I watched this video essay about how disappointed this guy was with the film not capturing the feeling of Asian Americans being perpetual outsiders.
Interesting listen
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
That is not what the movie was about. Why didn't Ant-Man deal more with ex-convict recidivism? Why didn't Captain Marvel deal with sexual assault in the Military? Why didn't Iron-Man deal with living with heart disease? Why didn't Thor deal with the prejudice woman face in the scientific grant arena? Why didn't Dr. Strange deal with malpractice insurance.
This was a big, fun movie that is a big hit, and it is almost entirely Asian, that is cause for celebration, not a dissection of it's portrayal of the Asian American experience as if it were a documentary.
How would the movie have gone "all the way with it" and still been a big fantasy romp? It wasn't suppose to be Minuri.
Last edited by Kirby101; 09-19-2021 at 09:05 AM.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
Accented Cinema is a truly great YouTube channel. Often watch the content. There's an elegant, insightful, and genuine approach to the videos which highlight a lot of aspects of cinema, particularly in East Asia, and especially in China. Check out the videos regarding Jackie Chan, the references in Kung Fu Hustle, Journey to the West, and Bruce Lee.
As for my thoughts on the video, here's what I wrote in the Shang-Chi Appreciation thread:
"Watched it twice now and find it to be nuanced and informative. Now, there are certainly parts that are huge aspects of Chinese-American and Asian-American history. I'm glad that the clip highlighted Anna May Wong, Vincent Chin, George Takei, and the atrocities that were committed against the Chinese in America during the 19th century. To be fair, the author is very complimentary of the film. The characters are humanized and the first act of the film touches on those aspects of Asian-American culture. Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with wanting to get in touch with one's background. But the criticism that the movie uses this otherness of a mystical idealized form of China and in so doing contributes to the perpetual foreigner trope, I'm not too sure. Did Shang-Chi and Katy have an "otherness" by fighting the Mandarin in a mystical Asian land? I think the humanization and grounded performance kept it from going into that territory. Also, that tension between obeying one's parent and carving your own path which was prevalent in the movie, that's an issue many Asian-Americans face. In that sense, there is a tension between the "Asian" and the "American."
Aside from that, I liked the clip. It highlighted aspects of the fight choreography. I was iffy on the choreography and thought it wasn't as clear as it could have been. BUT, Accented Cinema pointed out aspects that I didn't consider. So yeah, this clip, makes me want to see the film again."
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
chrism227.wordpress.com Info and opinions on a variety of interests.
https://twitter.com/chrisprtsmouth
I just saw the movie, so I finally got to read through this thread:
I think "The Mandarin" might have been a good name for a writer to give a villain back when overt racism was more acceptable, but it makes little sense for someone to give themselves that name. Also, I like how they interpreted the rings. The comics version had ten rings, each with a different ray - which would have made the character OP or just make action scenes busy and confusing. They were also "point and shoot" weapons and I appreciate them reinterpreting the rings in a way that enhanced the martial arts action scenes.
Hell yeah, I did! Also love the batwing-ears! I was confused though about what was happening between Wong and 'Bom. It seemed like they were friends, so why were they fighting? Where did Wong teleport them to after their bout? (and does Bruce know about it? He's right there in that midroll scene with Wong so they're all in touch...)
-- I agree about the overuse of CGI dragons at the end, but it seems a lot of people felt the same.
-- I also thought the scaffold fight scene was a little muddy. Y'know, there are surprisingly many scaffolding fight scenes now that I think about it - from various martial arts movies to Zorro and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins ... a lot of history there.
-- FYI, Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian. (she's a former "Miss Malaysia")
I didn't watch the video so I can't comment on it, but I thought this film did do a good job of portraying other aspects of Asian-American identity and in particular, his feeling of alienation from himself. This film went for the more personal dilemma rather than address a societal one. (which most superhero movies tend to do since it's meant to be light-hearted entertainment) Sometimes you have to pick your battles.
I did not know that about Yeoh. Thanks jack.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
Was there a sexual assault in the Captain Marvel move? Or is this in reference to that comic arc?
Yeah, I think this film did a good job of incorporating those types of elements without making it about those things. I'm not necessarily opposed to a film (and specifically a Marvel film) handling any of those issues, but I don't think there is a per se need or value to doing it. It just makes it a different story.
Thank you. Same here.
My fiance and I watched the movie because we didn't get tickets for The Suicide Squad (I would have just bought it on BluRay) and we both had an unexpected great time. I think the movie used Asian (Asian-American?) culture & folklore awesome-y for a Disney movie and hope to see much more of the characters Shang, Katy and even Trevor.
Last edited by batnbreakfast; 09-22-2021 at 06:53 AM.
I give it a 7.
I was really enjoying it up until the last 20 minutes. Then it went from Crouching Tiger to your standard superhero CGI outing.
If ten years of recording The Young and the Restless for my mother have taught me anything, it's that characters in serial dramas are always happily in love...until they're not
“The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.” - the 4th Doctor