MovieChat Forums > Cheung gong 7 hou (2008) Discussion > cruelty against cj7

cruelty against cj7

posted 16 years ago by jojodyne
42 replies | jump to latest

Hi,

i am surprised nobody mentioned the cruelty against cj7 as it made me loose any sympathy for the boy and his father. They torture CJ7 by:

- hitting him with bare hands and large objects
- suffocating him in a plastic bag and throwing him in the trash
- putting him in a dog fight where he sustains injuries
- choking and yelling at him
- etc....

CJ7 is clearly sentient, shows emotions and feels pain. The whole "its a toy" excuse didn't quite work for me. Also the "realization" of the boy that C7J didn't "promise" him anything in the first place seems awkward, because even if C7J did promise him all these things and didn't deliver it wouldn't justify the cruelty. Intelligent toy, cute animal or alien from space - nothing deserves to be treated like this. I am sure the Filmmakers didn't intend this but I began to hate the boy and his father. Did anybody feel the same way?

regards,

jojodyne

[–] cherry_doom 16 years ago

yeah, I've got to admit, I really did find it difficult to have a lot sympathy for the boy. He really just ended up seeming ungrateful and lazy.

I did still feel quite a bit of sympathy for the father though, because he really was a good man who was just trying to do right by his son. The things he did to CJ7 seemed to be done more out of curiocity than malice, as was the case with the boy, and I suppose I have less of an issue with that because of the way that it was portrayed in the film.

[–] espinosaj 16 years ago

Being a fan of Stephen Chow, and knowing his skill for thought provoking sentimentality, I suspect that any "abuse" towards CJ7 is a direct attempt to bring to light the overall abuse of all things unknown or misunderstood (animal, human, insect, "foreign" or "alien"). We humans do have a tendency to abuse or mistreat what we fear & don't understand. How many of us are guilty of stomping on a spider because of an irrational fear? Or killing an insect because it is "ugly"? Millions of animals are killed on our highways by speeding drivers who then blame the animals for getting hit and refer to them as "stupid". Countless sci-fi films have involved scientists "experimenting" on alien creatures. In real life they experiment on primates, rats, dogs,... all in the name of "science and progress". Yet, we must ask ourselves "How progressive are we that the torture of innocent animals is considered OK?"

In Kung Fu Hustle, Sing (Steven Cow), while not physically abusive, was emotionally abusive towards Fong (Huang Sheng Yi). Because of his own misplaced sense of worth, he was actually afraid of her muteness, honesty, and strength of character. She was able to see past his human failings and forgive him. Eventually Sing came to realize for himself his own failings. He was then able to forgive himself and grow in strength of spirit, rather than strength of fist.

CJ7, the character, represents all of the maltreated and misunderstood that walk, crawl, and slither among us. Chow has a knack for showing us ourselves, whether we be abuser or victim. Hopefully through his intent we will learn to change our behavior and grow as well.

[–] packro 8 years ago

You have the best answer. Thank you.

[–] leinad_slin 16 years ago

What bugged me was how the father stuffed the little kid in to the cabinet and locked the door. Uncool. really Uncool.

Braindead deserved an oscar!

[–] espinosaj 16 years ago

Heh, what parent hasn't done something like that to their kid?!

Or at least fantasized about it!

[–] xthe_shiznitx 9 years ago

many parents havent, mine included.

[–] packro 8 years ago

Many parents have. That was the POINT. You don't get to come here and brag about how awesome your parents are just because a movie showed how terrible a parent can be.

[–] Ender88 16 years ago

I think you guys understand stephen chow's brand of humor. In most of his movies he uses what seems like violence for a tex avery/looney tunes style parody. His depiction of violence was just meant for humor, and i think the dramatic moments were well done.

Look the thing was a toy and its a comedy, don't make it a big deal.

[–] msn_lion 16 years ago

yeah i'm a fan of SC too but in 50th minute i almost hated him and thought he's sick, i was about to cry for cj7. it would be better if they didn't treat him like that.
by the way i still like SC's movies.

[–] thevaliar 16 years ago

Which brings us to our next question: Can the Humane Society do anything about cruelty to computer-generated fictional animals? Maybe we should try to contact them...

[–] damienoujia 16 years ago

It did bother me, but you have to keep in mind they thought it was just a toy. They did not understand at the time that this was a living being.

I think the son understood it and that's why he realized it and wanted the abuse to stop. But he had to come to realize it as well.

And a cute toy doesn't deserve to be treated bad? How would it know?

[–] killer_instin29 16 years ago

About time someone spoke some sense! The father does not even know to the end that its not a toy, I mean hes trying to stuff batteries into it! I saw a little kid dragging a doll on the road, does that mean I should have told her parents shes abusing the toy?! The father and son thought it was some hi-tec toy get grips people!

[–] killer_instin29 16 years ago

I used to dash my action man toy of the top of tables, *beep* someone call the anti plastic toy abuse committe. Get grips man.

[–] jojodyne 15 years ago

Hi,

the difference to a lifeless plastic toy is that it doesn't show emotions, cry, actively avoid pain, tries to communicate, moves to escape pain. C7J is more in the vain of E.T., Short Circuit, Iron giant or even Herbie. Also i am not saying that torturing E.T. or No.5 or any other sentient being shouldn't be shown in movies - after all "art" is free. It's just that the moral of this Movie was severely compromised by the cruelty against C7J and was not intended by the filmmakers. For me i couldn't have cared less for the boy, the father (even though he is more of a circumstantial victim) and the other characters. The icing on the cake was the reunion with the "bullies"...

[–] grgurmg 16 years ago

Truthfully though, despite whatever was intended and whatever the characters thought the thing was... that one main huge string of violence against the CJ7 by the kid probably could of been scaled back lil' a bit... drowning it in a toilet and so forth. I mean I still liked the movie and all, but I see how for allot of people some of those scenes can create way too much enmity towards the kid, to the point where for the whole rest of the movie after that it's a little difficult to regain your compassion for the character.

From a directorial standpoint, regardless of viewpoint intended for the characters of the story, you have to keep in mind any unwanted results from how a general audience way perceive the situation. Again, I personally still enjoyed the movie thoroughly, but at any point after the scenes mentioned above, the kid probably could of been run over by a truck and I wouldn't of cared, as long as Stephen Chow's character and CJ7 were alright. ;)