Marvel's latest movie, The Eternals, was released on November 5, and like other Marvel films in the past, the first week of release was okay in North America, with a box office success of $71 million.
At the same time, however, there is also bad news--- the film was banned and boycotted in the Middle East not long after its release, because the film contained LGBT plots and different depictions of the ancestors of the earth, which were taboo behaviors in their culture.
The local review department has also communicated with the producer Disney before, asking the other party to delete the above plot, but Disney rejected their proposal, so the local department also made a corresponding statement on this.
Nearly a week later, australian media outlet News asked about it in an interview with the famous Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on November 11, and her answer summed up in two words--- "ignorance".
Angelina Jolie said in a media interview at the time that she was sad for those viewers in the Middle East and could not understand this.
"I still don't understand how there are people in the world we live in today who don't want to see the beautiful relationship and that kind of love of the Fastos family, how can anyone feel angry and afraid about it? What is not approved or appreciated is ignorance. ”
In addition, she believes that Marvel's refusal to cut the male love scenes in the film is a matter of pride.
Angelina Jolie played the role of Tina, a member of the Eternals, in the film, which was also her first screen appearance in a Marvel movie, so she also had a say in the boycott of the film.
According to the original plan, November 11 is the day that "Eternals" will be released in the Middle East, and according to foreign media reports, it has been confirmed that a Chain Theater chain in Saudi Arabia has confirmed the ban on the release of the film.
A small number of Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Egypt are certain that they will still be released, but the "illegal" plot in it needs to be deleted.
In fact, this is the difference in cultural concepts--- the United States has the influence of "political correctness" ideas, very much respect and attention to the cultural world of minorities, in recent years, Hollywood films with black, LGBT and other attributes of the characters have become more and more numerous.
The countries in the Middle East have a relatively strong religious color in culture, and the main faith religions are Islam, Christianity and Judaism, and these three religions are basically more anti-LGBT behavior.
Not only that, but in the cultural thinking of religious countries, there is no tolerance for any strange depiction of the earth's prophets and gods, and the setting in the movie "Eternals" just touches on this taboo, which naturally causes dissatisfaction from the auditing department.
If you want to elaborate on the cultural factors behind this matter, it is actually quite ridiculous, first of all, there are a certain number of religious believers in the United States, who are also part of a minority group, and they are also logically classified into the category of "political correctness".
Since it is "political correctness", it is reasonable to respect the ideas of these groups, right, so in terms of enlarging the pattern, shouldn't the people of those countries with religious cultures also respect their ideas?
And now, because the "politically correct" plot of the film just touches the bottom line of another "politically correct" group, what you want to do now and which side to take sides is tantamount to violating your own ideological position.
But it is clear that Disney and Angelina Jolie are not in a dilemma, but are very firm in support of the "political correctness" of their films, without thinking about the feelings of other people's homes.
So when you look at it this way, this kind of thinking is very arrogant and self-righteous that is characteristic of traditional Westerners--- imposing what they think is "right" on others, what people say does not count, what I say is what I say.
To put it mildly, this is a "hypocritical" behavior that feels good about oneself.
It seems that Miss Angelina seems to have been confused for a while, not knowing that her remarks have actually offended the religious groups that are also "politically correct", and whether this will cause public outrage among the relevant people in her own country.
But, you know what? It's not the first time she's been "standing and talking without waist pain" like this.
Back on June 16, 2018, Angelina Jolie, who has the dual status of Hollywood film star and UNHCR envoy, arrived in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as a journalist.
After more than a decade of war, the city was littered with rubble and ruins, and that day was the first Eid al-Fitr after the liberation of the people of Mosul.
Angelina Jolie visited the local population, then looked at the camera with a heavy expression and called on the international community to help Iraq rebuild after the war and restore stability.
"This is the worst devastation I've seen in years with UNHCR, the people here have lost everything, the trauma and loss they've suffered is unprecedented, and they're here alone with little support."
Originally, she said these words quite sincerely, as if to make everyone feel empathetic... But the next sentence left people confused.
"But they are happy because the last Eid, still in the occupation and suffering, this year's Eid, although they have nothing, they are free."
After half a day, it turned out that she was concerned about the problem of people's lack of freedom, not the plight of their current war.
Such absurd and shameless remarks, coming out of the mouth of a well-known movie star that everyone is familiar with, is simply a kind of depression that does not know where to complain.
You think, her main business is to be an actor, not a politician, a thinker, and suddenly say this kind of seemingly righteous and awe-inspiring but there is a kind of "why not eat meat", is this not clear to dig a pit for herself?
Now, because of the Boycott of "Eternals" by Middle Eastern countries, she criticizes the ignorance of others and promotes her "political correctness" position, and her face is not to mention that she has corrupted the popularity of passers-by.
Either way, Angelina Jolie is afraid to add another stain to her life this time.
In fact, even if you don't mention the ban on screenings in the Middle East, the reputation of the movie "Eternals" is not much better.
Although it grossed more than $160 million worldwide since its release, its freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes has dropped to 48 percent, making it the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to receive a Rotten Tomatoes "rotten film" rating.
And even if the first week box office reaches the passing line, it is still lower than other popular movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It can be seen that even the local audience in the United States is not very optimistic about this movie, perhaps this has nothing to do with political correctness, but everyone themselves have no good feelings for the characters and plot of the film, after all, they are not familiar with it, and there is no strong point of view.
Even the relevant people in the theater association are worried about where Marvel movies should go in the future, and whether Disney can guarantee the follow-up operation of this IP.
Of course, I can't answer this question, but one thing I can be sure of: Marvel and Disney, who can change as much as they want, are "free" at least for this moment!