GHOST IN THE SHELL FILTHY WHITEWASHING 2016

[Lucius]

So as you can tell from the clickbait title, I'm here to discuss Hollywood's latest attempt at cashing in on the trending anime fandom, "Ghost in the Shell" live action. Now, to be honest, I don't really think this is technically whitewashing, since we're talking about a robot (or android, whatever) here, not an actual human Japanese woman. However, I do think that Hollywood is being rather hypocritical about the whole 'diversity' issue of America. You've got black and Mexican replacing white roles in movies everywhere nowadays, but when it comes to Asians, I just sense a certain biasness against them for some reason. The notorious casting in Marvel's Iron Fist and Dr. Strange was just a prime example of such hypocrisy.

But okay, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Casting Asians in stereotypical kung-fu roles in Dr. Strange and Iron Fist can be considered racist in some perspective (even though it's part of our culture, being as racist as casting black people as rappers). Okay, fine, I'll take that. So I would just like the rest of you to give your two-cents about this, particularly any Asians out here like myself.

I don't think I'll be supporting the movie, and it's not just because of the pseudo-whitewashing/hypocrisy surrounding the production, but also because I'm just not that big of a GitS fan. I liked the first movie somewhat, but it's way 3deep5me. I don't know how they could produce so many spin-offs and sequels with that one franchise. Then again, you have movies like Kara no Kyōkai, the supernatural version of 6deep9me.

Also, raising the race-card like an anal-blasted SJW aside, is it just me who thinks Scarlett Johansson is getting overcast? Not to mention typecast? Like I get that she's sexy and all, but it seems like most of the roles she's been getting recently is just some femme fatale badass who knows how to scissor-strangle someone with her thighs (and uses 250% of the human brain or some shit). Like, is Hollywood running out of good actresses? I mean, you could always use the other overcast actress, Jennifer Lawrence; at least she's not cast in the same types of role as often.

Anyway, that's just a sneak peak of the trailer, basically one of those nonsensical trailer for a trailer on YouTube. I'll update this thread with the official trailer when it comes out. Till then, leave your thoughts on this upcoming movie.

[Narcosis]

Ok

[Kurisu-Chan]

Bad movie, i don't care. 

[DarkZedge]

Haven't seen the first movie nor do I plan on watching this one so I don't know  

[Soulless Watcher]

Does anyone know if this movie will be shown in China? I know that is one of the main reasons this happens. Ironically, it isn't to cater to western audiences, but to cater to audiences in China who are fans of Hollywood actors/actresses. Over there they don't consider a movie to be, for lack of a better word, "legit" unless a big Hollywood actor/actress is attached to it. Although I can't really see this movie getting approved in China, considering I highly doubt the anime isn't on their ban list.

[TexasDice]

Are there any asian actors in Hollywood with bigger box-office draws than Scarlett Johansson? 

Movies aren't about work, Lucius. Or integrity. They're made as fast and efficiently as possible to gather as much cash as they possibly can. Unless you're George Miller or Guillermo del Toro. 

[Lucius]

1 minute ago, TexasDice said:

Movies aren't about integrity.

With the loads of SJW white-guilt movies we have going around out there today, I would like to beg to differ.

Then again, you might have a point there. "Protect the interest of our consumers, which don't include the 5% of Asian Americans out there compared to the amount of women and black people in the country." Profiteering sounds about right.

[Nier]

Quote

Username: Lucius
Location: South-East Asia

*post an e-rant about SJWs and "anti-whiteness" on a weeaboo forum*

Sexpat detected!

[pik3rob]

Eh, not like any of that matters in the end of the day. Won't be watching the movie because I'd rather watch the original Ghost in The Shell first, but not liking it because of the ethnicity of the people cast is some of the most idiotic things I've heard in a while. What matters most is whether or not it looks like a good film. The only time you should be interested in casting is whether the people in the movie can act or not.

[Darklord Rooke]

Since when did industries cast actors based on where the story was originally developed? Did China cast white actors when they remade 'What Women Want' a few years ago? Hell no they didn't.

As the son of a Chinese/Malaysian mother, I will say that avoiding the movie because the American remake cast typically American actors is stupid. American actors were cast to make it more accessible to the audience they were targeting, just as Chinese actors are cast in Chinese remakes to make it more accessible to their audiences.

[Lucius]

42 minutes ago, pik3rob said:

but not liking it because of the ethnicity of the people cast is some of the most idiotic things I've heard in a while.

36 minutes ago, Rooke said:

Since when did industries cast actors based on where the story was originally developed?

