New Thai Movie "hanuman" Is Virulently Racist

[sassienie]

Why would an American be appalled by such a Thai film?

Take for example how the native Red Indians were treated in the past by Hollywood.

They were portrayed as sub human mindless savages whose lives were valued as no more than a coyote or a rattlesnake.

Horrific scenes shown of white settlers and cavalry shooting, burning, knifing, and hanging native Red Indians, men, women and children not excluded as if it was a sport and OK to do so. It was approved by John Wayne so did this influence so called decent white American folk to take up indiscriminant murders of the real Americans?

America has the worst record of human rights violation in history, often depicted in it’s films- sorry, movies.

Why are these films not banned?

[geriatrickid]

Why would an American be appalled by such a Thai film?

Take for example how the native Red Indians were treated in the past by Hollywood.

They were portrayed as sub human mindless savages whose lives were valued as no more than a coyote or a rattlesnake.

Horrific scenes shown of white settlers and cavalry shooting, burning, knifing, and hanging native Red Indians, men, women and children not excluded as if it was a sport and OK to do so. It was approved by John Wayne so did this influence so called decent white American folk to take up indiscriminant murders of the real Americans?

America has the worst record of human rights violation in history, often depicted in it’s films- sorry, movies.

Why are these films not banned?

I don't want to pee on your glorious attempt at revisionist history, but you have the wrong country. Look to Europe first. It was the Europeans that started off on the destruction of "red Indians" as you inappropriately call them. BTW they do prefer to be called First Nations or indigenous peoples. Whatever failures the Amerians made on race relations, they have certainly done a better job of addressing the problem than did other nations. If you want to bemoan the plight of native peoples, why not take it up with France that still occupies Tahiti. Better yet, ask the Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese to bring back the natives to the Carribean. Do you know how the afro carribean people got their? The Europeans brought them in as slaves from Africa after they killed off all the natives. While not excusing the poor record of North Americans to their native peoples, it pales in comparison to recent ethnic cleansings. As I recall it was the Americans that stopped the genocide in Bosnia, a muslim region, while the EU sat on its ass. While Russia invaded Georgia the EU did what it did best and looked the other way. How about the genocide in Darfur, where few nations are speaking out? Thailand certainly hasn't. What about the millions massacred in Burundi and Rwanda. Oh, wait, it never happened, otherwise the murderers never would have found asylum in various EU countries.

As for your critique of American cinema, you might want to consider a course in film history. There are many films that go back to the start of the industry that when taken in the context of the era, are not prejudicial to the first nations. Most of John Wayne's films did not involve confrontations with native peoples as a plot and more often than not, in the movie the Duke treated them with a measure of respect because they were tough and savvy. Hardly the worst stereotype out there.

BTW I am not an American, but deeply resent the mindless bigotry that's frequently puked up in here.

[Groongthep]

I don't want to pee on your glorious attempt at revisionist history, but you have the wrong country. Look to Europe first. It was the Europeans that started off on the destruction of "red Indians" as you inappropriately call them. BTW they do prefer to be called First Nations or indigenous peoples. Whatever failures the Amerians made on race relations, they have certainly done a better job of addressing the problem than did other nations. If you want to bemoan the plight of native peoples, why not take it up with France that still occupies Tahiti. Better yet, ask the Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese to bring back the natives to the Carribean. Do you know how the afro carribean people got their? The Europeans brought them in as slaves from Africa after they killed off all the natives. While not excusing the poor record of North Americans to their native peoples, it pales in comparison to recent ethnic cleansings. As I recall it was the Americans that stopped the genocide in Bosnia, a muslim region, while the EU sat on its ass. While Russia invaded Georgia the EU did what it did best and looked the other way. How about the genocide in Darfur, where few nations are speaking out? Thailand certainly hasn't. What about the millions massacred in Burundi and Rwanda. Oh, wait, it never happened, otherwise the murderers never would have found asylum in various EU countries.

As for your critique of American cinema, you might want to consider a course in film history. There are many films that go back to the start of the industry that when taken in the context of the era, are not prejudicial to the first nations. Most of John Wayne's films did not involve confrontations with native peoples as a plot and more often than not, in the movie the Duke treated them with a measure of respect because they were tough and savvy. Hardly the worst stereotype out there.

BTW I am not an American, but deeply resent the mindless bigotry that's frequently puked up in here.

Very well said.

[madjbs]

Get a life people, get a life....

[Jingthing]

Why are these films not banned?

As I said in my OP, I don't believe ANY entertainment based movie should be banned.

I didn't start it to discuss Hollywood or Europe cinema.

