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Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Nothing more than an offensive caricature
Speaking as a Chinese-Singaporean myself, the idiotic celebration bestowed upon the film Crazy Rich Asians as a realistic depiction of Singapore or Asia in general is infuriating. It is an affront to the intelligence and cultural awareness of those who see through the film's shallow facade. This film is not some harmless romantic comedy or a celebration of Asian-ness of any kind, but rather a deeply toxic and offensive portrayal of Singapore and its people.
First and foremost, we must address the casting choices that have sparked controversy. One particularly egregious example is the casting of Sonoya Mizuno, a Japanese-English-Argentinian actress, in the role of the Chinese Singaporean character, Araminta Lee. Mizuno's audacity in expressing offense when criticized for her casting is both bewildering and deeply offensive. It demonstrates a complete disregard for the historical context and the painful realities endured by Singaporeans, including my own family. My grandmother's brothers were among those shot and callously dumped into mass graves during the Japanese occupation's Sook Ching massacre. For Mizuno to brush aside the sensitivity surrounding her casting, considering Singapore's history with both Britain and Japan, is an affront to the memories of those who suffered under such oppressive regimes. It is a painful reminder of how easily some individuals dismiss the profound impact of history and cultural appropriation in their pursuit of personal success and recognition.
Furthermore, the film's portrayal of Singapore's social structure and history is riddled with inaccuracies and glaring omissions. It romanticizes the existence of a wealthy, cultured Singaporean aristocracy that simply does not exist. Singapore's rich Chinese merchants, who predated the founding of the country, were not immune to the horrors of war. When Japan occupied the island, those who remained faced persecution and death. The idea that a secret Chinese aristocracy exists in Singapore is not only farcical but also a gross oversimplification of the country's complex social fabric.
Moreover, Crazy Rich Asians conveniently overlooks the realities of life in Singapore. It conveniently ignores the mandatory conscription and reservist obligations that all male citizens are subjected to. The film conveniently brushes aside the fact that Kevin Kwan, the author of the book on which the film is based, is wanted in Singapore for defaulting on his National Service obligation. He left the country at a young age and has since evaded his responsibilities, making him a wanted criminal in the eyes of Singaporean law. It is absurd to celebrate a film that conveniently omits such critical aspects of Singaporean life and instead presents a distorted and misleading narrative. The character of Nick Young, clearly based on Kwan's experiences, are thus nothing at all like what a Singaporean male would be like in the slightest.
Let us also not forget that Crazy Rich Asians falls into the trap of perpetuating stereotypes and racial caricatures. It reinforces the notion of Western superiority by showcasing an American woman who is portrayed as culturally, intellectually, and morally superior to the Asians she encounters. The film implies that American culture is inherently better than Asian culture, reinforcing harmful and outdated colonial attitudes. It is an equivalent to the white savior fantasy, albeit with an Asian-American protagonist. Sadly, many Americans fail to see the problematic nature of this narrative, blinded by their own limited understanding of race and culture.
It is disheartening to witness how easily some people embrace Crazy Rich Asians as a triumphant representation of Asian heritage while completely disregarding the authentic voices and experiences of Singaporeans and Asians in general. The film's glossy veneer may have captivated audiences, but beneath the surface lies a disturbing perpetuation of stereotypes and a gross misrepresentation of Singapore and its people.
If we truly want to appreciate and celebrate Singapore's rich culture and history, we must seek out films that offer a more nuanced and authentic perspective. Films like To Singapore, With Love, a documentary that gives voice to Singaporean political dissidents and former activists, provide a much-needed alternative to the shallow and superficial portrayal offered by Crazy Rich Asians. These films shed light on the real struggles, triumphs, and complexities of Singapore and its people, rather than reducing them to mere caricatures for the sake of entertainment.
Crazy Rich Asians and its misguided celebration as a realistic depiction of Singapore or Asia is just plain offensive. It perpetuates stereotypes, ignores historical context, and imperialistically imposes Western ideals on Asian cultures.
