New Thai Movie "hanuman" Is Virulently Racist

[aehn]

Have a look at the various periods Hollywood has gone through.

Periods where the bad people were only Russians, Germans, etc.

Then a period where the bad people were all Communists.

Then we have the period where all the bad people in the films are Arabs.

To mention a few.

You are correct. But alot of us are farangs living in Thailand and Thais are watching movies like that. Makes one wonder.

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

[Jingthing]

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

This is thaivisa.com. About Thailand. Most of the users are not Thai and living in or visiting THAILAND. Enough said?

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[Heng]

.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Heng

[Heng]

Be assured. Just as negative stereotyping has impacted Thais and Mixed Western/Thai families in the West - Representations such as those reported by the OP will absolutely have a negative impact on Farangs and Mixed Thai/Farangs in Thailand.

Exactly.

So, they think we're all cartoonish villians. hmmm

[Travel2003]

Most of the foreigners living here over some years, have some contact with locals representing all ways of life here.

I do, as I expect some of the other members here also do, use our Thai contacts (family, friends, employees, etc, etc) for fact finding.

Go ahead and ask your contacts if they believe that films like that will make the general population think the foreigners are "bad people". They will smile at you and say "it is just a movie". Not true.

Exactly as the issue with Thai Soaps, that keep popping up here.

Same answer. Just a movie/series. Not true.

I do not believe a second that there is some sort of conspiracy behind it to make foreigners look bad.

Again, for the last time, foreigners are simply used because they represent something unusual to the host country.

Unusual stuff can sometimes create mystic, excitement, fear, hate, etc.

All good stuff for the entertainment industry.

[LooseCannon]

Be assured. Just as negative stereotyping has impacted Thais and Mixed Western/Thai families in the West - Representations such as those reported by the OP will absolutely have a negative impact on Farangs and Mixed Thai/Farangs in Thailand.

Judging by the number of mixed Thai/Farang actors/entertainers etc that appear on Thai television, the media & in advertising, it seems to me the farang component of these people must be fairly well accepted by the Thai population, or they wouldn't be used to 'sell' whatever show they are in or product they are fronting.

I know that 'luk krung' are not full blood farang, but the Thai audiences are certainly smart enough to know & realise that they are part farang & are obviousely accepting of the fact. If being farang is so distateful or has such negative connatations to the Thai populace, these people would not get a look in.

With respect to the Thai soaps all the 'luk krung' seem to be portrayed in a very favourable way & all the nut jobs seem to be ethnic Thai.

This quote from a previous post... 'As I have mentioned above, the people who made this film are educated and trained in the use of film to manipulate people's sentiment - They have not chosen these portrayals by accident.'

I don't think there is any sinister agenda behind the filmmakers - they just want to make money & if that involves making farangs look like a pack of ar*eholes, so be it. I haven't seen the film & probably never will, but what is probably a 'B' grade movie, it will be here today, gone tomorrow & totally forgotten in a few months time. When this formula stops working, the filmmakers will find a new 'demon'.

[aehn]

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

This is thaivisa.com. About Thailand. Most of the users are not Thai and living in or visiting THAILAND. Enough said?

This is thaivisa, most of the users are not thai, yes, so even more important to adress these problems from a larger perspective, enough said.

[aehn]

Be assured. Just as negative stereotyping has impacted Thais and Mixed Western/Thai families in the West - Representations such as those reported by the OP will absolutely have a negative impact on Farangs and Mixed Thai/Farangs in Thailand.

Judging by the number of mixed Thai/Farang actors/entertainers etc that appear on Thai television, the media & in advertising, it seems to me the farang component of these people must be fairly well accepted by the Thai population, or they wouldn't be used to 'sell' whatever show they are in or product they are fronting.

I know that 'luk krung' are not full blood farang, but the Thai audiences are certainly smart enough to know & realise that they are part farang & are obviousely accepting of the fact. If being farang is so distateful or has such negative connatations to the Thai populace, these people would not get a look in.

