Forum - View topicNEWS: Live-Action Ghost in the Shell Film Posts 1st Photo of Scarlett Johansson as the Major
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DisneyLM
Posts: 44 |
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I'm all for this film because I'm a huge fan of Dubs, and only watch Dubs. The fact that this film will be in English should tell you that in order for Anime Live-Action Adaptations to ever be successful in America. It's going to have to be in English. Also with the success of "Black Widow" there. It will make Marvel Fans want to see it even more. Because at the end of the day, you Sub people are the next generation of people who will complain about this matter as much as Comic book fans did for Marvel Live Action films. In time you will see, that the tables had gravitated to Anime Sub fans, for America it's only going to be in English more because they really care about the masses wanting to see this film. The masses will bring in more money than hardcore fans of anime will ever.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11368 |
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^ What? When did this become a sub vs dub thing? No one's expecting it to be subtitled here. They're worried that Hollywood doesn't understand the franchise (since they've mucked up every other anime series they've tried so far) and some people don't like the whitewashing of the Japanese characters.
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DisneyLM
Posts: 44 |
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You put a Japanese actor as the main, and this film will mostly be seen by anime fans/asian lovers, if you put a *Well-Known Marvel Superhero Actor* then this film will be seen mostly by the masses. *The race card is completely irrelevant to talk about when there is money to be made, these corporate people aren't going to take chances to get a Japanese actor when knowing for a fact that if they could get a female from box office record breaking hits such as marvel films to be the main character, it would be stupid not to. Oh, and one more thing, she happens to be white, and that's okay, she's an actor who happens to be white. She has the star power to bring in more people to watch the film, bring in more money. And see if English Anime Adaptions have a chance here in the western world. This is a good thing. Because if this film had a Japanese female lead, I'm gonna tell you know that the majority of the people who will watch this is only going to be Anime/Asian Lover/Sci-Fi people, but with "Black Widow" here, she will gain the masses of Marvel Fans to watch this film. (Which to you makes more sense in terms of bring in the money?) I rest my case, good day. |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2402 |
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I don't think that is true at all. Now I do agree with the rest of what you said about SJ's star power being essential for it to attract mainstream audience. However, I don't think a Japanese actress in itself would have been a problem. The problem is how many Japanese actresses can you think of that have a name on par with SJ's? Probably none. If they're trying to make it the next Edge of Tomorrow, it needed a fairly big name behind it. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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For years, the "weaboo reaction" disgusts me. This stems from the Sub vs Dub thing, the What is Anime thing (y'know Avatar / RWBY), and now this. You people really give anime fandom a bad image.
My challenge to anyone complaining about ScarJo having this role: Can you name anyone who can do the role better? NOTE: Looking the part is only part of the equation. Many of ScarJo's roles over the recent years featured female action characters. I cannot imagine anyone else more qualified to perform Motoko's role.
As for this disgusting "Japan only" requirement, the movie itself - as I had learned - is scripted to set it AMERICA. Likewise, the character Motoko has the ability to transfer her mind into any body - literally any body. So, this whole "ethnic" thing is moot just by the story and character alone. Anyways, go drink some green tea and relax, people. If the movie bombs, blame the studio for bad execution. The world can only take so many bad movie versions of anime... like DBZ... |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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Man, Hollywood is still afraid of going outside its comfort zone by still refusing to cast non-whites as the main lead and not in the typical supporting role especially if when the story calls for it.
As for this casting, I love Scarlett Johansson but having her be Motoko Kusanagi just leaves a bad taste in my mouth for some reason and also, I rather find it rather peculiar that the official synopsis only referred to Johansson's character as "The Major" and not her actual name for some reason. Wonder if they are afraid of the large backlash if the name is kept the same because after all, the film is still said to be set in Japan. Also, there are rumors going around that the higher ups want to CGI the characters's eyes to make them look a bit more Asian and suffice to say, if that is true, why go that extra route when hiring actual Asian actors would have been much more cheaper and practical? Man, I can't wait to see how they will handle Naruto once when that finally gets off the ground. |
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Mr Sinister
 Posts: 157 Location: NY |
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Because Scarjo will make more money. There are 0 japanese actors who will bring as many outsiders to see this movie. That's all there will ever be to this. Making movies is a business. |
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jdnation
Posts: 1998 |
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It's not that anyone has a problem with her being Japanese in body & ghost; but rather that if Hollywood wants a compromise to cast a white person in an Asian role, then GITS offers a clever way to go about it. Scar-Jo can play 'Motoko Kusanagi' if it's explained that a woman who is originally Japanese by birth exists in a cyborg body that is made specifically for combat and probably manufactured in America with a generic-white-person body mould. The military doesn't care what you look like so long as you perform. All they'd have to do is intercut with flashbacks of a young Japanese girl playing child-Motoko, and Scar-Jo playing adult-cyborg Motoko. Motoko can even inhabit multiple body types in the film at times to emphasize this aspect. They can even incorporate the precise themes of what ethnicity and a body or soul mean in a world that is sliding more into a machine/digital future. If they don't, it's a blatantly missed opportunity! |
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vision33r
Posts: 90 |
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No white hollywood producer is gonna risk putting a non-white actor for a white majority audience. Let's get this straight, it isn't about keeping the ethnicity of the original story. It's about making money to the target audience.
