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Michael678 View Drop Down
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Points: 2466 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Thoughts on "Hollywood whitewashing" if any?
    Posted: April 17 2016 at 06:13
I was heavily thinking about this story last night, and I wanted to know everyone's thoughts on this issue and "white-washing" in general in Hollywood movies.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-14/live-action-ghost-in-the-shell-film-posts-1st-photo-of-scarlett-johansson-as-the-major/.101051

Do you agree that it's an issue that needs to be looked at, or is it all hodge-podge bullsh*t to the nth degree?? Feel free to post them down below.
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Points: 67458 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2016 at 06:56
To whitewash is a metaphor meaning "to gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data". It is especially used in the context of corporations, governments or other organizations.
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Points: 13238 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2016 at 09:07
I guess I'm not understanding the dilemma. So because Scarlet Johansson is not a "real cyborg" she shouldn't have the part?Wink

In other news, I am sick to death of political-correctness. I find it disconcerting every time I watch a Shakespeare play set in England during the 14th or 15th century and the Duke of Gloucester or some other royal is a person of color. When Laurence Olivier played Othello, he had to paint his face (it was unnecessary for James Earl Jones, obviously), so shouldn't the black actor apply white (peach or salmon?) make-up to at least give the impression of historical correctness? You say I'm overreacting? Then isn't this the same issue in reverse?

 
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Points: 20671 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2016 at 09:22
^....'not a real cyborg'......LOL
She was probably chosen because she has shown she can be  a box office action star who can make them money....end of story.
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Points: 554 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 10:06
The movie studio needs a famous actress to make sure the movie is a hit. From the studio's point of view it is an investment and they want to make sure they make a profit.

I can't think of any Japanese actresses that are famous enough in the US/worldwide to play the lead role in a movie like this. So someone like Scarlett Johansson is an ideal choice. Apart from being good looking and well known she's also done some sci-fi action movies recently (Lucy, Avengers etc) and that's probably the same audience that the movie producers want to attract for Ghost In The Shell.
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Points: 20671 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 10:54
Originally posted by King Only King Only wrote:

The movie studio needs a famous actress to make sure the movie is a hit. From the studio's point of view it is an investment and they want to make sure they make a profit.

I can't think of any Japanese actresses that are famous enough in the US/worldwide to play the lead role in a movie like this. So someone like Scarlett Johansson is an ideal choice. Apart from being good looking and well known she's also done some sci-fi action movies recently (Lucy, Avengers etc) and that's probably the same audience that the movie producers want to attract for Ghost In The Shell.

Yep......'nuff said.


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Points: 10841 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 11:50
Originally posted by King Only King Only wrote:

The movie studio needs a famous actress to make sure the movie is a hit. From the studio's point of view it is an investment and they want to make sure they make a profit.

I can't think of any Japanese actresses that are famous enough in the US/worldwide to play the lead role in a movie like this. So someone like Scarlett Johansson is an ideal choice. Apart from being good looking and well known she's also done some sci-fi action movies recently (Lucy, Avengers etc) and that's probably the same audience that the movie producers want to attract for Ghost In The Shell.


So, the audience cares more about the actors/actresses than the scenario/story of the movies? That must explain why the studios want Cumberbatch in every movie.

But the main problem is: why do the Hell movie studios need to do a "live" remake of Ghost In The Shell or Akira? To make the audience feel like they're watching a "true movie for adults" instead of a cartoon? To make the audience feel like at home: "Ah, it's an American movie, nothing strange from these Japanese weirdos"?
I'm slightly confused by this strategy.
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Points: 554 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 12:27
Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:

So, the audience cares more about the actors/actresses than the scenario/story of the movies?

Well, I think most moviegoers care about both. But it's a fact that it's very hard to have a hit if you don't have a famous star in the leading role. And they need the film to be a hit because these kinds of movies are expensive to make. You need to recoup at least a hundred million dollars before you even start making a profit.

Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:

But the main problem is: why do the Hell movie studios need to do a "live" remake of Ghost In The Shell or Akira? To make the audience feel like they're watching a "true movie for adults" instead of a cartoon? To make the audience feel like at home: "Ah, it's an American movie, nothing strange from these Japanese weirdos"?
I'm slightly confused by this strategy.

Japanese creators and companies are happy to sell their intellectual property to Hollywood studios because they get a ton of cash. These remakes only happen after the original Japanese creators give permission and get paid. They only care about money. Come over to Japan sometime and you will see what I mean. They use anime characters to sell junk food, pachinko slot machines, video games, sexualized products like mousepads with breasts etc. Japanese anime creators and companies have zero integrity (except for maybe Studio Ghibli).

And it wouldn't necessarily be better if it was made in Japan with an all Japanese cast. I mean look at the live action Attack On Titan movies or the live action Kiki's Delivery Service movie. All Japanese staff and cast and the movies were terrible.

I don't think many American moviegoers know or even care if it's originally from Japan or not. They just want to see attractive actors and actresses, lots of action scenes and cool special effects.
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Points: 2466 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 12:50
Originally posted by King Only King Only wrote:

Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:

So, the audience cares more about the actors/actresses than the scenario/story of the movies?

Well, I think most moviegoers care about both. But it's a fact that it's very hard to have a hit if you don't have a famous star in the leading role. And they need the film to be a hit because these kinds of movies are expensive to make. You need to recoup at least a hundred million dollars before you even start making a profit.

Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:

But the main problem is: why do the Hell movie studios need to do a "live" remake of Ghost In The Shell or Akira? To make the audience feel like they're watching a "true movie for adults" instead of a cartoon? To make the audience feel like at home: "Ah, it's an American movie, nothing strange from these Japanese weirdos"?
I'm slightly confused by this strategy.