With respect to the Thai soaps all the 'luk krung' seem to be portrayed in a very favourable way & all the nut jobs seem to be ethnic Thai.

exactly

[Jingthing]

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

This is thaivisa.com. About Thailand. Most of the users are not Thai and living in or visiting THAILAND. Enough said?

This is thaivisa, most of the users are not thai, yes, so even more important to adress these problems from a larger perspective, enough said.

There are lots of forums in the west for minority groups/expats to talk about their experiences in the west. That is not the purpose of thaivisa.

Back to this movie. I tell you again it was a step up to another level of anti-farang depictions. This was the first time in Thailand I went to a Thai movie and felt uncomfortable leaving the movie as a farang. Try and make excuses for it or that it definitely isn't a symptom of some darkness in the current Thai psyche. I wouldn't be so certain of that. I think the film makers did this intentionally as I think they want to capitalize on SCAPEGOATING farangs. As I said before, Thailand is HURTING. War in the south, continued political instablity, fear of the big unmentionable event, massive fuel and food price increases. Thais are human. They want a SCAPEGOAT. We are it.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[LooseCannon]

I repeat, it was a nice try.

Look, I never said this one movie makes any difference. However, it is very extreme and may possibly be a SYMPTOM of something sinister going on. If you haven't noticed, Thailand is in a deep and protracted political crisis. If you haven't noticed, the rapid dramatic increases in food and energy prices are greatly stressing the poor in Thailand, and most Thais are poor. Throughout history, countries in similar states have always used SCAPEGOATS to diffuse attention from the internal problem. I submit this film might be evidence that is what is happening now in Thailand, and farangs are the SCAPEGOATS.

Plans have already been drawn up to introduce colour coded inverted cloth triangles that are to be worn on the arms of all farangs. Modeled on the system devised by the Nazis - pink for homosexulas, red for communists & what I suspect will be the most popular - the black triangle - reserved for 'anti-social individuals' (which includes vagrants and 'work shy' individuals).

Of course this is only the first step..............

[aehn]

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

This is thaivisa.com. About Thailand. Most of the users are not Thai and living in or visiting THAILAND. Enough said?

This is thaivisa, most of the users are not thai, yes, so even more important to adress these problems from a larger perspective, enough said.

There are lots of forums in the west for minority groups/expats to talk about their experiences in the west. That is not the purpose of thaivisa.

I think everyone should be allowed to post their opinions on thaivisa, hel_l, even if you are thai, dont you agree?

Back to this movie. I tell you again it was a step up to another level of anti-farang depictions. This was the first time in Thailand I went to a Thai movie and felt uncomfortable leaving the movie as a farang. Try and make excuses for it or that it definitely isn't a symptom of some darkness in the current Thai psyche. I wouldn't be so certain of that. I think the film makers did this intentionally as I think they want to capitalize on SCAPEGOATING farangs.

Yeah, i never said it was not a problem, but in the beginning you revealed something most non-white people experience on a daily basis, being stereotyped by media, so i just wanted to tell you to calm down, its not that bad, and after all, the status the general farang seem to have here, is in general very high, despite the fact that so many farangs actually do behave really really bad,so i think you do not have to worry too much, but in the end, i see your point, just wanted to put it into a more general/objective perspecitve

[lannarebirth]

do you know how bad some asians are treated in western countries?

This is thaivisa.com. About Thailand. Most of the users are not Thai and living in or visiting THAILAND. Enough said?

This is thaivisa, most of the users are not thai, yes, so even more important to adress these problems from a larger perspective, enough said.

There are lots of forums in the west for minority groups/expats to talk about their experiences in the west. That is not the purpose of thaivisa.

