Why is martial arts movies less popular today?

[Wing Woo Gar]

Well, most people don't think too much about what they think. In the case of Willis vs Moranis, their impression would likely be based on physical size and the nature of the roles they've played. Also there could be the number of times they've smiled, and how they play status in a performance sense (e.g. high status = less movement).

I agree that words are often inadequate as in describing music or art, but being unable to explain our attitudes doesn't always mean that we can't trace the history of how we acquired that attitude. Over time, the attitude moves from explicit to implicit, in the way that an expert athlete doesn't think about what they do; they just do it.

That's why we can sometimes throw an expert off their game by complimenting them at a "micro" level: "hey that was a great way that you grip that racquet: very Continental!" Doing so, if the recipient is open, can shift their skills back to the explicit level, and hopefully throw them off by causing them to lose some of the implicit integration they earned in the years after they learned the Continental grip. In other words, while that player might not be able to articulate all the steps that got them to where they were, they did pass through those steps on the way to expertise.

So we can definitely trace a person's perception to their likely influences, once we know what those are. "I know it when I see it" is a case of the explicit influences becoming an implicit attitude or opinion.

... but we should not assume that an opinion is always an accurate perception. no matter how confident the holder of that opinion is.

Well said.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I think there are fewer MA movies because all these kids today are pansies…. Not rough and tumble tough like us old, beat up, arthritic fogies

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This was in the US. I remember it being "viral" at the time, and this was around 2007 or 2008.


This one's a bit different. This one was listening to one-second recorded voice samples of vowels, instead of actual phone conversations. And for one-second voice clips of vowels, I'd say 60% is pretty good.

My point isn't so much about what was being studied, as the subject of that story isn't relevant to what's being discussed here. What I am saying is that if you challenge someone to describe to define what's masculine or manly, and they're not able to, you probably shouldn't be too quick to do the victory dance. They may not be able to define or describe it, but they know it when they see it. And so do you, even if you won't say it.

If someone says that Bruce Willis is more masculine than Rick Moranis, very few people will disagree. Ask anybody who does agree why they say that, and they'll likely be speechless. There's a word for this. It's called "je ne sais quoi."

I think the point is more that “masculine” is not a set description. It varies by culture, time period, and even subculture. And that variance is, in some ways, as large as the variance between male and female within some of those same contexts.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Currently, the word WOKE is the latest cultural appropriation.

Yep and once again it changed meaning. I still use its original meaning and like before I rarely use it. Now everything is Woke lol.

I give it one more year before the word loses all of its meaning. I'll see if Webster changes the meaning again to match the Flava of the month. Lol.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

IMO, the death of Cannon films in 1994, is a major reason. They produced so many of those classics!

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Yep and once again it changed meaning. I still use its original meaning and like before I rarely use it. Now everything is Woke lol.

I give it one more year before the word loses all of its meaning. I'll see if Webster changes the meaning again to match the Flava of the month. Lol.

This stuff is so annoying. I just hate watching some old stuffed suit saying woke like he knows something. Ugh. Next they will be talking about a fit and a paper route and white girl for sale.

 

[mograph]

I think there are fewer MA movies because all these kids today are pansies…. Not rough and tumble tough like us old, beat up, arthritic fogies

Little pansy twerps.

 

[mograph]

I think the point is more that “masculine” is not a set description. It varies by culture, time period, and even subculture. And that variance is, in some ways, as large as the variance between male and female within some of those same contexts.

The psych take is that there is more variation within each gender than there is between genders.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Yep and once again it changed meaning. I still use its original meaning and like before I rarely use it. Now everything is Woke lol.

I give it one more year before the word loses all of its meaning. I'll see if Webster changes the meaning again to match the Flava of the month. Lol.

I doubt that's gonna happen. Two other things that same group likes to harp on is being "offended" and "participation trophies."

Making fun of someone for "being offended" was in response to a trend in the early 1990's where people were being encouraged to assert themselves in a conflict by letting the other person know that you were offended. It was immediately met with ridicule, and it didn't last long. But 30 years later, that ridicule still hasn't gone away.

Participation trophies have always been a thing, yet there are people younger than me that seem to have conveniently forgotten about this. As a matter of fact, the Olympics have been giving out participation medals since 1896. Yet, scoffing at younger people for getting a participation trophy has been a thing for a decade and half now.

Everyone wants to look tough at the expense of younger generations. Even if the basis for doing so hasn't existed for decades, or has existed during and prior to the generation of the person doing it. Is "woke" gonna be different? Not if the longevity of other pejoratives currently in use is an indicator.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I think the point is more that “masculine” is not a set description. It varies by culture, time period, and even subculture. And that variance is, in some ways, as large as the variance between male and female within some of those same contexts.

