No offense, but this is a poor way of doing things. Minorities shouldn't be relegated to "minority films", they should be allowed to play completely normal characters who just happen to be not-white. As a black male, I don't need nor want every movie starring a black character to be about gangs or slavery or whatever role it makes sense for the character to be black. Take Harold & Kumar, that's a movie where you have 2 characters who could have really been any race, but they just happened to be Indian and Asian. And it did really well. That's what we need more of.
You should watch Riz Ahmed's speech on diversity to the British Parliament. He talks about how he actively had to buck against the tendency of casting agencies of only considering him for typical "brown person" roles like terrorists, or foreign exchange student, or taxi driver. That type of diversity is just tiring and borders on insulting when it's the only kind used
Yes but are we discounting the fact that the setting which is America has ASIAN-AMERICANS? I mean sure the production had an idea of who they wanted to cast but ( i am not sure of the validity because i only read it on the thread ) straight up refusing auditions from asian americans is a bad look in my opinion.
Also as a black male, I understand your feelings, but you misunderstood my point. You asked for a start, that's a more logical start than shitting on adaptations of Japanese material that's for a different audience because it does feature Japanese people. In the case of Death Note, I've already said it could be going for a different dynamic, looking at racial positions in America, hence L being black and Light being white. That doesn't work when you cast an Asian in the lead role, and that's a completely valid reason to specifically exclude Asians or any other race from casting, because that dynamic doesn't work anymore. Is that the case? I dont know and neither does anyone else nor will we until the film is out, but it's interesting to think about. Do we know if L was specifically cast as black, and if so why aren't people complaining about that.
But wanting your race to he cast in non racial roles is an entirely fair viewpoint and as someone who is black, I can understand. I'm also not arguing against Asian representation, simply that there are much better instances to do it in. If being type cast into a role isn't okay then why is it different than being type cast in an adaptation of Japanese material. How is that any better? Fact of the matter is, they have a different vision of the material that isn't of any detriment to the material itself, and in this case might be a strength.
In Ghost in the Shell, it's more reasonable but in both cases it really doesn't matter. (Though I've already said I'd prefer a Japanese actress to ScarJo)
It's sentiments like this that contribute to white being perceived as the default.
If you want to actually fix problems with representation, minorities need to be cast in roles that do not specifically call for a minority. Getting this to happen includes voicing opposition to when this does not take place - Death Note, while the role does not appear to specifically call for an Asian in the lead, marks a more visible, theoretically easier opportunity than most due to its status as a manga adaptation, and it didn't happen. Hence the protest. Hollywood has proven for decades that they are not willing to do so on their own.
And to be honest I have no qualms with The Great Wall since China chose a white lead themselves to lend their work "credibility"; if anything it's a result of how poorly Asians are represented over here. The lesson they took from the Hollywood system is having a big-name white actor is what validates the thing you made, and I can't even really say that they're wrong in this belief. It's super depressing more than anything else.
And the directors of Ghost in the Shell chose ScarJo to get people into seats and sell the movie because she makes money. It's been stated numerous times before, but if it wasn't for getting an A-list actor to lead, then the film wouldn't have gotten made at all, and at that point who does that help? At least it's a series where the main characters race is of no importance, making it, in my opinion a less offensive example. It's not like making Black Panther white, where his race is integral to his story and that removing that element makes it no longer work. You could make that argument for Iron Fist though and other properties.
