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Why do white europeans think it's ok to steal the Mexican culture?


That opening scene is the worst example of cultural appropriation I've ever witnessed

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Because "White" films should not showcase "Mexican" culture.

Pretty smart.

What no man Can give ya. And none Can take away.

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Because "White" films should not showcase "Mexican" culture.

Pretty smart.


No, they shouldn't!!! it's WRONG! it's RACIST! it's appropriation! what have Daniel Graig and Sam Mnedes done for Mexicans? *beep* NOTHING! and what's with the quotes? Dia de los muertos IS Mexican culture

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Well, I didn't use quotes on showcase.

What no man Can give ya. And none Can take away.

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Dia de los muertos IS Mexican culture
Actually, the Mexican holiday is called Día de Muertos (without the "los") in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. "Dia de los muertos" is an (incorrect) back-translation of the phrase "Day Of The Dead", by Americans (and other non-Spanish speakers) who don't speak Spanish very well. Ironically, the fact that most people in English-language threads/forums refer to the holiday as "Dia de los muertos" is a perfect illustration of the appropriation argument that you bring up.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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I'm honestly baffled by this entire thread... Do you even know what cultural appropriation means? Based on your comment I have to assume not. Depicting a cultural element in a movie is in no way, shape, or form appropriation of that culture. It would only meet that definition if that entire sequence was taking place in a predominantly white/European location, and featuring all white/European actors, and seeming to imply that it was an element of white/European culture. What we see in this case is the depiction of a holiday celebration taking place in Mexico, featuring Mexican actors, doing exactly what you would expect a group of Mexicans to be doing at that celebration. It is almost the polar opposite of appropriation. Your complaint fails on literally every single level.

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doing exactly what you would expect a group of Mexicans to be doing at that celebration.
OP's point is that the scene does not depict how Mexicans behave at that celebration, but rather how Americans and/or (Northern-)Europeans would behave (or what Hollywood assumes, incorrectly, how Mexicans would behave) at such a celebration. In other words, Hollywood is reshaping the definition of this particular Mexican holiday to its own tastes/cultural trends/ideas of how to celebrate festive holidays. And that would indeed be cultural appropriation.

But ironically, the OP herself was not aware of the correct Spanish name of the Mexican holiday and rather used a (back-)translation of the English name (or maybe it was just a slip of the tongue).

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

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Fair enough, I'll readily admit to not being an expert on how this holiday is exactly celebrated. However, I still don't think this fits the bill of appropriation. A scene in a fictitious movie which portrays a particular event is hardly "reshaping the definition" of that event. By that definition, you would then also have to argue that British culture has been appropriated, because James Bond's behavior is not indicative of all Brits. Or that the "culture" of British intelligence has also been appropriated. I would say this would only fit the bill of being appropriation if the movie claimed to be giving a factual representation, or if it claimed to be expert on the culture, or if the whole scene took place in a country that was dominated by white Europeans and did not traditionally celebrate the holiday. I think people are getting a little too loose in throwing around these kinds of terms. Its just a movie for entertainment's sake, I hardly think there is any underlying cultural statement behind it. Except for maybe making a statement on the cultural iconism of the character himself.

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OP's point is that the scene does not depict how Mexicans behave at that celebration, but rather how Americans and/or (Northern-)Europeans would behave (or what Hollywood assumes, incorrectly, how Mexicans would behave) at such a celebration.
We all get it. It's a movie. It may not be 100% accurate. It's over the top.

A movie doesn't accurately represent the way something happens in reality?

Shocking.



Please stop.

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^this

And just another thought, but really look at what OP seems to be suggesting. Apparently he thinks that movies featuring white characters can only include depictions of things that are historically considered to be "white" culture. And apparently only a Mexican movie featuring Mexican actors can portray this holiday. I guess appropriation is bad, but basically telling all ethnicities to "stick to your own kind" is just fine? I'm so confused by some people's understanding of the world...

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Because the spanish name of the celebration is completely irrelevant, since this is an indigenous celebration. Spanish is just a language imposed to our people when the invaders arrived

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lol

Please stop.

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Mexico looked amazing in the film,sure the film has encouraged tourism to Mexico.
I don't think that the film was in any way negative about Mexico.
How much did the film production inject into the Mexican economy?

