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[Vangmeister]

I really don't have an issue with the Tilda Swinton casting. I feel like casting the Ancient One as an Asian is just as bad as white washing. I wouldn't want the Asian actor to go to the mystic teacher typecast role. The inspired casting choice would be to cast Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, and cast a minority for the Rachel McAdams part.

 

[BLACKLAC]

I really don't have an issue with the Tilda Swinton casting. I feel like casting the Ancient One as an Asian is just as bad as white washing. I wouldn't want the Asian actor to go to the mystic teacher typecast role. The inspired casting choice would be to cast Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, and cast a minority for the Rachel McAdams part.

Plus we still have Wong playing Wong.

 

[What did he mean by this?]

An Asian woman would have broke the Fu Manchu emasculated sagely Asian stereotype pretty easily. Wonder why they didnt think of that?

I do believe that the implication their attempting with Dr. Strange is that the magic has created a post-cultural society hidden within an Asian country -- but kinda fails when the leader is a white person, and the leader to be is named Benedict Cumberbatch. Also, it fails when the white leader of postcultural society is styled like a monk. Wait Im confused

 

[kirblar]

They deliberately don't want a heavy Asian cast because then you get the Iron Fist white savior problem. Hence, it gets diversified like Thor did. It's a balance between two problem axes that will never make everyone happy.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Why did they cast Scarlett Johansson as the major in Ghost in the Shell?
Well it's simple, Scarlett Johansson is a big name who's been proven to do sci-fi material well. Just take a look at Under the Skin and Lucy.

But wait isn't the Major Japanese?
I guess. She is a character that originated in a Japanese comic.

So why didn't they cast an Asian actress?
Well mainly because there aren't a lot of if any Asian actresses in Hollywood that carry the starpower like Scarlett Johansson.

Bullshit what about movies that cast unknowns as leads.
Movies like those probably are a lot less risk averse than Ghost in the Shell. Hell I'm surprised such a movie got made in the first place.

But isn't it racist to cast a Japanese character white?
Yes, yes it is.

 

[orochi91]

People from the occident are occidental. People from the orient are oriental. 'Asian' is a bad descriptor as a good chunk of the planet will use it exclusively to refer to people and things from the Indian subcontinent.

I'm not sure if this is common outside of the UK.

Here in North America at least, when people say "Asian", it's usually referring to the Far East.

 

[BLACKLAC]

I honestly don't get the Scarlett Johansson complaint. Kusanagi is a cyborg with western features. There are bigger things about that production to get annoyed about.

 

[Surface of Me]

Hollywood is so afraid of trying something new, but they don't realize that if you put out a blockbuster with some underrepresented lead than people would flock to see it simply for that reason, especially in today's environment where people are very cognizant of how whitewashed hollywood leads are.

It's like no other studio can see why Fast & Furious continues to be so successful. Besides being excellent action flicks.

My posts do sound jokey, but I genuinely love that one of my favorite action franchises has one of the most diverse casts in the genre.

 

[Madao]

if there's ever a Jojo movie, at least the original protagonists are British so there's no need to whitewash it.

Spoiler

not that i'd never want Hollywood destroying Jojo with their adaptations of Asian-origin material.

 

[Forkball]

There making a DEATH NOTE MOVIE? Who is Nat Wolff?

That ain't Kira.

 

[kirblar]

I'm not sure if this is common outside of the UK.

Here in North America at least, when people say "Asian", it's usually referring to the Far East.

It's a UK-only thing IIRC.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

An Asian woman would have broke the Fu Manchu emasculated sagely Asian stereotype pretty easily. Wonder why they didnt think of that?

One part of it is they like to cast really well known oscar winning actors in their films in mostly minor roles to give the film some acting heft. I mean Glenn Close, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Robert Redford. now Tilda Swinton. Its definitely a trend going all the way to Jeff Bridges in Iron Man. The only time they don't do it is in the avenger movies.

The second part is the ancient one was basically a stereotype like the Mandarin and Marvel/Disney isn't opening that can of worms.

I don't know Dream works excuse.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I honestly don't get the Scarlett Johansson complaint. Kusanagi is a cyborg with western features.

Kusanagi could have been anything because her body is artificial, but it was a missed opportunity for an Asian lead in a big budget film. It seems at the very least equal parts representation as much as what some think the source material had originally or not.

 

[What did he mean by this?]

There making a DEATH NOTE MOVIE? Who is Nat Wolff?



