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The Dragon

Name: The Dragon
Director: Marcelo Charras
Released: 2023
Duration: 50 min

Representation Score

1.7/10

Minimal

2023

Director

Marcelo Charras

Runtime

50 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The Dragon is a focused character study centered on Néstor Varzé, a karate master in Buenos Aires. Its main contribution to diversity is the exploration of transculturalism, showing how an individual can adopt the ethos of a distant culture. While the film successfully disrupts ethnographic expectations by documenting non-Western warrior codes in a Latin American context, it lacks multi-layered breadth. The narrative is highly singular, focusing on one man's obsession rather than a broad spectrum of identities. Despite its interesting cross-cultural themes, the film's lack of representation regarding gender, sexual orientation, and disability results in a lower overall score.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Dragon have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or stories about non-cisgender identities. There is no mention of queer representation.

How does The Dragon portray gender?

Minimal

The documentary focuses solely on a single male subject named Néstor Varzé. It does not show diverse gender roles or challenge gender hierarchies.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Dragon?

Fair

The film highlights cultural blending by focusing on a South American person with Japanese heritage. This disrupts Western-centric biographical clichés, although it lacks a diverse cast.

How does The Dragon represent religion and culture?

Fair

The narrative emphasizes the protagonist's personal spiritual and cultural connections rather than local traditions. It explores how his sense of belonging extends beyond his immediate surroundings.

Does The Dragon include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no mention of neurodivergence, physical disabilities, or mental health issues. The film does not address disability representation.

Present on Screen

Explores transculturalism by documenting the adoption of Japanese warrior codes within an Argentine context.
Disrupts conventional Western-centric biographical clichés through a unique cross-cultural lens.

Limited or Absent

Lacks multi-layered breadth, particularly in gender, sexual orientation, and disability representation.
The narrative is limited to a singular male subject rather than a diverse ensemble.

Official Synopsis

Néstor Varzé is a karate master from the outskirts of Buenos Aires who’s obsessed with samurai history and culture. And although as luck would have it he lives in another time and far away from Japan, he considers himself an heir to those ancient warriors.

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