Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira whitewash

[Professor Zoom]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

This reminds me of the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and why (for the life of me) it wasn't made in Canada, by Canadians, but made in Canada by a British film director and an American film company (Universal). It seems that Canadian directors and writers, so used to making every dismal imitation Sundance style movie, can't make a movie like Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World since their sensibilities can't grasp it in any way.

Um. I would probably blame the decision on the guy who sold the rights to Universal. Which was probably the guy that wrote Scott Pilgrim.

If he wanted it to be made by a Canadian film company he could have sold it to them--for a much smaller paycheck probably.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

What was the last American-made movie you saw with an Asian star? Or even a strong supporting role? How about one that didn't have "martial artist" as a defining trait? Hell, the only decent Asian character on TV right now that I can recall off the top of my head is Cho from The Mentalist and half the writers on that show seem to ignore him.

I can understand Hollywood execs not wanting to have a completely Asian cast, but just about every major city in the US has a large Asian population, and they happen to be very visible in the street motor-sports scene. There is no reason why at least a few of the main characters can't be Asian, if not strictly Japanese. Import a few huge stars like Rain or the like from Japan and Korea and you can pretty much assure any loss of interest from the American public will be made up by those two markets.

Asians are clearly under-represented in entertainment media though, to argue anything else is simply untrue.

What was the last Asian-made movie you saw with an American star? Or even a strong supporting role? How about the one that didn't have "evil villain" as the defining trait? Hell, the only decent American character on Asian TV right now is nobody, and every Asian writer has ignored that point.

I can understand Asiawood execs not wanting to have a completely American cast, but just about every major and minor country has an American media being shown, and they happen to be very visible in the entertainments scene. There is no reason a few of the main characters cannot be American, if not strictly from the midwest. Export a huge star like Brad Pitt or even The Situation and you can pretty much assure any loss of interest from the Asian markets to be made up by American audiences.

Americans are clearly under-represented in Asian entertainment media though, to argue anything else is simply untrue.




*Have seen Asian TV shows and love them.
**Wifey is half-Asian.
***Not trolling.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Um. I would probably blame the decision on the guy who sold the rights to Universal. Which was probably the guy that wrote Scott Pilgrim.

If he wanted it to be made by a Canadian film company he could have sold it to them--for a much smaller paycheck probably.

Not only a smaller paycheck, but for a film that would have been budgeted at far less than the $60 million spent on the project by Universal.

So then, why don't the Japanese make this and other anime properties into live action movies?

It's pretty simple, actually. In order to earn back the money required to turn Akira and other, comparable anime properties into live action, you need to be able to appeal to the masses at the American box office. And, almost without fail, most Americans refuse to see movies that are subtitled (or, worse, dubbed).

This is a shame, really, as there's nothing I'd like to see more than a $200 million movie backed by an entity that wasn't an American studio. But it won't happen. Not for a little while, at least.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

This reminds me of the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and why (for the life of me) it wasn't made in Canada, by Canadians, but made in Canada by a British film director and an American film company (Universal). It seems that Canadian directors and writers, so used to making every dismal imitation Sundance style movie, can't make a movie like Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World since their sensibilities can't grasp it in any way.

No Canadian production company could afford anything more than a small fraction of the $60 million that Hollywood spent on Scott Pilgrim. Even the highest-budgeted Canadian films wouldn't get a quarter of that.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

The premise of Akira is so nuts - a teenage biker-gang member develops psychic superpowers, goes mental with his new powers, blows up tons of stuff, accidentally squishes his girlfriend in his mutating innards, and starts his own private universe along with a few other mutants - that it seems kind of loopy to consider making a live-action version at all, never mind any debate about the racial profile of any potential cast members.

 

[Venardhi]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

What percentage of the populations of Japan, South Korea or Hong Kong are non-asian compared to the percentage of asians in the US?

 

[the G-man]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

A second thread about this? Seriously?