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Bond mystique is a disappearing cultural phenomenon. Not everyone enjoys it. If you don't like it don't watch. No one is forcing you to watch it.

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Spectre (2015)

The "Day of the Dead" (from the Spanish: Día de los Muertos) festival seen in this film's trailer and in the movie's opening sequence is a real life Mexican national holiday where all banks are closed. The public holiday is particularly celebrated throughout Mexico but also in other cultures across the globe. Elegant Skulls or La Calavera Catrinas, used in the Day of the Dead celebrations, are artistic manifestations of altars and calavera costumes of the Day of the Dead. An image of one of these skulls features in the background of one of the film's main movie posters. Nevertheless, there are no Day of the Dead parades in Mexico, as shown in the movie: the writers somehow mixed Brazil's Carnaval celebrations with the Day of the Dead Mexican tradition, two totally different events.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379713/trivia?item=tr2643569

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Mexican's are lazy and dumb so *beep* off

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all Mexicans are lazy and dumb? but they still takes jobs from Americans?

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I don't really understand this comment at all. It's an action sequence that happens to take place in Mexico. It's not like the writer's have white washed a mexican secret agent and renamed him James Bond. Bond has traveled all over the world since Dr. No in 1962. Seeing all the various locales and cultures is part of the appeal. That's like what he does...lol.

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I don't really understand this comment at all.


It's a troll, understood. Not worth direct response.

That said, the topic toyed with has merit.

The intentional misrepresentation of the Day of the Dead was to homage the fairly standard Bond thing of the carnival chase (Thunderball, primarily).

So the straight-faced answer is: that's how Bond does it, on purpose. Any/all cultures represented in Bondverse will be amped up to caricature + mocked/celebrated + twisted for the sake of manufacturing an action setpiece, a tad unlike the real world on purpose.

That's why Jamaican culture produces action about desert isles and dragons, and Turkish gypsy culture produces catfights and battle royales and American culture produces plantations and unrealistically opulent military bases, and so on, and that's just the first three movies. None of which are accurate, really.

Now, this is a signature gun, and that is an optical palm reader.

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fair enough. I guess I never thought about it because when are action movies NOT cartoonish even when they are doing real stunts. lol

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James Bond, particularly James Bond on screen, has always had a component of fantasy+spoof which varies in degrees as to how "cartoonish" the whole thing comes off.

Combine that with a predilection towards Ian Fleming's mixture of fascination and enjoyment of cultures and travel and exoticness combined with his concerns about white, male, British preeminence...and you have a recipe for what some today like to race to call "cultural appropriation."

Fortunately, the world that James Bond unendingly (though not unerringly) preserves is one where as many movies about caricatures of parades are made as often as Mexicans twist Shakespeare. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/apr/19/shakespeare-popular-china-mexico-turkey-than-uk-british-council-survey. That stuff is specifically what James preserves.

The point being that Bond's world worth saving is far from one that validates authoritarian censorship or even mere manufactured self righteousness over such power grabs. JB as symbol represents essentially an opposite way to process the world, and that's why he resonates, similarly or at least close to parallel to how, say, Harry Callaghan counterweights those who would build a Miranda-ized, buraeucratic world. Except Bond's taste being more cosmopolitan without even seeing any "culture of victimhood" to pander to.

Now, this is a signature gun, and that is an optical palm reader.

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Is it now politically incorrect for 'white' people to make reference to any culture other than their own?

Is there a website somewhere where I can find a list of stuff that we are allowed to do?



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Is it now politically incorrect for 'white' people to make reference to any culture other than their own?

Is there a website somewhere where I can find a list of stuff that we are allowed to do?


Yes, and how about you guys stop stealing our Mexican culture for your crappy movies?

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Link?

Please stop.

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You know I'm totally down with people not being jerks and stealing things but to create a fictional story with characters who never go anywhere other than where they live would be pretty boring. I'm an American who lives in New York City and if I got upset everytime a foreign film showed New York inaccurately, I'd probably go crazy. It's just a movie dude and there was nothing offensive about it. If they were making Mexican jokes and bathing in tacos and whatnot then I could understand. It's literally nothing but a helicopter action scene that just happens to occur during a day of the dead celebration and if my memory serves me correctly, the filmmakers went to great lengths to work with the Mexican government to make sure Mexico was being portrayed positively.

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So now I should thank them for stealing my culture?

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