I never realized that I had a thing for Australian movies until I read the latest article from the "youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily" crew.   There was JAPANESE STORY and then there is MAO's LAST DANCER where not only does the AM romance the ladies, but they're shown as fully realized characters and not stock caricatures to make racist mockery out of.

Of course, there are a few other indie movies (THE DISH) that had some substance and thought rather than US haolewood's mindless lowest denominator drivel.

So what brings me to write this blog entry is that I just saw the Aussie version of RED DAWN called "TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN" and have to give it three thumbs up, if I had polydactyly.

The main reason how they did it right down under is that the Asian guy isn't some stock caricature, but (get this) the love interest of the leading lady of the film.

The Australian article ("Unsettling echoes of yesterday, when the yellow peril hysteria began") does mention it's sort of yellow peril on some levels, however it's never brought up in the book where neither nationality nor race were mentioned.

The potentially problematic Asian portrayal is hugely offset by the fact Lee not only is competent in the movie with making good decisions, but he's also lusted after by the leading heroine Ellie from the get go: "I want Lee!" lol The problem with most movies is that Asians are always shown as the fodder for Rambos to slaughter. However, in this movie the AM not only gets to kiss the lead actress but also is shown in a good leadership role after the lead female protagonist.

And Ellie is not some stock caricature of a bra burning "femi-nazi" who can't effectively be the leader. Rather, she is shown as a fine example of good leadership. She is not without flaws and can have errors of judgment, yet for the most part she listens and is crucial to keeping unit cohesion and "leading by actions." She is both a strong leader and a sympathetic heroine, which is extremely rare in any US Hollywood production that has the female trying to out testostrone the boys - "SALT" comes to mind.

Some small moments that quickly pass the viewer by if they treated it like an American summer movie: a short sequence where a mural is shown with white settlers taking over the land from aborigines - to show the sort of irony about the new invaders vs the original white settlers.

In short, from a simplistic treatment without the jingoism, it's amazing that not only the leading lady a good role model, but the Asian guy's treated with humanity - as most of the other characters are - and he hugely offsets the invading "Mongols" by being a perfectly normal Aussie.

The only plot hole is that the movie doesn't go into how Lee could been helping out with infiltrating the invaders by posing as one of their soldier and even amp up the romance with Ellie. However, from the way the movie is setup it seems likely the AM will be the main romantic interest in the sequel.

A few minor plot holes include: the helos don't have heat IR cameras to see the teens hiding out, they drive a motor vehicle on a desert road and the invaders can't find them on UAVs or other patrol aircraft, and they bomb the house down but leave the barn standing? lol Lastly, the movie calls them "rural inbreds" so do Aussies drive motorcycles without helmets and only a straw hat for protection? lol

Tags:

Comments 9 | Hits: 1316 | Read more...

I just saw a play reading recently and the aphorism of wanting cake and eating it too is blatantly on show with the playwright.

It had everything: from the 'Chinatown' episode cliches of sweatshops to the white savior theme are all there.

Also problematic is the writer's subtle tactic of divide and conquer one Asian ethnicity against another.   It's a play about human trafficking and the 'snakeheads' are Chinese, while the 'victims' are SE Asian.   One line from the play goes on about how ruthless the mama-san is at business, she replies to the effect of course she is because she is Chinese.

All the AM characters are either somehow deficient or inhumane, and the AF are the hapless victims.  Of course, the playwright has the AF marrying white males, including one who rescued them from their sweatshops.

At the end all the oppressed AF cheer on how great the US is and how much freedom they've had after marrying "Americans" (which we can assume means YTs).

And who do you think is the writer, some SOW who has identity issues?  Not at all:

http://henryong.info/

Yes, it is an AM playwright that wrote all those pandering to white audience stockholm syndrome auto-racist puerile crap.

All the same, various Asian organizations and media outlets have been promoting this tripe and telling Asians to support it.   What is there to support besides YT appeasement?

That is the problem with Asian-American media in general: trying to appease a white audience, while alienating the socially conscience AM ones but still wanting 'the Asian community' to support them.

Perhaps 10 or 20 years ago when the agendas of MM haven't gotten out there on the internet the SOWs can try to get away with pseudo-liberal pandering, but with the internet so prevalent and the truth so obvious it's time for Asians to stop being hop-sings and be brave.

Stop pandering, and start to 'keep it real' and call out the real issues that appeals to the sophisticated Asian-American audience rather than pandering to whites and also wanting the support of Asians for financial purposes.

Tags:

Comments 4 | Hits: 1110 | Read more...