Live-Action Ghost in the Shell

Scarlett Johansson for the Major?

I can sort of see it.

edited 18th Oct '14 11:11:09 PM by MadSkillz

Let's face it, the Major doesn't look much more Japanese than most manganime characters. Oh, the anime versions push her a bit more forward in actually looking Asian, but still, not too much. I always keep hearing the 'cast them with Japanese actors because they're Japanese characters' complain, but let's be honest, it's far easier finding American actors who could look like average manganime characters than Japanese actors who look like manganime characters (of course, there'll always be exceptions to every rule).

edited 19th Oct '14 8:51:19 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

With exception to the first movie, the story kinda hinges on them being Japanese in a way. The second major arc in the anime deals with Chinese refugees. If you moved the characters to the US, how do you redraw the political map of the series so that makes sense?

Mexicans.

Plus the political map of the series made no damn sense, even taking The Great Politics Mess Up into account.

Personally, I'd prefer seeing a live action Appleseed or Dominion Tank Police instead. They aren't as deep, but that's exactly why they are better Hollywood blockbuster material, and they have better international adaptability.

It'd be nice if they had an Asian actress play the Major though. But hey, Hollywood.

I mean, Motoko's got purple hair. At the end of the day you can say she just wanted to be white. It's a very fluid concept in that 'verse anyway.

Scarlett Johansson got the role.

Yay.

Good for her. She's a great pick for the part.

That's nice.

Well, your single word Sarcasm Mode really didn't add anything.

It's me expressing annoyance with the continued pattern of whitewashing. If that's annoying to you or whatever then tough.

And the concepts of the story not being completely ingrained in a Japanese-only centered context and the character herself being nothing more a brain in a robot body is harmful to progress? This isn't like Akira and making it set in New York with all the names Anglicized. This is a character known for changing bodies and whose name isn't even her real name.

Yup. This doesn't exist in a vacuum. This is part of a much larger pattern of whitewashing as well as a lack of opportunities for Asian and Asian-American actors in Hollywood. At the end of the day they took a Japanese woman who could have been played by an Asian actress and made her white.

I felt the same way with what Hollywood did to Goku. "He's not Gohan's biological grandson" doesn't automatically translate to "white".

edited 5th Jan '15 12:37:48 PM by comicwriter

It's a great story and a live-action adaptation would be interesting, but I wish they were using Asian actors. It's not just a matter of being unfaithful to the original material, but of being unfair to Asian actresses (who are already excluded from a lot of role that are automatically cast as 'white') and inconsiderate of audiences who might like to occasionally see protagonists that aren't white.

edited 5th Jan '15 12:38:17 PM by WarriorEowyn

The choice of actor was the least of that films problems.

Has Japan even made a live action adaptation?

Was hoping for Rinko Kikuchi to get the role.

Assuming she auditioned, didn't have any scheduling conflicts, and would be willing to travel for the part.

You are in full DC mode today. Can I just make a comment without it being examined?

Oh fuck you Hollywood. Just, die.

Why not just greenlight Keaneu Reeves' Cowboy Bebop while youre at it Dream Works? You clearly have no qualms for sitting over classic Japanese anime.

edited 5th Jan '15 1:17:02 PM by Mattonymy

Whitewashing aside, there's one thing to be said:

Considering Lucy and that one movie about her as an alien (not to mention Black Widow), there are two things to take into account:

1) Her agent is very skillful. Props to him/her for keeping her on a string of action roles coupled with roles which are not frequent enough for women (regardless of colour of skin). I'm talking about the alien role in the case of the latter.

2) Executives assume that she has enough star power to bring in profits. Not only due to her constant presence and name on screens, but also due to being to pull off enough Action-y and Fanservice-y aspects which are also present in Motoko.

Eh, not really. As far as I can tell, she's just getting Pigeon holed for Action Girl Fanservice stereotypes, with not that much characterization beyond the fact that she's a woman and "doing stuff women 20 years ago wouldn't be doing".

The only role I give somewhat credit to is Black Widow and that's really Marvel playing on her comic character. Lucy was dumb and scientifically inaccurate and I imagine this film will be just as groundbreaking as the American Dragon Ball Z film.

edited 5th Jan '15 3:19:14 PM by Mattonymy

I don't see the problem. That's not Avatar. The character in question doesn't look Asian at all. Blame the people who draw those animes. (The reason for this is naturally a combination of Japanese liking the "exotic" as much as we do and the fact that you can express emotions easier if the characters have big eyes). For another movie I would get the argument that the character is still meant to be Asian, but Ghost in the Shell is a very visiual movie and the white Skin and Red Hair of the main character is part of the composition. You can't just change it in this case, and it is easier to pick an actress which looks the part.