Original post date was February 10, 2010. I was pretty pissed.
The Last Airbender Trailer
movie trailer
Um, it was a standard movie trailer. Dramatic introduction here, some standard CG there, quick visual introduction to the characters and a little bit of kung fu with some more CG. I'm gonna be honest- it is NOT hard at all to make a kick ass trailer. In fact, trailers tend to be more awesome than the actual movies since they contain the parts which catch the attentions of the viewer, essentially showing off the best of the best and running the chance of giving away the whole movie.
Honestly I never really watched the original cartoon- I've seen a few episodes here and there and ended up watching the movie finale. I do applaud it for being an extremely successful American cartoon while essentially using a entirely different format from most cartoons that come out from around here (non-episodic, continuing story arches, character building, etc.). Basically it just kinda yanked the anime format, which was smart since that's been rising in popularity for a while.
ANYWAY. This article pretty much sums up my thoughts. I really hope this movie fails for this reason alone because I'm shallow like that. Kinda like how Golden Compass was supposed to be this trilogy but died. I want this to happen to this movie as well- WHAT A TWIST! I can only hope this director will fuck up as badly as he did for The Happening. And any other movie after Sixth Sense.
It was a pretty WTF moment when every single protagonist turned up white for a movie which is supposed to be steeped in Asian culture. Not quite surprising though, to be honest. I've had a lot of conversations about why Asian Americans are so under represented- for girls, they're stuck as some secondary character- not the actual best friend of the main character, but as the best friend of the main character's opponent. Or something. Maybe just as a hot chick with a few lines. (one of the cheerleaders from Bring it on, that other movie about cars.. what was it... The Fast and the Furious; I could be wrong, but I had always thought import cars were inherently a more aZn thing to begin with). And the Asian guys- unless you're lucky like the guy who played Rufio and still managed to play a teenager years later (he's totally 30 something) in that Antonio Banderas dancing movie- you're shit out of luck. Maybe you get to be the nerdy guy with glasses walking by or the home ec partner like in Superbad for about 2 min. (OH MAN- Just found out, the Rufio guy actually did the voice of Zuko in the cartoon of this very movie trailer. Possibly one of the more well known Asian American actors and I still don't know his name haha). Kinda sad in a way, because even when they are getting asian people, they'd look overseas first (For Speedracer they got Rain (huge Korean pop star) What, they couldn't find a guy who was Asian and could speak English? Exception goes for that guy from Lost).
I came to the conclusion about why there would never be an exclusively Asian show, much like the black shows like Tyler Perry's stuff or Fresh Prince or whatever: Asian people have their own media. Granted, it's actually from Asia, but I know so many Asian Americans who just watch Asian dramas. I mean, that's alright, but it sorta bothers me in the fact that I'm too American to truly appreciate those shows (not that I don't watch any...) and not Asian enough to really 'get it.' Is it sad that the movie closest to my reality is Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle? No, I'm serious- I totally spent half an hour looking for a White Caslte the other day... while riding a cheetah.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Some mtv show about some girl.
Original post written January 23rd, 2010. I think I was drunk.
My Life as Liz
TV show
So my friend worked on that mtv show 'My Life as Liz,' and she bitched about it a lot because- and this doesn't surprise me- they manipulate the people in it to the point where it's almost scripted. I'm not a fan of reality shows (okay, I have to admit I've watched some Jersey Shore but, that's like... this beautiful, hypnotic disaster of a car wreck that you can't look away from even though you know it's poison and your soul just dies a little) but this show is about some high school girl who's supposed to be the antithesis of the shallow high school girl.
Like Daria. Except in a way, this show was made as if Daria never existed, and that wouldn't surprise me since the people who are teenagers now have never known mtv to actually play music videos, and Beavis and Butthead are partially known relics of the past. This is the generation whose entire knowledge of classic rock and other old songs comes from Guitar Hero and Glee. Anyway.
I don't wanna say that this is the dumbest show I've ever seen, but it is the most gross attempt of 'I am the most unique girl in the world and fuck them all because they don't understand me and I'm just so much better than everybody and I'm so witty and sarcastic.' It's almost as if some mtv producer discovered the internet, and saw this recurring theme of kids being isolated because of their uniqueness and sporks and llamas and so on and so forth and was like- OMG THIS IS IT.
