Okay, time for an actual controversial opinion I have that I'd really like to share.

My favorite movie of all time is Cloud Atlas. I'm a big-picture type, and the Wachowski sisters are my favorite people in the world, Lana in particular. Sense8, V for Vendetta, The Matrix, even Speed Racer – I adore all of their work. Cloud Atlas, though, has a particular place in my heart. I still cry in all the same places every time I watch it.

Now, this film is not widely loved, as per the norm of most Wachowski works (people even hate the last two Matrix films). But what I found surprising (and frustrating) was that not only did conservative types hate it (which I had expected), but I'd also found that many left-leaners also deeply loathe this film. The main reason for their distaste?

Cultural Appropriation.

To give some brief context, in Cloud Atlas there are six main characters that are reincarnated and appear in each others' separate eras throughout time. One of the eras is a futuristic time in Seoul, South Korea, and all of the characters from other eras are reincarnated into this era as well. The problem is, they're all white people in real life, except for the main character in this particular era. You can see where this is going.

“YELLOW-FACING!” cries the left, as they watch these white people in Asian prosthetic makeup. Slanted eyes and black wigs are donned by all characters in this era. People feel that this was unnecessary and that it was incredibly racist. “They could have just been white characters located in South Korea,” they reason. “No need to yellow-face!”

I don't really want to go on a rant about how wrong it would be in the context of this movie to just have these reincarnated characters be a bunch of white people in South Korea, so if you're interested, you can watch the film yourself to see why it just wouldn't make any damn sense.

Cultural appropriation is very controversial subject. I always check what I feel to be my white privilege. I'm a very PC person, though I will never support censorship in any shape or form, even against those I vehemently disagree with. But the notion of cultural appropriation doesn't extend me the same courtesy.

And I can understand why. What with systemic oppression of minorities in my country (the US), it's more than understandable that people get upset when, say, black people are called things like “rachet” for having dreadlocks, while people of lighter skin colors are praised for this “daring” hairstyle. Same thing with curvy body types, clothing, music, media of all sorts, etc. I can see why minorities feel that their culture is being stolen and appropriated for those in the majority.

However.

There are times when I've found appropriating culture is, well, appropriate. Cloud Atlas being one example. I feel that if it serves an illustrative purpose, then it is not only okay, but that it can even be necessary to appropriate other cultures when something calls for it. And while I don't really like the “It's fiction, anything goes” argument (as I feel it's a copout, and you also have to think about just how much fiction influences us in our daily lives), it does make some points worth considering. The censorship surrounding what you can and cannot create in fiction is a very stark proxy into observing what you can and cannot do in real life. And if you are so restricted in your ability to create fiction, you are infinitely more restricted in what you can and cannot do IRL. This stunts growth and creativity, not to mention all the doors it closes on conversations that can and should be had.

So, while I do understand the desire/need to demonize cultural appropriation, I have to say that I feel like it can, and does, serve a purpose in certain circumstances. Maybe that's easy for me to say, being white, and maybe I'm just incredibly biased because I can't stand the idea of someone taking what I feel to be a creative idea in a film that I love more than any other and calling it racist and inappropriate. But whatever my reasons, it's still the way I think and feel about cultural appropriation.

This is definitely not a popular opinion, and I feel like an ignorant white person that “just doesn't get it” for thinking this way, but really, logically, I feel that my sentiments make sense, are reasonable, and are justified. You may feel differently, and I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading. :)