Petr
12-26-2005, 12:21 AM
An interesting example of just what kind of mental associations Blacks get from movies... :p
http://www.playahata.com/
King Kong
Bruce Banter Says: Overall: B-
Leave it to Peter Jackson to add an extra hour on to a story that is always only 90 minutes, but he did use that extra hour plus to make a better and more compelling film. Leaving his audiences conflicted over whom to root for Kong or the White men. He changes Kong up to be like a real gorilla and it worked, he moves around on all fours and he "anthropomorphically acts" like one, facial expressions and all. The CGI ape has power that comes through the screen due to enhanced visuals and sound. Kong uses his feet to grasp and provide extra dimensions never before seen in the gorilla story. It's the attention to these details whereby Jackson shows how a primate like Kong has the advantage in a fight because of his opposable thumb and bigger brain that makes Kong a story worth retelling in 2005. He also uses the extra time to make it like a bestiality type romance, as sick as that sounds.
Unlike the original or the 1976 remake which "were about an ape who wanted a blonde he couldn't have" in 2005 the blonde wants Kong also. Previous works all had the Blonde terrified by the oversized and presumably undersexed monkey. The sex aspect is hard to feel (no pun intended) but the emotions between the two are significant. She prefers Kong who beats his chess after he kicks ass, to her human love interest who is the silent and smart type of man. Some might interpret that to mean that Peter Jackson's King Kong is a film that implicitly suggests that traditional old school manliness (strength, brute force and ass kicking) is the essential fabric of romance and that women value protection above all and in some cases that can be argued even in 2005.
King Kong is like OJ on steroids cause the boy is crazy over blondes. In all seriousness one can't help but to appreciate the way that Peter Jackson toned down this 60-year-old story of natives (read dark skinned people) worshipping monkey god who worships the epitome of White beauty - the blonde with blue eyes. The idea that it's a racially charged tale is hardly a secret and one that Peter Jackson was well aware but he preferred not to deal with, after all the racial conflict to Peter Jackson is an American problem. In New Zealand where he is from, spends his time, and shoots his films race can just be ignored all together. Even if you are not old enough to recall the racial politics surrounding the original King Kong you can easily see racial symbolism in this tail because we cant get away from that.
In this film Kong is chilling in his home land of Skull Island, minding his s own business when White men come and drug him, capture him bring him to America in a boat and then chain him up to make money off of him. Does that sound familiar? It gets even more familiar cause the ape winds up dead because he rebels against the captivity and exploitation (plus he still after the White chic. Anyway the racial politics played out throughout this story. I won't rehash but there is a goggle load worth of information on it if interested.
The fight scenes of Kong vs. the dinosaurs are vicious and brutal and the violence is a little bit more than I expected but the mayhem on the island are part of what made the film compelling, especially when we later are able to contrast that with Kong being in the urban landscape. Kong in New York City during the depression era climbing the empire state building provides for some strong imagery and classic scenes, even if the movie itself isn't quite a classic. - Nuff Said
Petr
http://www.playahata.com/
King Kong
Bruce Banter Says: Overall: B-
Leave it to Peter Jackson to add an extra hour on to a story that is always only 90 minutes, but he did use that extra hour plus to make a better and more compelling film. Leaving his audiences conflicted over whom to root for Kong or the White men. He changes Kong up to be like a real gorilla and it worked, he moves around on all fours and he "anthropomorphically acts" like one, facial expressions and all. The CGI ape has power that comes through the screen due to enhanced visuals and sound. Kong uses his feet to grasp and provide extra dimensions never before seen in the gorilla story. It's the attention to these details whereby Jackson shows how a primate like Kong has the advantage in a fight because of his opposable thumb and bigger brain that makes Kong a story worth retelling in 2005. He also uses the extra time to make it like a bestiality type romance, as sick as that sounds.
Unlike the original or the 1976 remake which "were about an ape who wanted a blonde he couldn't have" in 2005 the blonde wants Kong also. Previous works all had the Blonde terrified by the oversized and presumably undersexed monkey. The sex aspect is hard to feel (no pun intended) but the emotions between the two are significant. She prefers Kong who beats his chess after he kicks ass, to her human love interest who is the silent and smart type of man. Some might interpret that to mean that Peter Jackson's King Kong is a film that implicitly suggests that traditional old school manliness (strength, brute force and ass kicking) is the essential fabric of romance and that women value protection above all and in some cases that can be argued even in 2005.
King Kong is like OJ on steroids cause the boy is crazy over blondes. In all seriousness one can't help but to appreciate the way that Peter Jackson toned down this 60-year-old story of natives (read dark skinned people) worshipping monkey god who worships the epitome of White beauty - the blonde with blue eyes. The idea that it's a racially charged tale is hardly a secret and one that Peter Jackson was well aware but he preferred not to deal with, after all the racial conflict to Peter Jackson is an American problem. In New Zealand where he is from, spends his time, and shoots his films race can just be ignored all together. Even if you are not old enough to recall the racial politics surrounding the original King Kong you can easily see racial symbolism in this tail because we cant get away from that.
In this film Kong is chilling in his home land of Skull Island, minding his s own business when White men come and drug him, capture him bring him to America in a boat and then chain him up to make money off of him. Does that sound familiar? It gets even more familiar cause the ape winds up dead because he rebels against the captivity and exploitation (plus he still after the White chic. Anyway the racial politics played out throughout this story. I won't rehash but there is a goggle load worth of information on it if interested.
The fight scenes of Kong vs. the dinosaurs are vicious and brutal and the violence is a little bit more than I expected but the mayhem on the island are part of what made the film compelling, especially when we later are able to contrast that with Kong being in the urban landscape. Kong in New York City during the depression era climbing the empire state building provides for some strong imagery and classic scenes, even if the movie itself isn't quite a classic. - Nuff Said
Petr