Moral of the story… don’t be a little-known actor

YOURSAY l ‘The pig character cannot be dismissed from the Monkey King story.’

'Half-pig' actor not in posters because he’s little-known

Kbe: Zhu Bajie (half pig, half human) is a central character in the ‘Journey to the West’ story.

Just because it's played by a lesser-known actor is not a credible reason to exclude the character from the movie publicity poster, especially when the other central characters are displayed.

FellowMalaysian: What a stupid answer from none other than GSC Movies distribution manager Hou Xiu Chang to defend the removal of Zhu Bajie from the billboard.

The Chinese actor Xiao Shenyang may not have Aaron Kwok’s international but the fact is he played Zhu Bajie – along with the other three main characters in the ‘Journey to the West’ – and thus leaving him out will not make the movie complete.

Old Timer: ‘The Monkey King 2’ is about a monk and his three disciples going west to get the Buddhist scripture, and not so much about Aaron Kwok or Him Law or Feng Shaofeng or Xiao Shenyang, or whether the actor is well-known or not.

We watch movies primarily for their plot, and not whether the actors are famous.

Gunnerrun: Seeing how crazy and ridiculous this is, I made it a point to comment on the controversy. The pig character cannot be dismissed from the Monkey King story.

As such, it is only fair for the character to be represented in the publicity poster. He is an integral character, just like the other three, who took the gruelling journey to the west to obtain the books left behind by Buddha's disciples.

It is one of the most significant journeys because it signifies man's struggles to understand the divine and such being the case, it is irrelevant if one of the characters is played by a relatively unknown actor.

Mojo Jojo: Hou, going by your logic, certain actors in the recently released Star Wars film ‘The Force Awakens’, such as Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, should not even appear on the film's promotional material due to their status as obscure actors.

But I've seen posters in Malaysia with these two actors in them, so why the double standard?

Yes, we know that GSC is defending the indefensible by covering for someone or some entity. Let’s call a spade a spade and be frank: the Siths who control this country don’t like the piggy.

Goldee: It’s the more reason for them to put unknown or lesser known actors to the fore by including them in the posters as a form of advertisement.

Hou is just trying to play down the whole issue to please the authorities. This is called "cari makan" - in Cantonese, it is called "wan sake cai".

Lim Chong Leong: Can the Beatles be without Ringo Star? Can ‘Empat Sekawan’ be only ‘tiga’?

Everyone knows there are four of them who went on this journey to the west. Just because one of the actors is lessor known is no excuse.

And since this happens in bigoted Malaysia, who will believe the reason given by GSC?

Ally Meme: GSC Movies distribution manager Hou made the most stupid statement I have ever heard. No poster advertising ‘The Journey to the West’ movie is complete without the pig.

And who can recognise the actors with their make-up on?

Bluemountains: Are they not going to remove the pig character from the entire film as well? By not doing so, they may be guilty of being insensitive to some people in this country.

Anonymous #32557251: Xiao Shenyang is less known in Malaysia? Whoever said that must be a moron and know nothing about the Chinese community in Malaysia.

Xiao is very popular in many variety shows. What if Aaron Kwok plays Zhu Bajie - I'm sure he will also be removed from the poster.

The issue here is the pig, not the actor.

Anonymous #05023297: Hou, let’s see GSC follows its SOP (standard operation procedure) to not include all less-known actor/actresses from all its future posters.

Either that or you resign.

Ng Jooi Eing: Yes, Hou, don't talk nonsense. Please show us another example of your company having amended a movie poster because the actor is not popular?

Anonymous: If I were you, I will feel so stupid having to cook up such an answer

By the way, I am a Muslim and I read ‘Journey to the West’ when I was a little girl. I still enjoy reading it. But I will not go to watch your movie.

Dalvik: Well, we might as well claim that this movie will not be popular in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, and not screen it at all.

Kangkung 1M: When I was in Saudi Arabia, even their five-star hotels there have pork corner... shame on Malaysia. -Mkini