Back to this movie. I tell you again it was a step up to another level of anti-farang depictions. This was the first time in Thailand I went to a Thai movie and felt uncomfortable leaving the movie as a farang. Try and make excuses for it or that it definitely isn't a symptom of some darkness in the current Thai psyche. I wouldn't be so certain of that. I think the film makers did this intentionally as I think they want to capitalize on SCAPEGOATING farangs. As I said before, Thailand is HURTING. War in the south, continued political instablity, fear of the big unmentionable event, massive fuel and food price increases. Thais are human. They want a SCAPEGOAT. We are it.

I think Damian mentioned this film was made a couple of years ago and release had been delayed. Food and gas was pretty cheap then.

[miruph]

I think Damian mentioned this film was made a couple of years ago and release had been delayed. Food and gas was pretty cheap then.

Damian posted he had finished shooting for this movie 4/2007.

Link

[Jingthing]

I think Damian mentioned this film was made a couple of years ago and release had been delayed. Food and gas was pretty cheap then.

Damian posted he had finished shooting for this movie 4/2007.

Link

So what date were the film's EDITS finished?

And no, that is not an irrelevant question. Sometimes over 9/10 of a movie end up on the cutting room floor and sometimes it takes 10 years to edit a movie. So the script, filiming, and final result can be wildly surprising to the ACTORS who are only PAWNS.

In any case, the political instability and war in the south were most definitely in play at the time of the film's shooting.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I repeat, it was a nice try.

Look, I never said this one movie makes any difference. However, it is very extreme and may possibly be a SYMPTOM of something sinister going on. If you haven't noticed, Thailand is in a deep and protracted political crisis. If you haven't noticed, the rapid dramatic increases in food and energy prices are greatly stressing the poor in Thailand, and most Thais are poor. Throughout history, countries in similar states have always used SCAPEGOATS to diffuse attention from the internal problem. I submit this film might be evidence that is what is happening now in Thailand, and farangs are the SCAPEGOATS.

Plans have already been drawn up to introduce colour coded inverted cloth triangles that are to be worn on the arms of all farangs. Modeled on the system devised by the Nazis - pink for homosexulas, red for communists & what I suspect will be the most popular - the black triangle - reserved for 'anti-social individuals' (which includes vagrants and 'work shy' individuals).

Of course this is only the first step..............

Now THAT is paranoid. We don't need arm patches. We stand out without them.

I think everyone should be al

lowed to post their opinions on thaivisa, hel_l, even if you are thai, dont you agree?

That is a total twist of what I said. If a Thai person has a bad experience in France, this isn't the proper forum for it. Rather a forum about France would be the proper forum.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[Neeranam]

'farang' is very often used in a derogatory way - I don't know how many times Ive tried to tell newbies this but often they can't see it.

[Neeranam]

The average farang (plenty of exceptions of course) does more to damage the farang "image" than any work of fiction will ever do, especially when there are 100 sitting with beer mug in hand at the base of a gogo pole -usually in public, from 11am to 2am, 365 days a year- for every 1 that is an expat over here with family making a mainstream living.

And the staff at these places do a lot for the Thai image.

[Heng]

The average farang (plenty of exceptions of course) does more to damage the farang "image" than any work of fiction will ever do, especially when there are 100 sitting with beer mug in hand at the base of a gogo pole -usually in public, from 11am to 2am, 365 days a year- for every 1 that is an expat over here with family making a mainstream living.

And the staff at these places do a lot for the Thai image.

Just a bunch of silt at the bottom of the barrel, no matter what the origin.

[Heng]

I repeat, it was a nice try.

Look, I never said this one movie makes any difference. However, it is very extreme and may possibly be a SYMPTOM of something sinister going on. If you haven't noticed, Thailand is in a deep and protracted political crisis. If you haven't noticed, the rapid dramatic increases in food and energy prices are greatly stressing the poor in Thailand, and most Thais are poor. Throughout history, countries in similar states have always used SCAPEGOATS to diffuse attention from the internal problem. I submit this film might be evidence that is what is happening now in Thailand, and farangs are the SCAPEGOATS.