As the son of a Chinese/Malaysian mother, I will say that avoiding the movie because the American remake cast typically American actors is stupid. American actors were cast to make it more accessible to the audience they were targeting,

Except that the oversaturated white-guilt movies these days always have to do with the big bad white men enslaving the poor, penniless nigger. Oh yeah, America totally doesn't cast based on race and ethnicity. Americans totally don't complain about black people being racially miscast ("WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN MOVIES AND COMICS; DIVERSITY FTW!"). Americans certainly don't bitch about women being oppressed in the industry by men stealing their jobs (and vice versa with MGTOW and feminists). Americans certainly don't try to shove down our throats their obsession with gay men and gay rights in movies, furthering their love for that diversity bullshit. Totally unheard of.

You're totally right, guys. I don't know what I was thinking when calling out on the hypocrisy of American SJWs. It's not like such double-standards exist among any 'ism' complaints from sex to race. What do I know, right? I'm just a filthy 'sexpat' Asian. 

[Darklord Rooke]

6 minutes ago, Lucius said:

Except that the oversaturated white-guilt movies these days always have to do with the big bad white men enslaving the poor, penniless nigger. Oh yeah, America totally doesn't cast based on race and ethnicity. Americans totally don't complain about black people being racially miscast. Americans certainly don't bitch about women being oppressed in the industry by men stealing their jobs (and vice versa with MGTOW and feminists). Totally unheard of.

You're totally right, guys. I don't know what I was thinking when calling out on the hypocrisy of American SJWs. What do I know, right? I'm just a filthy 'sexpat' Asian. 

You're trying to shoehorn in a completely unrelated point and apply it to the GITS movie. While whitewashing is a 'thing', I don't agree it's a 'thing' in this instance.

Although I would like to hear you expand on the hypocrisy of American 'SJWs' point. Considering that most feminists are for more inclusion overall in Hollywood, and were quite outspoken during the recent Oscars shambles.

[Lucius]

19 minutes ago, Rooke said:

You're trying to shoehorn a completely unrelated point and apply it to the GITS movie. While whitewashing is a 'thing', I don't agree it's a 'thing' in this instance.

I was only shoehorning because you guys were overreacting with my post that's supposedly SJW-centric, going "Oh my god, complaining about racial casting in movies is the stupidest thing I've ever heard" even though it's pretty much part and parcel among everyday topics related to movies these days. So I merely returned the favor, shoehorning and exaggerated. I mean, you guys are kinda proving my point about the double-standard hypocrisy. Why is it only a problem when Asian movie roles are discussed? I'm pretty sure everybody would jump on the bandwagon and go, "Oh my god, you're totally right! We need more diversity!" if I was talking about increasing black roles or even Mexican roles like Black Panther or Ant-Man (Michael Peña).

But back on topic.

19 minutes ago, Rooke said:

Considering that most feminists are for more inclusion overall in Hollywood, and were quite outspoken during the recent Oscars shambles.

Not just feminists IMO. The whole "for more inclusion" applies to race and even sexuality, which is why I mentioned "gay men" in my previous post. Now, I'm not some asshole having a problem with gay men - that's totally not what this thread is about. It's more about the biasness, about the exclusivity racial diversity applies to in not just this stupid movie, but in all of media towards Asians. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first Asian to complain about wanting to see more Asians being cast in Asian roles.

Again, not only talking about this movie. I understand that Mokoto is a freaking android and race can't be applied, but I feel like it's part of the problem, that it's another excuse for Hollywood to ostracize Asians from roles that would be more appropriate for Asian actors to be in if America truly wanted to promote their so-called "diversity". I mean, you're telling me you're adapting an anime heavily saturated in Japanese culture but choose to cast a white woman in this age of "cultural diversity"? Oh gee, I totally wouldn't misinterpret that as biased towards certain racial groups at all. No, I would only interpret it as that if only certain stories from black culture get twisted into whitehood. Oh yes, that's American Diversity 2016.

[Darklord Rooke]

1 minute ago, Lucius said:

Why is it only a problem when Asian movie roles are discussed? I'm pretty sure everybody would jump on the bandwagon and go, "Oh my god, you're totally right! We need more diversity!" if I was talking about increasing black roles or even Mexican roles like Black Panther or Ant-Man (Michael Peña).

Not really. These aren't new issues, people have been talking about it for well over a decade. It's only become a 'thing' in recent times because black and female actors are getting sick of being ignored and are forcing the issue. The reason why Asian actors don't get as much air time is because, well, there's not as many of them to force the thing into public awareness?

I don't see it as hypocritical, everybody is fighting for their rights but Asian actors are much more of a minority. I don't see it as hypocritical because "SJWs" aren't saying one thing about one aspect, and another about others.

