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| Who is this version of the movie for? | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 01:00 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Paramount remaking THE KING & I (the musical) - Chromolume 09:56 pm EST 02/12/21 | |
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| This sounds insane to me. The way they are talking about bringing in the diversity makes me skeptical that they are approaching it with anywhere near the sensitivity required to do it well, or even responsibly. I wish them luck, but the depiction of the King is a giant landmine, in terms of how to make something that will sell in both the West and Asia. And the timing couldn't be worse, at least to make the announcement. It shows an appalling cluelessness about that part of the world, which they are claiming they are going to be more mindful of. Maybe they're imagining they can do romantic musical comedy, "A Star Is Born Crazy Rich Asians", but I just don't see how you get that out of "The King and I" unless you completely scrub the politics out of it, at which point it's a story about a randy dad who's hot for teacher. There's absolutely no way that East Asia wants to hear what America thinks about its cultural values, and it's hard to see Western BIPOC and their allies enjoying a show in which a White lady teaches an Asia man that slavery is bad by showing him "Uncle Tom's Cabin". At that point, who is this movie for? Red State family value Christian conservatives? They're gonna hate it because it isn't about White people. You're literally making a movie for no one. I don''t know, let's see who they get to write it. It's probably gonna be Tony Kushner, but maybe they'll surprise us and get Anchuli Felicia King (who would then be rewritten by Tony Kushner). A move like that might actually work, because she straddles both cultures. But this is pretty much toast if the writer is American, regardless of their cultural identity. Stay tuned. |
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| Bartlett Sher's production at Lincoln Center | |
| Last Edit: singleticket 01:48 pm EST 02/13/21 | |
| Posted by: singleticket 01:42 pm EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: Who is this version of the movie for? - Singapore/Fling 12:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
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| There's absolutely no way that East Asia wants to hear what Americans thinks about its cultural values, and it's hard to see Western BIPOC and their allies enjoying a show in which a White lady teaches an Asia man that slavery is bad by showing him "Uncle Tom's Cabin". The royal family of Thailand certainly doesn't care about what Americans think about its cultural values, you can still get 20 years in jail there for insulting the king. But of course there's a difference between Westerners telling governments what to do and backing it up with imperial might and supporting the human rights struggles of Thai activists against a still oppresive power structure. That struggle has recently been in the news in the last couple of days. Anna's abolitionism in the musical is apparently an invention by either the original memoirist Anna Leonowens or her many adaptors. But Leonowens' feminism and her fight for women's suffrage was not and it was apparently a lifelong commitment. It's also possible that Leonowen was of mixed Asian-Anglo race. Like a lot of R&H musicals there are layers of original material with material from adaptations and then history itself which makes intelligent new rethinkings of these musicals not only worthwhile but important. Important because they're still in the dna of American culture... at least until the day when they're not which may happen. I really liked Bartlett Sher's production at Lincoln Center. I thought it did an excellent job at bringing out surprising conflicts that were grounded in the material itself. I loved Anna singing "Whistle a Happy Tune" on the deck of a Western steamship with its prow pointing at the audience like a gun. It seemed to ask whether the court and the King were the ones who should really be afraid of this cultural invasion. I also loved the way Sher and Michael Yeargan his production designer contrasted that intrusive imperial ship with the statue of Buddha which appears later in the act. |
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| re: Who is this version of the movie for? | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 01:11 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: Who is this version of the movie for? - Singapore/Fling 12:50 am EST 02/13/21 | |
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| They've also talked about a re-make of MY FAIR LADY on and on with Keira Knightley, then Carey Mulligan......Emily Blunt will probably be in the next press release. There have also been many releases about a GUYS AND DOLLS re-do with whoever the action star of the moment who wants to be taken seriously might be. It's what press agents do -- for clients, whether they be studios, producers, or actors. | |
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| re: Who is this version of the movie for? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:41 am EST 02/13/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Who is this version of the movie for? - Pokernight 01:11 am EST 02/13/21 | |
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| Those two options seem much more probable, especially the My Fair Lady. That could be quite the hit if done well. | |
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