In Asia, you'll never see a white actor in any lead role in any feature film for the very same reason. It will all change when the demographics change in this country. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I'd say it's more out of a cynical recognition factor that makes ScarJo synonymous with "woman who kicks ass" because of the Marvel movies she's in. "Hey, if she works in THIS role, she'll be great in THIS one that is also superficially similar from the right angle." And yeah, let's face it, that role was never going to an Asian-American actress. However, I would also agree with the people who'd say that the best way to get Asian-Americas to that sense of recognition is to put them in movies like this. Maybe it won't pay off right away, but in the long run people will see the studio's efforts to diversify and appreciate it. It's not asking too much for Asian characters to be played by Asians. But it's also not some calamitous thing that this casting was made. Frankly, I'd be more concerned with the writing and directing that has made most of these adaptations poor efforts. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14766 |
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Do we know yet which iteration it'd be based on?
So long as you're not bothered by a white Caucasian shell named Motoko Kusanagi. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6528 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Look at it another way. What if it's a smashing success both commercially and artistically (regardless of how much it deviates from our expectations)? What if it wins awards for special effects? What if SJ gives the performance of her life? A new audience will flock to the source material, creating a boost for anime. Maybe anime production houses will shed some of their inward looking behaviour? Production IG, for one, will be in receipt of a windfall from its share of the pie. One of anime's best studios could have the financial independence to really cut loose and take risks.
The prospects are tantalising. I'm excited. |
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guru_clef
Posts: 8 |
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I like the look of the image, but will wait until I see a trailer, I won't be bitten twice. I loved the original Manga back in the 90's and was really excited when I heard of the animated movie's pending release back in the day, especially since Studio headgear was working on the project and their Patlabor work was amazing. unfortunately the movie we got was basically another patlabor movie, the feel was wrong, it was more patlabor than the Ghost in the shell manga. It just turned me off the whole animated side of Ghost in the shell. Hopefully a live action movie that is faithful to the original Manga will redeem it for me.
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Priotess
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Race in a lot of anime based outside of japan is always subjective. Attack on Titan, is a japanese product of origin yet the cast is clearly not Asian, yet is voiced by japanese people (if you watch subbed) Shows like that for me feel more real in English spoken languages (Or any fantasy, One Piece, Lodoss War, Slayers etc) I think personally shows like GITS can be subjective with how you see the characters, the characters can be adapted to be from any race, so long as it doesn't interfere with the story, which in any story the race of the characters doesn't effect the story. Even if they had Akira (Baring a similar fate to GITS right now) cast white actors, it wouldn't bother me, because i watch all anime in dub anyway, thus hearing English people talk and act in front of my is more natural. Besides, from what has been said, for Akira, they were playing around with the idea that it would be Neo Manhattan, that the japanese bought Manhattan from US to help pay for the debt of the country. So like that, GITS movie, can be played around with for narrative reasons Dragon-Ball didn't fail because it had white actors, it simply sucked because it was a terrible film, i doubt changing Justin Chatwin to some Asian actor would have made the movie better. 3 things matter when making a movie, 1) A good script 2) Good actors who can read the script and act. 3) Directors and or producers/Writers capable of making the movie work. Scar-Jo is a great choice for me. And like i said it's all about how we perceive the character race as. though for one i wouldn't think it would hurt having a few Asian characters in the background. Look at blade runner, all of the ground scenes and parts was full of Asian characters and Asian themed stuff. Did anybody complain about that? But like with many, i'll wait to see a teaser trailer. I'm looking forward to seeing this movie though. |
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Johan Eriksson 9003
Posts: 281 |
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Right, because with a name like Makoto Kusanagi she could totally be white.
Ming-Na Wen. Great actress and an actual martial artist.
And yet they kept the incredibly Japanese names so clearly she is still supposed to be "originally" Japanese. Changing the setting to America is another problem in and of itself because one of the core themes of the story is Japan's relationship with technology at the time it was written. You can't change the setting without also changing a major aspect of the story you are supposed to adapt. GitS is a distinctly Japanese story. That doesn't mean that only Japanese people are allowed to tackle it, but it does mean that it should be shown some respect and not be treated like an interchangeable Sci-Fi premise. [Edit]: removed the snark. Errinundra. |
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