh. F$%k. I guess we are."
I mean, it's not like the Karate Kid movie is likely to be one-hundred percent unproblematic. There's the karate/kung fu confusion (though apparently the Kid may actually already have studied a little karate in the States before he came to China, and then gets hard core into learning Kung Fu after he arrives. If that's true, then that both kinda explains the title and acknowleges that there is a difference between the styles. So, woo). There's potential for the tired old "Westerner goes to foreign land and becomes awesomer than they are at all their stuff" plot, which is always an eye-roller. And at this point heaven only knows whether the women will get to do anything other than set up the plot. But look at this trailer.
Not a single white person. ANYWHERE. In the entire trailer. The black Kid hugs and waves goodbye to his black friends, then goes to China with his black mom, where he meets the Asian love-interest, Asian antagonists, and Asian mentor figure. It's possible that a caucasian character might show up at some point in the actual movie, but the trailer makes it clear that all the major players are of African or Asian descent, and the most important relationship in the film, to which most of the screen time will be devoted, is between the characters played by Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.
I wasn't old enough in 1984 for the original Karate Kid to be a nostalgic part of my childhood, and this isn't the kind of movie I would normally go out of my way to see. There's nothing WRONG with tween boy martial arts power fantasies, I just usually prefer robots or magic mixed with mine as a matter of personal taste. But the scenery is pretty, the martial arts look like they oughta be reasonably well choreographed, Chan will probably be funny and butt-kicky, and, well, f$%k. Time to put my money where my mouth is. I'm gonna go see the goddamn Karate Kid remake.
And if it doesn't suck, I'll see it twice.
