The 'race' issue...

[Moriatti]

I'm more concerned with the idea that Goku isn't living in a Chinese type area than the fact that he, as an alien is white (Thought I would've preferred an Asian actor.)

 

[Alchemyst]

"Goku isn't asian he's an alien, he can look like anything"... it's funny the length people will go to be able to imagine themselves as their favorite characters.

God forbid if Piccolo isn't the right shade of green though...funny how bias works..

The only reason why I figured Goku was asian was because of the asian theme of the cartoon, not dissing Chatwin, he does resemble Goku in a way but at the same time, its hard to determine whether or not he will do the character justice.

 

[javphonic]

I personally felt that Goku should've been racially ambiguous, I thought there should've been a question in what race he is such as Vanessa Hudgens (HSM, noone can say what race she is) with that said if he's racially ambiguous he'd be more alien and different from the people around him, I mean it would be a big coincidence for an asian looking alien to land in asia... seriously, he shouldn't look asian or white, but mixed... IDK that's my opinion

with that said I know Goku dresses in an asian fashion and has black hair and black eyes like an asian, but then again he does become a blue/green-ed blonde and no matter what race he is he was raised in the asian culture so obvisously he will dress in an asian fashion with karate attire etc...

 

[Koosla]

"Goku isn't asian he's an alien, he can look like anything"... it's funny the length people will go to be able to imagine themselves as their favorite characters.

Personal bias? That's a void argument.

And a very old one, at that.

 

[Lobo]

Ok, I'm white, grew up in the States, but I always imagined Goku to be Asian looking. I knew though that whenever a movie were to be made Hollywood would do as they please and cast whomever they felt like. In all honesty I'm surprised we have as many Asian actors as we do in the film with Yun Fat, Park, Chung, and Tamura. And, an Asian director with Wong

 

[Nathan]

Racially ambiguous would've been probably the best way to go. I just don't like that he's obviously white.

 

[CaptainClown]

I am with Nathan. I knew they weren't going to get an Asian actor, but I mean come on maybe even someone who is racially mixed.

 

[mr. peasant]

I dunno... Personally, I'm Asian and I don't see it as a major travesty since the setting for Dragon Ball is in a fictitious world also populated with humanoid animals and talking turtles. Most of my friends, who are also Asian, don't have a major problem with it either. We understand it as simply being part and parcel of the Hollywood machinery. Oddly enough, we tend not to see anyone complaining that the characters from Speed Racer are all White.

As for those who point out to Goku being adopted by an Asian guy, having an Asian name and being raised in an Asian-esque setting as being evidence of him being Asian, are you trying to say that we should recast Angelina Jolie's children?

 

[Cartman Blues]

I dunno... Personally, I'm Asian and I don't see it as a major travesty since the setting for Dragon Ball is in a fictitious world also populated with humanoid animals and talking turtles. Most of my friends, who are also Asian, don't have a major problem with it either. We understand it as simply being part and parcel of the Hollywood machinery. Oddly enough, we tend not to see anyone complaining that the characters from Speed Racer are all White.

As for those who point out to Goku being adopted by an Asian guy, having an Asian name and being raised in an Asian-esque setting as being evidence of him being Asian, are you trying to say that we should recast Angelina Jolie's children?

AHAHAHA!

 

[Legion]

I dunno... Personally, I'm Asian and I don't see it as a major travesty since the setting for Dragon Ball is in a fictitious world also populated with humanoid animals and talking turtles. Most of my friends, who are also Asian, don't have a major problem with it either. We understand it as simply being part and parcel of the Hollywood machinery. Oddly enough, we tend not to see anyone complaining that the characters from Speed Racer are all White.

As for those who point out to Goku being adopted by an Asian guy, having an Asian name and being raised in an Asian-esque setting as being evidence of him being Asian, are you trying to say that we should recast Angelina Jolie's children?

I'm white and when I first got into Dragonball I used to think of Goku as being white but after reading all the manga, learning about what influenced the series, and watching other anime, I realized that Goku was meant to have an asian appearance.

I expected him to be cast as a white actor and it didn't bother me, I understand how hollywood works and they had already done it to some of my favorite characters.

As for Speed Racer, I guess you would have to be genuinely interested in the series and live action movie adaption to be upset about the casting. I don't really know anyone like that so it would be hard to get an opinion.

Since you are using real life adoptions to support the adopt a Chatwin theory, could tell me how often you think impoverished white children are adopted by families in Asia?

 

[DorkyFresh]

I dunno... Personally, I'm Asian and I don't see it as a major travesty since the setting for Dragon Ball is in a fictitious world also populated with humanoid animals and talking turtles. Most of my friends, who are also Asian, don't have a major problem with it either. We understand it as simply being part and parcel of the Hollywood machinery.

agreed. i don't really have a problem with a white person playing Goku, but my preference would've been an Asian actor....or at least a mixed actor.

