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[N7Commander95]

This...looks more like a White Klingon than a Human Asian.

That . . . is pretty accurate to his character in the film

His group of people undergo heavy plastic surgery in order to place themselves above the lower classes

*edit - i except my proud position as the Cloud Atlas defense force

 

[Jotaka]

I don't know why people are surprised by this fuckery... Just read comments about this topic in other places and you see people justifying the use of a white washing because the anime is not very clear that the Major is an asian. People will create a bunch of excuses to anything...

 

[veloxStrix]

This...looks more like a White Klingon than a Human Asian.

The exact part of the film where his character took this role was set in the future where genetic modification and cloning was commonplace, so you might be on to something. Cloud Atlas x Star Trek crossover?

*edit - i except my proud position as the Cloud Atlas defense force

You should. There wasn't a more ambitious film that was released that year. The Wachowski Brothers set out to make a complex novel into a cinematic piece and then got torn apart by critics who should be reviewing novels instead of films. Modern film critics almost completely fall into the "realist" category, focusing entirely on the story told within the film and not managing to think past that. In this, Cloud Atlas fails. It doesn't resolve itself. It ends on a diminuendo. But the thought it presents - that all lives ultimately desire freedom - is one of the greater thought pieces of the last decde.

 

[Joyful]

they could always go the cloud atlas route

 

[jett]

Everybody seemed to give Cloud Atlas a pass for the horrible stuff it pulled so this doesn't surprise me.

There's a purpose behind it in Cloud Atlas. Besides, you also have asian and black actors playing different ethnicities (and genders) as well.

 

[PSqueak]

That . . . is pretty accurate to his character in the film

His group of people undergo heavy plastic surgery in order to place themselves above the lower classes

*edit - i except my proud position as the Cloud Atlas defense force

Oh, i wasn't aware, i haven't seen Cloud Atlas, assumed this was an example of the supposed VFX.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I get that Scarjo is a pretty big name to have...but why?

Why hire ScarJo for this?

Domestic: $126,663,600 27.3%
+ Foreign: $336,696,463 72.7%
= Worldwide: $463,360,063

Not to mention the Marvel movies. She is one of the few bankable A-list female action stars.

 

[jmood88]

Ultimately, I think it all really comes down to the studio wanting to hire an A-list actress who'll get people into theatres, so naturally Johansson is one of the few young female actresses who'll foots that bill.

In comparison, how many female Asian actresses can boast of that level of popularity in the West? Basically none whatsoever.

It would be completely naive to believe that she was hired by the studio for nothing more than being the best actress in the role...and even more so to believe that an actress of Johansson's repute would even have to audition for the part in the first place. For the studio, it's simply a matter of making the most amount of money with this film as possible. As a result, with Johansson playing the lead, for the executives it guarantees the film a certain level of financial security it otherwise wouldn't have had with an Asian actress in the role.

Meanwhile, unknown white actors and actresses (or white actors and actresses with "names" who have a string of flops) get starring roles in big-budget, mid-budget, and low-budget movies all the time. This is a lame excuse.

 

[RangerBAD]

I don't know why people are surprised by this fuckery... Just read comments about this topic in other places and you see people justifying the use of a white washing because the anime is not very clear that the Major is an asian. People will create a bunch of excuses to anything...

Because Motoko Kusanagi isn't a Japanese name, right?

 

[radios shipping overview]

Ay ay ay.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I don't know why people are surprised by this fuckery... Just read comments about this topic in other places and you see people justifying the use of a white washing because the anime is not very clear that the Major is an asian. People will create a bunch of excuses to anything...

Well I mean, Motoko Kusanagi sounds like a white name tbh so I can see the argument that it's totes not asian at all. Nope, not one bit. I know a ton of white girls named Motoko.

 

[GorillaJu]

Is there actually an asian actress that's anywhere near the draw that Johansson brings? I mean it's easy to say "just hire an Asian!" but people are going to see GITS because it has Scarlett Johansson in it.

It's a really fucking silly thing to do, these VFX tests or whatever, but "just hire someone asian" isn't that simple in hollywood. Not unless you just don't care about making money off the movie.

Meanwhile, unknown white actors and actresses (or white actors and actresses with "names" who have a string of flops) get starring roles in big-budget, mid-budget, and low-budget movies all the time. This is a lame excuse.

Yeah, different movies have different objectives and can cast based off of that. It's not an excuse or anything approaching an excuse, it's a reality of Hollywood.

