Dreamworks/Paramount's Ghost In The Shell

[DarthSkywalker]

Those are roles they could have easily found Asians to play and arguably give Asian Americans a hero they can identify with on a big level. Considering that with a lot of minority roles they qualify for under 10% of roles in Hollywood, race specific or not....Manga/Anime adaptations have the biggest opportunities to be this for Asian-American actors in Hollywood. On the flip side of that I don't think it's a reach either that they care about the source material enough to feel that they should be cashed as such due to that as well.

Simply put, it's a multilayered situation. It's not like they're just pretending to be fans because they want roles without any knowledge of the material they're talking about.

You are missing the point. They are making this about race, while ignoring the nuance of race in these situations.The vast majority of Manga and Anime wouldn't provide roles for Asian-American actors. It would theoretically provide roles for Japanese-American actors. To those that brought the world Anime and Manga, the, "we Asians are all the same because we are in America" does not work. And if we are going to ignore that, why is it suddenly okay to complain when someone like Scarjo is cast?

 

[TheVileOne]

So the Japanese are Tone deaf on a Japanese property...

Maybe they are. That's not impossible just because you say it .

Anyways, they say where the sampling comes from, and it is one of multiple I have seen. Japan isn't losing their mind over this. Even if they were upset, I wouldn't expect them to. Ghost in the Shell is bigger here then in Japan. It is kind of funny that a lot of Americans who are anime fans act like they "own" it in someway.

Not sure anyone is acting like they own it. People are upset over the casting and they are expressing it. At the end of the day, this isn't the Iron Fist situation. A white actress was cast a historically Japanese character for a Japanese property set in Japan.

If they wanted to change it to a complete American adaptation, then they should've done that.

If you do a Bleach movie, which WB has licensed, and you keep it in Japan, you can't cast a white kid as Ichigo because he has red hair in the show and is a ginger and continue calling him Ichigo Kurosaki.

Maybe people are upset that in this day and age that Hollywood continues to white wash ethnic roles with white actors.

Would've been better off doing Fullmetal Alchemist. Why? That's put in a setting that is basically Western Europe. The main characters are all essentially in an AU version of Britain. They have westernized names. The Asian characters in the story are basically from an AU version of China called Xing. So essentially in adapting Fullmetal Alchemist, it makes sense to have a main cast that is primarily white, so they don't have to come up with reasons to white wash the cast.

 

[Logan0327]

who's to say this is'nt set in america

 

[sweetre15]

You are missing the point. They are making this about race, while ignoring the nuance of race in these situations.The vast majority of Manga and Anime wouldn't provide roles for Asian-American actors. It would theoretically provide roles for Japanese-American actors. To those that brought the world Anime and Manga, the, "we Asians are all the same because we are in America" does not work. And if we are going to ignore that, why is it suddenly okay to complain when someone like Scarjo is cast?

Now in my personal opinion, it's one thing to cast a different kind of Asian (or Atleast East Asian) it's another thing to cast a white or non Asian instead. It's a case of varying degrees and for ME, it's a part of the difference between Nationality vs Ethnicity.

For instance, Christian Bale was Welsh playing an American New Yorker that's Bruce Wayne, Henry Cavill is a British actor playing an Kryptonian-American in Superman and Hugh Jackman is an Australian playing a white Canadian in Wolverine. They're still "White".

Same with Asian actors unless it's a role where they nationality is pertinent to the narrative to be overlooked.

I don't know if Asian American actors feel the same way or not but to me, it could still be a Star making role for whatever Asian gets the role and I doubt the people offended would complain in the states.

with that said, the above is my personal perspective more than anything.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Maybe they are. That's not impossible just because you say it .

Doesn't mean they are because you say they are.

Not sure anyone is acting like they own it. People are upset over the casting and they are expressing it. At the end of the day, this isn't the Iron Fist situation. A white actress was cast a historically Japanese character for a Japanese property set in Japan.

If they wanted to change it to a complete American adaptation, then they should've done that.

If you do a Bleach movie, which WB has licensed, and you keep it in Japan, you can't cast a white kid as Ichigo because he has red hair in the show and is a ginger and continue calling him Ichigo Kurosaki.

Maybe people are upset that in this day and age that Hollywood continues to white wash ethnic roles with white actors.

Would've been better off doing Fullmetal Alchemist. Why? That's put in a setting that is basically Western Europe. The main characters are all essentially in an AU version of Britain. They have westernized names. The Asian characters in the story are basically from an AU version of China called Xing. So essentially in adapting Fullmetal Alchemist, it makes sense to have a main cast that is primarily white, so they don't have to come up with reasons to white wash the cast.

Yes Japanese. So why all these suggestion of actresses who aren't Japanese?