4 minutes ago, Lucius said:

that it's another excuse for Hollywood to ostracize Asians from roles that would be more appropriate for Asian actors to be in if America truly wanted to promote their so-called "diversity".

America doesn't want to promote diversity, they're being dragged into it kicking and screaming because the corporations think it'll cost them money. As in, directors have come out and said "I've cast a white man because if I didn't, I probably wouldn't have got funded and I probably wouldn't have recouped enough in box office takings to make a profit."

[Lucius]

3 minutes ago, Rooke said:

I don't see it as hypocritical, everybody is fighting for their rights but Asian actors are much more of a minority. I don't see it as hypocritical because "SJWs" aren't saying one thing about one aspect, and another about others.

Well, I see it as hypocritical. Like you said, not enough Asian actors are voicing out their opinions on wanting more diversity among Asian roles as black or female actors do (even though these exist a good handful of Asian actors who did voice out), and just because they weren't voicing out enough, Hollywood decided Asian roles just aren't as profitable, so they decided to let women do whatever they want with that Ghostbusters reboot instead of saying, "No, it would be more profitable and receive less backlash if we stick to giving those fanboys what they want and just produce Ghostbusters 3". That tells me that there are SJWs out there in Hollywood selfishly trying to promote only their own diversity, and this whole diversity bullshit has nothing to do with equality for all of Americans at all. They're trying to act like self-righteous white knights, right? Even though they're just a bunch of selfish money-grubbers trying to protect their own interest. Like, if Asians populated the country more, Hollywood would probably turn their attention towards them, and maybe Trump supporters would seriously consider building a wall to block out China or some shit, in spite of Trump's self-proclaimed love for China on the news ("Stop stealing our jobs, you yellow people!").

In other words, this whole "diversity" nonsense is just crap. Just call it capitalism for god's sake.

[Darklord Rooke]

11 minutes ago, Lucius said:

Well, I see it as hypocritical.

It's only hypocritical if the "SJWs" in question believe something about one part of racial diversity and something completely different about another part. That they DON'T is what makes them not hypocritical.

13 minutes ago, Lucius said:

That tells me that there are SJWs out there in Hollywood selfishly trying to promote only their own diversity, and this whole diversity bullshit has nothing to do with equality for all of Americans at all.

Here is where your logic takes a step to the wonky side.

Whether Sony (or Hollywood) decides not to promote an Asian led film has little to do with whether "SJWs" promoted an Asian led film. The decision is not in their hands, and while Sony took a risk banking on there being a large number of females in America willing to watch it, they may have decided there aren't enough people in America to want to watch an Asian-lead movie to justify making a big-budget whatever. This has little to do with selfishness, or hypocrisy, and everything to do with the realities of that demographic on the ground, how many there are, and how much power they wield when talking with the big execs.

15 minutes ago, Lucius said:

They're trying to act like self-righteous white knights, right? Even though they're just a bunch of selfish money-grubbers trying to protect their own interest.

Now I don't know who you're talking about. Sony? Hollywood? Self-righteous? Lol.

16 minutes ago, Lucius said:

In other words, this whole "diversity" nonsense is just crap. Just call it capitalism for god's sake.

Diversity is promoted by people who are not your average white male person trying to get more representation into Hollywood. Capitalism is the rule of law which tends to Govern big businesses and big publishers. Big Business has never pushed for diversity, they've always followed capitalism.

[Lucius]

15 minutes ago, Rooke said:

It's only hypocritical if the "SJWs" in question believe something about one part of racial diversity and something completely different about another part. That they DON'T is what makes them not hypocritical.

Well, let's see: they believe that Hollywood movies should have roles for more than just your average white person... and they also believe that casting white people in a story rooted in Asian culture (Iron Fist) is perfectly fine. I see something of a contradiction here.

15 minutes ago, Rooke said:

Whether Sony (or Hollywood) decides not to promote an Asian led film has little to do with whether "SJWs" promoted an Asian led film. The decision is not in their hands, and while Sony took a risk banking on there being a large number of females in America willing to watch it, they may have decided there aren't enough people in America to want to watch an Asian-lead movie to justify making a big-budget whatever. This has little to do with selfishness, or hypocrisy, and everything to do with the realities of that demographic on the ground, how many there are, and how much power they wield when talking with the big execs.

Now I don't know who you're talking about. Sony? Hollywood? Self-righteous? Lol.

No, not Sony, and I probably shouldn't have said "Hollywood", but the SJWs.