Japanese creators and companies are happy to sell their intellectual property to Hollywood studios because they get a ton of cash. These remakes only happen after the original Japanese creators give permission and get paid. They only care about money. Come over to Japan sometime and you will see what I mean. They use anime characters to sell junk food, pachinko slot machines, video games, sexualized products like mousepads with breasts etc. Japanese anime creators and companies have zero integrity (except for maybe Studio Ghibli).

And it wouldn't necessarily be better if it was made in Japan with an all Japanese cast. I mean look at the live action Attack On Titan movies or the live action Kiki's Delivery Service movie. All Japanese staff and cast and the movies were terrible.

I don't think many American moviegoers know or even care if it's originally from Japan or not. They just want to see attractive actors and actresses, lots of action scenes and cool special effects.

And that's the unfortunate thing about this whole thing: there isn't any creative/artistic/economic risk involved, and there isn't as much room for new talent to become big superstars as there was back in the day. Of course everything's about the money, but it should not get too much in the way of creative freedom and deliver something legitimately good. Besides, I'm not bothered in seeing what might be yet another piece of sh*t live-action adaptation (because history shows it to be the case). So, if I see from now on any debate on a movie in regards to 'whitewashing', 7 times out of 10 the movie looks to be sh*t to me, personally.
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Points: 65760 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 12:58
Scarlett Johansson is not a good actor.
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Points: 554 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 13:19
Originally posted by A Person A Person wrote:

Scarlett Johansson is not a good actor.

Well honestly, for this character not a lot of acting is really needed. The character is not very emotional, she has a very cold personality. But the role will have a lot of physical challenges (although I guess they will use stunt doubles and CGI for that).

Unfortunately I think the final result will be closer to the Resident Evil movies rather than the original Japanese movies and TV shows. But hopefully I'm wrong.
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Points: 65760 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 13:26
Originally posted by King Only King Only wrote:

Originally posted by A Person A Person wrote:

Scarlett Johansson is not a good actor.

Well honestly, for this character not a lot of acting is really needed. The character is not very emotional, she has a very cold personality. But the role will have a lot of physical challenges (although I guess they will use stunt doubles and CGI for that).

Unfortunately I think the final result will be closer to the Resident Evil movies rather than the original Japanese movies and TV shows. But hopefully I'm wrong.

It's going to be based on the TV show I think, so it will need more emotion than the film. I don't think ScarJo can do cerebral nonemotional types as proven by Lucy.
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Points: 34086 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 13:37
Scarlett Johansen could motion capture a role for a film about granite rocks or ice bergs
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Points: 23104 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2016 at 14:35
This isn't a new thing though...but I guess one could've hoped to see Hollywood start casting actors that actually fit the given story.
Take the movie Troja for instance. None of the actors look like they're from the Mediterrenean sea, and the one playing Helene, the most beautiful girl in the world at the time, looks like a British sock model.
Hollywood casts movies to earn money just like every other movie cartel....they're just getting increasingly poorer at it as time goes by.
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Points: 15784 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 08:57
Originally posted by A Person A Person wrote:

Originally posted by King Only King Only wrote:

Originally posted by A Person A Person wrote:

Scarlett Johansson is not a good actor.

Well honestly, for this character not a lot of acting is really needed. The character is not very emotional, she has a very cold personality. But the role will have a lot of physical challenges (although I guess they will use stunt doubles and CGI for that).

Unfortunately I think the final result will be closer to the Resident Evil movies rather than the original Japanese movies and TV shows. But hopefully I'm wrong.

It's going to be based on the TV show I think, so it will need more emotion than the film. I don't think ScarJo can do cerebral nonemotional types as proven by Lucy.


And disproved by Under the Skin.
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Points: 10279 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 09:10
I don't understand why people are complaining now, when that was announced one year ago Ermm There are two really good seasons of Stand Alone Complex, I don't think a movie is necessary.
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Points: 34086 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 09:12
I think Scarlett did a decent Kaa voice
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Michael678 View Drop Down
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Points: 2466 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 09:42
Originally posted by Meltdowner Meltdowner wrote:

I don't understand why people are complaining now, when that was announced one year ago Ermm There are two really good seasons of Stand Alone Complex, I don't think a movie is necessary.

I think there was, but I'm not entirely sure since I don't know when they first announced Johansson is playing Kusanagi so...
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Points: 9869 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 11:18
Originally posted by Icarium Icarium wrote:

I think Scarlett did a decent Kaa voice

Not even close to Sterling Holloway, though.  Only Idris Elba and Kingsley fared well among the voice overs imo.  
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Points: 20671 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 08 2016 at 12:13
Originally posted by CPicard CPicard wrote:


So, the audience cares more about the actors/actresses than the scenario/story of the movies? That must explain why the studios want Cumberbatch in every movie.


 
He's doing Dr Strange currently......Depp turned down the role from what I have read.
Personally I like Cumberbatch...an excellent actor , but certainly he nor anyone else is right for every part.
 
But as someone mentioned above this is all about the money...so they are not going to hire a nobody for the lead role unless they have a well known supporting cast to carry the film and they hope the newcomer will become a star.
 
Big budget action / superhero films are all about fantasy anyway....do we really want to see ordinary looking people in them...? Look at all the Avenger films, etc...these are box office draws....it's that simple.
Even Deadpool, an unconventional 'hero' film has Ryan Reynolds and not some average acting Joe.
It's a no brainer.
 
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