That ain't Kira.

Difference there is they've made it pretty clear its not gonna take place in Japan and Nat Wolff is clearly not playing a guy named "Light Yagami". Also, all-Japanese live action movies already exist in Japan.Still kind of bad to take a Japanese story and exclude Japanese actors, hopefully some service is done for them in supporting roles out of respect. Funnily, L wasnt Asian in the manga, so they can change him here!
Ghost in a Shell has been very ambiguious on what they are doing with their story.

 

[kirblar]

Difference there is they've made it pretty clear its not gonna take place in Japan and Nat Wolff is clearly not playing a guy named "Light Yagami". Also, all-Japanese live action movies already exist in Japan.Still kind of bad to take a Japanese story and exclude Japanese actors, hopefully some service is done for them in supporting roles out of respect. Funnily, L wasnt Asian in the manga, so they can change him here!
Ghost in a Shell has been very ambiguious on what they are doing with their story.

Attack on Titan being all-japanese is hilarious given that one character's Asian heritage is a plot point.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

People from the occident are occidental. People from the orient are oriental. 'Asian' is a bad descriptor as a good chunk of the planet will use it exclusively to refer to people and things from the Indian subcontinent.

But yeah, it is a shame to see so many roles not go to actors who could fit the appearance requirements better. Negative feedback loop in terms of 'star power' there...

So it's OK to call you a Pom?

Because this is exactly the equivalent of what you are suggesting.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

TV shows are a different medium though and offer a lower financial risk to financiers - I don't think the comparison is apt as films like these (Ghost & Strange) require $100M+ on production and usually hover around the same area for P&A.

If ghost cost 100 million something went really wrong .

 

[norm9]

Casting Michael Pena could have fixed everytging.

 

[MHWilliams]

I honestly don't get the Scarlett Johansson complaint. Kusanagi is a cyborg with western features. There are bigger things about that production to get annoyed about.

Hard to tell with Shirow, he draws all his charater the same regardless of stated regional background.

Honestly, I'm interested to see the rest of Section 9. If Japan's Public Security Section 9 is staffed with all white people, that'd be odd right? Currently, of the three named cast members, only Aramaki is Japanese. The Major and Batou are white.

There making a DEATH NOTE MOVIE? Who is Nat Wolff?

That ain't Kira.

Death Note is from the same producer as Edge of Tomorrow and likely will be in the same region of adaptation. It's being directed by You’re Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, so expect a far more "horror" take on the subject material.

 

[norm9]

Death Note is from the same producer as Edge of Tomorrow and likely will be in the same region of adaptation. It's being directed by You’re Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, so expect a far more "horror" take on the subject material.

I don't know anything about Death Note and how important it is to the Manga fans, but I trust the dude who did You're Next and he'll d dfi italy make it fun.

 

[Walshicus]

So it's OK to call you a Pom?

Because this is exactly the equivalent of what you are suggesting.

Call me a pom if you want or a limey or whatever. I don't think many English people think it's as offensive as some Australians may want it to be.

But not at all the same thing. Pom is a shortening of pomegranate with a pejorative origin, whereas Orient and Occident are terms dating back centuries to refer to the East and West respectively.

 

[Discotheque]

Death Note is from the same producer as Edge of Tomorrow and likely will be in the same region of adaptation. It's being directed by You’re Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, so expect a far more "horror" take on the subject material.

i thought the anime lost steam. while nat wolff just looks really annoying imo i am cautiously optimistic about this adaptation. taking a more horror slant would do the concept wonders. and you're next/the guest rocked.

 

[kirblar]

Death Note is from the same producer as Edge of Tomorrow and likely will be in the same region of adaptation. It's being directed by You’re Next and The Guest director Adam Wingard, so expect a far more "horror" take on the subject material.

That's kinda the key here. It's fine to do an American take on a foreign property- Edge of Tomorrow and The Departed are great films. But you have to completely jettison the asian cultural artifacts in the process. Otherwise you just end up in a really bad spot.

 

[spazchicken]

I really think it is easier for Asian American actors to leave Hollywood and try their luck making movies in Asia. Look at what happened with John Lone, brilliant actor that got barely any roles after the Last Emperor and things haven't really i proved since then.

If you aren't white or Samuel L Jackson, you really don't have a place in Hollywood.

But at least every other race (with the exception of blacks) have other options and somewhere else to fall back to, if it really came down to it.

