How did De Oost is able to be so historically inaccurate, and stereotypical?
I have watched it before, so I get to judge on what's wrong with this film. First of all, what's wrong with the actors? Why does it seem like they look more like Hitler's aryans than actual Dutch soldiers?
They don't look accurate, Johan shouldn't be from Limburg and look like that. Besides, how is his last name "de Vries" yet he isn't Frisian (or lived close to Friesland)? He looks like he's from South Holland instead of from Limburg. Why is he allowed to have curly hair and isn't smoothed out? That's not how it works, making hair neater actually prevents lice, yet Jim Taihuttu doesn't know that.
Second of all, barely any soldiers would cheer when you say "Soekarno, we'll come to get you!", these men came from the Netherlands with little understanding of what are they doing right now. This means they wouldn't shout shit about people they don't know. And the Major (or officer) would not talk about Soekarno, he'll just play a propaganda film and expect you to know what you're doing.
Gita shouldn't be Johan's awakening. She's a horrible character, not because she's a prostitute. But because she's the stereotype that all native women exist solely for the pleasure of Dutch men, a temptress that lead men to a place of no return. That's why she's bad, and the fact that they made her date Johan whilst getting married to an Indonesian man is so stupid.
Besides, Johan is literally using her. All the interaction I see is when Johan have sex with her, Johan talks, Johan have sex with her again because he need to get his pent up frustration out, and them just walking. It's not good, it's stupid, it's terrible. Even Johan (Oeroeg 1993) and Rita had more depth even though they aren't even in love with each other. This is just how terrible their relationship dynamic is, it's forced and stereotypical.
Why is Raymond Westerling black? He's anything but black and skinny, he's not even skinny. He's fat, light skinned, and doesn't even have a moustache! They're choosing the wrong actors for no reason, they're trying to get us mad so badly. And when they join the special forces, oh you can't be serious. They don't need to be BALD. It looks terrible, and the Dutch special forces aren't bald.
The uniforms.. Oh the uniforms. So inaccurate, feels like you're watching a fan made version of Oeroeg but with no Indonesian friend, no sad Dutch man, no kind nurse, basically nothing and replaced the nurse with some prostitute. Especially the special forces, they look like Nazis. They look like the NSB instead of KNIL, they're making them look bad on purpose. It's like watching a film and expecting them to be what promised, yet it looks like this. Scummy, misleading. And even won cases against actual Dutch veterans.
Imagine having a film that you resonate with so deeply just to be turned bad by the wrong person that doesn't even watch the film. This somehow happened to Oeroeg, someone looked at a sad, war film depiction of the novel Oeroeg and thought "This is a gay dutch film"
First of all, I don't care if you are a queer, a this, a that. Second of all, there isn't any depiction of queer things in this film. Just like how they even said "And they might live happily in Kebon Djati", when the film stated that Kebon Djati is a dangerous place to visit, especially if you're Dutch. It's where Johan's dad got shot, for God's sake!
It really shows when someone actually watch / read the media, and one that doesn't yet decided to make things up. It's not funny, it's just wrong and misleading. People would think Oeroeg is a gay film and decided to watch it only to realise there isn't anything related to being gay or queer and feel dissapointed.
"This song is about promises, love and cherish" And then it's actually an AI song that has nothing to do with love at all. Just like when some chips packaging said "20% more than usual" and it's the same amount as the normal one. It's a scam, it's misleading.
If a media doesn't have something you want, don't try to change it and spread a misinformation. I myself, like Dutch things. I would not watch a film about Soekarno, yet make myself and other people think that it's about a Dutch man that tries to escape the war. That's stupid, I'm just lying to myself if I do that.