I've read a lot of reviews complaining that this movie is racist or whatever, even though throughout the rest of review they're saying how intense it is. To anyone who's seen this movie yet, is this really that "racist," or are those critics just trying to get offended?
shareTo avoid charges of racism, would it be more creditable to locate the movie here in California and have the locals massacring German Aldi employees in retaliation for them taking over a local grocery store chain? And would the killing of those employes be mitigated by a movie line " Well we (Germans) had it coming, we started it."
shareNot racist. THey were killing foreigners, not white people. They killed plenty of their own people who helped the foreigners. Very intense movie!
share"Not racist. THey were killing foreigners, not white people. They killed plenty of their own people who helped the foreigners. Very intense movie!"
I'm not sure I even follow you here. The white people were the foreigners. Who exactly are you talking about?
Saw the movie yesterday afternoon. In no way do I believe it is racist.
shareIt's not racist. The movie reflects the disorientation of the Dwyer family, given that they're smack dab in the middle of a war zone in which English isn't even the third or fourth language. Yes, the rebels execute many foreigners and are especially targeting Owen Wilson's character because his face is on a corporate banner, but the movie doesn't actually take sides. Sure, it's no surprise that civilians who work in the hotel treat the family nicely (and many of them speak English), but the Dwyers encounter civilians outside of the compound while they're on the run who do help them even though they don't speak a word of English. An old man lets them hide in his large backyard garden, Wilson barters his gold watch and shoes for a boat, and, more amazingly, during one sequence in which the family is disguised as rebels and riding a moped in the opposite direction within a large crowd of rebels, a rebel lets them go through without revealing who they are when the sheer mass of people dislodge them from their moped and Wilson loses his bandana-mask for a second. The movie is the exact opposite of racist -- it shows that, while psychopaths are usually the leaders of one side or the other in a war zone, basic human decency exists even among the individuals stuck therein.
shareExcellent summary shutuprob. I found NE to be quite a thrilling ride, and one particularly centered on the endangerment of the family and their struggle to survive.
This is perhaps the only solidly intelligent post that I've seen on this board.
The one thing that I should also point out is that the writers ARE actually trying to convey a shameful truth regarding the exploitation of natural and human resources within 3rd world countries by the US, UK and other similar countries on behalf of their major corporations (which control the governments) and the potential backlash that can result.
Unfortunately, the citizens of these victimized countries may blindly exercise their vengance upon innocent civlians who just happen to hail from the oppressing nations though usually unconnected and unaware of the plight befalling those citizens.
RoidDroidVoid
How is anyone being exploited by a major corporation here? Stop imaging things that are not in the script.
The main characters family is moving to this area in poor, undeveloped "SouthEast Asia" to help run a Water Plant. You know, those things that make sure the water people are using is clean and disease free!
Perhaps you should rewatch the movie. That point is very clearly laid out during the conversation right before the rooftop confrontation at night.
This plot point is actually the basis of the entire movie.
He took the job because he thought he'd be helping the locals have clean water to drink.
What he didn't know, at first and later finds out,is that that was not what the company was actually doing with the water.
Why do you think the rioters want him specifically? It's because the company he came there to work for was doing the exploiting.
Instead of thinking up ways to try to be insulting and rude on a message board, you'd be better served improving your comprehension and retention skills.
RoidDroidVoid
What was the company doing with the water? Turning it into Eeeevil Water to fill the shark yanks in their secret island volcano lair?
shareit was suppposed to be, the flight map on the plane has them
landing in Cambodia. English is widely spoken there, particularly in Phnom Penh. Having lived in Thailand for 6 years, I could not help noticing that the locals were all speaking Thai. That is, of course because it was filmed in Thai.
The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. Samuel Beckett
This film isn't about racism, or politics. It's mostly a picture about wanting to go home, and running into extreme obstacles in the effort to get there. That's all. The Boston Globe gave it two stars, which is ridiculous. In the same review, the critic said it was a great movie, and that people should go see it. This, in my opinion, is one of the best films I've seen in years. Wilson was terrific, and so was everyone else in the picture. You listen to politically correct Nazi's all day, you're gonna go nuts.
It reminds me how the Americans were driven out of Cuba in a sense, they had to grab and go, though they were allowed to go for the most part thanks to Castro's Regime. I suppose we drove the British out of our country as well in the colonial days. I know it didn't cast asians in a very good light. Hey, I loved the movie, and even the overun of the Embassy didn't seem so far fetched in this day and age.
shareInteresting thread. I saw the movie yesterday, and "short story" is that it didn't seem to me to be in the least bit racist, xenophobic, etc. In fact I think the movie went out of its way to avoid stereotypes. There was a bit of "PC" stereotypical political "explanation" near the end ... but that bit was really out of sync with the rest of the movie. Since the movie isn't a political statement at all of any kind, it's just a heckuva cool, riveting, entertaining, nonstop action story. That's my take anyway.
share[deleted]
It's not racist, it shows a number of times the locals helping the family, including a young man who's part of the gang who knows who they are but doesn't tell the others. The fact a lot of PC people don't want to admit is this stuff happens, coups happen, anti-American riots happen and people die, good, bad and everyone in between.
share