I would think they aren't doing Fullmetal Alchemist, because they wanted to make Ghost in the Shell, not FMA.

Also, do we know where this movie is going to be set or what the Major's name is going to be outside of major?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Now in my personal opinion, it's one thing to cast a different kind of Asian (or Atleast East Asian) it's another thing to cast a white or non Asian instead. It's a case of varying degrees and for ME, it's a part of the difference between Nationality vs Ethnicity.

For instance, Christian Bale was Welsh playing an American New Yorker that's Bruce Wayne, Henry Cavill is a British actor playing an Kryptonian-American in Superman and Hugh Jackman is an Australian playing a white Canadian in Wolverine. They're still "White".

Same with Asian actors unless it's a role where they nationality is pertinent to the narrative to be overlooked.

I don't know if Asian American actors feel the same way or not but to me, it could still be a Star making role for whatever Asian gets the role and I doubt the people offended would complain in the states.

with that said, the above is my personal perspective more than anything.

The entire argument so far has been how Japanese Ghost in the Shell is. That it is an important piece of Japanese culture. If that is the case, you can't start talking about casting actresses from China, Korean, etc. and then act like it is totally different from casting a white actress. Being British or Canadian and playing an American character, is very different if you start looking at the social, real world tensions of Asian nations. Casting Scarjo is far less offensive in that regard.

If this is about Asian-American actors and actresses wanting roles, fine. But that is very different from the argument about the source material. In which case the source material is irrelevant and thus casting Scarjo isn't really an issue and the arguments being made here are rather careless.

 

[sweetre15]

What non Japanese Asian actress are people suggesting though? I see most suggesting Rinko Kikuchi

I mean sure, other Asian-American ethnicities are complaining but whose saying those actresses should play Motoko?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

What non Japanese Asian actress are people suggesting though? I see most suggesting Rinko Kikuchi

I mean sure, other Asian-American ethnicities are complaining but whose saying those actresses should play Motoko?

Ming Na was a suggestion I have seen on the net. And this is continually put in the context of Asian-American actresses, by the actresses themselves. Like all of Asia is the same. Heck, India is apart of Asia.

As to Rinko Kikuchi, while I quite like her, think it would be more then a bit off putting to have a film full of rather strong English speakers, and then have someone where English is clearly their second language.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Ghost in the Shell Publisher 'Never Imagined' a Japanese Actress in the Lead Role
http://kotaku.com/ghost-in-the-shel...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

Quotes :
"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."

 

[jmc]

Well America is a country that prides itself on being a diverse melting pot, so it would come as no surprise that people would want diversity. Especially when Hollywood claims to be oh so progressive

I get that, my country is quite diverse too, but the problem is people are trying to push things to change over night and that's unrealistic. Yes, ideally acting talent in this day and age should trump ethnicity, but we have to be honest and ask ourselves are things being blown out of proportion a bit. It's not like we don't have diverse casts these days.

 

[Sithborg]

Now in my personal opinion, it's one thing to cast a different kind of Asian (or Atleast East Asian) it's another thing to cast a white or non Asian instead. It's a case of varying degrees and for ME, it's a part of the difference between Nationality vs Ethnicity.

For instance, Christian Bale was Welsh playing an American New Yorker that's Bruce Wayne, Henry Cavill is a British actor playing an Kryptonian-American in Superman and Hugh Jackman is an Australian playing a white Canadian in Wolverine. They're still "White".

Same with Asian actors unless it's a role where they nationality is pertinent to the narrative to be overlooked.

I don't know if Asian American actors feel the same way or not but to me, it could still be a Star making role for whatever Asian gets the role and I doubt the people offended would complain in the states.

with that said, the above is my personal perspective more than anything.

I do find it interesting that it is posed as the role for Asian American, rather than Japanese American. Which I think the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans would take a lot of issue with. It really wasn't that long ago that the Irish and Italians were considered their own race, with their own set of prejudices in America.

That's not to say there is no reason for concern. We just haven't seen much reason to yet.

 

[Teelie]

When white people are more offended than the actual race that is being supposdly degraded, you know the sjw thing has gone off the rails.

I see it as the law of unintended consequences. Society has decided that primarily white people are responsible for everything so now (no matter the situation) whenever someone has "white guilt" they feel the need to over compensate to the point the "offended" people are looking sideways at what the hell is going on with those white people being offended by guilt are saying.

As you can clearly see, the "this is wrong" crowd can't wrap it around their heads that just maybe the Japanese are mostly less concerned than they are with the casting choices in this movie. That should say something about the way people are taught to be offended more than whether there is even an offense going on in the first place.

If the very people who are supposed to be offended don't care, why are all these other (mostly white) people being offended?

