Bright (2017) - A.K.A. ORC COPS, ORC COPS!

[Karha of Honor]

So, I finished this movie and It was good. I mean why did the critics hate it so much?

I think it boiled down to.

1. Merging real life racial issues with a fantasy metaphor
2. It's a Netflix movie

Just background, not really metaphor.

[FakeGeekGirl]

Fake Geek Girl here to provide an unpopular opinion!

I did not like this movie. I was really excited because the premise was cool but they really didn't do much with it. This is a world that's been like this for thousands of years yet it looks exactly like ours other than the literal damn apartheid (who was it that said it was TOO SUBTLE? Assuming I read that correctly as sarcasm, yeah I'm with ya) OK? Why are the orcs coded black instead of, you know, built up more as their own culture? Wouldn't that be more interesting? The better parts were when Jakoby was talking about smelling things and little tidbits of orc culture, but it was hard to tell if he was a quirky individual who was really into his people's history or if this was actually a representation of orc culture. Spending more time with orc characters could have done wonders.

Look you don't have to convey all of the history in one short film, but the writer should know it, and I doubt very seriously Mr. Landis sat down and wondered how the industrial revolution, world wars, American civil war, all that kind of thing happened in his universe with elves and orcs and magic.

I also found the tone deeply uneven. Like I probably would have thought the mounted cop / centaur thing more intriguing / funny if it wasn't part of a scene with racially based police brutality. Uuuuuuugh.

I also found Will Smith very unusually charmless. Not sure if this was solely because of the way his character was framed or because he was phoning it in or both. Again, the movie could have been improved by making Jakoby the main character, but that would take effort.

[Karha of Honor]

Fake Geek Girl here to provide an unpopular opinion!

I did not like this movie. I was really excited because the premise was cool but they really didn't do much with it. This is a world that's been like this for thousands of years yet it looks exactly like ours other than the literal damn apartheid (who was it that said it was TOO SUBTLE? Assuming I read that correctly as sarcasm, yeah I'm with ya) OK? Why are the orcs coded black instead of, you know, built up more as their own culture? Wouldn't that be more interesting? The better parts were when Jakoby was talking about smelling things and little tidbits of orc culture, but it was hard to tell if he was a quirky individual who was really into his people's history or if this was actually a representation of orc culture. Spending more time with orc characters could have done wonders.

Look you don't have to convey all of the history in one short film, but the writer should know it, and I doubt very seriously Mr. Landis sat down and wondered how the industrial revolution, world wars, American civil war, all that kind of thing happened in his universe with elves and orcs and magic.

I also found the tone deeply uneven. Like I probably would have thought the mounted cop / centaur thing more intriguing / funny if it wasn't part of a scene with racially based police brutality. Uuuuuuugh.

I also found Will Smith very unusually charmless. Not sure if this was solely because of the way his character was framed or because he was phoning it in or both. Again, the movie could have been improved by making Jakoby the main character, but that would take effort.

Orcs coded black. They could be coded Irish or Russian easily. Also they cannot play basketball, walk around in footbal jerseys.

[CharlesPhipps]

Orcs are basically coded "every minority ever." We also see they do have their own culture as blacks aren't usually accused of having their own secret laws and tribal traditions.

That was an accusation of the mafia (which was true) and Jews.

[Antiboyscout]

Orcs are basically coded "every minority ever." We also see they do have their own culture as blacks aren't usually accused of having their own secret laws and tribal traditions.

That was an accusation of the mafia (which was true) and Jews.

Have you seen any African Pan Nationalist lately? The ones wearing "traditional" "African" garb?

Example:

[Fixer]

I can see the potential for this thread to potentially be derailed.
Race politics is obviously entwined within the story but it's also a touchy subject in real life so by all means discuss in context to the movie but please leave real life race politics to the news forum.

[Antiboyscout]

It's not my fault. Literally the first credit to come up right after the Netflix logo is for "Trigger Warning Entertainment" production company.

[Karha of Honor]

It's not my fault. Literally the first credit to come up right after the Netflix logo is for "Trigger Warning Entertainment" production company.

I was like, Fuck Yeah

[pilight]

If you pretend the elves are a jew analog it helps the tripe go down

Well, yeah, what else could they be? The Orcs hate the Elves and the Elves look down on the Orcs. Orcs are violent and perceived to put their own law ahead of the laws of society at large. Stereotypical Muslims. The Elves are super rich and perceived to run the world. Stereotypical Jews.

[cilantro]

If you pretend the elves are a jew analog it helps the tripe go down

Well, yeah, what else could they be? The Orcs hate the Elves and the Elves look down on the Orcs. Orcs are violent and perceived to put their own law ahead of the laws of society at large. Stereotypical Muslims. The Elves are super rich and perceived to run the world. Stereotypical Jews.

Stereotypical Muslims for the Orcs? They were supposed to be analog to being black and not Muslims. As with the Elves weren't they supposed to be WASPs?