I think the movie is catching a lot of bad press in large part because of the casting horribleness (i.e., casting white actors as Asian and Inuit characters). Ordinarily it's a movie that'd appeal to me (and I'm not a fan of the cartoon either), but after following all the awfulness of Paramount and Shyamalan -- and the egregious ways they've treated the protests from the Asian-American community -- for the past months, it's gotten to the point where I see an ad for the movie and I physically feel sick. I'm not ordinarily a vicious person but I ended up wanting the movie to fail so, so badly because of the way the studio's casting and their public reaction had hurt me and people I knew on such a very personal level.
From what you're saying, I'm wondering if maybe the movie itself isn't all that bad, but that some reviewers were already so pissed off at Paramount for what they had said and done (some critics came out before the movie premiered and publicly criticized them for the race issues) that they were harder on it than they otherwise would have been. I know I would have been, if I were a movie critic. And I don't mean that in a sour "I'll get back at you" way, but in a really really sad "I was personally so hurt by this movie that I wouldn't have been able to help it" way.
If you're not familiar with the casting controversy, check out racebending.com. The worst thing about it, for me, is how much media affects children. Some of the quotes from supporters of the movement will break your heart. Here are a couple: "Anyone who thinks this isn’t a big deal should think about the lack of minority heroes in children’s shows and be mailed a photo of my little cousin’s face when she saw a blue-eyed, fair-skinned, light-haired actress cast as Katara," and "I have an adorable seven-year-old cousin, adopted from China at age two, who’s already starting to think to be a hero or a princess you have to be white." (racebending.com)
Okay, I hope this didn't turn into too much of a rant, not my journal and all that (don't have one). But that's one reason why you might not be seeing so many happy reviews -- because people have been genuinely hurt and angered by all this so I think it's likely that they're not cutting the movie any slack at all. And honestly, I can't blame them.
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chiming
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Date: 2010-07-12 01:45 am (UTC)From: (Anonymous)From what you're saying, I'm wondering if maybe the movie itself isn't all that bad, but that some reviewers were already so pissed off at Paramount for what they had said and done (some critics came out before the movie premiered and publicly criticized them for the race issues) that they were harder on it than they otherwise would have been. I know I would have been, if I were a movie critic. And I don't mean that in a sour "I'll get back at you" way, but in a really really sad "I was personally so hurt by this movie that I wouldn't have been able to help it" way.
If you're not familiar with the casting controversy, check out racebending.com. The worst thing about it, for me, is how much media affects children. Some of the quotes from supporters of the movement will break your heart. Here are a couple: "Anyone who thinks this isn’t a big deal should think about the lack of minority heroes in children’s shows and be mailed a photo of my little cousin’s face when she saw a blue-eyed, fair-skinned, light-haired actress cast as Katara," and "I have an adorable seven-year-old cousin, adopted from China at age two, who’s already starting to think to be a hero or a princess you have to be white." (racebending.com)
Okay, I hope this didn't turn into too much of a rant, not my journal and all that (don't have one). But that's one reason why you might not be seeing so many happy reviews -- because people have been genuinely hurt and angered by all this so I think it's likely that they're not cutting the movie any slack at all. And honestly, I can't blame them.
Pia