The intent was to discuss how this extreme Thai movie which is showing NOW in THAILAND may possibly reflect something not so pretty about current day Thai popular culture. Another poster correctly pointed out that the Thai government censors allowed this, and there is alot they don't allow, so that tells us something as well.

[kmart]

Why are these films not banned?

As I said in my OP, I don't believe ANY entertainment based movie should be banned.

I didn't start it to discuss Hollywood or Europe cinema.

The intent was to discuss how this extreme Thai movie which is showing NOW in THAILAND may possibly reflect something not so pretty about current day Thai popular culture. Another poster correctly pointed out that the Thai government censors allowed this, and there is alot they don't allow, so that tells us something as well.

They are hardly documentaries though, are they? I would imagine this film might be enjoyed by children of all ages.

I am also considering having watched this film as a likely excuse, should I find it necessary to murder a taxi driver for a bit of loose change?

[Jingthing]

No, they are not documentaries. Nor are they boxes of candy.

[roygsd]

I don't want to pee on your glorious attempt at revisionist history, but you have the wrong country. Look to Europe first. It was the Europeans that started off on the destruction of "red Indians" as you inappropriately call them. BTW they do prefer to be called First Nations or indigenous peoples.

Whatever failures the Amerians made on race relations, they have certainly done a better job of addressing the problem than did other nations.

The founding fathers called it the land of the free yet the segregation of the races only came to an end when it was forced upon the Government in the 1960's and if you recall it was violently opposed in some States at the time, what european nations had legal segregation in the 1960S?

If you want to bemoan the plight of native peoples, why not take it up with France that still occupies Tahiti. Better yet,

ask the Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese to bring back the natives to the Carribean. Do you know how the afro carribean people got their? The Europeans brought them in as slaves from Africa after they killed off all the natives.

You are distorting the facts to suit you own agenda.

Obvously Slavery was and still is wrong, however it took place in almost every land in the world during the period to which you are referring to and more importantly least we forget Slavery exists in many countries to this present day.

Whilst it is true to say that the Europeans BROUGHT slaves from Africa, what you convieniently ignore is the very relevant fact that these slaves were PURCHASED usually from North African Arab Traders, who in turn, PURCHASED the slaves from Native Africans who had captured/stolen them from rival villages.

You and others convieniently ignore the fact that entire population of villages in mainland Europe and as far away as the west of England and Ireland were also taken as Slaves back to North Africa for sale by Arab Slave Traders.

People are very vocal about apportioning blame upon the Countries that PURCHASED and transported the slaves yet fail to apportion equal blame to the African people who went into battle with their neighbours for the specific purpose of capturing their fellow Africans to sell into Slavery for a profit to the Arab traders.

NO one could or should try to defend this trade in human flesh, but whist you are quite vocal about attacking Countries that have ceased the practice I am disapointed to note that you fail to mention the trade in people that exists in the world today, Slavery exists because governments and individuals turn a blind eye and for that we should all be ashamed.

We cannot turn back the clock but we can, if we choose to, complete the job that was started a few hundred years ago, namely the end of Slavery worldwide.

Take look around you in LOS, its there if you want to see it.

While not excusing the poor record of North Americans to their native peoples, it pales in comparison to recent ethnic cleansings.

?? You are taking the piss with a capital P!

Poor record is a major understatement and does not reflect the facts, you cannot and should not try to defend or minimise the wholsale slaughter of the indigionous people of the USA by trying to compare it with recent attrocities elsewhere in the world which are equally abhorent.

As I recall it was the Americans that stopped the genocide in Bosnia, a muslim region, while the EU sat on its ass.

Not so,Why did they wait years before intervening thus saving more lives? As I recall the EU finally got involved at the same time.

While Russia invaded Georgia the EU did what it did best and looked the other way.

Other than retoric what exacty has the US done to remove the Russians? THe UK has condemed the invasion as has almost every other european country, Germany has come out and called for Georgia to be allowed to join Nato, what do you want? A world war it seems! US and european aid is arriving daily in Georga.

How about the genocide in Darfur, where few nations are speaking out?

NO Oil or strategic value, so nothing in it for the alleged world leaders.

Thailand certainly hasn't. What about the millions massacred in Burundi and Rwanda. Oh, wait, it never happened, otherwise the murderers never would have found asylum in various EU countries.

You left Cabodia out, again no strategic or economic value so no interest from the alleged world leaders.

You also convieniently forgot to mention the mass bombing of Laos by the US in a "secret war" which has cost many lives and will continue to cost lives for the next 100 years they say it will take to disarm all the bombs dropped, no mass mine clearance by the American government because there is not strategic or economic value in it for them.

