Fans Petition Dreamworks Over 'Ghost In The Shell' Movie Casting

[JaggedMonster 2]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/02/17/fans-petition-dreamworks-over-ghost-in-the-shell-movie-casting/

[FATCAT 59,083]

ITS A VESSEL

[Knife 6,652]

Petition ha!

 

I hope this and the Hollywood version of Akira never see the light of day.

[JaggedMonster 2]

Petition ha!

 

I hope this and the Hollywood version of Akira never see the light of day.

Tragic

[RAMROD 104,843]

Mess, if they going to ruin it they way they did Dragon Ball and Avatar Aang :grr:

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

Oh...another white adaptation of a foreign film/TV show

Like....are white and black people the only actors in the world :awkney:

[Hellspont 1,468]

they should even though i like scar jo, this should have an asian actress

[Dayman 5,989]

People like to complain about everything. The original still exsists and this live action remake is just that - a remake. It's going to deviate in cosmetic and continuity ways. While an asian lead would be more like the original, it would also be less succesful. By casting Scarlett Johansson they now have a huge name attached to it - more people are going to see it now for that reason alone. There aren't as many A-list asian actresses in Hollywood.

[Willy Wonka 4]

People like to complain about everything. The original still exsists and this live action remake is just that - a remake. It's going to deviate in cosmetic and continuity ways. While an asian lead would be more like the original, it would also be less succesful. By casting Scarlett Johansson they now have a huge name attached to it - more people are going to see it now for that reason alone. There aren't as many A-list asian actresses in Hollywood.

Do you not see this as problematic? I'm concerned that you're so quick to dismiss valid criticism. It takes place in Japan and they cast Scarlett Johansson... you want to brush this off because "people like to complain about everything"?

 

So many movies already have almost exclusively white characters. Now they're making movies that take place in Egypt or Japan, and people are supposed to be content that the cast is still white? It's just sad. Asian characters have SO little representation in Hollywood already. It's absolutely understandable that people would be upset that a character who is Japanese is being portrayed by a white person.

 

The fact you want to brush off the criticism as essentially being baseless is sad and shows how much you've bought into the ideas of infallible capitalism and the "cultural smudging" of minorities (to borrow a phrase from Azealia Banks).

[Morphine Prince 102,544]

Do you not see this as problematic? I'm concerned that you're so quick to dismiss valid criticism. It takes place in Japan and they cast Scarlett Johansson... you want to brush this off because "people like to complain about everything"?

 

So many movies already have almost exclusively white characters. Now they're making movies that take place in Egypt or Japan, and people are supposed to be content that the cast is still white? It's just sad. Asian characters have SO little representation in Hollywood already. It's absolutely understandable that people would be upset that a character who is Japanese is being portrayed by a white person.

 

The fact you want to brush off the criticism as essentially being baseless is sad and shows how much you've bought into the ideas of infallible capitalism and the "cultural smudging" of minorities (to borrow a phrase from Azealia Banks).

THIS. Perfect post. 

 

I'm tired of Hollywood and their all white cast when it comes to remakes or movies that take place in non-white areas of the world. And although their prime goal is to make money, it sucks that only white is deemed as "successful" and makes the most money while other races are swept under the rug. 

[Willy Wonka 4]

THIS. Perfect post. 

 

I'm tired of Hollywood and their all white cast when it comes to remakes or movies that take place in non-white areas of the world. And although their prime goal is to make money, it sucks that only white is deemed as "successful" and makes the most money while other races are swept under the rug. 

Exactly! I understand that that's the reality, but are we supposed just to be content with that? How will things ever change if we don't challenge the system?

[uo111 5,250]

People would complain if she was Asian because... shockingly, anime characters never look Asian.

 

Making a live adaptation of anime is a stupid idea because anime characters purposefully don't look human. It would be like a live action Simpsons movie. Terrible. Horrendous, this is no exception.

 

The white washing would make sense if anime characters were actually Asian. At least they aren't making real people of color white.

[Willy Wonka 4]

People would complain if she was Asian because... shockingly, anime characters never look Asian.

 

Making a live adaptation of anime is a stupid idea because anime characters purposefully don't look human. It would be like a live action Simpsons movie. Terrible. Horrendous, this is no exception.

 

The white washing would make sense if anime characters were actually Asian. At least they aren't making real people of color white.

give me an example of this ever happening. ever.

[uo111 5,250]

give me an example of this ever happening. ever.

What, an example of what happening?.

[Dayman 5,989]

Do you not see this as problematic? I'm concerned that you're so quick to dismiss valid criticism. It takes place in Japan and they cast Scarlett Johansson... you want to brush this off because "people like to complain about everything"?

 

So many movies already have almost exclusively white characters. Now they're making movies that take place in Egypt or Japan, and people are supposed to be content that the cast is still white? It's just sad. Asian characters have SO little representation in Hollywood already. It's absolutely understandable that people would be upset that a character who is Japanese is being portrayed by a white person.

 

The fact you want to brush off the criticism as essentially being baseless is sad and shows how much you've bought into the ideas of infallible capitalism and the "cultural smudging" of minorities (to borrow a phrase from Azealia Banks).

It's about target demographics - it's all done because they want to make money in the American market. The vast majority of the country is white and that's who they are cattering to. People naturally are drawn to those that they percieve to be similar to them - this includes actors and actresses. It's like being upset over a Chinese production casting Chinese actors and actresses in an adapatation of an American film. It's being tailored to fit a market and its demographic.

 

If anything though the second highest focus of the movie would be China after America - so even though a Chinese actresss could be cast and still be profitable (albeit overseas) you would have people complaining over her not being the "right" kind of asian. China is the second most important market for films and now many movies have special focus on China and scenes specifically catered to the Chinese audience. The last Transformers movie had a huge presence in the Chinese market because of a reality show tied to it and the addition of Li Bingbing to the cast.

 

The point is - this isn't a game of trying to "whitewash" it's catering to demographics to make the movie "relatable" even if the plot is absurd. When someone sees a poster they don't know anything about the film other than what is visually in front of them in the static image. The movie will seem better and more appealing to the average american with the likes of Scarlett Johansson on it. You can't just change the way peoples brains are wired naturally. They know this when making these decisions - these are people who have taken psychology courses on how to manipulate peoples natural instincts. Advertising and marketing is all just clever manipulation, they don't care if they make a good movie - they just want a movie that will make money. So many movies have amazing promotion and seem fantastic - but they end up falling short in the end. They just want your money. That's why independent films usally are "better" and have a wider diversity in their casting. They aren't banking on making milliond upon millions - they just want people to like the movie. They aren't using the same marketing tactics.

 

Hollywood isn't going to stop doing these shady tactics - it's what makes them their money. They will always cater to their biggest market. It's a fruitless effort to complain since it won't change anything. Dreamworks won't sacrifice potential revenue over a small minority on the internet complaining. The only even slightly possible solution is that they happen to cast a big name Chinese actress who can also speak English - that way at least they can make more revenue in the Chinese market with the film to make up any "lost" revenue in the American market.