It's been a rough launch for Monster Hunter. The film won't be in US theaters until the 18th, but it's already hit Chinese theaters, for about a week. One particular scene caused a huge uproar with Chinese audiences, who accused the translated script of referencing a racist joke targeted at their ethnicity. Soon the backlash sprung up all over the internet, including review bombing for both the film and the Monster Hunter games, culminating in Chinese theaters pulling the film for the time being. Now several cast members, as well as director Paul W.S. Anderson, have chimed in on the controversy.
For those out of the loop, the original English version of the film contains a joke about one character's Chinese ethnicity. The Chinese actor says "What kind of knees are these?" and the answer is "Chinese." It's a little groan-worthy, but the joke is fairly innocent overall, just a play on words due to the similar sound at the end of both words. In the Chinese localization however, the subtitles read "膝下有黄金" which changed the meaning slightly. The new translation sparked outrage due to its similarity to a racist idiom that was commonly used against immigrants of Asian, particularly Chinese, descent.
After news came that the studio would be pulling the scene due to the controversy, Anderson provided a statement to Deadline clarifying why: “I am absolutely devastated that a line from our movie, Monster Hunter, has offended some audience members in China. I apologize for any anxiety or upset that this line and its interpretation caused. Monster Hunter was made as fun entertainment and I am mortified that anything within it has caused unintentional offense. We have respectfully removed the line from the movie."
Similar regrets were expressed by Jin Au-Yeung, whose character spoke the original lines. On Instagram, he wrote: “I felt a need to address this situation because what is at stake is not my career but something even more dear to my heart — my roots. I’ve spent the last 20 years using my platform to embrace and be a positive voice for my community. I am and will always be proud of my heritage.” Whatever happened to cause the translation mix-up, it does seem to have been an unfortunate misunderstanding, and hopefully the film will be able to re-open in China with a version that more accurately reflects the creator's intentions.
Monster Hunter will be available in the US on December 18th, 2020.
Source: Deadline