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Original Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii defends ScarJo playing Major

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Robot Carnival

Robot Carnival

Member
not that I feel that strongly one way or the other regarding the whole whitewashing thing, but
is it not possible in that spoiler pic that she is originally Japanese, went into some kind of surgery, and got her memory and stuff wiped and put into the Scarlett Jo body
?
 
T

Tarextherex

Banned
Motoko's voice actress doesn't mind either, she also mentioned that Japanese people feel honored that Hollywood adapts their work in live action/such a popular actress plays her character, etc


Tbh the bigger problem is that it will probably be a terrible movie as it is directed by a nobody, there won't be any more awareness of Japanese culture and casting different ethnicities or anything after it bombs hard
 
D

DirgeExtinction

Member
Would people still be upset if the movie had Asian-American actors in general​, not just Japanese-American? Or would they only accept Japanese-American actors? Honest question.

I personally don't know of many Asian-American actresses, let alone Japanese-American actresses, that would fit The Major.

I mean, they could've easily gotten any random Asian-American actress that auditioned, but that wouldn't have guaranteed a good performance, or even good sales.

The main issue isn't that this movie doesn't have many Asians in it. It's that there aren't many Asian-American actors/actresses that are given enough good roles to become as recognized as the greats from other ethnicities.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Robot Carnival said:
not that I feel that strongly one way or the other regarding the whole whitewashing thing, but
is it not possible in that spoiler pic that she is originally Japanese, went into some kind of surgery, and got her memory and stuff wiped and put into the Scarlett Jo body
?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it is, and
people are pissed because that's even worse than strictly whitewashing.
 
Robot Carnival

Robot Carnival

Member
Zoe said:
That's exactly what it is, and
people are pissed because that's even worse than strictly whitewashing.
Click to expand...

and what if it's the other way around?
ie Scarlett Jo's body got destory at the end of movie and that pic is she transferred to another body.
would that be better?
 
E

El Topo

Member
DirgeExtinction said:
I mean, they could've easily gotten any random Asian-American actress that auditioned, but that wouldn't have guaranteed a good performance, or even good sales.

The main issue isn't that this movie doesn't have many Asians in it. It's that there aren't many Asian-American actors/actresses that are given enough good roles to become as recognized as the greats from other ethnicities.
Click to expand...

They could have cast an Asian-American for this if they had truly wanted. Were there actually auditions for the role?
I'm also not sure if Scarlett Johansson (or any actor/actress) guarantees good sales.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
lightskintwin said:
But they didn't want too, instead they went with a Hollywood star which has been their template since forever.
Click to expand...

I wonder why they didn't cast an Asian Hollywood star, though?*

*Answer: there aren't any.
 
R

robertsan21

Member
That this was an issue to begin with is just funny. Oshi "the damn creator" says it's fine and gives valid points on why it's fine. Still we have people complaining. However, that john wayne stuff is wrong me Oshi.

I personally think it's a great fit with scarlet as the major. Major kind of looks non Asian too in the damn film. As someone else mentioned in this thread, I'm more worried about the director and writers.

I would have understood the point people are trying to make if it was about some middle eastern movie like the one with Christian bale and that other white dude playing gods in Egypt lol. That shit was just nuts. Or some white dude playing a black dude. Choose your battles people.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
The motive is absolutely political, for the reason he mentioned, there is no obligation in the lore for the Major to have an Asian looking body.

But to say that politics and art arent interconnected is comically stupid.
Even his own films are incredibly political, just look at Patlabor 2 ffs, lmao.
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Ban Puncher said:
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

Seriously, do not open the link in the spoiler wrap if you do not want spoilers.

I am not kidding.

You have been warned.

LAST CHANCE TO AVOID SPOILERS

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Click to expand...

The most hilarious part about this is that I already knew they were going to do this ages ago without any sort of clue whatsoever.

I just thought "It's so stupid they just might do it."
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
robertsan21 said:
That this was an issue to begin with is just funny. Oshi "the damn creator" says it's fine and gives valid points on why it's fine.
Click to expand...
Oshii didnt create GitS, just made the most popular adaptation of it.
Also, an argument is an argument, and can be discussed on its own merit.
 
K

Korey

Member
DirgeExtinction said:
Would people still be upset if the movie had Asian-American actors in general​, not just Japanese-American? Or would they only accept Japanese-American actors? Honest question.

I personally don't know of many Asian-American actresses, let alone Japanese-American actresses, that would fit The Major.