Plans have already been drawn up to introduce colour coded inverted cloth triangles that are to be worn on the arms of all farangs. Modeled on the system devised by the Nazis - pink for homosexulas, red for communists & what I suspect will be the most popular - the black triangle - reserved for 'anti-social individuals' (which includes vagrants and 'work shy' individuals).

Of course this is only the first step..............

Now THAT is paranoid. We don't need arm patches. We stand out without them.

It's a good idea. Perhaps a patch with a guava. Mandatory purchase at Suan Phlu or your nearest immigration office. Special "ripe" guava patches and batons for farang police volunteers.

[Jingthing]

It's a good idea. Perhaps a patch with a guava. Mandatory purchase at Suan Phlu or your nearest immigration office. Special "ripe" guava patches and batons for farang police volunteers.

Guava, huh?

Has the time come to move this thread to the Farang Pub?

[Heng]

It's a good idea. Perhaps a patch with a guava. Mandatory purchase at Suan Phlu or your nearest immigration office. Special "ripe" guava patches and batons for farang police volunteers.

Guava, huh?

Has the time come to move this thread to the Farang Pub?

Yeah, you heard me.

Guava.

[LooseCannon]

Now THAT is paranoid. We don't need arm patches. We stand out without them.

No paranoia here.

Just highlighting absurdity of your post.

Invoking history & trying to compare your imagined 'plight' of the farang in Thailand to the real persecution of minorities & disadvantaged is patently ridiculous.

[Jingthing]

Now THAT is paranoid. We don't need arm patches. We stand out without them.

No paranoia here.

Just highlighting absurdity of your post.

Invoking history & trying to compare your imagined 'plight' of the farang in Thailand to the real persecution of minorities & disadvantaged is patently ridiculous.

I agree it would be ridiculous if that was what I actually did. There are levels.

[Jingthing]

It's a good idea. Perhaps a patch with a guava. Mandatory purchase at Suan Phlu or your nearest immigration office. Special "ripe" guava patches and batons for farang police volunteers.

Guava, huh?

Has the time come to move this thread to the Farang Pub?

Yeah, you heard me.

Guava.

OK, Guava it is!

[Gumballl]

Just caught the new Thai movie, Hanuman (very bad movie BTW) and it had alot of big roles played by farangs and coincidentally? it was the most racist anti-farang movie I have even seen!

In this movie, farangs ...

desecrate Thai Buddist shrines

viscously beat up, murder, and burn alive Thai schoolchildren who happen to be impoverished and orphaned

portray the big Daddy farang with his vulgar Northeast US American accent, as obessed with sex with Thai women, every other line out of his mouth is Girls, Girls, Girls, the Girls are waiting! as he slobbers

kidnap the sweetest little CRIPPLED Thai little girl you ever did see, and threaten to murder her

there was not one farang character who was sympathetic in the smallest way, and there were many farang characters

Yes, I know its all part of the "story" such as it is. I am not one to favor censorship or political correctness. I am just reporting what I saw.

BTW, at the beginning of the movie the Big Daddy "Girls Girls Girls" farang is referred to by a Thai as farang translated into GRINGO. The translation was WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, GRINGO? The tone of his voice in Thai was like hearing him SPIT when he said FARANG. I do not think it was a translation error to translate farang to gringo. Gringo is a DEROGATORY term, and the CONTEXT and tone of voice of the speaker when he said FARANG was indeed derogatory, so I consider the translation intentional. This brings us back to an old favorite topic you might wish to refer to here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Hear-Word-Fa...p;hl=derogatory

I realize the audience for this movie is Thai people and Thai people can and will make any kinds of movies they want, and watch any kinds of movies they want. However, I have to ask, will movies like Hanuman create more hatred and violence against farangs from Thais?