Oddly enough, we tend not to see anyone complaining that the characters from Speed Racer are all White.

Speed Racer was never set around Asian themes or ideas like Dragon Ball originally was.

As for those who point out to Goku being adopted by an Asian guy, having an Asian name and being raised in an Asian-esque setting as being evidence of him being Asian, are you trying to say that we should recast Angelina Jolie's children?

another

injecting real life into a fantasy is a mistake that James Wong and Fox have done.

 

[CaptainClown]

Ya what Dorky said, Speed Racer didn't bug me cause the characters seemed to be white. The same could be said with Cowboy Bebop or Full Metal Alchemist. When its appropriate then it is fine, However I felt that DB has always had an asian theme throughout.

 

[Lobo]

I think his point was just that Speed Racer was created by an Asian creator intended for Asian audiences and as such the same rules should apply (i.e Speed and Co should be Asian) but no one complained about that, and when you complain about that for one it should apply to the other as well.

 

[Frank]

I don't even care about the race thing anymore since they got everything else they could get wrong wrong in addition to that.

 

[DorkyFresh]

I think his point was just that Speed Racer was created by an Asian creator intended for Asian audiences and as such the same rules should apply (i.e Speed and Co should be Asian) but no one complained about that, and when you complain about that for one it should apply to the other as well.

you're right...Speed Racer was originally intended for an Asian audience, so if they were to ever do a Mach GoGoGo (original title) movie then i would want them to find an Asian actor to play Go Mifune, but the Wachowski's made Speed Racer instead.

more people know that franchise by the name 'Speed Racer' and it's not centered around Asian themes, which is why i didn't find it a problem for the Wachowski's to cast caucasians as the Racer family. Speed Racer might practically be the same cartoon as Mach GoGoGo but the cultural differences between the 2 cartoons are more evident than the Asian and the American versions of DB (since they ARE the same cartoon). they changed Go Mifune's name to Speed Racer but Goku is still Goku in the American version. there is a big difference between the history of the Speed Racer franchise and the history of the Dragon Ball franchise.

 

[Lobo]

I understand all of that, I was just trying to help him get his point across better. As I've said many times, I always envisioned Goku as an Asian man, and I'm a white guy from NYC. But Hollywood ALWAYS changes our favorite franchises to suit what they want. So I'm not surprised at all that a white guy got the lead, I would really love to know who else auditioned though

 

[Legion]

I think his point was just that Speed Racer was created by an Asian creator intended for Asian audiences and as such the same rules should apply (i.e Speed and Co should be Asian) but no one complained about that, and when you complain about that for one it should apply to the other as well.

Like I said in a post above, you'd have to be a interested in Speed Racer to complain about it. So you'd have to take that up with a Speed Racer fan.

However, I've said before, I'm a huge Guyver fan, and in the early '90's there were two American Live action movies made. The main character was cast as a white actor and they changed his name from Sho Fukamachi to Sean Barker and moved the setting from Japan to L.A.

Now alot of people don't care that Goku is cast as a white actor but I bet if they changed his name to George people would be pissed..."Super Saiyan George!!?? wth??"

 

[DorkyFresh]

I understand all of that, I was just trying to help him get his point across better. As I've said many times, I always envisioned Goku as an Asian man, and I'm a white guy from NYC. But Hollywood ALWAYS changes our favorite franchises to suit what they want. So I'm not surprised at all that a white guy got the lead, I would really love to know who else auditioned though

oh okay...then we're on the same page. i think i get where mr. peasant was trying to go with that comparison, but i just don't see it. i, too, would like to know who else tried out for the role. normally in adaptations like this there is some sort of buzz on who's trying out or being considered, but i can't think of any time where i heard Goku casting rumors. it's almost as if Chatwin was the only one that was looked at for the role. however, Fox is a very conservative (Republican) company so it's not surprising that an urban pretty boy like Chatwin got cast.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I happen to think Jake Gyllenhaal looks alot like Goku. It's a shame he did Price of Persia and not DBZ.

 

[kaypain]

like many have say he is a alien, rather Akira intended or not, what's said is done, so he can't be Asian, aliens don't have human origin or race, unless they are of course parasites but that's not the case here, he can only look Asian, and if we want to based these on looks, there's a lot of diversity there, to me Goku can be played by a asian, light-skinned black, mexican, euro-asian, white, indian, and many others...

but this debate over anime/manga character is just ridiculous, so unless Akira Toriyama comes and tells us what his race is, all this discussion is nothing but speculation, and that's all to it

 

[Antrax255]

All I know is nobody in Avatar is white.

 

[kaypain]

^ what.... 0_o

 

[V for Vendeta]

For inspiration of Goku toriyama used the "journey of the west" chinese legend with a twist.

when he started his intention was to finish DB with the defeat of pilaf and get the wish from the dragon.

