[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc Ding Ling] The new drama "Brotherhood" produced by the streaming media platform Netflix and starring Michelle Yeoh was launched this month and has attracted the attention of global users, especially Asian audiences. However, even with the blessing of the Oscar-winning actress, this work, which contains a large number of Asian cultural elements, has experienced polarization in the East and the West. How to avoid "stereotypes" in Asian-themed films produced by Hollywood is still a challenge.
On January 4, 2024 local time, in Los Angeles, the United States, Michelle Yeoh attended the Los Angeles premiere of the drama "Brotherhood". (Source: Visual China)
"Brotherhood", directed by Hollywood Asian directors Kevin Tancharon and Yue Ruan, and written by Byron Wu and others, has a very Asian cultural background: the Taiwanese gang that once dominated the sky. The boss was assassinated, and his eldest son rushed to Los Angeles to protect his mother and younger brothers. Another rising gang was about to attack the orphans and widowed mothers in order to compete for profits. The brothers and their mother had to reorganize their emotions and family relationships in the face of danger. definition. The English name of the play is "The Sun Brothers". Chinese actors Qian Yuyang and Li Songpu play the two brothers respectively, and Michelle Yeoh plays their mother. Taiwanese veteran actor Kou Shixun also stars in the play. The dialogue used in the whole play is a mixture of Chinese and English. There are many elements of oriental kung fu, family atmosphere and Asian comedy. It makes people think of the famous "Moment" during the Hollywood awards season last year. The whole universe".
"Brotherhood" has a total of 8 episodes. It currently has 83% freshness and 92% popcorn index on the Rotten Tomatoes film review website. Metacritc online media gave it an average score of 61. Western public opinion and audiences are relatively positive about the show. "Variety" praised the show for "perfectly blending comedy and drama, once again giving Michelle Yeoh a stage to show herself, and also introducing two young actors who play her sons, adding luster to the screen." Time said the show was fast-paced, fun and full of inventive action scenes. The British "Guardian" commented, "Is "Brotherhood" a carnival or boring? It depends on your acceptance of serious lines about family atmosphere, whether you can realize that children and parents truly understand each other, and Michelle Yeoh can control it All of this." However, in the opinion of the Los Angeles Times, the show is still a "family drama + kung fu hodgepodge", and the San Francisco Chronicle even thinks that "all except Michelle Yeoh are terrible."
Asian audiences have their own criteria for judging Asian-themed works in Hollywood. On Douban.com, "Brotherhood" currently has a score of 7.1. Some fans think the action scenes in the first few episodes are quite interesting, but then it becomes "bloody" and it has not gotten rid of the fact that Asians are only seen by Westerners as fighting and emotions. Depressing impression. According to reports from Yahoo Hong Kong, after the show was launched, it ranked third among Netflix's global drama series broadcasts. Some people praised it for its powerful fighting and rich jokes. However, some netizens criticized the plot for being cliched and the characters were unflattering. Some Taiwanese viewers said that although the show is based on Taiwanese gangs, the content is "not Taiwanese at all."
Korean media also noticed that there were a lot of Korean-related content in the drama, but it was often a negative image. For example, the Korean gangsters and employees are dwarfed in the drama, and Korean jjimjilbangs are described as “a place where people wear terrible shorts and flip-flops,” and the female character who plays the villain often carries a bag of Korean “turkeys” with her. The police were very disgusted by this and called "turkey noodles" garbage.
The creators of "Brotherhood" revealed in an interview with "Variety" that their inspiration for creating the series came from real news about Japanese filmmakers being attacked by gangsters in 1992, and they also wanted to subvert some stereotypes about Asians, " Like that image of the serious Asian assassin and the goofy Asian guy," to get more Asian Americans involved. However, Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" believes that this drama, which was filmed in Los Angeles and Taipei, constantly emphasizes protecting family members and "being yourself" is too cliched. The description of the situation and mentality of Chinese immigrants is only superficial, and the overall feeling lacks freshness. , whose target demographic is clearly a Western audience.
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