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

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

They attempted a remake of the Excorcist 2 years ago didn't they or was it some prequel BS?


I missed it.

It was a prequel.

[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.)

[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.

[Drolefille]

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

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That was prequel BS. They've already had 2 sequels as well.

Yes. Sequels and prequels don't bother me--plus no one cares about those Exorcist sequels and the prequel, really. I just don't want them to touch the original Exorcist or The Poltergeist (Poltergeist 2 was good but 3 was horrid).

[They already jacked up The Omen by giving that nonspeaking little boy a role. But I don't think they did that because they were dumbing it down.]

[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).

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Yes. Sequels and prequels don't bother me--plus no one cares about those Exorcist sequels and the prequel, really. I just don't want them to touch the original Exorcist or The Poltergeist (Poltergeist 2 was good but 3 was horrid).

[They already jacked up The Omen by giving that nonspeaking little boy a role. But I don't think they did that because they were dumbing it down.]

It's just like music...I really don't care too much for remixes or remaking of anything....it's not much that has been done out here that has been 'remade' that i like..I can think of a few but they escape me right now.


As long as they don't try to do another Godfather sequel or try to do a remake... I am good....

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

It's just like music...I really don't care too much for remixes or remaking of anything....it's not much that has been done out here that has been 'remade' that i like..I can think of a few but they escape me right now.


As long as they don't try to do another Godfather sequel or try to do a remake... I am good....

Yeah.

So do we all agree that this topic isn't really about what Taualumna tried to make it about?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

It's just like music...I really don't care too much for remixes or remaking of anything....it's not much that has been done out here that has been 'remade' that i like..I can think of a few but they escape me right now.

Just to quibble a little, it's like some music. No, we don't really need to many remixes or covers of popular music -- The Beatles did "Hard Days Night" just fine, thanks. (Although I have heard some covers I liked better than the originals.)

But then there's other music. Another recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony? Sure! Another production/recording of "West Side Story" or "Carmen." Sure! I may hear different nuances or approaches in the different recordings or productions.

In that vein, should they stop making movies of Shakespeare? Who needed a new movie of "Richard III" (with Ian McKellen) in the 90s, when we already had Laurence Olivier's masterpiece? But I'm glad that Ian McKellen's was made, and I'm looking forward to his new "King Lear."

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

So do we all agree that this topic isn't really about what Taualumna tried to make it about?

Definitely.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

Another thing about Disney movies that I have noticed. In the final showdown, the antagonist always falls to their death (i.e. it is an "accident").
The protagonist is NEVER, EVER, EVER, left with the proverbial blood of their enemy on their hands, because for them to actually "kill" their enemey would make them "bad", too, right?

Lion King: Simba vs. Scar - Scar slips and plummets to his death.
Beauty and the Beast: Beast vs. Gaston - Gaston slips and plummets to his death.
Hunchback of Notre Dame: Quasimodo vs. Evil Magistrate Guy - Evil Magistrate Guy slips and plummets to his death.

Any other Disney movies with the cop out 'plummets to their death' cause-of-death that I'm missing? Surely there must be more.

I saw the DVD for "Enchanted" last night and guess what? The evil queen-turned-into-a-dragon plummets to her death? Was I surprised? Hell no!