Disney's piracy not fit for HK

By dave on July 16, 2007 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Disney's piracy not fit for HK

On a recent visit with my daughters to Hong Kong Disneyland, I came across the "Pirates" promotion.

I remember reading, when Disneyland was being built, that there would be no pirate attractions, out of respect for the fact that piracy was, in this part of the world, a real concern. But this seems to have been put aside for the sake of bumping up the gross take of Disney's latest Johnny Depp vehicle, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

I took my children to see the movie and found it appallingly inappropriate. The violence was over the top and I walked out.

I will forgive Disney this once, especially since they are going to have their first African American princess, The Frog Princess, set in New Orleans, but please don't do it again.

Joy Kingan, Discovery Bay

Where to begin? For a start, the movie was rated as a category IIa movie in Hong Kong (PG13 in the US), which indicates that parental guidance was required, and specifically that explicit violence may be present. (From: Hong Kong Movie Ratings on Wikipedia.)

Ms. Kingan could have checked out the trailer: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to decide if the movie was suitable for children. ("Scary but cool", say my kids.)

Or she could've used her common sense! It's not like the Pirates series is an unknown quantity or a movie marketed in some stealth fashion, where no one knows what it's about. The opening shots of the first movie have dead bodies, for heaven's sake! How on earth can you be ignorant of the likely content of the movie?

(Aside: Ms Kingan's essay (I presume it's the same Joy Kingan) Where's the Backwater now? is a curious essay - does Shanghai really have better urban planning than Vancouver? Is the PRC government really doing more to counter climate change than many western governments?)

1 Comments

kingan said:

hi dave

i appeciate your attention. i am always amazed at how many people actually read letters to the editor. you might want to check out all the ´pirates´ book merchandising at dymocks, if your kids like the movie so much... they´re in the dedicated ´pirates´ display box -- i hope the thin spine and large font size don´t put them off.

and about that essay about urban transpo in china þ canada ... best to stick to the facts. (i didn´t mention vancouver)

what did you think about my piece on racism, btw

July 26, 2007 6:36 AM

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