09 March 2010

Small Time 'my paper' Critic Jill Alphonso Bashes Cameron and Avatar

I find it absurd that Jill Alphonso, a small time critic who writes Viewpoint articles for "my paper" has the nerve to say some of the things she does in her review of James Cameron and Avatar's performance at the Academy Awards.  She takes an arrogant tone that would lead you to believe she's the ultimate authority on creating a good movie.  Her personal dislike of James Cameron, as well as her inferiority complex when it comes to white men, shines through in her review.


My first issue with her article is that she seems to draw some deep meaning from the fact that James Cameron lost out on some awards to his ex-wife, as if the fact she were his ex-wife was what caused her to win rather than him.

"It was a snub, all right.  And it speaks a lot when Cameron's victor was his former wife, Kathryn Bigelow..."

(this quote and all others in this article) via my paper, Tuesday March 9, 2010

It speaks a lot?  The implication is that the outcome of the awards ceremony has something to do with their previous marriage and current relationship, and perhaps some wild feminist idea that a woman will come out on top.  In reality, Kathryn Bigelow simply produced a decent a movie that was worthy of award during the same year that her ex-husband did.  Jill Alphonso seems to want to drum up the girl-power concept to increase the sensationalism of her review.

She even takes the time to spell out why Avatar most likely did not win the more prestigious awards later in the same review, contradicting her previous statements.  According to her, Avatar is a big budget sci-fi movie, and sci-fi movies, like Star Wars and ET, rarely get highly awarded, regardless of how well they sell or how high public opinion is of them.

That makes a lot more sense than saying Avatar didn't win because the competing film was helmed by Jame's Cameron's ex-wife, doesn't it?

"And, yes, Avatar is a movie that is hard to ignore. ... But here's the truth - the film lacks critical clout."

Maybe I'm missing something.  Did Jill go to a film and art school?  Does she have a degree?  As people are fond of asking in Singapore, is she certified to make that sort of broad and authoritative statement?

Avatar's storyline isn't the most complex in the world, but it doesn't have to be.  The worth of the story is in the message and how well it's delivered, and I think James Cameron did a damn good job with that.  The story is inspiring and set the world on fire with gossip, positive reviews, and was able to be used as a tool to bring focus to real world issues, like a tribe in India whose sacred mountain is being mined out.

The Hurt Locker on the other hand, while good, was an over-dramatization that lacked anything but a quick action rush for me.  I spent 8 years in the US Army and I could see faults in the film that made me realize it wasn't very genuine.  It appeals to the masses in the US right now because it's about soldiers, and anyone who doesn't support the soldiers in the US is deemed un-American.  Plus it's about war and action, two categories that always do well.  Anyone that's spent any time in the Army will know that the sequence of events depicted would not have taken place.


First of all, when 'SSG James' went on his first mission and ignored Standard Operating Procedure, placing his life and the lives of his team in danger, he would've been seriously reprimanded, sent for psychiatric evaluation and possibly reassigned.

Second, if he managed to talk past the first blunder, his personal vendetta of a side mission that resulted in 'SPC Owen' getting shot and almost abducted (beheaded on video) would've caused him to face punitive action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice due to negligence and dereliction of duty among other things.  The end result would've been that 'SSG James' would've lost rank and, in all likelihood, would have been removed from that EOD unit.

So, while good and fun to watch, the movie is just unbelievable for me.  That's not to say that 7 foot tall aliens that have sex using tentacles in their braids are more believable but to imply that The Hurt Locker had more 'critical clout' is ludicrous.  Jill wouldn't know that though.

"And let's face it, its plot of a white man saving the natives is thin, and some lines are corny ("I see you" taking the cake)."

Jill, Jill, Jill.  Would it have been better if it were an Asian man?  Or a Black man?  Perhaps a Filipino man, so you would feel less threatened?  Why would the race of the hero in a future-set story make it less believable?  I hate to take this off on a tangent, but why is that in Singapore events always seem to have more or less weight based on the race and nationality of the perpetrator?

Also, 'I see you' is a pretty deep phrase.  If you'd paid attention you'd know that.  It's not just about literally seeing the person you're approaching.  It's an affirmation of brotherhood, understanding, and inclusion in the Na'vi culture.  Just because that culture doesn't really exist doesn't make the statement less deep or less meaningful, especially in regards to the storyline.

Jill, "the losses are telling".  Do some more research before you start making such broad, biased statements.  No award, or lack thereof, will change the fact that Avatar is a science fiction masterpiece, the highest grossing film of all time, or that James Cameron directed the two highest grossing films of all time.  "Weep," Jill.
Written By Brad Farless at 7:28 AM
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10 Responses:

  1. As someone who used to be a professional film critic in Singapore, I can safely tell you that it seems like a lot of my peers back then didn't really like movies at all. Honestly speaking why would you be a film critic if every single one of your reviews can be summed up as "read the book instead?"
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  2. Well, sometimes people wind up in jobs just because they need a job. Maybe they thought it would be easy? Sit on a couch, watch a movie and then write something about it.

    I agree with you though. If you're going to do a job, you should do it well regardless of whether you like it or not.
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  3. It shouldn't be long until Avatar hits the dvd rentals so I'm looking forward to seeing this despite what the reviewer wrote (I didn't get into it). I mean, the whole point of a film like this is to entertain. Bottom line is at the box office. Hit or miss, right?
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  4. Ya. I think the box office sales and public opinion are the biggest indicators of how good a movie is, not what a small group of critics think. Awards shows usually pick the most ridiculous winners.
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  5. Well, she does have a right to air her opinion, even if she borrowed the idea from critics in the US who were the first to suggest the white-mans-burden issue in Avatar. Anyway, The War Tapes beats BOTH Hurt Locker and Avatar, Hollywood's crap in any event...Asian-hating racist bastards!
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  6. Ya, she certainly does have a right to her opinion, and I have a right
    to say I think she's full of it.