I mean, they could've easily gotten any random Asian-American actress that auditioned, but that wouldn't have guaranteed a good performance, or even good sales.

The main issue isn't that this movie doesn't have many Asians in it. It's that there aren't many Asian-American actors/actresses that are given enough good roles to become as recognized as the greats from other ethnicities.
Click to expand...

No. The whole point of the controversy is that this was a gigantic missed opportunity for Hollywood to give an Asian-American an opportunity to star in a major film.

There are almost no opportunities for Asian-Americans to make a career as an entertainment in Hollywood. As an Asian intellectual property and story, this was an opportunity for one. They chose not take it.

This really has less to do with Ghost in the Shell or whatever the fuck the race of the main character is, it's more that it's continuing Hollywood's trend of casting white people for everything and providing little to no roles for minorities...particularly Asian-Americans.

What did you think #OscarsSoWhite was about?
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Robot Carnival said:
and what if it's the other way around?
ie Scarlett Jo's body got destory at the end of movie and that pic is she transferred to another body.
would that be better?
Click to expand...
That picture is from the plot of the TV series. It happens during her childhood.
 
formasymphonic

formasymphonic

Member
BocoDragon said:
I wonder why they didn't cast an Asian Hollywood star, though?*

*Answer: there aren't any.
Click to expand...

lightskintwin said:
Exactly.

Which is an altogether different issue.
Click to expand...

lightskintwin said:
But they didn't want too, instead they went with a Hollywood star which has been their template since forever.
Click to expand...

This isn't a separate issue. these are all parts of the same shitty cycle thats a problem in a lot of media (particularly hollywood).

1) Hollywood doesn't want to cast minority leads because they consider them "not as bankable" / don't "focus test as well" / "audience don't identify with them" or whatever similar reasons they like to give.
2) Don't want to make the effort to build up any minority actors/actresses as leads that become bankable and cite above as the justification.
3) Then pay lip service to the idea by saying they would cast "if they existed", when the reason they don't is above. Then repeat from step one.

— the slyest part though is they are willing to cast minorities as secondary characters, and not leads, or part of an ensemble so they can factually state that they are increasing diversity of their casts — but the lack of minority leads in many films still remains an ongoing issue for the reasons above.

Ban Puncher said:
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

Seriously, do not open the link in the spoiler wrap if you do not want spoilers.

I am not kidding.

You have been warned.

LAST CHANCE TO AVOID SPOILERS

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Click to expand...

quoting myself from another thread

formasymphonic said:
all the current marketing has implied that this is going to be a "who am I" story.

I'm not going to dive into whether thats what GitS is at its core
, (for me its not).
But the current speculation is that ScarJo is "Mira Killian" now and will... 'discover' that she was once actually Motoko Kusanagi.

If so there is probably someone somewhere patting themselves on the back for coming up with that and thinking that they've come up with a great plot-twist and are actually somehow honouring the source material by doing this.

...Meanwhile what they are actually doing is salting what was a whitewashed casting wound as it is.
Click to expand...
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Ban Puncher said:
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Click to expand...
image.php

image.php

image.php
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
formasymphonic said:
This isn't a separate issue. these are all parts of the same shitty cycle thats a problem in a lot of media (particularly hollywood).

1) Hollywood doesn't want to cast minority leads because they consider them "not as bankable" / don't "focus test as well" / "audience don't identify with them" or whatever similar reasons they like to give.
2) Don't want to make the effort to build up any minority actors/actresses as leads that become bankable and cite above as the justification.
3) Then pay lip service to the idea by saying they would cast "if they existed", when the reason they don't is above. Then repeat from step one.

— the slyest part though is they are willing to cast minorities as secondary characters, and not leads, or part of an ensemble so they can factually state that they are increasing diversity of their casts — but the lack of minority leads in many films still remains an ongoing issue for the reasons above.
Click to expand...

No doubt, but ultimately it's their money they're putting up that's at risk, so unfortunately they can cast whoever they want too. However there's nobody stopping us to making our own movies, putting up our own money and taking on those same risks.

Hollywood is not designed to build minority actors/actresses to be leads or bankable stars. It's definitely not fair, but life isn't fair, and the sooner people accept that about Hollywood, the sooner people can go about not depending upon them and making changes without them. The independent movie market has been going great and with growing independent production companies and distributors that are in need of content such as Amazon and Netflix, and the barrier to making a good film has been the cheapest and most accessible it's ever been; there's no better time for up and coming filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors of color to make these changes.
 
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