Memes of the Right Brane: Masamune Shirow’s anime series Ghost in the Shell is the latest to be made into a live-action feature film by director Rupert Sanders (due out in 2017). Unfortunately, the significance of such a groundbreaking work being developed for live cinema is being overshadowed by an unfortunate element of Hollywood film-making generally referred to as whitewashing.
12 comments:
This article was almost completely in line with my thinking – the ending left a slightly disappointing taste in my mouth, though. The end of the article almost makes it sound like the author is enraged by whitewashing in Hollywood but has submitted to the fact that nothing can be done about it apart from posting to social media. Though social media is powerful, it is not enough. Boycotting the movie would be a good way to make a message (since it counteracts Hollywoood’s “all-for-profit” ideals by cutting down the profit they make on the movie). But, the author instead chose to say that he WILL go see the movie – is this some sort of joke? He spends an article complaining about how Hollywood is all about profit and then decides to augment that profit by going despite the whitewashed role-casting.
I’m not saying he should not go see the movie; he can do as he pleases. But, if he is going to make such a big fuss only to submit and show readers WHY Hollywood gets away with whitewashing (because viewers will see the film anyways), don’t make the fuss or give other ways to protest whitewashing other than not seeing the movie.
With regards to the article itself, I agree with most of it. He mentions reverse-white-washing, and does a good job to present the problem of whitewashing in Hollywood. The last few sentences were just a little too docile for my liking.
Okay I'm not going to really comment about how this article was written or the fact that it's from someone's angry blog because I get it. At least, as much as a white woman can. However, I agree with the author that whitewashing as a practice in Hollywood needs to stop. As someone who has had no contact with Hollywood in her life, I don't get the concept behind it. Is it to put big names into movies? Yes? Okay, so if we're taking that as "Hollywood's argument," do people really go see these movies just for one specific actor? Like, I'm a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, but if he was going to star in a movie that was based on the story of a black man, then that would make me really uncomfortable and I wouldn't support that. In a way, by them associating this white actor with this Asian role, turns me off to the movie rather than draw me in with the brand her name supposedly comes with. In addition, I don't think that the creators of this movie are actually going to tell this story well. They're not using an Asian actress for an Asian remake. It's just irresponsible storytelling. Next movie, please.
I picked this article because of how much attention white washing has been getting in the past few years. While I agree that whitewashing is an issue that needs to be addressed I also see why studios make these choices. I actually watched an editorial about this very topic and the author’s main argument was that since this film is made by America for an American audience it isn’t so heinous that the main character is a white woman. He also brought up the fact that when asked, many Japanese people didn’t seem to mind either. His argument was that if an originally American film was remade in Japan they would cast Japanese actors, and no one would bat an eye. I’m not saying this is correct but it does make one think; if groups of people other than the Japanese are getting so upset about this do they even have a right? Or are they just upset for argument’s sake?
I don’t feel so much that the problem is so much institutional racism as that race swapping just makes movies worse. I know that in the grown up world, intentions don’t mean a thing, and there will be no subtly or nuance when people react to decisions that are made, but I will probably never think that not casting non-white people in a story not written about non-white people or visa versa is racism. Having an attitude that we should not present or tell stories about non-white people is racist. Certainly with remakes of other stories, or a historical piece, casting decisions should be left entirely up to what and who the person originally was. For this movie, I wish there had been a different casting choice made if only because Major is an Asian character. Maybe its naïve of me to think that people don’t actually care who is in a movie, they just care how cool the trailer looks, and how much money got spent on it. I guess I’m cynical in a different way.
I was caught by this article, because it is a topic that i find incredibly interesting. from the casting of live-action Mulan, to the recent release of Dr. Strange, whitewashing has been brought up and I agree that it is a common Hollywood tactic that really should stop. I find it hard to actually call it racism, because i don't think it is intended to be insulting, however it is definitely detrimental to the accurate depiction of the story. so when they cast a white actor for this movie, it makes me less interested in the movie due to the fact that it will not be a very correct telling of the original story.
I think articles like thee are so important. One of the most important things, to me, for anyone from kids to teenagers to adults is seeing people like you portrayed normally and accurately in the media. With this movie especially, where it is clear that the original writing calls for minority inclusive casting, I think people really need to go back and look at why they made that choice and whether or not that justification is actually a valid one, not just an effort to tack on an extra million in the box office. I also think it is impossible to accurately depict the original story as it was written, because by casting someone of a different race, you unintentionally alter how an audience is going to perceive or view certain things. Overall, I think this practice needs to be put to an end and Hollywood needs to be more inclusive of those for which these roles were written for int he first place.