This is a very PC take that gets you a lot of likes, but no. Even if a Mexican man's masculinity doesn't look the same as an Iranian man's masculinity, you can tell that they're still both masculinity.

 

[geezer]

This is a very PC take that gets you a lot of likes, but no. Even if a Mexican man's masculinity doesn't look the same as an Iranian man's masculinity, you can tell that they're still both masculinity.

That's a pretty reductive and sweeping view of what "masculinity" is. Not saying it isn't true at the most basic level, but beyond that. culture and context shape things tremendously.

For example, in one culture, being masculine may involve never showing weakness and never admitting that you are wrong ...even, or perhaps especially, when you are. If you know you made a mistake, you may try to make things right, but you never say so openly, and heaven forbid, apologize. My grandfather was like that.

In a different culture, a strong man is expected to own his errors by admitting them and apologizing. Sometimes with public displays such as bowing. Here is a video of some creative ways to bow and apologize:

 

[Xue Sheng]

Little pansy twerps.

Yeah, ooo my ankle hurts…ooo I hurt my shoulder…..cry cry whine I broke my ankle….and what do they do….run to the doctor…. Not like us old war horses.. we get up, and go at it again….we’ll show those pansies how to REALLY injure a joint…. Broke an ankle… what you whining about, you have another perfectly good ankle…. Hold the dang target pad and hop backwards to help others train and break THIER ankle…sheesh…wimps

ironically the last one I did after breaking my ankle in long fist….then went and meant my family for dinner at a Japanese restaurant where my first wife saw me, asked me what I did and dragged me to the ER….i was not always the brightest bulb in the box when i was training

 

[geezer]

Little pansy twerps.

Maybe we need more movies about martial arts heroes who break with the macho masculine stereotype. Maybe an updated portrayal of the famous 19th Century transvestite master, Leung Yee Tai from Wing Chun's genealogy?

Still, it would be hard to top this scene from Prodigal Son 2 ....sort of "Kung-fu Theatre meets Monty Python":

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Maybe we need more movies about martial arts heroes who break with the macho masculine stereotype. Maybe an updated portrayal of the famous 19th Century transvestite master, Leung Yee Tai from Wing Chun's genealogy?

Still, it would be hard to top this scene from Prodigal Son 2 ....sort of "Kung-fu Theatre meets Monty Python":

Great movie. Hilarious.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

That's a pretty reductive and sweeping view of what "masculinity" is. Not saying it isn't true at the most basic level, but beyond that. culture and context shape things tremendously.

For example, in one culture, being masculine may involve never showing weakness and never admitting that you are wrong ...even, or perhaps especially, when you are. If you know you made a mistake, you may try to make things right, but you never say so openly, and heaven forbid, apologize. My grandfather was like that.

In a different culture, a strong man is expected to own his errors by admitting them and apologizing. Sometimes with public displays such as bowing. Here is a video of some creative ways to bow and apologize:

Or even cutting off your finger and offering it up in a supplication ceremony.

 

[_Simon_]

Or even cutting off your finger and offering it up in a supplication ceremony.

Wow! Well I've got no choice now... I hereby decree you as ceremonially adequate! Well done.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Wow! Well I've got no choice now... I hereby decree you as ceremonially adequate! Well done.

Really?! Awesome, going to order a golden sparkles sash with flashing lights right now.

 

[Alan0354]

After watching UFC eating all the MA for breakfast, people know it's all FAKE. If one style win in the octagon, that style will be very popular and movies of that will be popular too. I never watch any MA movie after the first two UFC. Why would I watch anything of those fancy moves knowing they get KILLED in real life?

MMA are too practical, it's not pretty, they won't put it in movies, it won't sell. It just work.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This is a very PC take that gets you a lot of likes, but no. Even if a Mexican man's masculinity doesn't look the same as an Iranian man's masculinity, you can tell that they're still both masculinity.

There’s more science and research behind my response. Yours is a gut response.

 

[isshinryuronin]

After watching UFC eating all the MA for breakfast, people know it's all FAKE.

The UFC is a platform for MIXED martial arts. MMA is a sport that combines various MA, though the mix is different for each gym the most common ones are Muy Thai, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Wrestling and Boxing. It is this combination of arts and the rigorous training that make it effective. So, it is made up of a combination of the MA that you say are fake. If we follow your logic, does that make MMA fake???