    Anyhow, I've never heard of The War Tapes. What makes you say
    Hollywood hates Asians?
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  7. The war tapes is a movie shot by US servicemen on the ground in Iraq, they basically got themselves a camera, got the CO's permission to shoot and just went ahead with their experiences. It can get pretty disturbing since they don't censor stuff like dead bodies, bad incidents etc, but IMHO, its really good!
    As for Hollywood hating Asians, just see stuff like Entourage (Made by the asian-hating asshole Mark Walhberg who actually attacked and blinded an asian guy and got away with it!), Sex and the City (and the way it denegrates Asian males), all that "yellowface" syndrome where white guys are brought in for an Asian character's role, as well as all the stuff denigrating Asian women as hos and sluts and Asian men as sexless insidious subhumans. This complaint has been going on in the APA community for decades now, and STILL no change since AAs don't have a lobby in government like AIPAC and the ADL, the majority in Hollywood just laughs it off and says its because the "American public wants it" (which is complete bullshit since the midwestern and southern KKK far-right bible-beaters would appreciate a Jew-hating film once in a while, so why isn't there any anti-semitic films going around??), and if an Asian character (especially male) is portrayed in good light, its almost ALWAYS with a big-name actor like Jackie Chan or Jet Li or Rain from Asian proper, and its ALWAYS with money from the old country itself. Nah, Hollywood absolutely hates Asians (Except the me-so-horny-me-luv-you-long-time kittens in FMJ), and for all the shit the US says about its democracy and equality, this is a clear indictment of American society, American government and its judiciary that all this is STILL going down 65 years after Bill v. Korematsu and 40 years after Brown v. Board of Education! Man! Just thinking about the issue makes me so pissed I don't know how AAs can wake up and stare with pride in the mirror every freakin morning when they KNOW what's waiting for them on their TVs, at social gatherings and gawd forbid, the dating scene!
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  8. That sounds like a pretty interesting video. I wouldn't mind having a look at it. I think most people prefer to be entertained though, rather than watch documentaries.

    As for the other part of your comment, I think a good part of the stereotypes (me so horny) are justified from real experiences, and from the continued behavior of quite a few Asian women towards white men. Seriously, a lot of Asian women will throw themselves at white men just for the chance of living in Europe, the US or another white country where they believe their lot in life will be better. Not all Asian women are like that, but some are, and that's where that stereotype comes from.

    As for Asian men, being born in 81, I grew up thinking that Asian referred to Chinese and Japanese people, that they could all do kung fu, or something like it, that they stood up for honorable ideas, that they fought hard for what they believed in, that they had ancient cultures that were fascinating. Those old kung fu and samurai movies are what initially drew my interest in regards to Asia. Later I would find out that the histories are societies are far more complex than what's shown in the movies, but I would say I was left with a pretty positive idea of what Asians were all about. Asia is continually being popularized in media now, though some of it's wrong.

    Anyhow, I don't know where the idea of Asian men having small wangs came from and I can't really say whether it's true or not because I don't go around checking guys packages. I don't see it in movies myself. The stereotypes that I see are that all Asians are smart and driven to succeed.

    I don't think we can escape stereotypes, but if I were to have a stereotype attributed to me I'd much rather have people assume I'm really smart, driven to succeed, likely to have money, likely to be a software engineer, etc etc, than bearing the "white man's burden" where everyone assumes that I have something to prove by looking out for people I feel are inferior to me.
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  9. I've only met ONE SPG in all my years here, and she went out with a German guy who eventually dumped her for a Japanese who couldn't speak English! :P Seriously though, a gal's gotta be certifiably nuts if she wants to emigrate to Europe, its cold dark, damp and boring there, and European apartments...OMG!! At least American and Canadian houses are modern, European houses are literally stone cold at the top and roach colonies at the bottom! Plus prices are so high there no one can eat out everyday (unless you're Berlusconi or Abramovich!), people wind up eating breadrolls and drinking cheap booze for lunch, cooking at home for dinner, amenities cost an arm and a leg, lord almighty! Who in his right mind wants to emigrate to Europe from here??? Ok, I guess they're dumb, but really, I haven't met that many of those in Asia. On the other hand, if a guy from Japan or Korea visits places like Ukraine or Romania, he'll get shitloads of white chicks all over him as well. Seen some parties in my time, they make the KKK midwestern types weep! I tend to get real suspicious of gals who like me too much when they haven't known me well enough, so I guess I won't go for sluts in any event :P
    Its nice to know you have a different image of asians as some of those Americans I know, but during my time in the US, I saw some pretty brutal stuff, the redneck Charlie Company series was still running, and it was a baaaaaaaaaaaad time! I guess the younger generation is always better in terms of race relations, but still, old wounds run fresh. As for the white guy's impressions, it depends on who the producers of the movie are. If its black guys like Spike Lee, then the white guy is cast as either a redneck, a conniving racist, or some really fat dumbo while the blacks are running circles around him. If its produced by white guys, well, they appear regular. If its produced by Asians, then they usually start off as assholes but wind up as nice guys eventually, or start right off the bat as nice guys. There should actually be a law against making movies where people are stereotyped, or barring that, allowing people to file class action suits against studios and distributors for instigating hatred and suspicion against others. I think that would be an equitable solution, but something in me says that moneyed institution called Congress won't stand for it :P
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  10. I cannot believe you took up all that space and all that energy to *bash* a journalist just because you didn't agree with her opinion. You say she sounds opinionated? Do you read what you write out loud? Seriously? Complete and utter lack of class, good luck to you. People like you need it.
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