Friday, March 24, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Aladdin movie review
For people reading the blog that
have not watched the movie, which is probably very few, here is a quick summary
of the plot. Aladdin lives in the city of Agrabah, who has to steal food to survive.
After freeing the lamp and three wishes granted, the evil force
arrives and Aladdin needs to save his love, Princess Jasmine and an adventure
unfolds.
Aladdin is considered an all-time
Disney Classic and it deserves such title. The music and humor in the movie
provides wonderful entertainment toward children. Brilliant performance by individuals
in the movie such as Robin Williams makes characters extremely entertaining to
watch.
However,
racial generalization in the film passes right through the heads of audiences
without realizing its potential implications. Aladdin as an early Disney
production does exhibit traits of racism. In the song “: Oh, I come from a land
From a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear
If they don't like your face It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.” Critics
have continually blamed Disney for demonizing races in its earlier productions
and Aladdin is one that takes a lot of the heat. The New York Times countered
Disney and said, “To characterize an entire region with this sort of tongue-in-cheekbigotry, especially in a movie aimed at children, borders on barbaric.”
This conflict is saddening because Disney
produces goods that attract the public. Back in 1992, racism is still a social
trend that could not be easily broken off. Instead of saying Disney is the one
to blame, the public itself should improve as a whole because Disney is not an
advanced philosophical palace; it is not a world that contains all truth; it
is, however, a reflection of populism. Even at present day, audiences hardly
realize the stereotypical depictions in the movie, instead, they remembered them
as a childhood movie that provided happiness and joy.
Although
Disney may not be completely at fault, I am not denying that such criticism is necessary
and much needed for American public to realize the underlying racism in movies,
books and memories. In fact, Disney is never perfect even though the
corporation tries the hardest to please the public. Even so, Disney hardly acknowledge
their potential mistakes, but decorate their creations as wonderlands with
purity. In marketing perspective, yes, it is good for business. But when the imaginary
bubbles break in front of their consumers, the consequences can be influential.
Over the
past decades Disney has improved tremendously in its stand on racism. With the
new Moana movie with the first South African princess as protagonist and
upcoming reboot of Mulan, Disney is taking huge steps on following up the
social trends that push for racial and gender equality. And it is our job as
the public to let Disney realize that the public wants stories of globalization
and equality of races, genders and sexuality instead of hierarchical and biased
tales.
Overall,
I enjoyed the movie and admittedly, the racist propaganda is indeed easy to get
into audiences’ mind. The humor and the addictive soundtrack were enough to
make me whistle along through the movie.
Further information about Aladdin can be viewed here.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Beauty and the beast review
Happy spring break everyone!
Although the movie is not released in most cinema yet, my favorite movie reviewer on Youtube has already watched it and given it a wonderful review. If interested, come check it out!
Although the movie is not released in most cinema yet, my favorite movie reviewer on Youtube has already watched it and given it a wonderful review. If interested, come check it out!
Disney blog post on Logan
SPOIL ALERT:
This past weekend I stayed in my friend’s home at Philadelphia.
The weather was incredibly cold even though I lived in Connecticut for four
years, maybe it was I travelled a lot during the past two days. I visited university
of Pennsylvania and University of Drexel, not really a campus for either one,
but I enjoyed their facilities. 
Now I just got back to New York, staying in my friend’s dorm
in NYU. Cozyyy. Besides eating good foods, I enjoyed the new Marvel movie,
Logan. As a Marvel fan, the ending chapter of wolverine starring Hugh Jackson
was something that went beyond the simple identification of hero from
traditional Marvel standpoint.
I really appreciated the ambiguity of heroes in the film as
they condemned themselves in the movie because of their behaviors. Professor X
is characterized as a criminal because of his brain instability, and when the
seizure happened in the mall, professor was beyond desperate by his
unintentional killing of several innocents. Wolverine claimed that hero did not
exist to his daughter and said to others” You don’t know me.” His deny of
heroism was presented in his film as he faced many plights: between saving
Professor X or the girl, saving the group of Children or take the money and
leave.
All the options Logan chose were self-serving and saddening
in the film, which is the general tone of the film. However, the villains in
the movie can be easily identified and the reasons behind are not very sounded.
The reason behind them is to create human weapons in the 22th century with
super human abilities. It is hard to believe such weapon is needed or even
powerful enough to stand against modern weapons. The ultimate “weapon” in the
movie is a clone of the younger wolverine that can be easily put down by a
driving vehicle or firepower. 
Though failed in creating great villains, this movie
presented a fantastic and refreshing view of the marvel universe, where there
is no fairy tale or imagery sanctuary, but only people who have incredible
persistence and hopeful spirit that compel them to achieve something extraordinary.
Logan is not a
typical Disney or Marvel film. Its story-telling is both realistic and
artistic. In finding the imagery safe-haven “Eden” for the girl, Wolverine’s
viewpoint of the world changed as he realized that dreams can happen as long as
people put sweat and blood into the ideals.
The candle of hope was transferred from the older generation
of X men to the youngsters, who were able to escape from the cruelty of the
weapon corporation and begin new lives. The sacrifice in the movie was immense
as all the well-known X-men faded into history. Logan, in many way, is a
combination between Manchester by the sea, and Rogue One. Family, sacrifice,
hope are all important element in the film and it deepens the messages. 
I enjoyed Logan very
much even with its flaws. It reflexes progress Marvel and Disney are making in
their film production. They not only provide an entertainment in these films
but also input critical moral values that are important for society.
More information can be viewed here, the film is quite bloody and tragic overall, but I would absolutely recommend this movie.
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Beauty and the Beast controversy
Some progress are made in Disney production on LGBT community, but it can be a set back because Disney is setting the Villain as a gay character. More can be seen here,
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