REVIEWS: The Phippsian Reader

[phippsmartin at hotmail.com]

Jamas Enright wrote:
> On 15 May 2005, Tom Russell wrote:
>
> > I guess you write what you know.
>
> To be fair, the first market for an American movie is, of course,
America,
> and since there look to be a lot of American that aren't even aware
> there's some place other than America, if you want danger, it's
America
> that will be in trouble.
>
> There are only two movies I can think of off the top of my head that
have
> had content changes for an international market (other than cuts/etc
due
> to violence).
>
> Toy Story 2 - in which an American flag behind Buzz is replaced with
a
> spinning Earth.
> Pearl Harbour - because they thought that the Japan bashing might be
> offensive to Japanese (which, by implication, means that Japan
bashing is
> fine in America).

Zoolander - When shown on HBO Asia, the Malaysian Prime Minister (who
Ben Stiller's character was supposed to assissinate) was refered to as
the "Micronesian Prime Minister".
Rambo - When shown in Vietnam, the Rambo movies make no mention of
Vietnam.  The setting of Rambo: First Blood Part II is completely
unspecified when sown there.

> (This does make you wonder if Bollywood is producing huge budget
epics
> where the world, as represented by India is in danger. And indeed,
how
> often was Gamera called in to save some place that wasn't in Japan.
:)
> Or how often does James Bond not serve just her Majesty's interests?
So
> all countries do this, it's just that America is more noticable*.)

Well, in other countries there is the question of budget.  Hong Kong
movies are usually set in Hong Kong.  Filipino movies in the
Philippines.  Well, duh.

> (*Let alone the arrogance needed to make crap American versions of
> brilliant Japanese movies just because they know Americans can't even
> think of seeing a foreign movie...)

Yeah, but at least Godzilla had Jean Reno who was playing a French man.
 And in The Day After Tomorrow we saw that hail storm in Japan.  And
one of the climatologists was Japanese.  And in Armegeddon it was Paris
that was destroyed.  I don't know if that's a good example.  (Writers:
"Wouldn't it be cool to have Paris destroyed by an asteroid?"  "Heh
heh.  Yeah!")

> But to drag this thread kicking and screaming back to the LNH, you've
got
> three Antipodean writers setting stories in Ame.rec.a mainly because
> that's where everyone else is.

or Ca.net.da

> (And yes, it is good to see that Martin is doing LNH Asia...)

Which only goes to prove that you write what you know. :I

Martin