I was super on board with this article, until the author at the end said they were probably going to still see it in theatres, because they don't hold anything against Scarlett Jo. Uhm, no? SJ is going to get paid no matter what the box office does, author, you aren't supporting SJ by paying to see it in theatres, you are rewarding the very people you are complaining about in this article.
This article really doesn't focus on the cultural effects of whitewashing - it's not just that some Asian actress got passed on for a role, it's that she gets passed by every single time. It's the fact that I can only name three of those Asian actresses in the large compilation you put up, but I could tell you ten white actresses without missing a beat. It's the fact that Hollywood writes white people's stories, and even when they 'import' a non white person's story they STILL fill it with white people. I know they're just trying to make money. But Jesus, with all of this negative press, what do you think is going to happen? And why are people who are upset by it going to see it in theatres? Everyone who worked on the movie will still get their stipulated amount no matter if you go see it or not - the only people you're benefiting by giving them your money are the very honchos who made that shitty decision in the first place. End rant.
I think it is important that more people are starting to recognize that white-washing exists and that it is not a thing that should be accepted. Race has been a problem for years, but it is because people are not making a conscious effort to fix the problem. By white-washing for an all white audience, producers and casting-directors are sending the message that the white audience wont accept different races. I know for me and for many people apart of the white audience, there is no difference between a person based off of their skin color. If people start making the decision to cast a variety of actors, it will not be a big deal when non-white actors are cast. I think something that would shock audiences in a good way would be if a cast that is supposed to be all white was cast diversely. Hamilton was a great example of this and I remember many critiques had a problem that the founders fathers were not cast as the white male. I think this was a huge step in the right direction, and if it was transferred over to television, which is more watched by a broader audience, different races would begin to be more accepted.
White washing is so embedded in the Hollywood film/tv industry that I'm not surprised to see this. Hollywood does not care about making progress, they care about money. Having lived in China for 10+ years, I can safely but sadly say this issue is only seen as a problem here in the US. Films that are white washed still sell in countries like China and Japan because they have their own big film/tv industries that produce blockbusters with their own actors. Thus, they do not need to fight for any representation in the Hollywood industry. Furthermore, because of how white washed the US mainstream media/pop culture is, for people who don't live in the US, that is what forms their (inaccurate) impression that the US is "white". This further feeds into their thinking that this is a Hollywood film, it's from America, so what's the problem with casting a white person? The problem is America today is not just white, and we still have a long way to go to penetrate this notion that is so embedded world wide.
There is white washing left and right in so many movies its so disappointing. I know Hollywood needs money to survive but I wish it didn't come at the cost of diversity. I agree with the author that its not the actors fault for their race and it wont ruin the movie but part of me believes it should have been more accurate to the culture surrounding the original. Ghost in the Shell has been around since the 1990s and the fact that its already been redone a few times goes to show its sustained popularity. It may be a niche category in holly wood but it script has already proven itself successful time and time again. If a director chooses a "safe" script maybe a more diverse and more "risky" cast would be appropriate. Regardless of the white-washing I'll still be seeing the movie in hope that in the future diversity will become more important to movie going audiences.
This article is so infuriating, how can the author not see that he's obviously a part of the problem? You can't write a whole article about how bad white-washing is and then go and support the movie anyway. At the end of the article he writes, "I don’t blame Scarlett Johansson for being the lead, nor do I dislike her as an actress; so I’ll watch, and hope she does a bang-up job in the role." Johansson could have turned down this role as she knew that it was originally made for an Asian actress, so she is at least partially to blame for this. Even if she portrays the character extremely well that does not excuse her taking the part in the first place. He then goes on to say "I will look sourly on Hollywood’s casting practices, and hope the future of Hollywood’s institutionalized racism is getting dimmer by the day." He's essentially saying that although he disapproves of racism in casting he'll keep giving companies that perpetuate it his money. In the entertainment industry the consumer votes with their dollar, so by seeing this movie in theaters you're telling the producers that this is the kind of entertainment you want more of. Why do you think there are so many Marvel movies coming out all the time? They make money. Although it's good that more people are aware that white-washing is a problem nothing is going to change until Hollywood begins to lose money. It's unfortunate that executives care more about their bottom line than the ethics of what they do, but by boycotting these movies they will eventually get the wake up call that they need.
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