guardianfox:

schrodanger:

rasec-wizzlbang: kuipernebula: dimsumcart: homoriental: why is this cracker the main character of a movie set in CHINA full offense but fuck this white guy lmao “1700 years to build. 5500 miles long. what were they trying to keep out?”

the huns. they were trying to keep out the huns. the huns were what were being kept out of china via the wall that china built. that great wall, which was built by china, was made to keep out the invaders, known as the huns. it was the huns who were being blocked by the wall that china built, which was a great weall. it was the huns who uh, no? it says on the poster Matt Damon. They were trying to keep out Matt Damon.



I know that after seeing so many egregious examples of whitewashing, it’s infuriating to see yet another movie featuring a white man as the hero in a land that is definitely not white. But let me tell you why The Great Wall is different.

Unlike The Last Airbender, Prince of Persia, Ghost in the Shell, Gods of Egypt, and Doctor Strange, The Great Wall is not inserting a white actor into a role meant for a non-white actor. This is an original story by Chinese director Zhang Yimou (famous for Hero and House of Flying Daggers), filmed in Qingdao, China, and featuring one of the largest Chinese casts ever.

Did you only see Matt Damon in advertising? That’s because the Chinese people involved with the film know that Americans will recognize an American actor. This is targeted marketing. If you actually look at the cast, Damon co-stars with Chinese actors Andy Lau, Jing Tian, Han Lu, and more.

The Chinese film industry is trying to break into the American market by featuring a prominent American actor. Don’t boycott The Great Wall for attempting to appeal to American audiences. Matt Damon’s entire purpose is to lure Americans into the theater for Jason Bourne and expose them to Chinese actors already well known in China.

A similar example to The Great Wall is the upcoming action-comedy film Skiptrace starring Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville. A Chinese actor and a white actor are co-starring and the film involves a road trip from Mongolia to Hong Kong. If you’re still displeased with Matt Damon, go see that.

Tl;dr if you want to support Chinese people in movies, watch The Great Wall (Feb 17, 2017) and watch Skiptrace (Sep 2, 2016).