Inferno313
Banned
I think that poster was talking about commercial success, not how you personally feel about their quality. Lucy, Twilight, and Hunger games were all very successful movies.
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Japanese Reactions to the Ghost in the Shell (2017) Movie
- Thread starter Antiochus
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I think that poster was talking about commercial success, not how you personally feel about their quality. Lucy, Twilight, and Hunger games were all very successful movies.
Netflix bought it so no box number numbers. It'll probably do well tbh.
jack_package_200
Banned
The anime was absurdly popular on Netflix.
...i'm not sure what this has to do with my post but okay? i wasn't trying to make an argument that gits would be some sort of exception in that regard. i was responding to a claim that johansson was responsible for the film doing well... even though it hasn't done well and that flies in the face of the whitewashing justifications for having johansson cast.
i wanted to find this specific post as a response to the whole star power thing before, thanks for finding it. we've had so many examples of the whole 'necessity of star power' not holding any weight and yet it's still used as justification for shitty casting decisions like for this film.
What does quality have to do with how well it does at the box office? That's not what you asked for. All those movies are box office successes with female leads.
I believe in the thread you were talking about, they were talking about Asian-American actors getting roles as opposed to being sidelined for Asian actors, not the Asian-American community in general.
The explanation for why their experiences are different has mostly been that there isn't a problem of Japanese representation in Japanese cinema, not that they're explicitly racist in general. Also, the person interviewed has an issue with someone who isn't Japanese, not any Asian-American. The important thing is that there are obviously tradeoffs to casting a white person vs casting an Asian-American (even a Japanese-American). Recognizing those tradeoffs doesn't mean people shouldn't voice their issues with Asian-American representation in media and how this movie helps perpetuate those problems by going back to the idea that Asian-Americans in leading roles are unfeasible if you want to make money
PdotMichael
Banned
What don't I know?
That neither Mach Go Go nor something Bismarck were popular in Japan or that both series were massively rewritten for the American and later international market. Japan doesn't have any experience with the series called Speed Racer.
But please go ahead with your quality posts!
Doctor Decimate
Member
In my (highly anecdotal, obviously) experience as An Actual Asian-American Person, the "all white people lump Asians in America together isn't that terrible" thing has never really been an issue? I mean, yeah, it's shitty when everyone assumes you're Chinese, but in practice the idea of being lumped together just becomes part of that identity. I'm half-Vietnamese and I live in Ohio, so I have had no actual encounters with people who share this heritage outside of my mother and my sister; what that's mostly led to is the Asians I have encountered all coming together over the general idea of being Asian in a place where there's not a lot of us - you know, the American part in Asian-American. The Korean woman I talk to when I go to the grocery store doesn't give a shit where my mom came from. I'm sure those sentiments exist around here, but it's by and large never been an obstacle for me, which may be very specific to the area I grew up in but who knows.
I didn't really give a shit that they had a Chinese dude playing Togusa in the movie, for example; it was just nice they had an Asian dude at all, even if I'm not sure he had more than five minutes of screentime.
I didn't really give a shit that they had a Chinese dude playing Togusa in the movie, for example; it was just nice they had an Asian dude at all, even if I'm not sure he had more than five minutes of screentime.
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
off topic, what part of ohio.
This is my experience as well. Obviously you can't relate all of your experiences with people of a different ethnicity because your traditions will be different, but there are always common experiences you can share with other Asians like people making jokes about speaking Chinese or yelling at you to go back to Asia at a supermarket
.I know, but since we are discussing why did GiTS bombed I think it's relevant, because people think quality should be enough when it isn't really.
As for quality I would refer mostly to aggregated reviews than my own personal opinion, Lucy is in the same ballpark as GiTS, Twilight is bottom of the barrel, these aren't movies regarded as "good" by the general population.
The only thing I'm sure is that as someone mentioned earlier female leads in action/fantasy/sci-fi are so scarce we really don't have a significant poll to chose and analyze from, and whatever we think was wrong doesn't really have a lot of data to back it up.
Doctor Decimate
Member
mid to north-ish Ohio, northeast of Columbus. mostly mid-sized towns and stuff over the course of growing up here.
Just because they are contended with their national identity even though it's a questionable distant second at best in hierarchy under western's white umbrella doesn't mean the rest of Asia have to be.
Their thoughts are in-line with how the Japanese government acts with USA.
Stay at #2 if you want, the rest of us want real actual equality.
Their thoughts are in-line with how the Japanese government acts with USA.
Stay at #2 if you want, the rest of us want real actual equality.
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
Just wondering, since I have pretty much the same background as you. Vietnamese-American who grew up in Dayton Ohio. However I am just surprised you never encounter other people with the same background. There are a decent amount of Vietnamese descents around here. Welp I guess living in your area makes sense compare to a city like Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati.
Doctor Decimate
Member
Yeah, I don't doubt moving to a city would probably fix some of that. My hometown was very white in general. So I guess I wonder if people who grew up in cities around more Asian people embrace the whole thrown-together mentality the way I do or if that's a rural sort of thing.
