Here’s something I wrote in response to this article and some of the comments to it. I never posted it though because it’s too likely that I exceeded the word and character limit by 100x or something. So dumping it here it is.
This entry was inspired/sparked by: (see: link above)
The article says Asian-American. None of the famous Asians names named here are American.
I think the argument presented in the article is very flawed. If they want to talk about sticking close to the source, it isn’t Asian-American actors they should be sticking up for, it’s Japanese ones. This whole thing should’ve then been a Japanese production with Hollywood funding and production values. Because let’s face it, if they use Asian actors, they might as well stick to the same backdrop and the language might as well be Japanese, too. And for that to be pulled off well, they’ll need a Japanese director or a director who knows what they’re doing enough to pull of a western production with an eastern (albeit futuristic) setting, but either way, they’re going to need a Japanese crew on board, with the power to give advice and veto culturally contrary decisions.
But since this isn’t about to happen anytime soon, I’m assuming the argument is more about race elitism in big-budget blockbusters. If that’s so, then Akira is a poor example because, even if the creators are Japanese, it isn’t a cultural piece of work that’s exclusively indigenous to Japan. It’s a futuristic piece that, with a change of names in its characters (and by extension its eponymous title), locations and pop culture references, it could take place in any major city comprised of the local people. It could be Neo-anywhere. Heck, it could even be a fictional city and not be a Neo-anywhere. If the futuristically souped up Kawasaki-esque bike Kaneda rides on is too big of an identifier to the story to be changed to something that is more, say…Ducati-esque or Harley-esque, it still doesn’t have to be an Asian-American or a Caucasian or an African-American riding it. It doesn’t even have to be completely human. They could make the whole thing anthropomorphic or based on an alien society where its inhabitants have tentacles sprouting out of their backs and it’d still work.
Sure they could do something like Big Hero 6 (only live action this time around) where one plus one equals one big cultural melting pot of a universe, but it would be an artistic choice, not a culturally civic one. And no one should be penalized because of that. If Akira were a very culturally indigenous sort of thing and they’re whitewashing it, then they’ve got no excuse. Like the disaster that was the Airbender movie. What’s even more unforgivable about that one is that the director is Asian.
Like I said though, Akira, like Godzilla, isn’t significantly unique to a singular culture like Airbender is and by that logic, is a lot more fluid when it comes to deviation from source material, and so long as they stick to its story, they’ll still have something that’s pretty faithful. I’m more hung up on that, in fact, than I am about it getting whitewashed, which I think isn’t an accurate term to use anyhow in this case because if they’re going to Hollywood-ize this particular piece of work, I’m sure there’ll be some African-American actors that’ll get casted, too. And maybe that one Asian guy that sometimes pops up in big-budget movies–the one who plays Harold in Harold & Kumar.
Another thing is, the producers and bigwigs behind this would-be adaptation are non-Asians. Or most of them are anyway. And while it’d be exciting if they decide to explore less-treaded avenues in terms of casting options, I’m not about to expect them to suddenly go for an ensemble that’s comprised of mostly Asians, not unless the piece of work absolutely calls for it.
If they can change Prof X to be a Brit instead of an American and Heimdall can be African-British instead of Caucasian, Kaneda and co. can certainly be non-Asian (so long as their names aren’t distinctly Asian). Heck, as long as the eponymous character remains Asian or partly Asian, they can even stick with the existing title.
As for Exodus, I dunno about that too much as it isn’t the sort of thing I’d catch in the theater, much though I appreciate Bale’s acting, but if Lawrence Of Arabia made all those years ago could accomplish what it did with a mix bag of both white actors and non-white ones playing Arabians, then so could this one. That they largely didn’t go for that does indeed say something, despite all the cast, crew and producers’ claims to the contrary.
For Akira, I’d be more worried about the quality of the actors they’re getting than the color of their skin. Then again, I suppose people will bitch either way. They’re bitching about Oscar Isaac being cast as Apocalypse despite the guy actually looking the part ethnically (even if he isn’t exactly the same ethnicity as the character) and is a more than capable actor. They’re whining about that one storm trooper revealed as being portrayed by a black actor in that Episode VII teaser trailer. Heck, they even bitch about white guys portraying white guys so I suppose it’s all moot.
And Hollywood? Well, they’ve pulled that stunt where they got a decidedly non-Asian guy to play an Asian guy in a very stereotypical fashion before. And since then, they’re still getting away with a lot of bullcrap, some worse than others. Hollywood does what it wants when it wants and the audience can grumble all they want but so long as Hollywood more or less pulls off the other aspects in play, audiences will still lap up what they are served, and Hollywood producers will still be wearing their trademark see-I-told-you-it-wouldn’t-matter smirks all the way to the bank. Wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last.
May Elba be the next 007. Although my personal nomination and vote goes to either David Harewood or Ioan Gruffudd, Elba’s good, too. The guy will pull it off. I know he will.