Think back on the Ghostbusters reboot, right? Remember when it was released, and how all the feminists jumped on the bandwagon and said this was the greatest production since Viagra. A lot of people were like, "If you don't like this movie, you're just some kind of disgusting sexist." Yes, a lot of people have said otherwise and gave a backlash towards the movie, but the feminists that supported it weren't just a small handful. I mean, you've got Ellen, Oprah, and even Jimmy Kimmel all supporting the reboot instead of calling out on the feminists who labeled men as sexist for hating a movie.

I think that's just self-righteous considering what people are saying about Asian roles in movies, not just this GitS reboot. They're perfectly fine about Asian roles being white-cast, not jumping into Oprah or Ellen and making a scene about it. It's pretty ridiculous just because there aren't many Asians who voiced out. It's like, if you're going to act like the good guy, at least call out on your own selfish agenda and not pretend to be a saint about it, calling men who hate Ghostbusters 2016 a disgusting sexist, okay? Because you're as much an 'ist' as the next guy by being biased about certain racial/gender roles.

[Darklord Rooke]

2 minutes ago, Lucius said:

Well, let's see: they believe that Hollywood movies should have roles for more than just your average white person... and they also believe that casting white people in a story rooted in Asian culture (Iron Fist) is perfectly fine. I see something of a contradiction here.

Iron Fist is a comic created by a white dude who thought 'I've just seen my first Kung Fu movie, so cool!' 

Yeah, I can feel the culture emanating from the pages, mate. How about we cast every character who can't jump as a white dude, due to white culture reasons?  

3 minutes ago, Lucius said:

I think that's just self-righteous considering what people are saying about Asian roles in movies, not just this GitS reboot. They're perfectly fine about Asian roles being white-cast, not jumping into Oprah or Ellen and making a scene about it. It's pretty ridiculous just because there aren't many Asians who voiced out. It's like, if you're going to act like the good guy, at least call out on your own selfish agenda and not pretend to be a saint about it, calling men who hate Ghostbusters 2016 a disgusting sexist, okay? Because you're as much an 'ist' as the next guy by being biased about certain gender roles.

Quite a lot of roles that are handed to white men can be remade with a female lead. Very little about roles actually demand a certain gender. And yet feminists don't get up in arms about every individual movie that gets released with a white male lead. They go on about a lack of roles in general, but they don't go 'that one could be a woman. That one could be a woman. That one could be a woman. Don't support any of these movies.'

It's one thing to call for support of a movie made with female leads, and quite another to start calling out every movie that could have had a female lead. Or an Asian lead.

Pretty much the backlash to the hate of Ghostbusters 2016 was the backlash against the men who started jumping up and down because they were women. And I'm perfectly fine with the suggestion that if you hate Ghostbusters solely because they were women, you're bordering on sexism. 

[Lucius]

1 minute ago, Rooke said:

Iron Fist is a comic created by a white dude who thought 'I've just seen my first Kung Fu movie, so cool!' 

Yeah, I can feel the culture emanating from the pages, mate. How about we cast every character who can't jump as a white dude, due to white culture reasons?  

Okay, now you're just playing on semantics, playing on the technicality. You know what I mean. It's oriental, like how the new Dr. Strange movie is obviously set in Tibet or some Eastern country, and America is fine with an obviously oriental role to be taken by a white woman. Why? Because feminism > racial equality? Is that it? Even though it's a good opportunity to cast Asians in an Asian culture, you chose to put a white person there instead. Do you not see the contradiction of these SJWs raising diversity as an issue? They're compromising one diversity for another.

 

8 minutes ago, Rooke said:

Quite a lot of roles that are handed to white men can be remade with a female lead. Very little about roles actually demand a certain gender. And yet feminists don't get up in arms about every individual movie that gets released with a white male lead. They go on about a lack of roles in general, but they don't go 'that one could be a woman. That one could be a woman. That one could be a woman. Don't support any of these movies.'

Uh, yes they do.

There are literally so many feminism stance on how comic book characters should have a female counterpart, from Thor to Captain America to Captain Marvel AKA "the title of "Captain" should also apply to women because equality!". There are literally so many stance on how white characters should be played by black people, from James Bond (who should be a woman, they said!) to Captain America (again) to how the black Spider-Man is better than the white one because DIVERSITY! C'mon, let's face it, the only reason people cried out for Miles Morales to appear in the new movie so much is only because of diversity.

So yes, there have been backlash against roles that aren't just Asian roles.

[Silvz]

Unfortunatelly I couldn't read all comments, but, at least for the west, Asian people in general are also stereotyped (pied?) a lot and, even though not as obvious as other groups, suffer a lot of prejudice by westerns.

So, yeah, I don't see an asianwashing here, but I will argue better when I finish reading.