009 Re:Cyborg (2012)
More a fan letter to Oshii than a Cyborg 009 film
Re:Cyborg is a very strange film with a convoluted plot that is basically nonsensical without context, that context being that director Kenji Kamiyama is a pupil and also huge fanboy of the legendary Mamoru Oshii, and that the story of Re:Cyborg is loosely based on the unused ideas Oshii had for the cancelled Lupin movie he was supposed to direct in 1985.
Re:Cyborg uses a ton of elements from Oshii's canceled Lupin (the tower, the identity stuff, the voice, the angel, etc.) and as a result is not even trying to be a coherent story in itself. Rather, it is an Oshii fan film masquerading as a Cyborg 009 movie.
The mysterious elements taken from Oshii's films are indeed very interesting, but Re:Cyborg offers no explanations for them. It feels like Kamiyama just wanted to go "Oshii thought of this stuff, isn't it cool and crazy? Wow!". He's not wrong, that stuff is in fact cool and crazy. But in the end this just doesn't feel like a real movie as a result.
Kyôfu Ningyô (2019)
Not horror - A comedy (parody) played straight
Traditional dolls are a staple of Japanese horror. They're cursed dolls that cause supernatural things to happen. One would expect a movie about a traditional Japanese doll to be something like Ju-On.
This film is not that.
Despite using a Japanese doll, this film is actually a parody of American slasher films. And instead of being a tongue-in-cheek kind of parody like Scary Movie, it plays it completely straight, never actually trying to be funny. The humour is instead derived from the juxtaposition of the nihonningyo, a staple of traditional Japanese horror, on the over the top knife stabbing nonsense of American slasher flicks.
It's an exercise in absurdity, especially since the doll has to grow in size (to fit a person into the suit because animating an actual doll would be too expensive, presumably), and at the end of the film even starts to wield a chainsaw, another staple of American slasher flicks.
This is not a horror movie. It's a film made for Asian (or rather Japanese) fans of American slasher flicks looking for a laugh. One looking for a horror film should not watch this - It would be like wanting to watch Jaws (the original) and putting "Sharknado VS Alienator III" on instead.
Sweet My Home (2023)
Simply a good suspense/horror movie
It's just a simple premise executed well. A family moves into their new home but are creeped out by weird happenings. Is it paranoia or is there actually something going on or is the guy just crazy or imagining things?
This film isn't about jump scares or gross-outs, it's about a perpetual feeling of dread and paranoia, and it's does it fantastically well. A good comparison would be with the first half of Sinister (2012), except without the jump scares and less sinister going-ons: You really cannot tell if there's anything supernatural or even out of the ordinary going on at all, or if it's just plain old paranoia.
Unfortunately the conclusion to the movie is a bit weak, but the 80% leading up to it is still worth watching.
Stacey Dooley Investigates: Young Sex for Sale in Japan (2017)
Racist tripe
I'm writing this as an Asian who has lived in Japan for nearly two decades.
This so-called documentary is a load of ridiculous racist garbage. The film starts with the blatant straight-up lie that "until 2014 it was legal to own child pornography in Japan", and that sets the tone for a roller coaster of lies, falsehoods, and fallacies.
The camera points at a comic book and Dooley calls it child porn that sexualizes children. No justification or any form of basis is given, but if you look up the title (Yuyushiki, for reference) You will find that it's a harmless comic strip- Not even a traditional Japanese manga, but the kind of comic strip you'd find running in a newspaper- That runs in a comic magazine for girls.
Dooley later accosts a woman handing out flyers for a maid cafe- One of many harmless themed cafes in Japan- And pretty much starts calling her a child prostitute. A male staff member comes out and tries to stop the film crew from harassing the girl and asking them to stop filming her, and Dooley goes hysterical, screaming about how she isn't breaking any laws. She is. Japan has strict laws regarding personality rights that say that people aren't allowed to film specific individuals without their consent, regardless of whether or not they're in a public place; The film crew and Dooley do not have the slightest amount of respect for Japanese law.
I'll refrain from going through the rest of this tripe, but rest assured that it's garbage of the same vein; Racist nonsense regurgitated by a white imperialist with the sole intention of showing how barbaric and inferior Asian culture is.