The Enemy in Hollywood
300 (Filmstalker review) is kicking up a storm, and not just in cinemas with audiences staring wide eyed at the amazing action playing on the big screen and the testosterone flooding the cinema, but also outside, in the discussion boards of the Internet as a growing voice speaks up about the portrayal of the Persian Empire in the film.
There's the big question of Historical Accuracy in Films that we've talked about before on Filmstalker, I'm not going to pull that one back up, but what I am going to talk about is the portrayal of the standard enemy in Hollywood and how you feel it affects the film and the outside world.
First though, some ground rules. I don't want to see this descend into "them and us" discussion (I feel like a referee in boxing match) I want everyone to and see each others point of view and have some respect for their culture and point of view. This seems to have been one of the biggest issues in the previous discussion, and remember, this is about films...
When you look back at the portrayal of the enemy in Hollywood films it always fits with the time and often the perceived enemy in the real world. What's even more interesting is when Hollywood has moved on to another enemy the previous one becomes interesting to filmmakers to portray in a real way.
When there were Cowboy films we had Indians portrayed as the evil characters, and then Hollywood moved on...when war films were in Hollywood we saw the Germans, and later the Japanese continually portrayed as the evil enemy...Vietnam was then in the collective conscious and Hollywood turned to the Vietcong...the cold war was on everyone's mind and Russia became the template enemy...Now we have the war in Iraq and unknown terrorists, often from the Middle East, that's today's enemy in Hollywood.
Now though we've seen films that show what the Indian way of life really was like, and what the invasion of the white men was all about. We have films showing the German and Japanese side of life during the war and fighting their battles. There are films that show the Russian side of the Cold War, and it seems as though Hollywood has learned.
There are many films that are looking into genocides and crimes against humanity while the Governments of the world do and say nothing, so it's not that the film industries of the world haven't learned from this "black and white" stereotyping, and yet it still happens. Why is that?
Well the perceived threats in the world today will be carried with you into the cinema, so if the film can tap into that then while you're watching the film the generic baddie will appear much more real and threatening to you. If you're watching and you believe that the enemy could be the real one that is the threat or the perceived threat in real life, then you'll be much more scared.
Now remember that when I'm writing about this I'm using sweeping generalisations because the film industry does too, it does because they are made throughout our lives, in the media for one.
What I'm interested in hearing are the two different views of this portrayal. For the westerners where the films originate, what does this mean to you? Does it help make the generic baddie in the film seem more bad, and why do you think that happens if it is the case? What's more important is do you leave with any changed beliefs or ideals? Do you think that the portrayal of the baddie does have any affect on your own perceptions of the real world?
Then there's the people whose nationality is being used as a template for the baddie, now let's be fair here, in the portrayals of baddies I've mentioned above there's always been a reason to use them in the film. The Nazi's instigated the war and carried out horrendous atrocities, but not all German's are bad people.
So if you're nationality has been used to portray one of these generic baddies in the movies, do you feel that there is a way to show an enemy in films and still produce the same effect? Do you feel particularly aggrieved by a certain film that has done this? Do you feel upset by the portrayal of your nationality in the cinema? Why? How could they have managed to make the film differently and create a convincing character without upsetting anyone and remain entertaining?
Should Hollywood try and create baddies that just don't exist in the real world? Ignore the actual happenings even though they sometimes do good? Would a generic baddie who doesn't really exist in some way as an negative force in the real world really be effective in the cinema?
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