Sure, it’s addressed in the film but was that necessary? And oh, speaking of that entire side-plot, let’s have more white males running around doing important things (I’m talking about the scientists, etc). And on the note of the way Asian men are treated in the film, they have a fucking character named Hannibal CHAU and he’s White.In really horrible terms, Mako Mori’s character is obligatory.Ĭombine that with the White male / Asian female dynamic and we have this sense of sexism in the cultural appropriation– the Asian males are introduced in an antagonistic light, then killed off because they are weaker than the white male lead. Giant robots have been around for over a couple centuries and have such a long history in Japanese and East Asian media–his choice to cast a Japanese woman is very deliberate and it’s hard to not see her as a form of “authentication” to appropriate Japanese ideas. Another reason the death of the Luu triplets really irked me is because del Toro was obviously inspired by Japanese media.(also I’m so sorry, I was so confused over Raleigh and the two Australian pilots help identical mayonnaise boys) The antagonization and immediate killing off of the Asian male characters (the ones played by the Luu triplets), and the killing off of a Black mentor figure (Idris Elba) for the sake of propelling a main lead’s character growth, as well as the focus on MORE WHITE MALES and their rivalry over protecting said Asian female is hmm not so hot.There’s even a “sexually tense” scene where she’s watching him undress, and I know it’s supposed to be over his scar and shit but come on, really? Too many narratives of Asian women pining over “virile white boys” to make it that accidental. I love the implications of a queer platonic life partnership (yay, no kiss at the end), but the fact remains that many people will interpret them as romantic regardless. White male / Asian female co-leads, whether platonic or romantic, have a lot of awkward savior complex– it’s inevitable.
#MAKO MORI MAIN CHARACTER MOVIE#
She encompasses a very heroic role in the movie (from the way she’s introduced via cinematography and story set up) and has a lot of good character qualities that both address her place as a younger character AND an Asian woman.īut there are so many gender and racial undertones that surround her that make me uncomfortable, even if those undertones are most likely unintentional. I think Mako Mori is one of the best leading female characters to grace an action film, no doubt. Pacific Rim is an all-out action movie that’s big and noisy but it has such a big heart in the form of Mako Mori.A friend of mine mentioned PacRim in regards to feminism, and it spurred this rant I’ve been meaning to write. Because sadly I’m actually on the fence about PacRim being a great feminist (or PoC) film, and it bothers me that many people seem to want to laud it as such. I don’t know how GdT and Beacham did it but they did. Only when she joined Raleigh in the drift did their colors blend and mix, thus signifying Mako finding her heart once again. She grew up to be a restrained and closed off woman, represented by the way she wore the all black and the umbrella in her first scene in the movie. Del Toro said that the shoe represented her heart, something she lost (because the shoe was off her feet) because she lost her family from the Kaiju attack. The image of little Mako wearing blue coat and holding her red shoe is powerful. She’s not sexy, she’s not cutesy, she’s just Mako. Poetic is also how I would describe Mako’s appearance. Because then it made Mako’s “Goodbye, sensei” in the movie all the more poignant. It is Mako who makes both Raleigh and Stacker such awesome characters, because they both treat her with the same respect that she shows them.Īnd when I read in Tales Of Year Zero that Stacker adopted her, and how they stood embracing Tamsin Sevier like a family of three, the tears just won’t stop. Becket it’s respect” is a line that will stay with me forever. Even more fantastic is the way she corrected Raleigh when he told her that she didn’t have to obey Stacker’s orders. When I remember how she looked up eagerly to her mentor and surrogate father, Stacker Pentecost, during Raleigh’s trials in the movie, I couldn’t stop smiling because she was so adorable. Also, the way you write about her is exquisite – her somewhat platonic relationship with Raleigh Becket is wonderful, although in my heart I do believe they did fall in love with each other. The way GdT and Beacham made her a kick-ass heroine without making her a sex object is just fantastic. Mako Mori is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. Dear Travis Beacham & Guillermo del Toro,
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