While it's true that it won't directly help Asian American actors, a film that's successfully lead by an Asian actor would possibly open the doors for other roles for them. And Asian Americans in general suffer from such a dearth of representation, even a little bit would help.
The Artisan
Member
OP shouldn't have put that in the title, then.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Uh
Speed Racer the anime is based from Mach Go Go Go and from what I heard didn't really differed from its source material.
Zoe
Member
Nah, all Asian stars have done in the past is help out other Asian stars. Asian Americans didn't benefit from the 90's or early 00's.
He's saying Mach Go Go Go was super unpopular, so the Japanese wouldn't have any nostalgia for it. Kinda like how the Japanese are confused why such an unpopular sentai was used as the basis for Power Rangers.
(I have no idea about the actual popularity of Mach Go Go Go)
Muppet of a Man
Member
I think people wanted the actress to not just be someone who was Asian but specifically someone who was Japanese. Otherwise, what is the point?
I'd agree that it would be just as racist/insensitive to cast someone from another Asian country and portray them as a Japanese character.
That's pretty much implying that all Asian people are "the same".
I'd agree that it would be just as racist/insensitive to cast someone from another Asian country and portray them as a Japanese character.
That's pretty much implying that all Asian people are "the same".
Pilgrimzero
Member
Thank goodness the Japanese have us to be offended for them.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Inferno313
Banned
The controversy was never about Japanese people, but about Asian-American representation.
I know, it's almost like Japanese people don't have to worry about Japanese representation in their own cinema ...
Zoe
Member
Well reverence between creators doesn't necessarily translate to audience popularity.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
So the answer is to make all the Asian roles for white people then. At least going by your post.
Honestly as an Asian-American I would be happy with almost anything. The point is that there's almost no Asian representation at all so saying "why bother if we can't get it perfect" sounds like an excuse. It would be nice if I could be picky about Asian representation but it's usually small opportunities like this or nothing.
That said, I'd understand if people found it offensive which is why it's obviously not a straightforward problem. Asian-Americans aren't some monolithic group.
GuitarAtomik
Member
I do find it interesting they're more ok with a white actor taking the role than a Chinese or Korean actor. I kind of get it but it's a bit hard to relate. Like, as an American I don't have a problem when a British person plays an American character. Perhaps there's some "Don't think of us as a monolithic race" stuff going on, but I find that hard to separate with being ok with a white person taking it instead. I guess since it's kind of an uncanny valley like affect where they'd rather you go in a totally different direction than come up just short. I'm guessing it has more to do with some of the deep seated tensions between those countries.
Frozenprince
Banned
buy teh haloz
Banned
Happens with white actors all the time.
Thelonelykoopa
Member
Yeah, That has become apparent with people ignoring those trying to explain the situation or using "It's just one of those wierd american issues" to put the issue under the rug.
That's because all of the successful Asian stars in Hollywood have only been successful in action films. And all that that does is boost the interest in action films. Even established Asian stars rarely got a shot at roles outside of that. Presumably a successful Mulan would be seen as more than a Kung-fu film. Truth be told, I doubt it, but that's largely because Asian actors are so stigmatized in Hollywood.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Not really, unless the audience is stupid. Black actors play a variety of people from Black Americans, to Caribbeans to people from African countries different from their family's. The same with white actors being able to play in anyone from Western Europe. Obviously it'd be awesome to get an actor who matches the race and the actual country of origin, but I don't think people make that assumption anyway
Dark Ninja
Member
I love that their mind was blown by the cgi. Japanese cgi and costumes especially for anime related movies is fucking trash and stuck in the ps2 era.
I liked gits live action I hope it makes its money back internationally.
I liked gits live action I hope it makes its money back internationally.
Sunster
Member
And the reason we keep having this same exact thread with very little differentiation in even the title.
jack_package_200
Banned
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Please tell me there aren't actually people surprised to learn that Japan is a different culture with different cultural values than the US.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
DING! DING! DING!
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Black and White people do it all the time. Like someone said above, black and white people play as people from other countries.
Why is choosing to a white person better than choosing someone that's Japanese American?
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I'm not suggesting this is a conscious thought, but consider that you're suggesting that a specific social value held by Japanese people living in Japan is less valid because in the West, we don't actually care about that value.
I honestly feel like there's a legitimate lack of respect for foreign values amongst supposedly liberal westerners. And trust me, I'm aware that it gets dicey when those values directly conflict with our own (e.g. socially-accepted misogyny), but the concept that Japanese people might be more upset about being lumped together with "asians" isn't exactly black-or-white. The argument laid out by the person in the OP is that nobody would realistically confuse Scarlett as Japanese, which is why they found it non-offensive.
FinaruDensetsu
Member
...or you know a Japanese-American actress play her? We do have those here...
I'm not surprised though, there's always been a Japanese sentiment that they are the superior Asians.
I'm not surprised though, there's always been a Japanese sentiment that they are the superior Asians.
karasu
Member
Yuki encompasses the entirety of "The Japanese"? Come on, man.
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