At the movies again

While I'm on the subject of movies...

My husband and I went to see The Impossible.

(Really REALLY good film by the way.)

It was based on the true story of a family vacationing in Thailand at the time of the 2004 tsunami.

It was an amazing story and very well-done. Seeing such a tragedy from a firsthand perspective makes you understand it so much more. It breaks your heart to see so many families devastated, and the way the native Thai people helped others even in their own troubles.

I came home and looked up the real people to find out about them. They are a Spanish couple with three sons.

(image from www.moviepostershop.com)

It turns out, this family is actually MORE attractive than their Hollywood counterparts. I found that astonishing.

I mean, to be fair, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are all drenched and scratched up and covered with dirt the whole movie, but still. The real people are some good-looking Spaniards!

I guess the director made an artistic choice to white-bread the family for the movie. They even changed the last name to be more English-sounding. But I don't think that was necessary.

It's like they think movie-going audiences (read: Americans) won't identify with the family unless they are as lily-white as possible.

But (news flash!) not all Americans are white. And not all white people are blonde....

And maybe I'm biased, but I would NEVER choose a blonde to play me.

(image from http://www.crushable.com)