Monday, July 11, 2016

40.) Tarzan [7/3/2016]

To be honest, this movie was doomed from the start. There really isn't a way to make a Tarzan narrative that isn't a little bit racist. The idea that a white man from privilege could be raised in the jungle among savages (both animal and human), but still rise above that to fit into the British aristocracy is going to have racist undertones. Pitching it so that Jane is the daughter of an English teacher literally colonizing Africa doesn't help. Having him go back to be the white savior to restore the African tribesman to their freedom (something they seemed incapable of doing themselves), doesn't make it better. Giving him a black sidekick who hates slavery and having the central narrative circle around freeing slavery helps a little, but still has tinges of racism in suggesting that, without Tarzan, everyone would still be slaves.

This movie was already digging out of a deep, problematic hole, made all that much more deeper by Alexander Skarsgard's cardboard-cutout-like acting abilities. The CGI looked bad, Margot Robbie and Samuel Jackson could do little to save the flailing mess. And it was boring. I couldn't even enjoy hate-watching it like Gods of Egypt. It was just not worth the time--the time to write it, the time to make it, or the time to see it.

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