MovieChat Forums > Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) Discussion > Why I refuse to watch this film

Why I refuse to watch this film

posted 14 years ago by WhenTheWorldEnds
35 replies | jump to latest

It's typical America/Hollywood propaganda. Casting American white actors for the roles of middle eastern/asian characters. As an Asian man myself, I find it insulting. I'm sure there are thousands of aspiring middle eastern actors in America that could have filled the roles. But as per usual, Hollywood caters to the American white man. And people ask why Hollywood is such a racist industry behind the times, with the dumb trash they spew out on a yearly basis just for money.

I've taken such a stand that I refuse to watch American films/TV ever again. I for one will not be whitewashed into their 'Americans are the good guys' bull. *beep* you, America.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] WhenTheWorldEnds 14 years ago

Strange. I go to movies to see a good story.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Gmalkin 13 years ago

There's a higher likelihood that the film will be good if it has managed to attract top talent.

You've clearly never seen Bloodrayne or Dungeon Siege: In the Name of the King... HUGE names, fraking AWFUL movies. People associated with those movies should be put to death ... twice ... and have their corpses burned in effigy ... then urinated on to extinguish the flames.

[–] ajackett 13 years ago

I'm sorry, I know this is almost a year old, but you contradicted yourself. You made this huge rant about how you're boycotting American film and television because of the actors they use, but when someone counters and puts some reasoning behind it, you say you're interested in seeing a good story. So, if you're more interested in the story and don't care who the actors are, why do you care that they're American? I think you're the one being racist here. If the American film industry was being racist, they'd either make fun of your people in the movie, or not make the film at all. The fact that they did make it, and made it well, means to me they actually care about the culture.

The American film industry is, and will always be, about money. Plain and simple. They do not cater to white people, they cater to green paper. They thought they could make a few more bucks with Jake Gyllenhaal than anyone else. I personally didn't think Jake was the right guy for the role, but he was actually pretty decent. I was basing my opinion on movies like Donnie Darko and Bubble Boy though. I realize now that he's actually very versatile. Remember one thing, the American film industry's biggest demographic is... wait for it... Americans. Their decisions are made to attract the widest audience in America. Ultimately, that's who they're catering too, but it's not a race thing. You made it a race thing.

Back to my original point, it's just funny how you took the time to write a post about how the actors in a film are so important, and then in the very next breath, it's all about the story. Your original post was clearly nothing more than classic trolling, and furthermore, I don't think anyone really cares, Hollywood included, if you don't watch the movie. It was a decent film, good action, good story, good effects. Nothing mind blowing, but on par with any other Disney film, like Pirates of the Caribbean.

For what it's worth, I enjoy films like these that take place in exotic lands that I'll probably never be able to visit myself. Stick to your boycott if you still feel like Hollywood has wronged you and your people, but if you can open your mind just a little bit, and see past the race thing, you might get a little entertainment for a couple hours.

[–] Lockeisalive 14 years ago

Lol at Jake Gyllenhaal being a big name star. Even if the movie had an unknown actor at the helm it would have made as much. I mean look at Tron Legacy (based on a cult film) and starring an unknown as the lead. And Jake Gyllenhaal has never been able to open a movie as much as Hollywood tries to force him down our throats. Source Code despite being heavily promoted made about a third of a silly family comedy this weekend.

Special effects heavy movies for the most part don't need big name stars to draw crowds as long as they're entertaining but Hollywood never understands that.

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.

[–] spolitta 14 years ago

As an Iranian I just don't see why Gyllenhaal should bother anybody. First of all he does look a little bit Persian (not as much as Kingsley does) but also not all Persians look the same really. Most of my relatives from my mother's side have orange head and greenish eyes, my father is very Persian looking so I turned out to be sort of European white with brown hair and eyes and there is no way another Iranian could guess I'm Persian unless I open my mouth and speak the language. If you go to the north of Iran then good luck finding a dark skin Iranian or if you go to the south you can find some black folks, so the point I'm trying to make is that looks and colors are quite diverse in Iran and I have no problem with the casting of this movie.

[–] ubcool 13 years ago

Jake gyllenhall is a pretty big name. He is also a very good actor. The film would of been worse and made less money without him.

Tron had jeff bridges and a huge cult following.

[–] CombustionMan 14 years ago

If that was true roguefighter then we'd never get anyone new into the film industry, ever. I for one go to see a good story, if you just wanted to see the actors you'd be better off with pictures.

[–] popeyefishface 14 years ago

I had the same predetermined attitude when the movie came out. I JUST finished watching it - and guess what - it proved me wrong. It is a good movie. Sure there were some cliches, but in overall, it delivers.

[–] suzycreamcheese1 14 years ago

Don't be shy! Tell us how ya REALLY feel!!

RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

[–] chrismueller83 14 years ago

your welcome to leave dude

[–] movieguy100-1 14 years ago

come on if you want to make a big movie to earn big bucks you will get big actors not coming up ones, unless the name of the movie is made from something popular say transformers. if you dont like it leave, bitch somewhere else, but i do understand what your saying.

