Hollywood's Orientalism

Raul 2022-03-27 09:01:06

This is probably the worst time a cat slave has ever been hacked.

Americans usually have a superficial understanding of foreign countries. British "celebrity" Quentine Crisp once said (to the effect): "Americans are very interesting and kind, and their understanding of us British people is relatively one-sided, which is the good kind." . If this sentence is applied to Americans' perception of Asians, then East Asia in the eyes of Americans is basically in a chaotic state, and this chaotic state can be used in artworks or film and television works. Orientalism, Orientalism ism to summarize. How bad Western art's perception of Orientalism is, just look at the red carpet at the Met Gala a few years ago. As for the Asian-themed movies made in Hollywood, I hardly like any of them, including "The Last Emperor" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" that many people like. I really don't like the stories of Asians, especially Chinese people, being adapted by Westerners' "colonialism" filters, and I don't like Chinese characters being interpreted by Hollywood's commercial system. Our Chinese approach to storytelling (which doesn't mean I'm in favor of interpreting all Chinese history in terms of "win the king and lose the bandit").

If we regard the "dog" in the film not as an animal, but as a species that has the same right to live as human beings. To put it bluntly, the "dog" in the film, as a narrative carrier, has a "personality". So what exactly is "Isle of Dogs" about? Let's think about a question first, what kind of dog can be called "a good dog"? For Atari, an obedient dog is a good dog. For dogs, this one still holds true, an obedient dog is a good dog. Like "King" and "Duke", they are obedient dogs, and they are kept by their owners to eat and drink well; like "Leader", disobedient dogs can only be stray dogs, picking up garbage every day and eating without a girlfriend. .

Then let's think about another question, what kind of dog does Atari need? What he needs is a guard dog, a "servant dog", not a pet dog, nor a "dog leader" dog.

What is Atari's countermeasure for a disobedient dog like the "leader"? domesticate it.

After figuring out these questions, the theme of "Canis Island" becomes clear. Atari is not the savior of dogs. His care for dogs is based on the "domestication" of dogs. Atari is the new dictator, the leader is the new domesticated dog (human), the generations of dogs are the ones that should be domesticated, and what people have to do is to domesticate the dogs from generation to generation - this is The film's understanding of Japanese and even Asian culture is not as exciting as watching the Korean election. The metaphor for Japanese society in the film is that the opposition parties are tasteless (the Scientist Party members who were initially killed), Japanese women are incompetent (scientist assistants), and ordinary people are voters who follow the trend (hate dogs today, love dogs tomorrow). , Politicians are all strong in the outside world (Mayor Kobayashi can't handle his housekeeper...). The real combatants are the second generation of politicians, the little girl from the American countryside (an outsider), and the young man who beheaded the head of the Xiaolin family in the legend in the title. As for the boy who beheaded, I don't think Atari is the image in the feature film, but the guy lurking in the men's toilet as a hacker. If it weren't for the dog on his trash island, he would really hang... Indeed, Japan was indeed militaristic during World War II, but is it still? Now you and the Japanese youth of the loose generation Heisei useless wood say that they are militaristic and they are more likely to deny it with a cute emoji...

"Isle of Dogs" is one such film, an orientalist film made for Americans with a phony core that cannot be justified. His art is very good, and the Japanese art elements can be seen everywhere, which integrates very well with the style of cartoons (of course, it is much better than Jinghuashuiyue, and to be honest, it is only Guan Xiaotong's designer who is worse than that). But this movie is indeed the type of Hollywood movie that I hate. I really don't like seeing stray dogs in movies. Why do they have to be domesticated as security dogs? ? Why does Japanese society have to come to a white girl who can't speak Ohio dialect well? ?

In short, don't take your children to see such desperate movies... Might as well watch "Frozen", at least there is a practical skill such as coming out of the closet guide to learn...

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Extended Reading

Isle of Dogs quotes

  • Chief: That kid is gonna get us all put to sleep. Euthanized. We won't find the dog, but we will die trying.

    Rex: Not a bad way to go.

  • Chief: Rex! King! Duke! Boss! You made it!

    Rex: What happened to you?

    Chief: I took a bath.

    Rex: What, he's got soap?

    Chief: Just a little.

    Rex: You're too fluffy.

    Chief: We played fetch.

    Rex: With a stick?

    Chief: With a hunk of rubber radiator tubing.

    Rex: And you brought it back to him?

    Chief: Yeah. He's a good boy.

    Rex: Don't you tell me that! I was the one that tried to make you be loyal to him in the first place!

    Chief: Stop, *stop*! This is the rendevous! Where's that trash-tram taking you?

    Rex: You think we booked this flight through a travel agent? We were fighting for our lives in a high-velocity trash-processor while you were getting scrubbed and brushed!

    Chief: Jump!

    Rex: Where?

    Chief: Here!

    Rex: When?

    Chief: Now!

    Rex: Why?

    Chief: *What*?