[ SECRET POST #2658 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2658 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 076 secrets from Secret Submission Post #380.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Fuck Tom Cruise and I, but I loved that movie. Maybe I'd be a little more critical of the whole "white savior" element in it now if I watched it again, because I didn't know anything about that trope when I was in high school, but I think even Tom Cruise said his character wasn't meant to be "the last samurai", Katsumoto (was that his name?) was. Still, awesome white guy and all, motivating/helping out the samurai, I get why that is obnoxious. That being said, iirc that movie actually did really well in Japan.

[(Anonymous)]

I love that movie too. The soundtrack alone makes the whole thing worth it.

[(Anonymous)]

IIRC "last samurai" was plural. Katsumoto's group were the last samurai.

I don't necessarily think "intro via white outsider" is a bad trope, as the white guy usually starts out an ignorant fuckstick and comes to greatly respect the new culture through immersion. It's just when he takes the lessons they teach him to become their supreme bestest warrior that it goes off the rails. Avatar failed because Jake was the Chosen One after like a week of being blue. Last Samurai did it right because Tom was more of an awed observer to the group's culture, was affected by their sacrifice, and was willing to die with them but didn't steal their moment at the end. Can't remember what happened in Dances. But it can be done respectfully, I think.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I agree with this. I'm hesitant because I'm not Japanese, and so I know it's not really for me to say if it is offensive or not. But I don't think Tom Cruise's character is really "White savior" - after all, he didn't save anyone, the samurai all died. He didn't get suddenly super awesome as a samurai warrior - he was a soldier before, after all, and yes his training "no mind" montage might be a little bit in that territory, but he's not stronger than any of them. He motivates Katsumoto as a friend, and fights with them, but as you said he's more of an observer. I don't really think the story was about him as much as it was about the samurai.

The only part I look back on and kind of cringe at is Tom Cruise talking to the emperor at the end and saying he will kill himself if that's what the emperor wants (echoing Katsumoto's words). But if I interpret it as he is trying to remind the emperor of Katsumoto's bushido/honor code instead of actually trying to be a samurai, it's a little more tolerable.

Anyway. I like that movie. It does romanticize the samurai a lot, but it shows a real struggle Japan had with adapting to the West vs traditional culture. Plus, it's visually beautiful, the soundtrack is amazing, and iirc all the actors are actually Japanese, and not Hollywood "all Asians are the same" casting.

[ariakas]

Yeah, it did do really well in Japan. There was some criticism as the samurai being portrayed as way too noble (whereas here they're really not) but that was overwhelmed by the fact that they used real Japanese actors for everything (instead of getting random Asian actors and calling it a day, like Memoirs of a Geisha or Kill Bill), and actually bothered to get the period and setting right (instead of making it a mashup Korjapina of "Asianness" that Hollywood is so often guilty of). Flags of our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima were really popular here in Japan for the same reason.

It's also apparent to anyone who's actually bothered to watch it that "The Last Samurai" refers to Katsumoto and his men, not Tom Cruise's character, so there's that, too. It also doesn't hurt that he was based on a real life European who really did help the losing side during the Meiji Restoration.

But yeah, my Japanese friends loved it for the most part. As far as "white saviour" films go, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

[dancing_serpent]

I just adore Ken Watanabe, so fuck Tom Cruise and stupid tropes.