 

[Parallax]

speed racer seems like a wierd note to make. the series was anglicized for decades over here.

 

[PatThePassive]

I honestly don't get the Scarlett Johansson complaint. Kusanagi is a cyborg with western features. There are bigger things about that production to get annoyed about.

Have you poked your head in the thread about Scarlett Johansson playing Motoko? I don't know if a majority of people there have or have not seen the 95 movie but they sure are upset.

 

[BLACKLAC]

Hard to tell with Shirow, he draws all his charater the same regardless of stated regional background.

Honestly, I'm interested to see the rest of Section 9. If Japan's Public Security Section 9 is staffed with all white people, that'd be odd right? Currently, of the three named cast members, only Aramaki is Japanese. The Major and Batou are white.

*Looks up guy playing Batou*

Huh, so they liked the chemistry between the two from Lucy (the chemistry was good) and decided to cast him... Unless he puts on a lot of mass it's a terrible casting choice imo and hints at the approach they are taking between the two being VERY wrong.

Have you poked your head in the thread about Scarlett Johansson playing Motoko? I don't know if a majority of people there have or have not seen the 95 movie but they sure are upset.

You mean the thread about the studio trying to use cgi to make her look more Asian? A little, and they have every right to be pissed off about that. Incredibly dumb.

 

[spazchicken]

speed racer seems like a wierd note to make. the series was anglicized for decades over here.

Who was Asian in the Speed Racer movie?

 

[Messofanego]

I would love an undercover documentary about #OscarsSoWhite where journalists act as budding filmmakers and shop around for studio execs and producers to finance their movie and focus on non-white casting. I swear there was a similar documentary about some known actor or director going to producers about financing, anyone remember it?

 

[Parallax]

Who was Asian in the Speed Racer movie?

the tojokhans

 

[PatThePassive]

*Looks up guy playing Batou*

Huh, so they liked the chemistry between the two from Lucy (It was good) and decided to cast him... Unless he puts on a lot of mass it's a terrible casting choice imo.

I wonder what the eyes will look like

 

[PatThePassive]

You mean the thread about the studio trying to use cgi to make her look more Asian? A little, and the have every right to be pissed off about that. Incredibly dumb.

The thread with the first pictures of Scarlet as motoko but I have seen that cgi stuff and yes its gross and the movie is most likely gonna suck.
I was just griping about all the calls for the pacific rim actress to play motoko and destroying Scarlet. The outrage seems misplaced on GITS to me atleast

 

[Walpurgis]

No problem with race. I really like Elba-Heimdall but Dr. Strange for me is always a bearded sorcerer guy with a cape.

While i think Marvel would not have a problem rebooting characters in 10 years from a complete different angle (hey we got an all female ghostbuster team), they would never risk to change too much in the first AAA production of a known character.

Why not an Indian man? They have the greatest beards.

Also, how does an article like this not mention 21? There's a case where the story was already entirely localized and based on reality. No weird questions about whether to move the story to America for a western adaptation or something. They still went and subbed in a white guy to play the character based on a real-life Asian-American.

 

[BLACKLAC]

The thread with the first pictures of Scarlet as motoko but I have seen that cgi stuff and yes its gross and the movie is most likely gonna suck.
I was just griping about all the calls for the pacific rim actress to play motoko and destroying Scarlet. The outrage seems misplaced on GITS to me atleast

When it turns out to be what it is (trash) it will blow over, her agent should have known better, the entire production was a dumpster fire from its initial conception.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

When it turns out to be what it is (trash) it will blow over, her agent should have known better, the entire production was a dumpster fire from its initial conception.

ScarJo being white has nothing to do with the movie being bad. You could replace her with everyone's favorite mech rider and it would still be critically panned before its release.

 

[BLACKLAC]

ScarJo being white has nothing to do with the movie being bad. You could replace her with everyone's favorite mech rider and it would still be critically panned before its release.

I never said that was why.

 

[Chariot]

ScarJo being white has nothing to do with the movie being bad. You could replace her with everyone's favorite mech rider and it would still be critically panned before its release.

That's what the poster said. It already looked like trash without her, it's puzzling how her agent thought this was a good job oppurtunity.

 

[Discotheque]

That's what the poster said. It already looked like trash without her, it's puzzling how her agent thought this was a good job oppurtunity.

Lucy looked like a terrible idea too (and it is a shit film) and that made money. She's probably hoping she can line up the hits. It could be a success. I think she might have a decent action following behind her.