Throw in ignorance and miscommunication with a hefty dose of click-bait (Paramount did not so much deny they tried it as said it was never attempted on Scarlett's face, despite the claims to the contrary) and you have two Chinese but not Japanese actresses complaining about it too.

Oh, and those offended people, they love to cherry pick and ignore things in that very article.

Screen legend Joan Chen argued that the film's director should have "creative freedom," which led to a spirited debate on the panel, which also included actress Lynn Chen and was moderated by producer Teddy Zee.

"The Chinese and Japanese have adapted many works from the West," Joan Chen said, referencing Akira Kurosawa's Shakespearean adaptations. "I cannot the blame the director. Censorship is terrible for art."

It's not a defense of white-washing. It's about whether a particular story is being white-washed in the first place. This is not a story that must be with Japanese or asian people pretending to be Japanese for the sake of appearances. Wouldn't that be even more offensive? The Japanese certainly objected to it when Memoirs of a Geisha cast Chinese actors for many of the roles of a movie about and set in Japan.

GITS is a story that was originally from Japan and is no more about Japan or Japanese people specifically than any movie about futuristic societies are.

 

[Leenie]

I've only seen pics of the live action Sailor Moon TV show that was done and I thought they all looked the part.

I love the live action Sailor Moon series. I'm a huge fan of it! I especially love the actress of Sailor Moon in that show. She was adorable and perfect!

That show was never brought over to the States though (no official release or anything like that). With North America's attitude about literally everything right now, I don't see how a big Hollywood studio live action Sailor Moon film would work without a copious amount of whining and complaining about things that don't matter.

 

[TheVileOne]

Ghost in the Shell Publisher 'Never Imagined' a Japanese Actress in the Lead Role
http://kotaku.com/ghost-in-the-shel...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

Quotes :
"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."

What about what Masamune Shirow thinks. He created the manga.

 

[dark_b]

i would like to see more movies with badass female characters. and if possible at least 1 or 2 female heroes per year that are not white.

but i understand why Johansson gets support for this movie. she is in Marvel movies and she is very attractive.

 

[2kt09]

Could've sworn the 2000s just kept making badass female led/co starring movies.

These days, the most notable ones are usually the stars of YA novel adaptations.

 

[Asgard]

Ghost in the Shell Publisher 'Never Imagined' a Japanese Actress in the Lead Role
http://kotaku.com/ghost-in-the-shel...m_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

Quotes :
"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."

Im pretty sure he meant that since its an American production, they would use an American for the role of Motoko.

It's not a defense of white-washing. It's about whether a particular story is being white-washed in the first place. This is not a story that must be with Japanese or asian people pretending to be Japanese for the sake of appearances. Wouldn't that be even more offensive? The Japanese certainly objected to it when Memoirs of a Geisha cast Chinese actors for many of the roles of a movie about and set in Japan.

Japanese pretending to be Japanese?

Well, the main character is named Motoko Kusunagi and is Japanese so it makes sense that the role should be played by an actual Japanese person. The out the movie has is that she's a cyborg so even though she's actually Japanese, she looks like a white woman because thats the body/face she chooses.

GITS is a story that was originally from Japan and is no more about Japan or Japanese people specifically than any movie about futuristic societies are.

I wonder if there would be even half the controversy there is now if the people behind the movie did a full on adaptation in the style of Edge of Tomorrow or the Magnificent Seven. Instead of the movie being in Japan, itll be somewhere in the US, the Major is a white woman named Alice etc.

 

[Teelie]

Where did I say Japanese pretending to be Japanese? Are you suggesting they use a Japanese actress to pretend to be a white cyborg who is really Japanese underneath? So they would have to take her and whiteface her instead?

 

[2kt09]

Or just Uma Thurman it like in Kill Bill.

So they would have to take her and whiteface her instead?

Spoiler

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

What about what Masamune Shirow thinks. He created the manga.

I will let you know as soon as he voices his opinion.
Edit : looks like he sold the rights to Spielberg, not sure that he really cares anymore.

 

[Asgard]

Where did I say Japanese pretending to be Japanese? Are you suggesting they use a Japanese actress to pretend to be a white cyborg who is really Japanese underneath? So they would have to take her and whiteface her instead?

Im saying it makes sense to use a Japanese actress to play a Japanese character, but with the way the movie deals with cyborg bodies the creators get more leeway in using Scarlett.

 

[Sithborg]

Is there any confirmation that they are staying Japanese?

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I don't really get the controversy, Hollywood had make several foreign movies remakes without people complaining, how is that different ? "Americans" could have just dubbed these movies right ? On top of my head, True Lies is the US remake of a French movie but it bothered no one and it was a completely different movie in tone.
AFAIC it's the same thing, as long as the movie is good, I don't mind, I just want to be fooled ( to quote The Prestige ).

 

[TheVileOne]

It's not the same thing.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

if you say so.