The Great Wall (Matt Damon)
- Thread starter Demi-fiend
- Start date
It's a bit odd to see him there but maybe the story and the role is good enough to look past it.
Based on what the director said, it's supposed to be an action blockbuster so of course a bankable star like Matt Damon ought to be utilized. From the looks of it though, it just seems like the effort of an Asian director to make it to Hollywood and indulge in the benefits of strong commercial success, even though his Chinese-centric films have been critically successful on their own.
Plus, he's Matt Freakin Damon. Dude's one hell of an actor. Who wouldn't want him in their movie?
I saw this a few days ago. It's just another Chinese/western film so that they can sell to both. Dragon Blade and and a few others are out there and you can expect more than a few more on the way, now that they have China as a demographic, so they are definitely going to pitch their movies at that giant ass crowd. These China/west blends with huge stars from both are going to keep coming and while I'd like the idea of better Asian representation in Hollywood I also know that this is going to lead to bad things, somehow, because if anyone can f*** something as awesome sounding as Chinese action films with big Hollywood and China names, effects, and budgets it Hollywood.
TWOxACROSS
Hot-blooded God of Guns
It is rather retarded when you think about it. It's not necessarily "triggering," but it's still a vastly retarded problem in Hollywood, because of the concept of bankable stars. Wanting to get people to see your movie isn't bad, but the problem literally is that the likes of Matt Damon or some other white actor are the only way, because it perpetuates the problem. If Hollywood would bother to create bankable stars out of non-white actors, they'd be able to have blockbusters starring appropriate actors that won't **** off the non-white audiences.
It's odd to think about if you're white, but c'mon, really think about what it's like growing up in the West as a non-white where your race was more token than anything, and worse, when a movie is set in your culture, a white dude is the one in the leading role.
It'd be more interesting to see some variety in Hollywood. Obviously you can get it elsewhere, like in China or Japan, but...the west is so much more than just caucasians.
It's odd to think about if you're white, but c'mon, really think about what it's like growing up in the West as a non-white where your race was more token than anything, and worse, when a movie is set in your culture, a white dude is the one in the leading role.
It'd be more interesting to see some variety in Hollywood. Obviously you can get it elsewhere, like in China or Japan, but...the west is so much more than just caucasians.
So, the whole Scarlett and Ghost in the Shell thing?
Well, I suppose I agree to a extent. The huge issue with 47 ronin, besides that it has nothing to do with the original and it was garbage, wasn't the white lead of Keanu Reeves, it was this massive and obvious sign that the makers neither understood the culture and the mythology they were imitating nor even bother to try to flex themselves to it. It was very much a Hollywood rendition of something Japanese with the budget and the creatures and the writing that are obvious big summer blockbuster musts. I hear very similar things about Gods of Egypt, all flash and lacking a basic understanding of the culture it emulates.
I don't mind a large Hollywood/China blockbuster with a mixed cast, that sounds like a lot of fun. What I don't like is when the idea of some Hollywood jackass been blinded by the possibility of money and just doing more of the same that they've done and screwing it up like they've done in the past.
TWOxACROSS
Hot-blooded God of Guns
Yeah, the perpetuation of the problem, where there excuse is "Wull, non-white actors won't put as many butts in the seats!" despite the obvious solution of being start hiring more non-white actors so they can prove themselves, and don't shove them into token roles where they're pigeon-holed to play one specific kind of character because of their ethnicity. There's nothing that says a non-white actor can't play the lead role when their race has nothing to do with the character. Yet, whenever someone like an Asian is in a movie, particularly an action movie, you get them being the mystic martial arts character because...Asian :/
The only franchise that will make anyone a star no matter their race or gender, is Star Wars because the brand outsells any actor that's in it. And they decided to cast a white woman as their new lead. Sooooo, yea.
Well, that or fish out of water with an American partners. This happened to Jackie Chan the most. Jet Li lucked out and got French films and no American counterparts, just co-stars, like in Kiss of the Dragon and Danny the Dog.
The Jackie Chan ones bugged me the most because there were more than one occasion where the American counterpart made insinuation as to why Chinese culture or their way of doing things was wrong, weird, ineffective or, for lack of a better term, not as good as the American way. I've seen that in American cinema a lot and it's always struck me as arrogant and I've seen it in a lot of cross cultural themed movies.
"There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them — the other four are all Chinese."
http://www.gamesradar.com/the-great-wall-director-zhang-yimou-weighs-in-on-whitewashing-controversy/
No one ever complains about the token white guy...
http://www.gamesradar.com/the-great-wall-director-zhang-yimou-weighs-in-on-whitewashing-controversy/
No one ever complains about the token white guy...
As long as he isn't dropping any major bs lines of modern dialogue there is no reason he'd be token. You ever see the animated Simbad with Brad Pitt? That is a token white guy.
chinese can't make a god damn trailer..
and there's andy lau there, guy's a legend..
but the movie will probably suck..
and there's andy lau there, guy's a legend..
but the movie will probably suck..
TWOxACROSS
Hot-blooded God of Guns
It's nice to know, but also terrible marketing to start off with the white guy in the predominantly Asian cast >.< Or perhaps not to outline something like this to begin with, given that despite Damon's celebrity power, it would make people a little less annoyed if they had said like "one of five heroes, among four other prominent Chinese actors." Andy Lau is awesome, too. Missed opportunity to not mention that either.
There's no such thing as the "Token White Guy," either. The entire concept of what became the "token" character is the idea that the diversity of a cast is tokenized, literally having a character of diversity for the sake of it, like one black dude in a group of whites, or even one token female character in a cast of dudes. It doesn't really have anything to do with how they speak, although when it comes to Token Black Guys, it's been shoehorned in that they speak in that stereotypical urban manner :/
There's no such thing as the "Token White Guy," either. The entire concept of what became the "token" character is the idea that the diversity of a cast is tokenized, literally having a character of diversity for the sake of it, like one black dude in a group of whites, or even one token female character in a cast of dudes. It doesn't really have anything to do with how they speak, although when it comes to Token Black Guys, it's been shoehorned in that they speak in that stereotypical urban manner :/