#if this is a bit incoherent it’s bc it’s 3am and im very tired

[discountalien-pancake]

Hello fellow SEAsian (Indonesian here)

I know this movie is the definition of old news, but what were your thoughts on Raya and the Last Dragon? I personally see it as lost potential, and I think they didn't go in with the genuine intention to represent a culture. We got "well, here's the general aesthetics of eleven countries and some not-white sounding names, you're welcome (shh don't tell anyone that there's more EAsian VAs and writers than SEAsian VA and writers)" as opposed to Coco and Encanto, which explicitly state "hey, this is in Mexico and Colombia! The detailed cultural aspects we implemented and the writers and the VAs we hired reflect that!". I genuinely want to like this movie but they're not making it easy lol

Besides the rep I also have beef with the writing but that's not the point right now

Anyway, sorry for the long and rambly question, I'm just curious about how other SEAsians view this. Have a great day :D

I never watched Raya bc I was so annoyed with disney and the dragon design and the stupid premise that just. Isn’t based in SEASian folklore at all. It really would not have bothered me if they just PICKED A SEASIAN CULTURE instead of trying to be all-inclusive. If they were going to make the dragon sort of thai they shouldve just leaned into it and made it *all* thai, with maybe a few small elements borrowed from other cultures to pad out the five clans or whatever.

Which btw was STUPID AND ANNOYING bc they literally ripped off black panther for that one shot. Raya was like an exercise in how many iconic shows and movies can we copy to make this the most effective cashgrab. Blegh.

And by attempting to be generically SEAsian, which is literally impossible because every SEAsian culture is so fucking distinct from its neighbors, you just end up with meaningless drivel that alienates the entire ostensible audience. I says ostensible, because although Raya was marketed as being a princess for us, but really she was just written to appeal to Disney’s usual princess movie audience, aka white little girls and their parents.

But can I say I was disappointed? Nah, because I never expected anything better from the demon mouse.