Then he use Jackie chan movies for inspiration to create the world tournament

then it come the red ribbon army, wish is based from a game, the inspiration of defeat each times diferent levels and fight generals from diferent races(Blond, black, red hair, etc)

Then when DBZ arrives, and Goku "Real/ new" origin is reveal, then he is not an asian anymore, and more when he goes SSJ, its looks like a nordic or german looking guy.

In the end, I never saw Goku an asian, because the tail, but i imaging his grand pa and Roshi asian, like in the movie, the same way i imaging Bulma like american, and Yamcha asian, i think of course a half asian/american could have being better choice for Goku, anyone as long is a decent actor, and the acting is believable, i am ok with Chatwing.

 

[vibeke_T]

here is how i feel about the whole race issue. bare with me, it's quite a rant...hehe

first let me start off by saying that i'm a Filipino American. depending on who you ask i would be considered Asian or Pacific Islander. i have Chinese blood in me somewhere but i was born and raised (mostly) in America. so obviously this is a biased opinion, but i try to be practical about my views even though it's a tough balance between practicality and art.

which brings me to the beginning of anime early last century. many people don't know this but a lot of styles from early anime resembled early american cartoons like looney toons and disney. from this sprung the popular and cliche'd big eye look that's so popular in most anime since then. a lot of people think that the Japanese draw big eyes in cartoons because of some sort of envy complex, but it's really because big eyes just work better with expressing emotions.

anyway, anime kept evolving until eventually Akira Toriyama came up with the idea of Dragon Ball. he took a trip to China and read an old Chinese folk tale called "A Journey to the West" and when he returned home he was inspired to make a manga based on that folk tale. Akira took Sun Wukong, the monkey king from Journey to the West, and made him the main character, Son Goku, for Dragon Ball. he also took the idea of sutras and refashioned them into dragon balls. so he based his manga on an old Chinese folk tale.

that being said, i think it's clear that Akira originally intended Goku to have Asian-ish features. i would even go so far as to say that he DID have Asian features. in his normal form Goku's hair is long, straight and black. his eyes are black also. his NAME is a Japanese name and his gi is shaolin (Chinese) inspired. not only that but he published the manga under the Japanese magazine, the Weekly Shonen Jump. it eventually got so popular that it spread to the rest Asia and helped start a new trend in Asian hairstyles. in the mid 90's it reached American television. so basically Goku was made by a Japanese, inspired by a Chinese folk tale, published in a Japanese magazine, originally aimed towards Japanese and Asian readers.

with all that in mind, i never expected Hollywood to make an adaptation of Dragon Ball with an Asian (or even half Asian) as the lead role even though i thought it would be a great opportunity to catapult an Asian with the potential of becoming leading man material into stardom. i tried to keep realistic expectations so i didn't think they'd cast an Asian for Goku and i knew there were going to be a lot of changes, most of which would probably do more harm than good. so i was at LEAST hoping for whoever were to play Goku to look and act like him, regardless of race. however, my want for an Asian actor to play Goku comes from the fact that i have Asian ancestors, know the origins of Dragon Ball, and most of all.....i believe that if a film adaptation is to be done, that you should ALWAYS goto the source material for inspiration and guidance. in this case, that would be the original Dragon Ball cartoons and manga.

that brings me to the culture clash, where many Americans think that Goku is supposed to look like a white guy despite the Asian inspired settings. Goku is raised by someone who's basically Chinese, has a Japanese name, and Asian clothing but for some reason many Westerners think he's supposed to look white. sure it's stereotypical for an Asian person to have an Asian name, wear Asian clothes and have Asian mentors but it honestly wouldn't be stereotypical if it weren't so common and true. the more you take away from a culture, the more generic it feels and that makes having a white guy play Goku seem less legit in my eyes. a Caucasian ninja doesn't feel as authentic as an Asian ninja and i feel that a white actor as Goku doesn't feel as authentic to the Asian inspired surroundings and themes of Dragon Ball.


to wrap it all up...again, i never expected Hollywood to cast an Asian as Goku nor did i really have a problem with it. i honestly just wanted a capable actor, but i feel that Goku was always meant to look like an Asian based on the fact that he is a character with Asian features, ideals, and most importantly...origins.

You keep it real!

 

[CaptainGenerica]

In a world with talking animals, blue-haired women, and people shooting beams of frickin energy from their bare hands, I don't think race is a huge deal. It is true that Dragonball is heavily inspired by Chinese legend, but that doesn't mean it has to be Chinese legend. Y'know? Dragonball takes place on "Earth", not in "China".

That said, I don't think they'd have been able to get away with a white Goku if Goku had been an Earth-born human instead of alien. But since he's an alien, and I don't think he's explicitly said to be a "white-looking alien" (like Clark Kent), but just "human-looking", Chatwin is acceptable. Actually Chatwin probably looks as much like Goku as is humanly possible--he looks a little alien himself.