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Ghost in the Shell has Changed the Name of its Main Character

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Brokun

Member
This doesn't make any sense. You can't have the entire Section 9 crew and not star Motoko Kusanagi. I'm not a fan of the casting, but they should have just ignored the whitewashing backlash and gone with who she is meant to be.
 
This whole issue could have been solved in universe very easly by casting a japanese motoko kusanagi, and having her switch bodies to scarjo as part of an infultration operation and it would have been totes ok. No white washing needed.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
It only makes sense considering the casting. The whitewashing is already done. Calling her Motoko would only make it worse.
 
This doesn't make any sense. You can't have the entire Section 9 crew and not star Motoko Kusanagi. I'm not a fan of the casting, but they should have just ignored the whitewashing backlash and gone with who she is meant to be.

How can you be okay with the whitewashing, but take issue with the name change? If her race isn't integral to her character, why draw the line at the name?
 

anaron

Member
Well that and the fact that Rila Fukushima casting was supposedly leaked as Mira way back but she hasn't been shown or mentioned since.
I've been thinking it would be really cool if the film transitioned into an ending or sequel where Fukushima was the real Motoko and the lead for a sequel
 

Zoe

Member
This whole issue could have been solved in universe very easly by casting a japanese motoko kusanagi, and having her switch bodies to scarjo as part of an infultration operation and it would have been totes ok. No white washing needed.

The teaser suggests switching bodies isn't such an easy thing.
 

Aske

Member
I think they're changing it cause Mira is less Japanese sounding. I'm for it. I don't want a white woman playing someone named "Motoko Kusanagi" Better to name her a more ethnically ambiguous name rather than unmistakably Japanese and then be white.

I disagree - she could have been a white baby with Japanese parents. I say stay as close to the source material as you can, because since SJ's clearly portraying Mokoto, all this move does is try to impose more westernisation on the property.

Like, if Black Panther had to be played by Timothy Oliphant, I'd rather he was still the son of a black king from the African country of Wakanda than that he was the son of some white dairy farmer who owned Wakanda Creamery, Kansas.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
The trailer and visuals look pretty cool and something I would watch.


Guess I'm an idiot.

The biggest problem they're going to run into is that the target audience is predisposed to dislike literally any change from the source material, but the only reason a big-budget tentpole English-language adaptation of Ghost in the Shell exists is that one of the most bankable actresses in the world was attached to it.

The fact that the list of most bankable actresses in the world doesn't include any Japanese women is a different issue, but it isn't one that the producers of this adaptation could do anything about.
 
I think they're changing it cause Mira is less Japanese sounding. I'm for it. I don't want a white woman playing someone named "Motoko Kusanagi" Better to name her a more ethnically ambiguous name rather than unmistakably Japanese and then be white.

They could have skipped the issue all together and just called her The Major.
 
I disagree - she could have been a white baby with Japanese parents. I say stay as close to the source material as you can, because since SJ's clearly portraying Mokoto, all this move does is try to impose more westernisation on the property.

Like, if Black Panther had to be played by Timothy Oliphant, I'd rather he was still the son of a black king from the African country of Wakanda than that he was the son of some white dairy farmer who owned Wakanda Creamery, Kansas.
Yeah...no.

They could have skipped the issue all together and just called her The Major.

I don't think it matters after they made her white.
 

Brokun

Member
How can you be okay with the whitewashing, but take issue with the name change? If her race isn't integral to her character, why draw the line at the name?

I'm not okay with the whitewashing, as I said I wasn't a fan of the casting, but the casting has already been made. The character was written as Motoko Kusanagi working with all of her crew at Section 9. It's weird to try and pretend that's not who the character is, especially considering a lot of the cinematography is straight out of the Ghost in the Shell animated movie starring Motoko Kusanagi, not Mira...
 

Arkeband

Banned
Ishikawa's black in this movie and they're keeping his name.

giphy.gif
 

ezekial45

Banned
Say what you want about this movie, but I'm getting annoyed with posters commenting that anyone who's interested in this movie is a part of the lowest common denominator or some other bullshit.
 
I'm not okay with the whitewashing, as I said I wasn't a fan of the casting, but the casting has already been made. The character was written as Motoko Kusanagi working with all of her crew at Section 9. It's weird to try and pretend that's not who the character is, especially considering a lot of the cinematography is straight out of the Ghost in the Shell animated movie starring Motoko Kusanagi, not Mira...

But why does the name matter? They already made her white. A name is just another surface level/cosmetic change and arguably the most minor change after whitewashing her.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Say what you want about this movie, but I'm getting annoyed with posters commenting that anyone who's interested in this movie is a part of the lowest common denominator or some other bullshit.
I think it officially looks interesting. I'm going to wait and see on it.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Say what you want about this movie, but I'm getting annoyed with posters commenting that anyone who's interested in this movie is a part of the lowest common denominator or some other bullshit.

Right, but that's why I think this movie is going to be in big trouble. Those people are the target audience and they're angry at things that have nothing to do with whether the movie is good (since 0 people have seen it).
 

s_mirage

Member
The character was written as Motoko Kusanagi working with all of her crew at Section 9. It's weird to try and pretend that's not who the character is, especially considering a lot of the cinematography is straight out of the Ghost in the Shell animated movie starring Motoko Kusanagi, not Mira...

There was speculation when the artbook description leaked the name that perhaps they'll spin it that Mira Killian is Motoko Kusanagi with a blanked memory and new body. I'm not holding my breath though; I'd bet on the producers simply being uncomfortable with the original name as it would highlight the whitewashing to people who are unfamiliar with the anime/manga.
 
The sad thing is, I expected something like that to happen. Audiences wouldn't have given a shit what her name was outside of Major.
 

Brokun

Member
But why does the name matter? They already made her white. A name is just another surface level/cosmetic change and arguably the most minor change after whitewashing her.

I guess I'm being a stickler. As a fan of the series it matters to me. I can't properly articulate why it does, but it does.
 

Aske

Member
I'm not okay with the whitewashing, as I said I wasn't a fan of the casting, but the casting has already been made. The character was written as Motoko Kusanagi working with all of her crew at Section 9. It's weird to try and pretend that's not who the character is, especially considering a lot of the cinematography is straight out of the Ghost in the Shell animated movie starring Motoko Kusanagi, not Mira...

That's where I land on the issue too. It's interesting that some of us think westernisation is less egregious the fewer changes are imposed, while others think it's less egregious to make more changes to the point at which the adaptation becomes more divorced from the source material. I certainly understand that argument, and agree that the best thing to do would have been to cast a Japanese actress to play the Japanese character in the movie set in Tokyo.
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
Right, but that's why I think this movie is going to be in big trouble. Those people are the target audience and they're angry at things that have nothing to do with whether the movie is good (since 0 people have seen it).
This seems to be vastly overestimating the number of people who will really give a shit. ScarJo was attached to another scifi/action movie Lucy that made around half a billion dollars if I'm it mistaken. The notion that this movie will flop simply because some anime fans of the original movie from over two decades ago will be offended by the name of the main character is quite frankly ridiculous.
 
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