As for your critique of American cinema, you might want to consider a course in film history. There are many films that go back to the start of the industry that when taken in the context of the era, are not prejudicial to the first nations.

Most of John Wayne's films did not involve confrontations with native peoples as a plot and more often than not, in the movie the Duke treated them with a measure of respect because they were tough and savvy. Hardly the worst stereotype out there.

John Wayne was given a females name at birth, he later changed his name and spent the rest of his lift pretending to be a rough tough hero, however he made damned sure he never served a day in the service of his country and yet he is regarded as a national "Hero" in the usa, but then again , so is Micky Mouse!

Hard to tell the difference as they were both created and imortalised by the filmmakers.

TW I am not an American, but deeply resent the mindless bigotry that's frequently puked up in here.

Out of interest what nationality are you?

Perhaps your avitar explains your lack of clarity and deep resentment for other peoples views?

Roy gsd

Edited August 18, 2008 by roygsd

[Jingthing]

[HASSELHOFF]

I cant believe this thread is still going. Seems more like the OP is just way too sensitive with movies and gets his knickers in a knot about such a small thing.

Nobody actually agrees with his view and its a waste of internet space.

Movies like this are out ALL OVER THE WORLD. What is all the fuss about this particular one? Seems quite silly to me

[Jingthing]

Nobody actually agrees with his view

Wrong. Read the thread before you make such an ignorant comment.

BTW, Hassledude, if you don't like the topic, why not ignore it?

What is the fuss?

The main fuss is that I think it is significant that farangs were shown desecrating a Buddhist shrine and mass murdering poor Thai orpan children in a mass market Thai movie. I think this is a first, at least in my experience of watching Thai movies for 10 years. The filmmakers didn't need to include those scenes to tell the story and the Thai censors didn't need to allow them to stand, but they DID.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Well, well, well!

Check out this comment from a popular enjoy Thai movies website. And no, I did not write it. How does it feel to be the BOOGEYMAN?????

The movie is now being show in cinemas in Bangkok and across the country. You need to check with your local cinema to see if they are showing it with subtitles in English.

This movie had a lot of potential in dealing with the subject of tattoos that come alive to protect the wearer. There are festivals at temples where these are recharged. Tiger tattoos turn the humans into tigers. Monkey tattoos turn them into monkeys etc.

"Hanuman: The White Monkey Warrior" has to be the most boring Thai movie of the year. Bad acting, script writing and direction let this movie down a lot. In addition, the foreigners they found to act in this movie couldn't act at all. They just spent the whole time swearing in English and Thai. All they can do is fight. This is what happens when you use stunt man as actors.

This movie seems to reflect the growing spread of foreign gangsters in Thailand. It seems to be more common now to have farang gangsters (or gringos as they are called in the subtitles) instead of Thai gangsters. This means that they can do more damage which is shocking. Like desecrate shrines, burning orphan children alive and kidnapping a crippled girl. Like Asian gangsters in Hollywood movies, we now have farangs depicted as monsters in Thai movies.

Thai children are now being taught to be good or the farang will come and eat them. I am not kidding. A Thai mother told her kid sitting across from me in a songtaew that if he didn't stop crying then she would give him to the farang. Movies like this will just help continue this trend of racial division in the country.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Jingthing

[sassienie]

You can see a UTube trailer of this film at

http://friskodude.blogspot.com/2008/07/han...lm-journal.html

Scenes with Farangs who transform into sort of vicious pantomime characters with whiskers and cat like faces. Ugly fat kids being eaten, mad fighting flying people, beautiful girls having their throats slit, wrestling with crocodiles, all with a Thai heavy rock sound track in the background that shouldnt be listened to after meals. It`s like 40 years of Hollywood`s most violent movies all in one and lots more.

I viewed the trailer over an hour ago and still laughing.

Warning this film can seriously damage your mental health. View at your own risk.

Steven Spielberg eat your heart out.

Edited August 18, 2008 by sassienie

[sassienie]

Some charactors from the film.

Do they remind you of anyone you know?

[kiakaha]

just my point of view, but all thai movies(created by the thai movie industry) that I've seen that have caucasian actors are completely cheapened and b-graded by the the presence of the caucasian actors and their appalling acting skills..i've seen a heck of alot of thai movies over the years but never one with a top notch caucasian acting performance...can anyone point out a thai movie to counter this observation ?

[sriracha john]

You can see a UTube trailer of this film at

http://friskodude.blogspot.com/2008/07/han...lm-journal.html

Thanks for the link. After seeing it I see yet another Thaivisa connection to the "film"...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Actor-Kills-...62.html&hl=

Actor Kills Garbage Collector In Car Crash

Real classy guy... draft dodger and garbage collector killer

[OlRedEyes]

To deny that the mass media can be, has been, is being and will be used to manipulate the masses' beliefs, values and views is naive in the extreme. Search for The Century of the Self on Google video, a 4 hour BBC documentary on the manipulation of the masses. Very interesting to those that believe in their own free will. Not much of that around.

