Ghost in the Shell

[GeneChing]

Ghost in the Shell Publisher 'Never Imagined' a Japanese Actress in the Lead Role
Brian Ashcraft
Today 8:00am


Ghost in the Shell Publisher 'Never Imagined' a Japanese Actress in the Lead Role
[Image: Paramount/Dreamworks]

While Scarlett Johansson’s casting as Japanese cyborg Motoko Kusanagi has been controversial in the West, the original Tokyo-based publisher of the Ghost in the Shell manga seems totally cool with it.

Kodansha, one of Japan’s largest publishers, first put out the manga in 1989, and as AnimeNewsNetwork reports, began reprinting the manga after Production I.G successfully pitched the project to Hollywood on its behalf.

[Full disclosure: The now-defunct Kodansha International previously published two of my books.]

“Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well-cast,” Sam Yoshiba, director of the international business division at Kodansha’s headquarters in Tokyo, told The Hollywood Reporter (via AnimeNewsNetwork and RocketNews). “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,” said Yoshiba.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this comes after Yoshiba recently came back from the movie’s New Zealand set and said, as The Hollywood Reporter writes, “he was impressed by the respect being shown for the source material.”

Well, save for the bit about the main character being white and all.

While the manga’s publisher might have never imagined a Japanese actress, there was a recent report that stated the filmmakers ran tests to see if Johansson could look Asian through CG.

In Japan, however, many people online don’t seem too upset or even surprised about the casting. Some said they didn’t care because they had no plans to see the film anyway.

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Never mind the publisher's take. They sold the rights. What about the author?

[Cataphract]

I never felt that Kusanagi's cyborg body had a defined ethnicity. Many drawings show her with blue eyes. Maybe the author himself is to blame. Or the artist.
She reminds me of those Korean girls with plastic surgery for a western appearance. It fits the movie's central theme.

[GeneChing]

The complaint grows: first Ghost, then Dr. Strange, and now Power Rangers.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Why Won’t Hollywood Cast Asian Actors?


DADU SHIN
By KEITH CHOW
APRIL 22, 2016
HERE’S an understatement: It isn’t easy being an Asian-American actor in Hollywood. Despite some progress made on the small screen — thanks, “Fresh Off the Boat”! — a majority of roles that are offered to Asian-Americans are limited to stereotypes that wouldn’t look out of place in an ’80s John Hughes comedy.

This problem is even worse when roles that originated as Asian characters end up going to white actors. Unfortunately, these casting decisions are not a relic of Hollywood’s past, like Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of I. Y. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but continue right up to the present.

Last week Disney and Marvel Studios released the trailer for “Doctor Strange,” an adaptation of the Marvel comic. After exhausting every “white man finds enlightenment in the Orient” trope in less than two minutes, the trailer presents Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, a Tibetan male mystic in the comics. Though her casting was no secret, there was something unsettling about the sight of Ms. Swinton’s clean-shaven head and “mystical” Asian garments. It recalled jarring memories of David Carradine from “Kung Fu,” the 1970s television series that, coincidentally, was itself a whitewashed version of a Bruce Lee concept.

A few days later, DreamWorks and Paramount provided a glimpse of Scarlett Johansson as the cyborg Motoko Kusanagi in their adaptation of the Japanese anime classic “Ghost in the Shell.” The image coincided with reports that producers considered using digital tools to make Ms. Johansson look more Asian — basically, yellowface for the digital age.

This one-two punch of white actors playing Asian characters showed how invisible Asian-Americans continue to be in Hollywood. (Not to be left out of the whitewashing news, Lionsgate also revealed the first images of Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa, another originally Asian character, in its gritty “Power Rangers” reboot.)


Slide Show | Whitewashing, a Long History White actors playing Asian characters demonstrate how invisible Asian-Americans continue to be in Hollywood.

Why is the erasure of Asians still an acceptable practice in Hollywood? It’s not that people don’t notice: Just last year, Emma Stone played a Chinese-Hawaiian character named Allison Ng in Cameron Crowe’s critically derided “Aloha.” While that film incited similar outrage (and tepid box office interest), no national conversation about racist casting policies took place.

Obviously, Asian-Americans are not the only victims of Hollywood’s continuing penchant for whitewashing. Films like “Pan” and “The Lone Ranger” featured white actors playing Native Americans, while “Gods of Egypt” and “Exodus: Gods and Kings” continue the long tradition of Caucasians playing Egyptians.

In all these cases, the filmmakers fall back on the same tired arguments. Often, they insist that movies with minorities in lead roles are gambles. When doing press for “Exodus,” the director Ridley Scott said: “I can’t mount a film of this budget" and announce that “my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such.”

When the screenwriter Max Landis took to YouTube to explain the “Ghost in the Shell” casting, he used a similar argument. “There are no A-list female Asian celebrities right now on an international level,” he said, admonishing viewers for “not understanding how the industry works.”

Mr. Landis’s argument closely tracks a statement by the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. In a leaked email exchange with studio heads, he complained about the difficulty of adapting “Flash Boys,” Michael Lewis’s book about the Wall Street executive Bradley Katsuyama, because “there aren’t any Asian movie stars.”

Hollywood seems untroubled by these arguments. It’s not about race, they say; the only color they see is green: The reason Asian-American actors are not cast to front these films is because not any of them have a box office track record.

But they’re wrong. If minorities are box office risks, what accounts for the success of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, which presented a broadly diverse team, behind and in front of the camera? Over seven movies it has grossed nearly $4 billion worldwide. In fact, a recent study by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that films with diverse leads not only resulted in higher box office numbers but also higher returns of investment for studios and producers.

And Hollywood’s argument is circular: If Asian-Americans — and other minority actors more broadly — are not even allowed to be in a movie, how can they build the necessary box office clout in the first place? To make matters worse, instead of trying to use their lofty positions in the industry to push for change, Hollywood players like Mr. Landis and Mr. Sorkin take the easy, cynical path.

[Jimbo]

Some of the exact same stuff I said in post #13.

Anyway, I won't be watching either this or the Dr. Strange movie.

Funny how the Smiths and all the African-Americans who boycotted the oscars for being "too white" and not giving enough opportunities to "people of color" are noticeably absent on this issue. I suppose Asian-American actors aren't people of ENOUGH color.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

"Funny how the Smiths and all the African-Americans who boycotted the oscars for being "too white" and not giving enough opportunities to "people of color" are noticeably absent on this issue. I suppose Asian-American actors aren't people of ENOUGH color."

I do not think that the many "people of color" in Hollywood, regardless of national origin, have taken themselves to the point where they can actually be an influence. Getting paid seems to be the drive now days. It is most unfortunate. Bridges of mutual support should be established.

The "Asian Card" is the most powerful card to play right now simply because of the money that can be made in the Asian market. One well placed funk over representation can tank a movie's draw in the Asian market.

I found the Asian response to Dr Strange to be painfully slow on the draw. Yet, I see the momentum building.


mickey

[rett2]

If they make a good movie, who cares? The important thing to me is that the characters have the right air about them. They can't come across in their mannerisms as LA people. That's why Uma Thurman was a complete failure in Kill Bill (to my mind). She did not express the mindset. If SJ can be the Major, all power to her.

[Jimbo]

Going a little OT, but IMO, Uma Thurman did fine in Kill Bill, for what it is. Kill Bill is mostly a cartoonish spoof of the Kung Fu and samurai movie genres, as opposed to 'serious'. Sure, it's QT's homage to those genres, but few (or perhaps no) American directors who film 'homages' to the Kung Fu movie genre seem able to resist spoofing it.

[rett2]

Going a little OT, but IMO, Uma Thurman did fine in Kill Bill, for what it is. Kill Bill is mostly a cartoonish spoof of the Kung Fu and samurai movie genres, as opposed to 'serious'. Sure, it's QT's homage to those genres, but few (or perhaps no) American directors who film 'homages' to the Kung Fu movie genre seem able to resist spoofing it.

Even for a spoof, a woman swordfighter has to have a certain quality about her acting. Like Cheng Pei Pei. She has what I'm talking about. She has what Tarantino should have recognized and should have sought after. Even if it only shone through once in a while. Tarantino missed the boat completely with KB, and to be fair to Uma Thurman, maybe Tarantino just directed her badly. Something like what CPP has (but different) is what SJ has to find in herself to be the Major... and I think she probably can do it.

[Cataphract]

I can see how casting Tom Cruise as Akira (or rather Tetsuo) would have been very wrong. Totally worthy of nerd rage above all. But can somebody please explain to me why exactly casting Scarlett Johansson as Major Kusanagi is wrong? She plays a cyborg. The intro shows how her body is being assembled.

[GeneChing]

It's an American issue. America will soon need to grapple with not being #1 when it comes to movies.

Asian actors too busy to fret over Hollywood 'white-washing'
Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press Updated 10:20 am, Thursday, June 30, 2016


Photo: Andrew Medichini, AP
In this Sept. 5, 2007, file photo, Japanese actress Kaori Momoi poses during the photo call for the movie "Sukiyaki Western Django" at the 64th Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy. The film world of Asia is too busy making movies of its own to fret much about the debate slamming Hollywood - the casting of white people in roles written for Asians. Momoi, who appeared in “Memoirs of a Geisha,” as well as Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Sokurov’s “The Sun,” suggested acting was ultimately about individual talent, not skin color or nationality


Photo: Lionel Cironneau, AP
In this May 18, 2013 file photo, actor Vijay Varma poses for photographers during a photo call for the film "Monsoon Shootout" at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France. The film world of Asia is too busy making movies of its own to fret much about the debate slamming Hollywood - the casting of white people in roles written for Asians. The Indian actor who starred in "Monsoon Shootout," a crime story with multiple endings, shown at Cannes, eloquently directed by Amit Kumar, pointed out insularity was prevalent in Bollywood as well


Photo: Thibault Camus, AP
In this May 11, 2016, file photo, actress Gong Li arrives on the red carpet for the screening of the film Cafe Society and the Opening Ceremony at the 69th international film festival, Cannes, southern France. The film world of Asia is too busy making movies of its own to fret much about the debate slamming Hollywood - the casting of white people in roles written for Asians. Li, the star of Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou’s films, such as “Raise the Red Lantern,” characterized the dilemma as a “problem of marketability.”


Photo: Yoo Hyo-lim, AP
South Korean actress Claudia Kim poses during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 30, 2016. The film world of Asia is too busy making movies of its own to fret much about the debate slamming Hollywood -_ the casting of white people in roles written for Asians. Kim, known in her native South Korea as Soo Hyun, noted she has been lucky to play independent Asian women in most movies, such as Dr. Helen Cho in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the 2015 movie based on Marvel comics. (Yoo Hyo-lim/Yonhap via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — The film world of Asia, known for producing Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, Brillante Mendoza and other greats, is too busy making movies of its own to fret much about the debate slamming Hollywood — the casting of white people in roles written for Asians.
While hurt, irritated or dumb-founded perhaps about the so-called "white-washing" syndrome, performers here aren't expressing the level of outrage of a Margaret Cho, George Takei or other Americans, The Associated Press has found.
Many shrugged off the phenomenon as inevitable, given commercial marketability needs, noting Asian films also cast well-known actors over and over.
Casting white people in non-white roles is as painfully old as Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu in American entertainment. That kind of monolithic casting continues — recently with the tapping of Tilda Swinton as a character that was originally Tibetan in the new Marvel "Dr. Strange" movie.
It's also a sensitive topic. South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun declined to be interviewed through his representative, who noted Lee was set to be in a Hollywood film.
Kaori Momoi, who appeared in "Memoirs of a Geisha," as well as Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Sokurov's "The Sun," suggested acting was ultimately about individual talent, not skin color or nationality.
Momoi praised the devotion, skill and professionalism of Scarlett Johansson, whose starring in "Ghost in the Shell," based on a Japanese manga, has stirred up an uproar as a prime example of "white-washing." Momoi played the mother of Johansson's character.
"I felt blessed to have worked with her," she said, urging actors to be selective of the directors they choose to work with. "And so what's fantastic is fantastic. What fails just fails."
Like other actors with experience in Asia, Momoi saw Hollywood more as an opportunity. She was already a superstar in Japan when she started acting in movies abroad about a decade ago. What she enjoyed was the challenging novelty of it all, "getting away from being Kaori Momoi," as she described it.
"Compared to Japan, there is so much potential and recognition in the U.S. for independent films," said Momoi in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.
She got to know film people at international festivals, including Berlin, which showed "Fukushima, Mon Amour," a film she was in. She has become a director herself, having two films to her credit, including "Hee," being released later this year, in which she also gives a harrowing rendition of an aging prostitute.
Claudia Kim, known in her native South Korea as Soo Hyun, noted she has been lucky to play independent Asian women in most movies, such as Dr. Helen Cho in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the 2015 movie based on Marvel comics.
But she was baffled when she learned a white actress was picked for the Asian role in a Hollywood movie she had auditioned for. She declined to identify that film.
"It is definitely not a pleasant experience," she told the AP, calling the choice "ridiculous."
Vijay Varma, an India actor who starred in "Monsoon Shootout," a crime story with multiple endings that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, pointed out insularity was prevalent in Bollywood as well.
Families dominate the business, although he was an exception and came from a family unrelated to movies. Bollywood counts on mass appeal, casting the "familiar," just like Hollywood, he added.
When an effort that defies boundaries turns out to be a great movie, like "Life of Pi," which starred an Indian actor, combined live action with computer graphics, and had a Taiwan-born director Ang Lee, "it feels really good," Varma said.
While some Japanese may wonder why Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is the heroine in "Memoirs of a Geisha," they also feel no qualms routinely casting Japanese to play Chinese and other non-Japanese Asian roles, feigning embarrassingly phony accents and mannerisms.
Landing roles in Asian movies is relatively off-limits for Americans, usually relegated to blatantly "foreign" roles. Koji Fukada's "Sayonara" starred Bryerly Long, an American, as a dying woman in Japan, but the film also starred a humanoid robot as her loyal companion.
Gong Li, the star of Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou's films, such as "Raise the Red Lantern," characterized the dilemma as a "problem of marketability."
"Asian culture has not meshed well with U.S. film culture. It's not integrated. There are a lot of American A-listers who are making movies in China right now, who have not done well. So it's the same whether you cast a famous actor or not not-so famous one. Chinese people don't know who they are," she said as she walked the red carpet recently at Cannes.
Examples abound. "Hollywood Adventures" had an American setting and Chinese stars but was doomed by the stiff translation of English dialogue. Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen made the action fantasy "Outcast" for the Chinese market, where it flopped. Jackie Chan's "Dragon Blade," co-starring Adrien Brody and John Cusack, was a hit in China, but its U.S. showing failed to replicate the martial arts superstar's past Hollywood successes.
Matt Damon and director Zhang Yimou are hoping for a better reception in their upcoming science-fiction thriller "The Great Wall."
And many performers in both places hope for a more multicultural future.
Respecting diversity in casting could lead not only to better films but also a better world, said Monisha Shiva, an Indian-American actress who has worked in both India and the U.S., and found the former to be more empowering.
"I was the center. I was the story," she said in a telephone interview from New York.
"The magic of acting is to give people visions and imagination, and imagine a different world. You want that. It's important to use actors of color," said Shiva. "Art is to start to make new visions. And it's a way to heal."
___
Associated Press writers Angela Chen in Hong Kong and Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama

[Jimbo]

Honestly, I don't see why Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, etc. actors/actresses based in their native countries would even be asked what they might think of Hollywood whitewashing. A high percentage of Asians in Asia period wouldn't even comprehend the concept of whitewashing. I've always said that it's an Asian-American issue, not an Asian issue. I give far more credibility to what George Takei, B.D. Wong, Margaret Cho and others have had to say on the matter than I would Kaori Momoi, Gong Li, et al. There are many talented Asian-American actors out there. Why have several of them relocated to work as actors in the countries of their ancestry, even if some of them couldn't even speak the language?

And for anyone who says that white (or black) people couldn't become big stars in Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, etc., that is a weak argument. None of those countries are as diverse and multi-cultural as the U.S., which likes to tout that fact, but does not reflect it onscreen.

[GeneChing]

srsly?



I luv Japan!

[GeneChing]

[@PLUGO]

Ghost in the Shell Official Trailer 1

[GeneChing]