Hollywood Making Cr@p for the M@sses: A Video by Taualumna

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

DST

1. When is the last time you went to the movies?
2. What is the last good remake you saw?
3. What's the last movie You saw remade that was overhyped?
4. Name a franchise movie that you wish Hollywood would stop doing.

How is any of this about the dumbing down of movies for Americans?

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

So what is this thread about, really?

Plug for her book, apparently.

Wow, really, just took the time to watch the video, supremely not interesting. It started out heading somewhere that could have been interesting (changing the ethnicity of the characters in the movie "21"), but then you veered off into a lecture to the "big studios" (who I'm sure are watching) about how they're trying to "make fun of us". And then it seemed to become a contest as to how many times you could say "dumb down" in a 6-plus-minute time period.

The subject has been explored and discussed to death. Are TV and movies geared toward the masses and some might argue the "lowest common denominator?" Duh, yes. Foreign films exist if you find them more palatable, go crazy. But if you think the latest export from France is going to play well in the flyover states, you're completely wrong, and the "big studios" know it.

And yes, the bottom line IS the studio's bottom line, here's what they care about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sNJhX0x7yI (hey, it's "foreign", it must be smarter, right?!?)

[Taualumna]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

Plug for her book, apparently.

Wow, really, just took the time to watch the video, supremely not interesting. It started out heading somewhere that could have been interesting (changing the ethnicity of the characters in the movie "21"), but then you veered off into a lecture to the "big studios" (who I'm sure are watching) about how they're trying to "make fun of us". And then it seemed to become a contest as to how many times you could say "dumb down" in a 6-plus-minute time period.

The subject has been explored and discussed to death. Are TV and movies geared toward the masses and some might argue the "lowest common denominator?" Duh, yes. Foreign films exist if you find them more palatable, go crazy. But if you think the latest export from France is going to play well in the flyover states, you're completely wrong, and the "big studios" know it.

And yes, the bottom line IS the studio's bottom line, here's what they care about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sNJhX0x7yI (hey, it's "foreign", it must be smarter, right?!?)

RE: 21 - Changing the characters' ethnicities is actually dumbing the movie down to make money.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

RE: 21 - Changing the characters' ethnicities is actually dumbing the movie down to make money.

How does just that change make the movie "dumber"?

[Taualumna]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

How does just that change make the movie "dumber"?

They say that they made the main characters white rather than keeping them Asian to appeal to the masses because the masses don't feel comfortable watching Asian male leads that aren't foreign. To many, this is dumbing the movie down.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

RE: 21 - Changing the characters' ethnicities is actually dumbing the movie down to make money.

How is it dumbing down? Making assumptions that audiences would rather see caucasion actors, without a doubt, but surely you're not saying that people are too dumb to understand Asian characters and can only understand white characters.

[Taualumna]

On dumbing down and ethnicity:

I found this from a site called Multiplicative Identity:

In 2007, Touchstone Pictures pulls the plug on "Deep in the Heart of Texas," a feature film starring Eva Longoria, about a fully assimilated Mexican American woman, saying there is nothing particularly "Latina" about an educated, professional shopaholic from Texas; meaning, the character is "too American" for audiences to believe as "Latina". (Meanwhile, Texas is no longer a majority-white state, and most Latinos there speak English…)

If the above is true, isn't Touchtone basically saying that America is "too stupid" to believe that a Latina can be educated and a shopaholic? (though another POV is that they didn't want Eva typecast...this character doesn't sound too different from Gabi Solis...she's probably an EDUCATED Gabi)

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

On dumbing down and ethnicity:

I found this from a site called Multiplicative Identity:



If the above is true, isn't Touchtone basically saying that America is "too stupid" to believe that a Latina can be educated and a shopaholic? (though another POV is that they didn't want Eva typecast...this character doesn't sound too different from Gabi Solis...she's probably an EDUCATED Gabi)

requoting

In 2007, Touchstone Pictures pulls the plug on "Deep in the Heart of Texas," a feature film starring Eva Longoria, about a fully assimilated Mexican American woman, saying there is nothing particularly "Latina" about an educated, professional shopaholic from Texas; meaning, the character is "too American" for audiences to believe as "Latina". (Meanwhile, Texas is no longer a majority-white state, and most Latinos there speak English…)

There are two pieces of information there. First, Touchstone pulled the plug on the movie. Second, they said that there was nothing particularly Latina about an educated professional shopaholic from Texas. There is no indication that these two pieces of information are connected. Also the second one is true, it isn't particularly "Latina" just as it isn't particularly "white." I'd think you'd agree with that point.

The interpretation of the author of the blog is his or her own, not what Touchstone said. And without a quote we won't know how the information was conveyed. Now, maybe they didn't want to make a "Latina" movie, but since they didn't recast it with Julia Roberts we don't know whether they didn't want to make a Latina movie or they didn't want to make a movie.

Finally, no it's not "dumbing it down" admit the misuse of words and move on. Pandering yes, playing into prejudices yes, but dumbing it down means making it less intelligent not making it appeal to closeminded people.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Taualumna

On dumbing down and ethnicity:

I found this from a site called Multiplicative Identity:

If the above is true, isn't Touchtone basically saying that America is "too stupid" to believe that a Latina can be educated and a shopaholic? (though another POV is that they didn't want Eva typecast...this character doesn't sound too different from Gabi Solis...she's probably an EDUCATED Gabi)

Well, if you actually read that quote in context, that's not what the author claims Touchstone is saying at all. The message taken in the full context is about "a shifting corporate media climate that increasingly scapegoats and targets immigrants and Latinos."

Why? "Hollywood, America, the mainstream media, they have already decided the DIRTY GIRLS project is too risky - just like 'Bordertown,' just like 'Deep in the Heart of Texas'. This one, and every other one like it. Look at what is happening across the country, to all of us who are Latino and creative. We are, in a word, screwed, because America has been on a hatefest against immigrants, and the media confuses the words 'immigrant' and 'Latino,' and the resulting effect is that over the past few years, Americans have been trained to see all of us as a huge threat to their well-being, at the very same time the economy has tanked. We are the face they blame."

If what the writer claims is true, then it is undeniably sad and based on prejudice. But it's not an example of dumbing down.

On the other hand, you already answered your own question in the negative -- America clearly is not too stupid to believe that Gabi Solis is educated and a shopoholic. (At least the character is presented in a way where at least some education seems to be assumed.)

[Drolefille]

Also, the only place that's reporting that movie cancelled is that blog. Even the IMDB has it in development for 2008.

[33girl]

Your quote is out of context.

The rest of the article is about Latino/a backlash. That is, if people are already irritated at the Latino population for entering the country illegally, the last thing they want to see is a movie portraying a Latina who spends money frivolously. That's why the movie was pulled. (Not only that, Eva Longoria is fricking annoying.)

Oh, and I think I'd take any article that presents Christina Aguilera as a "Latina singer" with a grain of salt.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Oh, and I think I'd take any article that presents Christina Aguilera as a "Latina singer" with a grain of salt.

Exactly. Aquilera is just a mainstream pop singer who claims Latina roots (sometimes).