The other day a friend of mine asked me, "Have you seen Hangover 2?" I replied with a flat no and told him I have no interest in seeing it whatsoever. Now you may wonder for what reason I say this. Well, the simple reason is that I'm fed up and disgusted with the gross misrepresentation of other countries that goes on in our Hollywood movies. Specifically in the case of Thailand, I have a fairly long history with the culture and am always getting frustrated with the inaccurate stereotypes of it being one big orgy and sex-fest. Now I won't claim that any such representations are made in this particular movie as I have not seen it, but almost any other movie that takes place in or references Thailand does so I doubt hangover 2 would be any exception.
Now of course it seems silly to get frustrated about a movie's fictitious depiction of any place. However, the problem is that (Western) people really believe that is the way things really are there. As Americans, culturally, we tend to view the world specifically through the television and come to think that everything depicted is how things really are. Example: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. There is a line in this movie that says, "If you go over so-and-so speed limit, the police won't pull you over." Excuse me?! You wouldn't believe how many times people have asked me if this is true in Japan! No, no, no, no! Unfortunately, us Americans (especially us, white Americans) create such incredibly and ridiculously false images through the media we are exposed to. Another misrepresentation, Asians are NOT crazy about white guys and do NOT fantasize about us sweeping them off their feet! That is the one that drives me craziest. Get over it, we are not special because we are white. Might even come as a shock but Asian people are most attracted to.... other Asian people! Wow, shock! But that's a whole other topic for another time. Don't wanna get too off-topic.
Thailand. The reality. It is among the most conservative countries in the world (sexually speaking) today. While there is a lot of prostitution and shady activities going on in some areas (specifically some areas of Bangkok), it is the foreigners who keep those businesses running. It's not a reflection of Thai culture, but the crap that us foreigners bring there. Further, those "areas" are few and far between. The one stereotype I can say IS true, however, is that there are many "ladyboys" and gay guys in Thailand. Little random factoid, it's actually the Japanese and Chinese mafias that control most of the prostitution in Thailand. Second random factoid. Modern Thai pop culture is heavily, heavily influence by Korean pop culture. Japanese pop culture used to be popular there before and still has an influence.
To flip the chessboard, however, I want to mention that it is not only the USA that misrepresents other countries and makes foolish assumptions based on movies. For example, I can say from experience, in Japan, some Japanese people actually believe that us Americans carry guns on a regular basis during our daily routines. Some believe that all the men and women walking the streets look like Hollywood stars or models. Even worse, some of them think that Paris Hilton is actually beautiful! Holy ****! Anyway, you get the idea.
The point is, we really, really need to stop shaping our reality and opinions based on what the television shows us. Media, while it can certainly be an entertaining and wonderful thing, can unfortunately control too much of how the world is imagined. Ideas, opinions, perceptions, what's cool, what's lame, almost anything can be controlled by media. So yea.... in closing. Just don't take what is shown in movies as reality. Trust your own experiences and nothing else. :)
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