Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Hollywood Djinn


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Uncharted 3 started me thinking about Hollywood and the way djinn are portrayed in film. I've seen them ghostly, fiery, and without a specific corporeal shape most often. Must be tough to act when your character is a cloud though. Only Robin Williams does well with the blue puffy look.

Then Clash of the Titans, v2010, came up with some story of djinn who gave up their bodies for what looks like charcoal briquettes. Glowing blues eyes complete the cheesy effect. But this is Clash of the Titans - so cheesy is what it's all about. ;)

Actually, as characters, they are pretty decent. They help Perseus out and are instrumental in defeating Medusa. Most other movies give the djinn a nasty reputation for death and destruction. Maybe spelling it "djinn" versus "genie" has something to do with the creepy coefficient?

Then there's Wishmaster,1997. This guy just looks like Satan in a red cloak. What's up with the horns and claws? I suppose being evil entitles a djinn to whatever he wants, but... I'm not buying the look, even if it makes me wonder if my djinn need an image consulation. If I was an evil mastermind, I'd want to look pretty darn ordinary and let people think I was just like them, until I trapped them between a rock and a hard place. What do you think? What other djinn have you seen in the movies?

5 comments:

Sarah said...

I don't watch a lot of movies and rarely remember stuff like this--but now I'll pay more attention! And I agree regarding your (hypothetical, of course) strategy for evil mastermind-hood. Subtle is best.

Old Kitty said...

I am yet to see a film with a bona fide djinn in it! LOL!!

Erm... Aladdin? Sorry! LOL! Take care
x

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

You've already gone far beyond my working knowledge of djinn in movies. I feel like there's an old Bob Hope movie with a genie... one of those Road movies? But I bet they just picked an "ethnic" guy (which in old hollywood often meant not very ethnic) and dressed him in vaguely Arab clothes. These guys are pretty scary looking.

Carolyn V said...

The first thing I thought of was those guys on The Mummy, but I don't think they were really any djinn.

Tanya Reimer said...

Hee hee. You're right, the scariest guys are the ones you don't suspect.

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