Sorry,
you can’t watch Kill Bill anymore. It
is basically Lady Snowblood remade
with the lily-white Uma Thurman, who kills a bunch of Asians in her quest for
revenge against David Carradine, who made his career through racial appropriation
on the Kung Fu TV series. Seriously,
if this Jared Leto Yakuza film is as problematic as critics are making it out
to be then Tarantino’s entire Weinstein-produced body of work should be
absolutely radioactive. However, if you can think for yourself you will
probably find the objections are dubious at best when Martin Zandvliet’s The Outsider (trailer here) premieres today on Netflix.
The
film itself is pretty straight forward. Nick Lowell is a former American GI in
post-war Japan, who saves the life of Kiyoshi, a Yakuza getting the snot beat
out of him in a prison dominated by an antagonistic clan. When Lowell helps him
reconnect with his clan, Kiyoshi returns the favor, arranging his early
release. Suddenly, Lowell is on the Yakuza fast-track and finally starts to
feel like he belongs to something, despite the constant “gaijin” taunts from their
main rival.
Of
course, as soon as Lowell meets Kiyoshi’s sister Miyu, we can see they will be
trouble for each other. However, it is not Kiyoshi Lowell should worry about,
but rather her abusive former lover, one of Lowell’s new Yakuza brothers, who
has been acting a bit squirrely lately.
Essentially,
The Outsider is a stylish exploitation
film, much like many 100% racially-pure Japanese Yakuza films. They can’t all
be masterpieces like Shinoda’s Pale Flower, but a lot of them happen to be good fun. In this case, cinematographer
Camilla Hjelm gives the film an uber-Michael Mann sheen, while Zandvliet keeps
it strutting along like an ultra-hip Yakuza slinking through the streets of
Shinjuku.
The
cast, which is nearly entirely Japanese, is also quite strong. As Lowell, Leto
broods like nobody’s business. Tadanobu Asano super-cool but also grizzled and
grounded as Kiyoshi, while Shioli Kutsuna’s portrayal of Miyu is surprisingly
nuanced and psychologically complex. Plus, Kippei Shina chews all kinds of
scenery as Lowell’s slimy, back-stabbing Yakuza brother.
To
understand the critical group-think demonizing this film, you need to be
familiar with the euphemistically titled “Own Voices” movement, which argues only
members from within a specific racial, ethnic, or religious group can create
credible characters with such an identity. For whites to try to write from the
perspective of other ethnicities is in itself an act of cultural appropriation.
Of course, if this movement is ultimately successful, it would racially
segregate film and literature. Whites will write about whites, exclusively, and
African Americans will write about African Americans—and never shall they
co-mingle. This is the absolute antithesis of progressive culture, but it
illustrates just how fascistic the Social Justice Warriors have become.