Hollywood and left-wing elites, including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), are upset that the critically acclaimed Minari will compete in the foreign language film category at the Golden Globe Awards, even though the movie is predominantly in Korean.
They are arguing that the ruling falsely implies that being American means speaking English, and are calling the decision “bullshit,” “xenophobic,” and “racist.”
The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. (HFPA) announced this week that Minari will compete in the foreign language category, thus making it ineligible for the evening’s top award for best dramatic movie. A similar fate befell Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima and Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, both in 2006; as well as last year’s The Farewell.
Angelina Jolie’s In the Land of Blood and Honey also landed in the foreign language Globes category in 2011.
Like Minari, those movies were American productions that the HFPA nevertheless deemed “foreign language films” due to the Globes’ rules regarding movies having at least 51 percent of their dialogue in a language other than English.
Minari, starring The Walking Dead‘s Steve Yeun, is an indie production about a Korean immigrant family who settles in rural Arkansas. The movie, which debuted to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, is currently in limited release and is set to go wide in February.
The Globes decision has upset prominent Hollywood and left-wing elites. Rep. Lieu cried foul: “Why does a best picture have to be in English? Globe is in your name. Get it?”
Dear @goldenglobes: Please change your name to “Golden Only For English Speaking People,” because that would be more accurate. #Minari is an American movie about a Korean American family in Arkansas. Why does a best picture have to be in English? Globe is in your name. Get it? https://t.co/pMlGr07HxF
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 23, 2020
The Farewell director Lulu Wang called the HFPA’s rules “antiquated,” saying that the decision equates being American with speaking English.
I have not seen a more American film than #Minari this year. It's a story about an immigrant family, IN America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterizes American as only English-speaking. https://t.co/1NZbkJFE9v
— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) December 23, 2020
The Lego Movie co-director Phil Lord called it a “harmful decision.”
The thing is, on Minari and the Globes, this isn’t an oversight. It’s a choice. The rules could and should have changed after last year. This year many people made the case that Minari is an American film. This is a carefully considered, deliberate, harmful decision.
— Phil Lord #WinGA #BlackLivesMatter #WearAMask (@philiplord) December 23, 2020
The popular Angry Asian Man Twitter account called the decision “complete bullshit.”
Minari is the most/best American movie I saw this year. This is complete bullshit. https://t.co/Raufj2QtMG
— Angry Asian Man (@angryasianman) December 23, 2020
Actor Andrew Phung, who stars in the Netflix sitcom Kim’s Convenience, called the decision “sad and disappointing.”
A sad and disappointing reminder that a movie about the American dream, set in America, starring an American, directed by an American, and produced by an American company, is somehow foreign. #Minari https://t.co/u8VVfp0Sf4
— Andrew Phung (@andrewphung) December 23, 2020
HuffPo journalist Marina Fang said the ruling reinforced “racist” and “xenophobic” stereotypes about Asian Americans.
The Golden Globes calling Minari a "foreign" film is more than just an awards season kerfuffle. Deeming Asian American stories as “foreign” reinforces longstanding racist & xenophobic tropes about us as “perpetual foreigners” & “not American enough.” https://t.co/dDaaZ6k4qZ
— Marina Fang (@marinafang) December 23, 2020
Filmmaker Nia DaCosta called the Globes decision “bullshit.”
This is bullshit. https://t.co/WzmUeNdVle
— Nia DaCosta (@NiaDaCosta) December 23, 2020
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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