Not a big fan of any of the crew involved in here tbh except for Michael Pitt. damn shame his return to mainstream film ends up being...this.

 

[Joni]

Rinko in Pacific Rim is exactly why she can't play the major. Not the one from the movies or stand alone complex anyway. That she is the only one mentioned always shows that even with the internet at our disposal it is difficult to find someone that would fit.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

I never said that was why.

It's not something you have to say, it's a given. All the buzz about this movie is how the Major being white is what's wrong with this movie. It's not a leap to assume any failings this movie has (for audience members) stems from some undisclosed thoughts of, "she's white, movie will blow because Hollywood whitewashed it." It's why comments about the director, writers, producers, etc. are few and far between and then there's 3 threads on Major's ethnicity.

 

[cdyhybrid]

It's not something you have to say, it's a given. All the buzz about this movie is how the Major being white is what's wrong with this movie. It's not a leap to assume any failings this movie has (for audience members) stems from some undisclosed thoughts of, "she's white, movie will blow because Hollywood whitewashed it." It's why comments about the director, writers, producers, etc. are few and far between and then there's 3 threads on Major's ethnicity.

Nah, the movie is going to blow because the people making it have pretty shitty track records overall.

The whitewashing is just the icing on the cake. And it tends to hint that they don't respect the source material enough to do it justice.

 

[BLACKLAC]

It's not something you have to say, it's a given. All the buzz about this movie is how the Major being white is what's wrong with this movie. It's not a leap to assume any failings this movie has (for audience members) stems from some undisclosed thoughts of, "she's white, movie will blow because Hollywood whitewashed it."

Yeah, I see that.

This thing was rotten when it came out they didn't have the ambition to set it in the U.S. (same world) with all new characters. Could have been cool as hell. Could have even had the two CIA guys make a cameo.

 

[PatThePassive]

ScarJo being white has nothing to do with the movie being bad. You could replace her with everyone's favorite mech rider and it would still be critically panned before its release.

I never said that was why.

I was addressing that it seems to me that people are reading the name motoko kunasagi expect an Japanese actress see scarlet and start calling it whitewashed.

This is my first remake of a movie were the original is my absolute favorite movie and the outrage really rubs me the wrong way.

I just feel the western features of motokos artificial body and the theme of what is the self justify Scarlet playing her and fits into the questions of the orgional movie, if motoko has an artificial body is she herself? if she is not in her original body is she still motoko? or If there are others walking around in the same body is she even allowed to call her body hers or herself herself.

That's why she sees herself looking at her from a building after she hers her ghost whisper, and the puppet master looks almost exactly the same.

I know I'm letting it get to me but its so close to my heart it is killing me.
But time heals all wounds.

 

[Bleepey]

Any examples of successful Japanese-Americans actors taking this path? How about Chinese-American actors with the Chinese B.O. booming in recent years? Bollywood has been around for decades, and the Korean Wave is a more recent phenomenon, but I don't know if any examples

Daniel Wu and Enter the Badlands.
Maggie Q, both appeared in a entertaining bad movie called Naked Weapon
Rapper Jin I guess.

 

[Bleepey]

So it's OK to call you a Pom?

Because this is exactly the equivalent of what you are suggesting.

It's only Americans that have beef with the term oriental. East Asian people in the U.K. Would not understand your complaint

 

[Chariot]

It's only Americans that have beef with the term oriental. East Asian people in the U.K. Would not understand your complaint

Even funnier in Germamy where the term today isn't connected to eastern asians at all anymore.

 

[CLEEK]

Yes, the term is depreciated these days and it's odd to see it used there.

It's still in common usage in the UK, where 'Asian' without any other qualifier refers to India/Pakistani.

 

[peaceiscloser]

Just curious, what does Japan think of ScarJo's casting?

 

[Acinixys]

Sure looks like a GREAT idea to cast this white, blond American as a dark haired Asian.

10/10

Hollywood is a pretty gross place. I cant wait to see all the white people playing section 9 employees.

 

[Donos]

Why not an Indian man? They have the greatest beards.

Didn't say "bearded white sorcerer guy with a cape". E.g. i could see Chiwetel Ejiofor as a good Strange with proper beard. He has a good body language. Like the character he played in Firefly movie (the operative).

But let's say they would cast Charlize Theron as Strange... i could not really relate to her as "Dr. Strange", no matter how good she plays.