2. Tom Cruise The Last Samurai
Theres an awkwardly racist trope that exists in Hollywood films, and it goes something like this. Usually, to make a film marketable you put a superstar name in the title so far, so good. Most of these names Will Smith notwithstanding are white, which makes for its own problem. Yet when the film requires the main character to explore a foreign culture, a whole other can of worms is opened up. Because apparently, by Hollywood logic, all white people need to comprehensively trump everybody from a culture at their own game is a couple of months and a redemptive arc. Case in point, The Last Samurai. I actually really liked this film, but in my eyes, its just a little discomforting if you read into it. Were introduced to Tom Cruises character who time is not called Jack and arrogant beyond belief a traumatised hero of the Indian Wars whos a massively unstable raging alcoholic. Said character finds solace in the teachings of the samurai, taking up with the wife of the man he dishonourably killed while fighting them. Apparently, this wreck of a man can take up the samurai code and trump most if not all practitioners within a matter of months, even if theyve been practicing their entire lives. The fact that most of his training revolves around him being beaten with kendo sticks makes this all the more insane, and racist to boot. Its not that this is a racist film the undertones of modern Japan vs. traditional Japan are very well explored and Ken Watanabes Katsumoto is extremely intriguing. Its just that the role of Nathan Algeren is so strangely racist, with his very existence implying that a novice white guy able to trump hardened samurai pretty darn quickly. Whoever you cast in the part, they're going to suffer as a result. Thats a shame, because Cruise actually does well with what hes been given here.