Major New Film With A Thai Tsunami Story Has A Controversial Trailer?

[Jingthing]

Well at least the writer in this link thinks its controversial.

I'm not sure I agree. It's a movie after all.

Anyway, here is the trailer in question:

And here is the supposed controversy:

The Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004 was about the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the destruction of homes and lives across south Asia. The Impossible is, so far as one can tell from this trailer, about the uplifting story of five, well-off white people. Which is not to say that the lives of well-off white people don’t matter. But movies like this one create the unmistakable and morally repugnant impression that their lives matter more.

Perhaps the movie itself will prove me wrong; like I said, I am trying to withhold judgment. I’m not finding it easy, though.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/08/21/the_impossible_trailer_raises_troubling_questions_about_movies_and_real_life_tragedy_.html

The film is The Impossible, coming to American theaters for Christmas, haven't looked in Thailand release dates as yet.

[waza]

looks like an interesting movie. Film makers make movie that will interest their target audience, if this movie was made by a Thai studio I am sure it would have been about a Thai family. Its a big budget commercial movie so to make a profit it needs to appeal to a wide audience therefore it will inspire hope and it needs to have a happy ending. I can see the piont of this movie critic taking the moral perspective he has.

[Jingthing]

Yes I understand the criticism but this is a movie for entertainment purposes. It doesn't present itself as a documentary!

[DocN]

Let's say it like this: the Thais had since 2004 to make their "own" movie about the Tsunami. Maybe about the sea- gypsies and their way of life or a fishing village in Phang Nga , that was almost wiped out and nobody really helped these people to get back on their feet and...oh...wait...that is not "sanook" and about poor people and also not sabai and suay and about real problems in real life in a real world!

Thsi is an american movie about an american family and they survived. It's apartly fictional and entertainment cinema.

I don't know if I will watch it, but it seems to be well made and Ewan Mc Gregor is a good actor with a social conscience, so I assume it is not overly "kitschy":

[Jingthing]

I wonder if it will be shown in Thailand. It seems like it will be a "big" enough movie for that.

[waza]

I wonder if it will be shown in Thailand. It seems like it will be a "big" enough movie for that.

They are probably selling the DVD at Patong market by now.

[loong]

But movies like this one create the unmistakable and morally repugnant impression that their lives matter more. Perhaps the movie itself will prove me wrong; like I said, I am trying to withhold judgment. I’m not finding it easy, though.

I don't see how the writer of this piece could reach the conclusion "movies like this one create the unmistakable and morally repugnant impression that their lives matter more"

There was absolutely nothing in the trailer to give this impression and the writer has not seen the movie so his/her opinion is puzzling to say the least.

[DP25]

I suppose they could have made a movie about an Indonesian shanty town that got destroyed and killed 50,000 people, but specifically for Thailand the movie looks fine and is not controversial. In Thailand the biggest targets hit were tourist resorts and most people killed were foreigners. I don't see many in Thailand getting at all offended by this, I remember at the time of the Tsunami how apologetic Thais were over the huge number of foreigners killed and injured. They were also making jokes about it extremely quickly. Additionally I'm sure Thais prefer a movie like this than something like the Hangover 2 which basically took a huge dump all over the country.

[manarak]

the critic isn't thinking logically, that's all.

[Jingthing]

the critic isn't thinking logically, that's all.

Well first of all he's making a lot of assumptions from the trailer. His assumptions are probably on target but not necessarily. Often trailers are nothing like the actual movies. Assuming his assumptions are correct, the attitude smells a little bit of white guilt. A bit passe in today's world with different power bases, mostly not white anymore.

[Chicog]

Perhaps they could make a movie about all the "influential" people that fenced off prime beachfront land and stuffed the former occupants into shanty towns, so they could build new resorts and coin it.

Oh, I forgot to mention they already made one tsunamadrama called "Tsunami: Aftermath" which I thought was a bit too soon, and the recreation of scenes in Phuket actually caused a fair bit of distress to some survivors.