Nationalism is on the rise around the globe, and fast. It is not unimaginable that there may be such a purpose behind a movie such as this. Such a view has to be supported by other factors though. There are other indicators of this in Thailand currently, but I am not totally convinced that it is a definite trend, yet.

If it is, it can become extremely dangerous for a target group. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

Edited August 19, 2008 by OlRedEyes

[Stephen Cleary]

This is the same Damian Mavis who got banned from TV Forums. If i remember right, Damian got into a constant habit of lambasting all things Thai and at other members here which eventually led him to getting boot. Ironic, as i remember a lot of his posts were protective of Farangs in Thailand and had little decent to say about the local Thais.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Stephen Cleary

[Sabum]

I read that Damian asked to be banned? That "fat kid" pic above is a fat midget hehe, I've seen him in a lot of Thai movies, why do I watch Thai movies I don't know.

[klikster]

Did ya get to look at the photo of this guy? He's even trying to sell a book so you can look the SAME.

Yep, and personally, I wouldn't want to be caught making fun of him.

[klikster]

I read that Damian asked to be banned?

A member of TV that I respect told me the same thing via PM .. re: the Pai killing thread.

[klikster]

Again, obviously I haven't seen the movie so ..

.. so why all the antagonistic comments?

I'm not really a JT fan .. nor do I detest him (as you appear to) .. but the tone that comes across in his posts seems fair.

[sriracha john]

I read that Damian asked to be banned?

That's a sign of a stable mind.

If someone doesn't like TV, there's nothing that stops them from simply not returning to the site. Why go through the drama of asking to be banned? I've only seen that happen in one other poster, the unstable colpyat...who actually demanded banishment. Either way, it makes no sense. It's rather akin to not simply quitting a job you're dissatisfied with, but rather would prefer to be jailed for breaking a criminal law in the workplace in order to be removed from their job. It's not that different from the suicidal person who deliberately commits a crime in order to then create a situation which forces the police to shoot them to end their life rather than simply doing it themselves.

[Livinginexile]

Get a life people, get a life....

Come on guys, it's just a movie!

I for one have never felt insulted regarding my race, color or creed here in Thailand.

(It helps when deep down inside you KNOW you're better than everyone else

[klikster]

.. "red Indians" as you inappropriately call them. BTW they do prefer to be called First Nations or indigenous peoples.

Not trying to start an argument, and do agree that "red Indians" are spray painted residents of Calcutta.

Having come from a state that was home to a number of tribes .. ask one of the "Native People" what they prefer to be called. You will likely be told that they prefer to be identified by their tribal name.

[klikster]

Nobody actually agrees with his view and its a waste of internet space.

Movies like this are out ALL OVER THE WORLD. What is all the fuss about this particular one? Seems quite silly to me

What seems silly to me is that you purport to speak for everyone.

[tartempion]

Have you actually suffered any hatred and violence from Thais? Do you any other farangs who have (apart from those sufficiently drunk and/or stupid to bring it upon themselves)?

Oh Yes, to the point we moved within 24h from a neighbour wanting to kill my gf because she accused the man's wife of stealing.

So the hatred was targeted at my gf at first (the man ran back into his house to take a huge kitchen knife and neighbours had to hold him.

Next day I had bottles of Chang crashed on my doorstep and he walked over to me holding a broken bottle in his hands(my gf was not in sight, I was his target at that point in time). I locked us up and called the police. Next day we moved out.

Edited August 19, 2008 by tartempion

[Stephen Cleary]

If my memory serves me right, Damian (the violent main farang actor in this movie) commented a great deal on that news clippings thread 'Pai killing' (just before he got banned) lambasting Thais for their violent behaviour/nature.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Stephen Cleary

[klikster]

Why go through the drama of asking to be banned?

As I heard, he did it very privately .. more in protest than for dramatic effect?

It's not that different from the suicidal person who deliberately commits a crime in order to then create a situation which forces the police to shoot them to end their life rather than simply doing it themselves.

Seems to me there is a helluva lot of difference. What crime did the man commit, or who got killed when he asked to be banned?

Edited August 19, 2008 by klikster

[Sabum]

I read that thread, that's the one I was talking about earlier. I thought he was advocating that the Thai police were like a mafia? Not that all Thais were violent? Its a long dam_n thread though so maybe I missed it hehe.