 

[Ashhong]

Just hire Asian actors or just make a full western adaptation like Edge Of Tomorrow. Is it really that hard to avoid fuckery?

Isn't this a western adaptation of Ghost in the Shell?

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

This movie seems like a bad idea from top to bottom.

 

[Digital-Hero]

Why hire ScarJo for this?



Domestic: $126,663,600 27.3%
+ Foreign: $336,696,463 72.7%
= Worldwide: $463,360,063

Not to mention the Marvel movies. She is one of the few bankable A-list female action stars.

I swore I heard cash register sounds when I read that.

She's bankable indeed.

 

[N7Commander95]

Oh, i wasn't aware, i haven't seen Cloud Atlas, assumed this was an example of the supposed VFX.

Oh its fair enough, ha ha. I just like the film too much

 

[archangelmorph]

Holy shit Mads Mikkelsen!

WTF did those CGI goons do to you...?

I knew you wanted a lead role in Straight Outta Compton but didn't know it was going to go down like that...

Dodged that bullet bruh...

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Why hire ScarJo for this?



Domestic: $126,663,600 27.3%
+ Foreign: $336,696,463 72.7%
= Worldwide: $463,360,063

Not to mention the Marvel movies. She is one of the few bankable A-list female action stars.

This.

It was either:
ScarJo
Milla
Lawrence

 

[RangerBAD]

Is there actually an asian actress that's anywhere near the draw that Johansson brings? I mean it's easy to say "just hire an Asian!" but people are going to see GITS because it has Scarlett Johansson in it.

It's a really fucking silly thing to do, these VFX tests or whatever, but "just hire someone asian" isn't that simple in hollywood. Not unless you just don't care about making money off the movie.

Which underlines the problem. Becoming bankable requires being in movies.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

It's okay guys, according to numerous people in the other thread she's a cyborg so it doesn't matter what she looks like. So, despite being a Japanese woman, why should it matter if she's in a white body pretending to be an asian body?

Don't be racist guys

 

[SpaceWolf]

Meanwhile, unknown white actors and actresses (or white actors and actresses with "names" who have a string of flops) get starring roles in big-budget, mid-budget, and low-budget movies all the time. This is a lame excuse.

Like it or not, that's the reality of the film industry, my friend. And that's the mindset that pretty much every film executive has when it comes to green-lighting a big-budget production where they would have to invest millions upon millions of dollars on behalf of the studios.

Also, how is discussing unknown actors getting cast in lower-budget productions (where by their very nature there's obviously far less money involved) relevant to a discussion about a big-budget production where there's naturally much more at stake?

I would however, be legitimately curious to hear you name examples of big-budget productions starring unknown actors...excluding perhaps Avatar, which by it's very nature throughout development and release was always something of an enigma in the studio world.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Isn't this a western adaptation of Ghost in the Shell?

They mean divorce it of its Japanese roots. Either do your own thing entirely with it as a western story like Edge of Tomorrow did, or stop giving your white actors Japanese names and claiming it's true to the material.

 

[DryEyeRelief]

Is there actually an asian actress that's anywhere near the draw that Johansson brings? I mean it's easy to say "just hire an Asian!" but people are going to see GITS because it has Scarlett Johansson in it.

It's a really fucking silly thing to do, these VFX tests or whatever, but "just hire someone asian" isn't that simple in hollywood. Not unless you just don't care about making money off the movie.

Everyone understands the rationale, but that doesn't make it justified. You understand the difference right?

 

[GorillaJu]

Just hire Asian actors or just make a full western adaptation like Edge Of Tomorrow. Is it really that hard to avoid fuckery?

Maybe Edge of Tomorrow had fuckery like this it just never leaked!

 

[Nickle]

I change my mind, it's definitely going to suck. It's one thing to adapt a Japanese show to an American setting, but it's another thing to pretend like all your white characters are Japanese. This is Hollywood, they could have found a ton of competent Japanese actors if they tried.

 

[Chariot]

Do we need to jump through the logical hoops again?

Ghost in the Shell was a manga written by a japanese mangaka to be published in a japanese magazine aimed at japanese people, telling a story in a future Japan where a japanese government agency is striking against domestic issues that mirrored real life japanese issues, lead by a japanese Major with a japanese name. And some people think she would pick a foreign body?

Mind you, Japan is not a very diverse society, when a foreigner appears in an anime that is set in Japan, people comment on that and most of the time foreigners have traits like bulgy noses and blond hair/blue eyes to signify that they are foreign. If the Major would've had a foreigner body, that would've been worth a mention in-world. The argument that the Major had a foreigner body in the first place is bullshit.