 

[Whofan]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Last Airbender isn't an anime. It's an American cartoon using anime-like designs. If anything it should be compared to the Transformers films...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Anybody who wants to strike a blow against the lily-white casting of American TV shows (and has a Nielsens box) should watch CHAOS. The lead is Puerto Rican, and more importantly, it's a pretty good show, with more of a satiric bite than I'd expected from CBS. Hmm, maybe that's why CBS buried it on Friday night (and the premiere got the lousy ratings you'd expect). More info here.

and The Event's Ian Anthony Dale.

Who is a very good actor who deserves better when The Event gets deservedly canned.

I'm looking forward to seeing Reggie Lee in Grimm (if it gets a pickup).

What was the last Asian-made movie you saw with an American star?

I don't think it's too much to expect that movies or TV series should generally reflect the racial/ethnic makeup of the countries that produce them. Asian countries make movies starring Asians; America should make movies starring Americans (or at least furriners who don't butcher the accent ).

it would be nice if they cast actual Japanese actors and not just of Asian decent but full on Japanese actors for Akira.

They'd probably be actors of Korean descent. For whatever reason, there seem to be a lot of Asian-American actors who are specifically Korean. I think they're doing okay to cast any actor who looks like they could be Japanese, inasmuch as Hollywood doesn't worry overly about matching ethnicities of white actors and characters.

In order to earn back the money required to turn Akira and other, comparable anime properties into live action, you need to be able to appeal to the masses at the American box office.

Nowadays, it's the international box office - which has become accustomed to seeing white Americans (or actors pretending to be Americans) in all big box-office movies - so to suddenly spring actors on them that don't look like what they've been told Americans look like, would be confusing and risky, even if all the actors are American.

 

[scnj]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

There's a show that takes place in Hawaii that has a couple of Asian leads and many guest stars.

Yup. Forgot to Mention Grace Park (Boomer from NuBSG) and Daniel Dae Kim (Crusade and LOST) in Hawaii 5-0

There's also Ming Na in Stargate Universe, and The Event's Ian Anthony Dale.

And Ken Jeong in Community.

 

[IndyJones]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Yup. Forgot to Mention Grace Park (Boomer from NuBSG) and Daniel Dae Kim (Crusade and LOST) in Hawaii 5-0

There's also Ming Na in Stargate Universe, and The Event's Ian Anthony Dale.

And Ken Jeong in Community.

Yeah, the cast of Community is surprisingly diverse.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Just one thing about anime... How many characters actually LOOK Japanese?! Look at Sailor Moon! Don't look at the live-action, that's shit.

Usagi/Serena: Blonde with BLUE EYES!
Ami/Amy: Dark haired with BLUE EYES!
Makoto/Lita: Redhaired with GREEN EYES!
Minako/Mina: Blonde with BLUE EYES!
Rei/Raye: Raven hair with brown eyes.

The only ones that looked remotely Japanese were Rei and Ami!

 

[sojourner]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Anybody who wants to strike a blow against the lily-white casting of American TV shows (and has a Nielsens box) should watch CHAOS. The lead is Puerto Rican, and more importantly, it's a pretty good show, with more of a satiric bite than I'd expected from CBS. Hmm, maybe that's why CBS buried it on Friday night (and the premiere got the lousy ratings you'd expect). More info here.

You keep touting this, yet the lead looks no more ethnic than say... Fred Savage.

 

[IndyJones]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Anybody who wants to strike a blow against the lily-white casting of American TV shows (and has a Nielsens box) should watch CHAOS. The lead is Puerto Rican, and more importantly, it's a pretty good show, with more of a satiric bite than I'd expected from CBS. Hmm, maybe that's why CBS buried it on Friday night (and the premiere got the lousy ratings you'd expect). More info here.

You keep touting this, yet the lead looks no more ethnic than say... Fred Savage.

He's a guy named Freddy Rodríguez, playing a character named 'Rick Martinez.' I don't think it's a big leap for people to think of him as latino.