Happy trails Hans

[–] actionmanrandell 14 years ago

what you fail to realize is that modern iranians aswell as persians of that time look alot like what jake looked like in this film

[–] chrismueller83 14 years ago

their accents also sound similar to english when they speak english in real life

[–] TrickMoneySmitty 14 years ago

you know that how????

[–] Val-El 14 years ago

Do you know where Iran is???

[–] TrickMoneySmitty 14 years ago

yup its in south america

[–] chrismueller83 14 years ago

I know that because I have family from there

[–] Trinian89 14 years ago

I think you need to relax for a moment, for one remember that the film was suppose to be based on the game, and to be honest Jake looked pretty damn close to how the prince looked in the game. And watching American movies doesn't automatically mean that you think anything American is good and that they always do the right thing. I don't think hollywood is racist,at least that the majority isnt, more like money-hungry/greedy, and and like all corporations (considering the industry that's what it's most like,) the earning of more money. Famous actor = higher turnout.

Actually considering how they filmed Dragonball:Evolution (now that's a movie worth boycotting), this was actually pretty well done.

[–] APODDER 14 years ago

IMDB may have international sites, but it's an AMERICAN product. So you might want to get off if you're having an issue w/America, punkin'. None of this is life-or-death, so it's really not worth all your vitriol. Just don't go see movies and stfu about it, already.

[–] sgdrums 14 years ago

ROFL your the racist here buddy, this movie is an amazing story your missing out on based on a computer game originally conceptualized by Brøderbund Software which was an "American" developer of computer games. Later the IP was taken over by Ubisoft, which is where the "Sands of Time" came from which this movie is heavily based on. Art is art no matter which way you look at it, most in the East wish to make successful films in the West. You self-contradiction is invalid and ill-informed!

[–] aRealCoolGuy 14 years ago

So... you have to be American or a fan of America to post on IMDB?? ...that is quite possibly the dumbest statement I have ever seen... Get the crap out of here... internet message boards were made for people to bitch and complain about stuff they dislike. Let the man speak his mind!

[–] thesnowleopard 14 years ago

IMDB may have international sites, but it's an AMERICAN product. So you might want to get off if you're having an issue w/America, punkin'. None of this is life-or-death, so it's really not worth all your vitriol. Just don't go see movies and stfu about it, already.

Completely wrong. IMDB was a British site, founded by an Englishman and based out of Cardiff, Wales, for the first eight years of its existence.

As for the OP's complaint, it has merit. We can beat around the bush as much as we like, but the closest actor analogue to the Sassanid Persians, who looked like this:

this:

http://www.crystalinks.com/shapurII.jpg

is not a guy who looks Northern European and is made up to look Middle Eastern, let alone like the love interest from the same area of the world of a woman who looks almost stereotypically English.

As for the argument that the leads needed to be "white" in order for the film to succeed, that's problematical on several levels: Most Arab-American actors in Hollywood right now are forced either to play terrorists or downplay their Middle Eastern heritage. The way for this to change is to cast Arab-American actors in larger roles as Arab-Americans, rather than having them hide their ethnicity. If you really don't think this is such a big deal, perhaps you'd like to consider how Kirk Douglas' career might have gone if he had insisted earlier on in expressing his Russian-Jewish heritage publicly. Such boundaries aren't surmounted unless those trapped within them push at them.

It's nonsensical to say that the film was justified in casting a known white actor as a West Asian character just because it was a blockbuster film (since it flopped, anyway), or that this was the only way to get a good audience (Plenty of the audience of The Mummy films liked Oded Fehr, a new face from Israel who looked very Middle Eastern, just fine), or that only known actors should lead in action films. Hollywood is always looking for new blood and there was no reason to avoid doing so with this film just because a young Arab actor might not have been as well-known as Jake Gyllenhaal. And I'm not sure how that argument works for Gemma Arterton, who is hardly a big name, anyway.

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[–] mokienatrix 13 years ago

Except Persians are not Arabic, and calling them Arabic offends them. Just because they come from the same general area of the world, it doesn't mean they are the same people.

It also doesn't mean that the movie isn't realistic because of the actors' skin color. As commenters have pointed out, Persians consider themselves white, and there's a pretty broad range of skin, hair and eye colors represented there.

Would it have been better if they'd cast actors of Middle Eastern descent? Of course. But it's more annoying to me that the people grumbling about 'whitewashing' are ignoring the comments from PERSIANS who point out that, to their expert eye, Gyllenhaal looks the part.

[–] operaghost78 14 years ago

and "beep" you too, my little oriental friend....

were creatures of the underworld, satine. we cant afford to love.

harold zidler
moulin rouge

[–] Gambit_Girl 14 years ago

Did I miss something....? :

" Re: Why I refuse to watch this film
by Val-El (Sun Feb 27 2011 16:05:31)

Do you know where Iran is???

Re: Why I refuse to watch this film
by BlockBeatin101 (Sun Feb 27 2011 16:13:13)

yup its in south america"

When did Iran move there?!

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