Snakes on a Plane

[evil_FUX]

Come on now, I know there's some of you out there that have seen this movie of AWESOMENESS. What did y'all think?

[JadeDragon]

It's coming out on the 24th at my end of the world. I'm so stoked! :D

[bhkbjj]

I think Snakes on a Plane is a good movie for the image of Asian American males.

I. What I Saw

A. Physically Strong Asians

1. Byron Lawson plays the main bad guy, who is muscular and skilled in martial arts.
2. the Asian gangsters speak good English, are good-looking, and have powerful physiques

B. Heroic Asian Guy

1. There's an Asian guy (played by Terry Chen) who is heroic in this movie.
2. He's also a big, muscular American who has no accent. Incidentally, he also knows martial arts (kickboxing). I like the fact that he does kickboxing rather than wushu or some mystical, ancient kung fu style.

C. Unlikely Interracial Pairing

1. If you watch closely, in the scene in which Samuel L Jackson's character is about to enter the plane, you can see an Asian guy/white girl couple in the background.
2. watch carefully; hard to see

D. Other Observations

1. There's an Asian woman news reporter in the movie
2. There's also an Asian girl, among other girls, who is crazy about an African American rapper.

II. Analysis

Although I found some of the violence hard to watch, the movie was a fun ride. What I like about the movie is that the Asian characters were more than just stereotypes but human beings. The Asian characters, good and bad, had feelings and were regular people. Yes, the main bad guy was Asian, but there was a good Asian character. Yes, some of the Asian dudes were martial artists, but would you rather have the Asian guys as nerdy mathematicians? Sure, there was an Asian girl who liked a non-Asian guy, but Asian guys were still portrayed as desirable (the interracial pairing).

This movie portrayed Asian guys differently than most Hollywood movies:

1. The Asian bad guys were regular Americans who spoke good English, not sneaky foreigners with bad accents.

2. The Asian guys were good-looking and physically gifted; they were not the typical, short, asexual ninjas.

3. There was a strong Asian male character who helps white people. In other movies, you tend to see white people rescuing helpless Asians (Neo saving the keymaker in a Matrix sequel, The Last Samurai, etc).

4. Instead of the typical Asian girl/white guy couple, there was an Asian guy/white girl couple.

5. The Asian guys were not just cops and killers from China (Kiss of the Dragon, Rush Hour, etc). They were Americans who had feelings.

This movie portrayed Asians positively. This is my opinion, but tell me what you guys think. Did you think this movie portrayed Asians positively? I would like to hear what you guys have to say.

[little mixed girl]

MUTHAFUCKING SANKES on tha MUTHAFUCKING PLANE!!!!

i wish i could see this movie.
from the moment i 1st saw the trailer with my sister we've had so many laughs over it.

[Le Sheng Liu]

I think Snakes on a Plane is a good movie for the image of Asian American males.


Damn, of all the movies in which AM's could be repped properly, why did it have to be one about goddamn snakes on a mothafukin' plane!!!???

[Liang]

Man I still dont get how this movie got to be so hyped. I don't plan on seeing it, but if I do it has to be in a theater. I hear people do crazy shit.

[poisenedrice]

1. The Asian bad guys were regular Americans who spoke good English, not sneaky foreigners with bad accents.

4. Instead of the typical Asian girl/white guy couple, there was an Asian guy/white girl couple.


Interesting, I don't think you meant to, but those points opened up a can of worms I'd like to discuss. Is it really progress when we're happy that a movie portrays us as "American", and when Asian guys get to hump white girls?

Now I realize my ideals are too militant, closed minded and racist for most of the posters here, but when will us Asians in North America be comfortable enough with ourselves to reach the point where our identities and sense of self worth as human beings won't be inherently dependant on how white people view us?

For some reason, my instincts tell me I don't want to know the answer.

[Vahz]

Man I still dont get how this movie got to be so hyped. I don't plan on seeing it, but if I do it has to be in a theater. I hear people do crazy shit.

Hype spread from the Internet, dude.

In fact, they were making fun of it so much on Fark.com that they delayed production in the movie just to add the line "I want these motherfuckin' snakes off this motherfuckin' plane."

[bhkbjj]

Poisenedrice,

Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

It's just that I didn't expect this movie to have so many unexpected portrayals of the Asian male.

I don't remember the last time I've seen an American movie in which Asian males were portrayed as virile, strong, athletic members of American society.

Even with the heroic Asian character, the movie chose to have him as a kickboxer rather than a traditional martial artist. As a kickboxer, this character does not just do some fancy movements; rather, he is an athlete. He does not do karate or kung fu, which are the stereotypical martial arts.

As for the Asian guy/white girl thing, I was just trying to point out that the movie showed a pairing that you do not normally see in American movies. Usually, Asian males are excluded from the dating scene. I see more Asian girl/white guy couples in the media than Asian guy/Asian girl couples. In this movie, there is an Asian guy paired with a girl, and the girl happens to be white. I meant to point this out; I didn't mean to say that Asian guys should all hook up with white chicks and try to get approval from white people.

I hope that I've cleared up anything from my original message that may have caused people to misconstrue what I was trying to say.

What I found interesting about your comment, poisenedrice, is your question of our self worth in relation to how others view us. I guess, for me personally, I do look at how others view me, and that does affect how I view myself. In school, a girl actually brought up the same question that you brought up. One of my classmates gave a presentation which included Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which places being accepted by others as a prerequisite for self-esteem. The girl questioned why we need to be accepted by others to have self-esteem.

I've been told that I should be less self-conscious, and that's something I am working on.

Thanks again, poisenedrice.

1. The Asian bad guys were regular Americans who spoke good English, not sneaky foreigners with bad accents.

4. Instead of the typical Asian girl/white guy couple, there was an Asian guy/white girl couple.


Interesting, I don't think you meant to, but those points opened up a can of worms I'd like to discuss. Is it really progress when we're happy that a movie portrays us as "American", and when Asian guys get to hump white girls?

Now I realize my ideals are too militant, closed minded and racist for most of the posters here, but when will us Asians in North America be comfortable enough with ourselves to reach the point where our identities and sense of self worth as human beings won't be inherently dependant on how white people view us?

For some reason, my instincts tell me I don't want to know the answer.

[evil_FUX]

So no favorite scenes from the movie? Come on people, it's muthafuckin' SNAKES ON A PLANE! :D

[poisenedrice]

I hope that I've cleared up anything from my original message that may have caused people to misconstrue what I was trying to say.


My bad, I wasn't directing my questions at you in particular.

[Tyger Durden]

Hmmm...I can imagine the sequel now....yes i can see it now...

PYTHONS VS. GATORS ON A PLANE

When a shipment of Alligators is unknowingly loaded on the same plane as a crate of Burmese Pythons at the Florida International Airport, 300 Human passengers are at their mercy!

Whomever wins...we lose!

Coming in Summer 2007!

who says sequels can suck? That rocks!