 

[Takeru]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Just one thing about anime... How many characters actually LOOK Japanese?! Look at Sailor Moon! Don't look at the live-action, that's shit.

The live action is not shit, storywise it's may favourite version of Sailor Moon! The costumes aren't that great and the effects are cheap, but the writing is really good and all characters are focused on.

Usagi/Serena: Blonde with BLUE EYES!
Ami/Amy: Dark haired with BLUE EYES!
Makoto/Lita: Redhaired with GREEN EYES!
Minako/Mina: Blonde with BLUE EYES!
Rei/Raye: Raven hair with brown eyes.

The only ones that looked remotely Japanese were Rei and Ami!

But hair and eyes don't matter in manga/anime, they are japanese, if they want to portray a european character they will either state the ethnicity or draw a bigger nose.
That doesn't mean I'd be opposed to casting white girls to play the parts, but "They were blonde in the manga" is not a good reason at all, it only leads to "You see, Usagi is drawn as a blonde with blue eyes, so casting Miley Cyrus and her Hannah Montana wig is actually more faithful to the original work than an asian girl!" and that's just ridiculous.

 

[sojourner]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Anybody who wants to strike a blow against the lily-white casting of American TV shows (and has a Nielsens box) should watch CHAOS. The lead is Puerto Rican, and more importantly, it's a pretty good show, with more of a satiric bite than I'd expected from CBS. Hmm, maybe that's why CBS buried it on Friday night (and the premiere got the lousy ratings you'd expect). More info here.

You keep touting this, yet the lead looks no more ethnic than say... Fred Savage.

He's a guy named Freddy Rodríguez, playing a character named 'Rick Martinez.' I don't think it's a big leap for people to think of him as latino.

But he still looks like a "lilly white american". It's not really much of a win for non-white casting.

 

[IndyJones]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

You keep touting this, yet the lead looks no more ethnic than say... Fred Savage.

He's a guy named Freddy Rodríguez, playing a character named 'Rick Martinez.' I don't think it's a big leap for people to think of him as latino.

But he still looks like a "lilly white american". It's not really much of a win for non-white casting.

And why not?

 

[Skywalker]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Probably because he is white.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

The premise of Akira is so nuts - a teenage biker-gang member develops psychic superpowers, goes mental with his new powers, blows up tons of stuff, accidentally squishes his girlfriend in his mutating innards, and starts his own private universe along with a few other mutants - that it seems kind of loopy to consider making a live-action version at all, never mind any debate about the racial profile of any potential cast members.

And in an interesting bit of irony Chris Pine is apparently in the running for a part in the live action movie, considering he play/is playing Captain James T. Kirk who had a best friend who was a Starfleet officer who develops psychic superpowers, goes mental with his new powers, reforms parts of planets, kills a guy, and gets offed by Kirk who drops a big rock on him with a phaser rifle.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Racebending and other Asian-Americans speak up against Akira white

Anybody who wants to strike a blow against the lily-white casting of American TV shows (and has a Nielsens box) should watch CHAOS. The lead is Puerto Rican, and more importantly, it's a pretty good show, with more of a satiric bite than I'd expected from CBS. Hmm, maybe that's why CBS buried it on Friday night (and the premiere got the lousy ratings you'd expect). More info here.

You keep touting this, yet the lead looks no more ethnic than say... Fred Savage.

He's a guy named Freddy Rodríguez, playing a character named 'Rick Martinez.' I don't think it's a big leap for people to think of him as latino.

Check IMDB, he's Puerto Rican. For what it's worth...the show got lousy premiere ratings, so it's probably dooooomed anyway.

Do people not know what Latinos look like? I'm Californian, so maybe it's more obvious to me? If I didn't know the guy's name or ethnicity, it wouldn't matter. When I first saw him in something, I assumed he was Mexican or Cuban. Puerto Rican was a bit of a surprise, but I wouldn't have pegged him for any non-Latino ancestry.