MGM's 'Red Dawn' re-edit: 'A whitewash to preserve corporate profits'

You've probably heard, thanks to this scoop by my colleagues Ben Fritz and John Horn, that, worried about potential fallout from the Chinese government, MGM has digitally re-edited the upcoming action film "Red Dawn" so that America is invaded not by the Chinese--as portrayed in the original cut of the film--but by the North Koreans. Even though it's hardly the first time that Hollywood has bowed and scraped for Chinese approval, salivating at the prospect of reaping windfall profits by winning access to the most promising entertainment market in the world, it's still a huge embarrassment for MGM, which has been screening the film for potential buyers at other studios, in the hopes that the movie wouldn't be a total write-off.

The people I've spoken to in la-la-liberal Hollywood have been critical of MGM's move to digitally erase the Chinese from the film, since it sets a pretty dreadful precedent in terms of creative autonomy. But it turns out that conservatives are just as unhappy about the move as liberals. In fact, MGM got a sound thrashing from conservative film blogger Jason Apuzzo, who has actually seen the movie and was so ticked off by MGM's cowardice that he's run a review of the movie, even though he'd initially agreed to keep quiet about having seen the film until closer to its release.

It turns out that Apuzzo likes the movie, calling it a "rousing and patriotic film that in some respects resembled 'Battle: Los Angeles,' currently in theaters, in terms of depicting a plucky and outnumbered group of Americans (teenagers, in this case) gamely taking on a vastly superior and oppressive invading force." He's a particular fan of the performance by Chris Hemsworth as an Iraq War vet who displays the kind of "toughness of spirit" rarely seen from young actors who, as Apuzzo sees it, have all been turned into Michael Cera softies.  

But he calls MGM's decision to re-edit the film for political reasons "appalling," especially since the decision undercuts one of the major themes of the film, which viewed  the Chinese military invasion as having been prompted by economic motives. "The basic premise of the film involves the Chinese invading America in order to 'collect' on an economic debt America owes to them--a debt that in the real world, as it turns out, China will now be 'collecting' by MGM's film simply being re-edited," Apuzzo writes. "We're sorry to learn that MGM will now be participating in this general whitewashing of China's regime, in order to preserve its corporate profits. MGM's profits here are coming at a very steep price for the rest of us: that of free speech."

It's hardly a surprise to discover that media companies will do anything to court the favor of the Chinese. After all, Rupert Murdoch has apparently been doing it for years, with former News Corp. employees having accused him of blocking reporting that was unflattering to the government of China, including one delicious episode where a Page Six editor said he was ordered to kill an item about a Chinese diplomat and a strip club because it would have angered the Communist regime.

Of course, some people would call Murdoch a pragmatist who has simply done what it takes to protect his business interests. By that definition, I think it's safe to say that when it comes to China, soon all of Hollywood will be proudly waving the green flag of pragmatism, green as in the color of money.

--Patrick Goldstein 

Photo: Chris Hemsworth at a Golden Globes party in January at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Credit: David Livingston / Getty Images

Comments

[Brett]

So the movie just went from "extremely silly" to "ludicrously silly"?

Seriously, why are they making a remake of "Red Dawn"? It made okay money in its opening year (20th that year), and it's been a bit of cult favorite, but the movie is just totally pointless without the whole "cold war" context creating anti-communist paranoia.

[peaches]

MGM is just following the pentagons lead. Notice how none of the american media is showing the pictures from Afghanistan of american soldiers from the Stryker brigade, posing with the dead body of a 14 year boy, whom they had murdered moments before?

[Jerry Fullerton]

So...the US is invaded by NORTH Korea? What are they invading for...a cheeseburger? This is a fantasy right? RIGHT?

[Tharms]

It's nice to see that you recognize that Hollywood didn't move into the "yellow liberal" spectrum but rather into the "green neocon" spectrum. What's sad is that they still haven't moved into the integrity spectrum.

[Larry]

"Changes WILL NOT eliminate all references to China though will give North Korea a much larger role in the coalition that invades the US"
To me this sounds like China is still part of the invading coalition along with the Russians and now the north koreans. With these changes the north koreans will be getting more of the screentime rather than the chinese. I think this may work, even though I am not in favor of the changes, plotwise the chinese will still have to be involved in the invading coalition, otherwise there will be a huge holes in the plot. I'm thinking that MGM is going to make the north koreans to be to the chinese what the cubans were to the soviets in the original. I cant see MGM being foolish enough to try make the north koreans acting on their own, that just screams boxoffice dud. I think if the role of the chinese is minimized, not completely removed, the film may still have a chance to be a hit at the boxoffice. the north koreans are basically hired guns to help out. considering both the west and east coast are invaded in this movie, i could see china bringing in north koreans to help hold certain parts of the country, ie Spokane,washington while Chinese units are sent further down the west coast??? I dont know??? MGM will have its hands full
with these changes. Biggest issue regarding the film will be the credibility factor. If MGM goes the Homefront route, where its just north korea invading then chalk this remake up for FAIL. But a combined Chinese,Russian and north korean invasion may bring in some positive boxoffice numbers.