Spiels
Blah-blah-blah #008
Here’s something I wrote in response to this article and some of the comments to it. I never posted it though because it’s too likely that I exceeded the word and character limit by 100x or something. So dumping it here it is.
This entry was inspired/sparked by: (see: link above)
The article says Asian-American. None of the famous Asians names named here are American.
I think the argument presented in the article is very flawed. If they want to talk about sticking close to the source, it isn’t Asian-American actors they should be sticking up for, it’s Japanese ones. This whole thing should’ve then been a Japanese production with Hollywood funding and production values. Because let’s face it, if they use Asian actors, they might as well stick to the same backdrop and the language might as well be Japanese, too. And for that to be pulled off well, they’ll need a Japanese director or a director who knows what they’re doing enough to pull of a western production with an eastern (albeit futuristic) setting, but either way, they’re going to need a Japanese crew on board, with the power to give advice and veto culturally contrary decisions.
But since this isn’t about to happen anytime soon, I’m assuming the argument is more about race elitism in big-budget blockbusters. If that’s so, then Akira is a poor example because, even if the creators are Japanese, it isn’t a cultural piece of work that’s exclusively indigenous to Japan. It’s a futuristic piece that, with a change of names in its characters (and by extension its eponymous title), locations and pop culture references, it could take place in any major city comprised of the local people. It could be Neo-anywhere. Heck, it could even be a fictional city and not be a Neo-anywhere. If the futuristically souped up Kawasaki-esque bike Kaneda rides on is too big of an identifier to the story to be changed to something that is more, say…Ducati-esque or Harley-esque, it still doesn’t have to be an Asian-American or a Caucasian or an African-American riding it. It doesn’t even have to be completely human. They could make the whole thing anthropomorphic or based on an alien society where its inhabitants have tentacles sprouting out of their backs and it’d still work.
Sure they could do something like Big Hero 6 (only live action this time around) where one plus one equals one big cultural melting pot of a universe, but it would be an artistic choice, not a culturally civic one. And no one should be penalized because of that. If Akira were a very culturally indigenous sort of thing and they’re whitewashing it, then they’ve got no excuse. Like the disaster that was the Airbender movie. What’s even more unforgivable about that one is that the director is Asian.
Like I said though, Akira, like Godzilla, isn’t significantly unique to a singular culture like Airbender is and by that logic, is a lot more fluid when it comes to deviation from source material, and so long as they stick to its story, they’ll still have something that’s pretty faithful. I’m more hung up on that, in fact, than I am about it getting whitewashed, which I think isn’t an accurate term to use anyhow in this case because if they’re going to Hollywood-ize this particular piece of work, I’m sure there’ll be some African-American actors that’ll get casted, too. And maybe that one Asian guy that sometimes pops up in big-budget movies–the one who plays Harold in Harold & Kumar.
Another thing is, the producers and bigwigs behind this would-be adaptation are non-Asians. Or most of them are anyway. And while it’d be exciting if they decide to explore less-treaded avenues in terms of casting options, I’m not about to expect them to suddenly go for an ensemble that’s comprised of mostly Asians, not unless the piece of work absolutely calls for it.
If they can change Prof X to be a Brit instead of an American and Heimdall can be African-British instead of Caucasian, Kaneda and co. can certainly be non-Asian (so long as their names aren’t distinctly Asian). Heck, as long as the eponymous character remains Asian or partly Asian, they can even stick with the existing title.
As for Exodus, I dunno about that too much as it isn’t the sort of thing I’d catch in the theater, much though I appreciate Bale’s acting, but if Lawrence Of Arabia made all those years ago could accomplish what it did with a mix bag of both white actors and non-white ones playing Arabians, then so could this one. That they largely didn’t go for that does indeed say something, despite all the cast, crew and producers’ claims to the contrary.
For Akira, I’d be more worried about the quality of the actors they’re getting than the color of their skin. Then again, I suppose people will bitch either way. They’re bitching about Oscar Isaac being cast as Apocalypse despite the guy actually looking the part ethnically (even if he isn’t exactly the same ethnicity as the character) and is a more than capable actor. They’re whining about that one storm trooper revealed as being portrayed by a black actor in that Episode VII teaser trailer. Heck, they even bitch about white guys portraying white guys so I suppose it’s all moot.
And Hollywood? Well, they’ve pulled that stunt where they got a decidedly non-Asian guy to play an Asian guy in a very stereotypical fashion before. And since then, they’re still getting away with a lot of bullcrap, some worse than others. Hollywood does what it wants when it wants and the audience can grumble all they want but so long as Hollywood more or less pulls off the other aspects in play, audiences will still lap up what they are served, and Hollywood producers will still be wearing their trademark see-I-told-you-it-wouldn’t-matter smirks all the way to the bank. Wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last.
May Elba be the next 007. Although my personal nomination and vote goes to either David Harewood or Ioan Gruffudd, Elba’s good, too. The guy will pull it off. I know he will.
Share this:
Related