on movies, and being the lowest common denominator
I watched Gravity last Wednesday in IMAX 3D (fucking pricey tickets, holy hell) - it visually stunning, though the characters and their stories were not particularly fleshed out or nuanced or original. But oh man, let me repeat: visually stunning. There definitely ought to be all sorts of technical awards for that.
Before the movie, I also saw trailer for "47 Ronin", which looks like a terriblazing Japanese fantasy revenge action adventure flick, but hey, if Hollywood is going to make those regardless, I'd prefer having some Asian scenery and music and cast. Asian faces on my screen for a change! It is literally better than nothing, because out of the 6 trailers I saw that night (Thor 2, Hobbit 2, Ender's Game, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Secret Life of Walter Smitty, 47 Ronin), 5 were all 90% white and about white people saving the world. Chris Pine's movie "Jack Ryan" had zero non-white people in the trailer, not even in background minor roles! Ugh. At least Keanu Reeves is half-Asian, even if I'd rather the movie star Kikuchi Rinko front and center and not be about this outsider/foreigner being the savior we were all waiting for. Yet again.
However, lol, Jin is in this movie! Oh Jin. Hopefully they don't make him speak English like they did with Rain. And Jay Chou. I don't even care that the movie looks cheesy and ridiculous, though, because it promises fighting and prettiness and I am here for that. A different part of me can savor the ~artistic~ beauty of life and art some other time. I just want to be entertained. Yes, I am your lowest common denominator audience. (Apparently I grew out of my clinging to elitism because -- as valuable as certain types of art are and despite how much I will always value education and never deny its importance -- I've come to realize so much elitism is really just an excuse to feel superior and to be exclusionary. Dude, what exactly is the purpose here? For instance, I may never watch The Notebook or read Fifty Shades of Grey, mostly out of laziness and lack of attention span, but I have nothing inherently against them. People who read/watch those and love them are getting something out of it; and in the meantime I am watching Say Yes to the Dress on TLC and reading regency romances, so who am I to judge? I have zero grounds upon which to judge.)
Sometimes I just feel like the circulation of this "I'm so special, we are all so uniquely special and different from everyone else" attitude has really just come to bring us more harm than good. I mean, in a sense, we are! Value yourself! Etc. Just...not on grounds of devaluing other people, I guess.
Before the movie, I also saw trailer for "47 Ronin", which looks like a terriblazing Japanese fantasy revenge action adventure flick, but hey, if Hollywood is going to make those regardless, I'd prefer having some Asian scenery and music and cast. Asian faces on my screen for a change! It is literally better than nothing, because out of the 6 trailers I saw that night (Thor 2, Hobbit 2, Ender's Game, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Secret Life of Walter Smitty, 47 Ronin), 5 were all 90% white and about white people saving the world. Chris Pine's movie "Jack Ryan" had zero non-white people in the trailer, not even in background minor roles! Ugh. At least Keanu Reeves is half-Asian, even if I'd rather the movie star Kikuchi Rinko front and center and not be about this outsider/foreigner being the savior we were all waiting for. Yet again.
However, lol, Jin is in this movie! Oh Jin. Hopefully they don't make him speak English like they did with Rain. And Jay Chou. I don't even care that the movie looks cheesy and ridiculous, though, because it promises fighting and prettiness and I am here for that. A different part of me can savor the ~artistic~ beauty of life and art some other time. I just want to be entertained. Yes, I am your lowest common denominator audience. (Apparently I grew out of my clinging to elitism because -- as valuable as certain types of art are and despite how much I will always value education and never deny its importance -- I've come to realize so much elitism is really just an excuse to feel superior and to be exclusionary. Dude, what exactly is the purpose here? For instance, I may never watch The Notebook or read Fifty Shades of Grey, mostly out of laziness and lack of attention span, but I have nothing inherently against them. People who read/watch those and love them are getting something out of it; and in the meantime I am watching Say Yes to the Dress on TLC and reading regency romances, so who am I to judge? I have zero grounds upon which to judge.)
Sometimes I just feel like the circulation of this "I'm so special, we are all so uniquely special and different from everyone else" attitude has really just come to bring us more harm than good. I mean, in a sense, we are! Value yourself! Etc. Just...not on grounds of devaluing other people, I guess.