Arguments can be made that she could change, but really, why would she, other than to satisfy Hollywoods ´desperate need for white people.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Is there actually an asian actress that's anywhere near the draw that Johansson brings? I mean it's easy to say "just hire an Asian!" but people are going to see GITS because it has Scarlett Johansson in it.

It's a really fucking silly thing to do, these VFX tests or whatever, but "just hire someone asian" isn't that simple in hollywood. Not unless you just don't care about making money off the movie.

But there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians...

 

[bobbychalkers]

Everybody wanna be a Ng but don't want to be a Ng

 

[Zhengi]

This is my pet peeve. From a post I made elsewhere:



Maybe this happened, maybe it didn't, but in recent years there has been plenty of non-journalism going on with movies and resulting explosions of anger from the fanbases that have only ended up with "Oh, well maybe it didn't happen quite like this" articles being released quietly by the news sources. Regardless, does it really matter? They ran a few tests to try an idea out. They ultimately decided not to go with them.

What an awful post. Speculating on story elements of a movie is different from the hiring of actors and actresses for a movie. Those are usually known LONG before story elements leak.

 

[Achire]

SMH CGI. Practical wins again.

To be fair, this movie has exactly 0% chance of being as good as Broken Blossoms, and there is a 100 year difference in the release dates. I think it's going to be more like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 

[Garlador]

Is there actually an asian actress that's anywhere near the draw that Johansson brings? I mean it's easy to say "just hire an Asian!" but people are going to see GITS because it has Scarlett Johansson in it.

It's a really fucking silly thing to do, these VFX tests or whatever, but "just hire someone asian" isn't that simple in hollywood. Not unless you just don't care about making money off the movie.

Ah, the good ol' Ridley Scott excuse.

“I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” Scott told Variety. “I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”

You know how you make an actor or actress "a draw"? You have to cast them in a big project in a leading role. Hollywood almost never does, even with talented actors on-hand, because they would rather cast a known name, no matter how inappropriate or ill-fitting it is.

And all that didn't stop films like "Exodus: Gods & Kings" or "Pan" from tanking. "Cast a popular white person" isn't a guarantee of box office receipts. I mean, I LOVE Scarlett Johansson, but I'm not going to go see a bad movie with Scarlett Johansson.

 

[Geist-]

I guess the fact that they are trying to make her more Asian means they are still basing it on the original story and it's not a total Western adaptation. Which means in the context of the story they are in Japan, are Japanese, will speak English, with white actors...

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Also, how is discussing unknown actors getting cast in lower-budget productions, where by their very nature there's less money involved, relevant to a discussion about a big-budget production where there's naturally much more at stake?

Yup because Terminator Salvation ($200,000,000) and Avatar ($425,000,000) were low budget.

The same with John Carter ($275,000,000) and Battlefield ($209,000,000).

No matter how many times you guys try and make this argument, you're ALWAYS wrong and it ALWAYS looks bad

 

[roflwaffles]

Can we recast Superman as Glenn from The Walking Dead?


He definitely represents hope and altruism way better than Cavill does.

 

[sohois]

Cloud Atlas was a great film,outstanding soundtrack. And as mentioned, was very much justified in having it's actors don prosthetics to change their appearance as it was integral to the story - and they had Asian actors and Halle Berry doing whiteface and women and men crossdressing to fit every actor in the different timelines.

For those who haven't seen Cloud Atlas:

Spoiler

Reincarnation is a major theme of the original book. The plot itself takes place across 6 stories in different timelines. To get it across in film, all of the major 9-10 actors in the film appear in every one of the storylines, which inevitably entails some drastically different looks, when the storylines are set in Future Seoul, 1930s Scotland, 1970s America and so on.

 

[John Kowalski]

hehehe

 

[Garrett Hawke]

The exact part of the film where his character took this role was set in the future where genetic modification and cloning was commonplace, so you might be on to something. Cloud Atlas x Star Trek crossover?



You should. There wasn't a more ambitious film that was released that year. The Wachowski Brothers set out to make a complex novel into a cinematic piece and then got torn apart by critics who should be reviewing novels instead of films. Modern film critics almost completely fall into the "realist" category, focusing entirely on the story told within the film and not managing to think past that. In this, Cloud Atlas fails. It doesn't resolve itself. It ends on a diminuendo. But the thought it presents - that all lives ultimately desire freedom - is one of the greater thought pieces of the last decde.

just an fyi - they are sisters

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

embarrassing


just embarrassing

get your fucking shit together Hollywood.