My friend was so disgusted by the amount of manipulating they put these kids through (though willingly due to the potential fame?) that she never wants to work for mtv again. I'm actually intrigued by how they're made to say certain things and just how much of it is just comments they make that are just taken out of context; it's definitely semi-planned/scripted.
I don't actually know why this bothers me so much, haha. I think it's because I care nothing for the title character at all. Actually, I don't like her at all. Funny part is that I'm almost positive it's the only thing 'real' about this show. She is so fucking pretentious, so unapologetic about painting herself as a 'victim' and so self centered- she believes so much that she's the most unique person in her high school that I'm not even sure that years from now when she looks back she'll ever achieve the self awareness that will enable her to get over herself. 'Oh no, I drive an SUV to school, live in a huge house and am so out of place in my highschool in the sea of blond cheerleaders with my plaid shirt, red lipstick and- oh wait, you mean I'm a hipster and I'm not the only one in the world? Whatever, I'm such a dork with my cool thrift store clothes and nobody understands me and I'm gonna hate on people before they can hate on me because I'm so much cooler than everybody else.' Seriously, high school sucks for everybody, what makes you think it sucks more for you?
It's kinda like that episode of 30 Rock where Liz thinks she was the loser who got picked on all the time but she was actually the bully- hilarious.
This show: not so much.
More importantly: why the hell was I watching mtv? Oh right, I'm drunk and trying to drink water now so I won't wake up with a hangover and it's only 1 am.
My Life as Liz
TV show
So my friend worked on that mtv show 'My Life as Liz,' and she bitched about it a lot because- and this doesn't surprise me- they manipulate the people in it to the point where it's almost scripted. I'm not a fan of reality shows (okay, I have to admit I've watched some Jersey Shore but, that's like... this beautiful, hypnotic disaster of a car wreck that you can't look away from even though you know it's poison and your soul just dies a little) but this show is about some high school girl who's supposed to be the antithesis of the shallow high school girl.
Like Daria. Except in a way, this show was made as if Daria never existed, and that wouldn't surprise me since the people who are teenagers now have never known mtv to actually play music videos, and Beavis and Butthead are partially known relics of the past. This is the generation whose entire knowledge of classic rock and other old songs comes from Guitar Hero and Glee. Anyway.
I don't wanna say that this is the dumbest show I've ever seen, but it is the most gross attempt of 'I am the most unique girl in the world and fuck them all because they don't understand me and I'm just so much better than everybody and I'm so witty and sarcastic.' It's almost as if some mtv producer discovered the internet, and saw this recurring theme of kids being isolated because of their uniqueness and sporks and llamas and so on and so forth and was like- OMG THIS IS IT.
My friend was so disgusted by the amount of manipulating they put these kids through (though willingly due to the potential fame?) that she never wants to work for mtv again. I'm actually intrigued by how they're made to say certain things and just how much of it is just comments they make that are just taken out of context; it's definitely semi-planned/scripted.
I don't actually know why this bothers me so much, haha. I think it's because I care nothing for the title character at all. Actually, I don't like her at all. Funny part is that I'm almost positive it's the only thing 'real' about this show. She is so fucking pretentious, so unapologetic about painting herself as a 'victim' and so self centered- she believes so much that she's the most unique person in her high school that I'm not even sure that years from now when she looks back she'll ever achieve the self awareness that will enable her to get over herself. 'Oh no, I drive an SUV to school, live in a huge house and am so out of place in my highschool in the sea of blond cheerleaders with my plaid shirt, red lipstick and- oh wait, you mean I'm a hipster and I'm not the only one in the world? Whatever, I'm such a dork with my cool thrift store clothes and nobody understands me and I'm gonna hate on people before they can hate on me because I'm so much cooler than everybody else.' Seriously, high school sucks for everybody, what makes you think it sucks more for you?
It's kinda like that episode of 30 Rock where Liz thinks she was the loser who got picked on all the time but she was actually the bully- hilarious.
This show: not so much.
More importantly: why the hell was I watching mtv? Oh right, I'm drunk and trying to drink water now so I won't wake up with a hangover and it's only 1 am.
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