[Ed. Note: Please welcome Vic, Owner/Editor of Screen Rant — an addiction of mine since coming across it — to Big Hollywood. Don’t forget to bookmark his site and encourage him to return.]
One of the best things about the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature Grindhouse was the inclusion of trailers for fake movies ahead of and between the two films. One of those trailers was for a fictitious film called Machete – a hard core 1970s-style grindhouse film starring Danny Trejo as a bad-ass Mexican that you don’t mess with. It was filled with mayhem, violence, death and scantily clad women… Almost immediately people started asking for a feature length film based on the faux trailer.
Now this sort of movie isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a fan of early 70s cheesy R-rated action movies, this looked like it could be a blast. About a year ago word came from Rodriguez that the movie would indeed be made, a few months later it was announced that some high-profile actors had been attached to the film, and this past January the movie was picked up for distribution.
Over the ensuing months, news of the production continued to trickle out – including a script review that was less than positive (but hey, for this kind of film, who expects Shakespeare, right?). All it ever seemed was that it would be a cheesy, gritty, violent action movie send-up.
But then came the “illegal” movie trailer for Machete.
The trailer was obviously cut a while back, but a “special” message was inserted into the start of the trailer. It opens with Danny Trejo (who plays Machete in the movie) speaking directly to the camera and saying:
“This is Machete, with a special Cinco de Mayo message… to ARIZONA.”
From there we cut to the trailer showing a white businessman who wants to hire Machete to assassinate an obviously ignorant, redneck (presumably Texan) Senator who gives a speech which includes such gems as:
“Every time an illegal dances across our border… it is an act of terrorism.”
There’s mayhem, double-crossing and Machete on the path of revenge against the businessman who set him up to be killed instead of to kill. Other awesome lines in the trailer include Jessica Alba proclaiming:
“We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us!”
Now I ask you: If at the beginning of an episode of Fox Television’s 24 Jack Bauer looked at the camera and said “Iran, this episode is for YOU!” or at the beginning of a trailer for the upcoming Red Dawn remake one of the stars said “This is a special message… for CHINA!” how do you suppose the media and a lot of people online would be reacting? As if I have to tell you…
But this? Not a peep from anyone for a trailer that implies violence against Arizona for its recent anti-illegal immigrant law.
Again, imagine the online and television insanity that would ensue had this been a film about a white, middle-class guy fighting Islamic terrorists with an equivalent opening message. Sure, this is “entertainment,” and intentionally crappy, tongue-in-cheek entertainment at that – what bothers me is the hypocrisy that surrounds this sort of thing in the media.
The funny thing is that over the preceding months there was never a hint in any of the press releases or interviews about the actual plot of the film. Now I can see why.
When I first heard about this film I thought that it wouldn’t make much money due to its hyper-niche target audience – now I know it’ll make even less.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.