 

[RE_Player]

They should just come out and say they don't believe general audiences like or will want to see a movie with Asians. It's quite sad the state Hollywood movies are in.

 

[massoluk]

This could have been the Onion headline, lol

 

[veloxStrix]

What an awful post. Speculating on story elements of a movie is different from the hiring of actors and actresses for a movie. Those are usually known LONG before story elements leak.

I agree. It'd be a shame if we hadn't just had a whole thread about Scarlet Jo being confirmed as the lead for this film where I had posted numerous times and debated within. It'd be a shame if my post had nothing to do with the hiring of actors but rather was about the thread I was posting in which, correct me if I'm wrong, is about the usage of an effect that was tested but never ultimately used in which people. It'd be a shame if the only thing you get from my post was some way to try and call me out over... what, exactly?

just an fyi - they are sisters

I know. I'm still used to writing about them by their old handle and don't mean it to imply they are male.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Yup because Terminator Salvation ($200,000,000) and Avatar ($425,000,000) were low budget.

The same with John Carter ($275,000,000)

No matter how many times you guys try and make this argument, you're ALWAYS wrong and it ALWAYS looks bad

Battleship - $220,000,000 budget starring...Taylor Kitsch.

 

[GorillaJu]

But there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians! Because there aren't enough Asian stars! Because we never hire asians...

Yeah, okay. You be the one to tell the people funding this movie and its producers "Hey guys, you know it's about time we fixed this problem of underrepresentation in Hollywood and I think you guys should be the ones to do it."

I'm sure they'll happily throw their plans with Scarlett Johansson out the window and the millions of dollars that go with it.

 

[jmood88]

Yeah, different movies have different objectives and can cast based off of that. It's not an excuse or anything approaching an excuse, it's a reality of Hollywood.

The reality is that this "it's just too risky without a (white) name" stuff is a convenient excuse that Hollywood executives, and defenders of this bullshit, throw out to explain why non-white actors are always passed over, even for roles that call for them.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Yeah, okay. You be the one to tell the people funding this movie and its producers "Hey guys, you know it's about time we fixed this problem of underrepresentation in Hollywood and I think you guys should be the ones to do it."

I'm sure they'll happily throw their plans with Scarlett Johansson out the window and the millions of dollars that go with it.

And I should care about their problems, why?

I care about the message this movie sends, not whatever fucking money they hope to make from this trash.

 

[Dyson Industries]

This is my pet peeve. From a post I made elsewhere:



Maybe this happened, maybe it didn't, but in recent years there has been plenty of non-journalism going on with movies and resulting explosions of anger from the fanbases that have only ended up with "Oh, well maybe it didn't happen quite like this" articles being released quietly by the news sources. Regardless, does it really matter? They ran a few tests to try an idea out. They ultimately decided not to go with them.

*This* is your pet peeve? Okay. Must be nice.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Yeah, okay. You be the one to tell the people funding this movie and its producers "Hey guys, you know it's about time we fixed this problem of underrepresentation in Hollywood and I think you guys should be the ones to do it."

I'm sure they'll happily throw their plans with Scarlett Johansson out the window and the millions of dollars that go with it.

Where are the mid-scale/low budget movies starring minorities then? What's that? They don't have a big enough return to warrant? So what you're saying is that they simultaneously can't produce low budget movies to prop up minority actors nor can they cast them in high budget movies?

That's pretty fucking convenient

 

[GorillaJu]

Yup because Terminator Salvation ($200,000,000) and Avatar ($425,000,000) were low budget.

The same with John Carter ($275,000,000)

No matter how many times you guys try and make this argument, you're ALWAYS wrong and it ALWAYS looks bad

If you can't see the difference between a Terminator movie, one of the biggest most beloved film names in Hollywood, and Ghost in the Shell, an adaptation of a comparatively unknown foreign comic book, then all hope is lost.

One of these films will have a huge audience on its name. The other doesn't have a name, so it needs a big lead actor.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

Well I mean, Motoko Kusanagi sounds like a white name tbh so I can see the argument that it's totes not asian at all. Nope, not one bit. I know a ton of white girls named Motoko.

I mean, I get your point. Motoko Kusanagi is a Japanese name...but her anime version LOOKS white! Plus race doesn't matter to her character or the themes of the story. So let's make her white, which is totally not a race you know.

 

[Ronin Ray]

This movie has been a shit show since day one and it's only getting worse.