Dreamworks/Paramount's Ghost In The Shell

[BlackFox]

i m not familar with the Anime so is the Movie set in Japan or in the USA ?

the original anime film was set in a fictional city in Japan.

Not sure about this film however.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

EDIT: nevermind

 

[Black Narcissus]

So you guys are saying an Asian girl looks more like these cyborgs in the picture than ScarJo?

You're also saying a Japanese person would never choose a European looking cyborg to host their mind despite the fact it happens all the time in the anime series and movies?

I didn't say jack, mane.

Rinko has always been my choice, but I don't have a beef with Scartlett. I'm more concerned over this director.

 

[sweetre15]

As far as Rupert Sanders goes, he's done a couple short films that had the atmosphere that could fit Ghost in The Shell

 

[Logan0327]

the original anime film was set in a fictional city in Japan.

Not sure about this film however.

likely will change it just like infernal affairs is set in hong kong and the departed is set in boston

 

[sweetre15]

For instance, I think Rupert Sanders' Halo 3 ODST short film has that moody atmosphere of the original GITS anime movie:

[YT]jPjF-Q2gjA0[/YT]

 

[MOVIELORD101]

As far as Rupert Sanders goes, he's done a couple short films that had the atmosphere that could fit Ghost in The Shell

Exactly. Let's not bash the guy just because Snow White and the Huntsman had a bad actress in it!

 

[TheVileOne]

i m not familar with the Anime so is the Movie set in Japan or in the USA ?

All the material for Ghost in the Shell is set in Japan.

 

[Matt.S99]

I just recently watched the first film. I'm hooked.
What's the chronological order for all the films/tv series'?

 

[Roose Bolton]

They're different versions. Basically the first film has one sequel "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence."

Then there's the TV series "Stand Alone Complex" which is like an alternate universe and deals with completely different antagonists and scenarios. That was followed by a second series/season 2 called "2nd GIG" and then a TV movie called "Solid State Society".

There's now a third version called "Ghost in the Shell: Arise" which is like a 4 part OVA series, which is followed on with "Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie".

So yeah, lots of versions to follow if you so choose.

 

[Matt.S99]

Oh wow. That's a lot of material to watch.
Thanks!

 

[Teelie]

I'm a big fan of the original movie and SAC but I haven't seen the sequel movies yet nor any of the new series but all these variations on it should show there isn't a definitive Motoko or GITS story that must be adhered to.

But I know that is a minority voice in here. Most everyone else has already condemned the movie for not being Japanese enough despite being an American adaptation of a Japanese story.

 

[Destructus86]

My friend those days are long gone and an unfortunate place in history. But yes. If a different race were to call me a derogatory name based on me being white and they are doing so with hatred towards me because I'm white it is still being racist. Just like the other way around. It shouldn't be happening but it does. It's 2016 for Gods sake. Racism sucks period. But if people don't understand it does in fact exist not just from whites but any race you are part of the problem.

The thing is...this movie situation has nothing to do with race. Hollywood studios are a business. They want to make money. So, they want to use an established actress that they feel will have the biggest draw for their audience. SJ is a big actress right now, which means the risk is minor and the reward chance is far greater. It's numbers, not race.

 

[terry78]

It is crazy how big this issue has gotten. At first it was just random message boards griping, now it's gone into this massive media story.

 

[Pink Ranger]

To be honest, even though I am Asian I couldn't care less about what race is playing The Major, but I like the fact that the discussion is out there in the public sphere; after such debacles like "21" and "Aloha" this really needs to happen.

 

[Teelie]

Hollywood is stumbling like a drunk frat boy into getting more inclusive but it's still a drunk, stumbling frat boy and though it is important to keep pressure on them not everything has to be about race or culture every time.

It might have been better had they chosen someone at least asian if not of Japanese descent but in this case it isn't entirely necessary either. This is not Aloha where you cast the whitest white actress to play a Hawaiian with Chinese ancestry or leave out virtually all the native people. Nor is it a movie about the gods of Egypt all once again being white.

Though if they try to keep Ghost in the Shell too close to the original story then yeah it would be a mistake to cast Scarlett. But this is Hollywood, I'm not expecting the movie to adhere that closely to the source materials any more than they do anything else they adapt.

 

[TheVileOne]

The thing is...this movie situation has nothing to do with race. Hollywood studios are a business. They want to make money. So, they want to use an established actress that they feel will have the biggest draw for their audience. SJ is a big actress right now, which means the risk is minor and the reward chance is far greater. It's numbers, not race.

It's financial-based racism.

It's meaningless to me because there was a time where WB said they wouldn't make female led tentpoles because they don't make money. Deadline reported that.

 

[Sithborg]

I fully understand being wary of it. And it could still go very badly. And the report about digitally adding asian features did not help matters. Still very curious about how this will turn out.

I do need to rewatch SAC.

 

[Logan0327]

i really have no problem here now if they still called the lead Motoko Kusanagi and still set it in japan then yes i would but i just see it as a western adaption of Japanese material.

just like this was a japanese adaption of a western movie

 

[Da-Scribe]

I don't think there's anything wrong with a western adaptation. It's just that western always seems to mean "white" in Hollywood, at least with respect to leading characters. It would've been cool to see some other race/ethnicity getting representation.

 

[ColKel]

I find this discussion about race concerning Scarlett Johansson's casting hilarious. Especially when most of the characters in the original anime don't actually look Japanese, even the Major. Most have Caucasian features. It could have been set in any European city and you wouldn't have known the difference. Just because it is set in Japan everybody assumes that the characters should look Japanese. Maybe in the Ghost in the Shell universe, sometime during the past, there was an assimilation between Japanese and European ethnic groups (ala Blade Runner) resulting in a more European or mixed looking population.

 

[Sithborg]

That's a bit of an issue for anime in general, though.

 

[Logan0327]

Kodansha, the Japanese company that publishes Ghost in the Shell Manga sees no problem with casting Sam Yoshiba, director of the international business division at Kodnasha, told The Hollywood Reporter
"Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well-cast. She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place. This is a chance for a Japanese property to be seen around the world." Yoshiba recently visited the film's set in New Zealand and remarked that he was , "he was impressed by the respect being shown for the source material."

 

[Leenie]

The weeaboo tears are delicious. I find it ironic with all of this crying about racism ... When anime depicts black people in the fashion that they do. But shhh, we don't talk about that, right?

ScarJo was cast for one reason: Money. Most normal people simply do not care about Ghost In The Shell. How do you make the general audience care? Perhaps by casting an A-list actress who is doing more and more action movies now. Name recognition increases the chance of this movie seeing some box office success. End of story.

 

[SuperT]

I find this discussion about race concerning Scarlett Johansson's casting hilarious. Especially when most of the characters in the original anime don't actually look Japanese, even the Major. Most have Caucasian features. It could have been set in any European city and you wouldn't have known the difference. Just because it is set in Japan everybody assumes that the characters should look Japanese. Maybe in the Ghost in the Shell universe, sometime during the past, there was an assimilation between Japanese and European ethnic groups (ala Blade Runner) resulting in a more European or mixed looking population.

This keeps getting brought up - I came across an interesting article/study about how anime characters are viewed.

When shown anime characters, minorities/non-Caucasian people all overwhelming said that those characters were of course Asian. Asian people themselves saw them as Asian. Whereas white people all overwhelming said they were white characters. It's funny because I agree, growing up I always thought anime characters were Asian so when one of my Caucasian friends said they all looked white I was perplexed.

I need to find the article that talks about this...