IMO, gringo is not necessarily a derogative term. I have heard is used in movies made in the US, and it is a typical word use in Latin America to describe those who come from another land. I have heard gringo being interpreted as "green go", in reference to US/Western persons who lavishly spend their "greenbacks" in order to purchase "forgiveness" for their lewd and often times derogatory behavior when traveling to Latin America. The locals use the term to denote Westerner that comes with green, then go home when they are done.

If you read the Wiki-page concerning gringo, then you might also get a little history lesson concerning how the word may have been coined up.

As for the movie itself, apparently is was written to be a seedy movie. If there is a low-life farang in the movie, and there are Thais associating with this same farang, what does that make the Thais? Saints? Probably not; they are probably just the same as the farang himself.

In conclusion, it just a movie. Nobody is going to be showing this in a classroom environment to teach Thais that all farang are the same as portrayed in the movie. I tend to think of Thais as being smart enough to know who is a good person vs. who is not.

[Jingthing]

Trust me, in the scene I was referring to, the word farang was used in a derogatory way.

Re gringo. Lets not make this thread a discussion about that, OK?

Anyway:

Some disagreement exists among English speakers regarding whether gringo is a derogatory term. The American Heritage Dictionary and other English dictionaries classify the term as "offensive slang", "usually disparaging" or "often disparaging".[4] The term gringo does lend itself to derogatory, paternalistic or endearing connotations sometimes, depending on the context and the intent of the user.[2][3] However, many native speakers who use it do not do so pejoratively,[2][3] as is also the case with some English speakers.[5][6] The enunciation of the word can often give away whether it was meant in a derogatory manner or not.[1][2][3] There is furthermore some variation in the connotation of this word from country to country within Latin America,[2] and between Latin America and the Anglosphere.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[LooseCannon]

I agree it would be ridiculous if that was what I actually did. There are levels.

"Throughout history, countries in similar states have always used SCAPEGOATS to diffuse attention from the internal problem. I submit this film might be evidence that is what is happening now in Thailand, and farangs are the SCAPEGOATS."

"As I said before, Thailand is HURTING. War in the south, continued political instablity, fear of the big unmentionable event, massive fuel and food price increases. Thais are human. They want a SCAPEGOAT. We are it."

Your words..... couched in language designed to strike fear into the hearts of the gullible farang.

Over-exaggerated, alarmist, paranoid drivel.

Maybe you could provide us with a historical 'level' so we can correctly reference the current Anti-Farang pogram currently existing in Thailand?

Here's a few suggestions...

Germany 1935-38?

Russia 1917?

Anti Chinese riots on the Victorian goldfields circa 1855?

Anti Catholic sentiment as a result of the failed 'Gunpowder Plot' of 1605?

[Sabum]

The good guy (same guy from some of the Tony's Gym commercials ? Frikkin huge.) plays this overly meek character that is easily hurt by every punch/kick delivered, even by little kids, but goes absolutely psycho when he gets a mouthful of somtam (somtum).

That is Nathan Jones and he's relatively famous, he was a pro wrestler and you might remember him as the giant warrior that Brad Pitt stabbed in the neck near the begginning of Troy.

[katana]

Reminds me of the way Chinese were portrayed in America and the West in the early days of the film industry. Anyone remember the Face of Fumanchu movies and Anna May Wong?

[Jingthing]

Maybe you could provide us with a historical 'level' so we can correctly reference the current Anti-Farang pogram currently existing in Thailand?

I can give you the level. Low level. The movie was in my view a SYMPTOM of something sinister. Its manifestations in actual life are at this point not serious. This is also kind of silly. Most of us are here on one year extensions at the longest term. Very few of us farangs are Thai citizens or permanent residents here. The Thai powers that be obviously like it that way. Movies like Hanuman obviously aren't going to do anything to change that in our favor.

BTW, my intention is not to whip up fear. If it did ever get the point where we should really be afraid, we would likely just be kicked out en masse. We all have passports and almost all have the price of an air ticket, so no worries, just OBSERVING. This movie crossed lines I haven't seen before here, so I thought the issue should be raised, and I am happy I did.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing