no subject

[firecat]

"Scarlett Johansson’s Ghost in the Shell casting is even worse than it seems," by Kwame Opam

My take on this article: I agree with its argument that the story of Ghost in the Shell is inherently Japanese and it's racist to whitewash the live action remake.

But I think by the argument that the story is inherently Japanese, there should be no white European remake of the story at all. (The director is British, the writers are white, except that the writer for the original Ghost in the Shell is also credited.) Casting Japanese actors wouldn't solve the problem that white European movie-makers are pretty unlikely to do justice to an inherently Japanese story line.

I'm therefore inclined to assume that this is going to be a movie that doesn't have anything in common with the original anime, except the title and the names of some of the characters.

I would normally be interested in seeing an action movie with Scarlett Johannson in it, if it got good reviews, because there aren't enough action movies with female leads. And I'm undecided whether I should boycott this movie because it's named after a Japanese anime movie. I probably won't decide until I see reviews.

What do you think?

Comments

[firecat]

That makes sense. In what way are you not their target market? Just because you're not the target of any Hollywood extruded entertainment product?

[snippy]

Exactly! I'm not a white man between 13 and 25 (or wishing I still were that age). I've seen so many producers, directors, and writers saying they're making the movie they wanted to watch when they were teens, and I'm SO OVER IT.

[firecat]

I'd love to be given $500,000,000 to make a movie I want to watch.