You should. They have a lot of information on The Last Airbender casting and Akira, too. As for the comments about TLA... It's usually the same. Think about every white apologist out there, and you've got the gist of it.
This is seriously fucked up. It annoys me when races are forgotten, oh so easily. The story setting and the fact that the hero IS Japanese is important too.
Also, as being half-Japanese, it irks me that rather than "Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Indonesian..." they now are "Asian" and one can easily replace the other (guess what, Japaneses didn't like that a Chinese played a geisha, jeez, think about the sensibilities people; it's like asking a French gal to play the role of an English princess, it'd be as fucked up).
Akira should have have at least an Asian cast. Asians can play very well too, thank you very much. I definitely won't see this Akira, it's going to be substanceless, I can already feel Hollywood fucking this up. >>
Actually, I can't really tell a French person from an English person. There was so much invading each other, and getting invaded by Vikings/Romans going on in Europe, they pretty much look the same to me. I have no problem with white people from one background playing white people of a different European background. Most actors don't play characters with their exact heritage.
Not defending whitewashing at all. That shit makes me mad every time. You don't just "happen" to cast all characters of color with white people.
Not sure how it is in other places, but I agree with you simply because there isn't really much of a "all of you you look alike" stereotype with white people from various European heritages. I have to say that because of how rare it is for people of color to be cast into leading roles, I AM a little bit more lenient about ethnic casting accuracy. Depending on the situation. I was miffed that they chose a Chinese actress to play a geisha, simply because they really should have chosen a Japanese woman to play such a role. But it is definitely justified for people to question that kind of thing because Asian people are always stereotyped as "all looking alike" with stereotypical features (slanted eyes that *aren't even depicted correctly in drawings for fuck's sakes* for example, even though many South Asians don't have small, slanted eyes at all.) You don't really see that kind of problem with white people, even though it's a psychological thing to be able to identify your own race better. So to white people, Asians might all look alike
( ... )
*nod* I agree with all of this--the context is different, because there are no "they all look the same" stereotypes that I've heard of for whites, it's not as potentially damaging. But OTOH, seeing a minority actor get any exposure is a good thing, so it can feel counterproductive to protest a Chinese actor getting a lead role. It's a complicated situation.
Incidentally, this conversation made gmail display an ad with the headline "Meet Pretty Oriental Lady." SO MUCH FAIL, GOOGLE, SO MUCH FAIL.
UGH arguments like his make me and my sister so angry. >:| I hate when they try to make excuses for whitewashing. It's a serious issue, and people shouldn't let it go by like it isn't serious. :|
I hate the "it's all about talent!" argument. As if no talented actors of color exist. Most of the time they pick the shittiest actors anything (like in TLA) - people need to stop lying to themselves and acting like it's not about racism.
Also, lol at "I don't think of myself as a race!" comment. Only privileged people have the luxury of not labeling themselves. Only they have the luxury of pretending race doesn't matter (that little game of make-believe is, of course, nearly always used to oppress POC).
I don't know if it's willful ignorance or not, but I mean, come on...Do people really think that casting is always about talent? It's usually about what they think will sell, what sticks to their formula (thin, white, and pretty), and generic actors that will be "safe" at the box office. Talent usually has nothing to do with it. If that were so, I'm pretty sure Alex Pettyfer would never get another movie (buuuut he's white, thin, and pretty, so there we go.)
That is why I will never agree to "color blindness." It just fosters ignorance.
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Also, as being half-Japanese, it irks me that rather than "Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Indonesian..." they now are "Asian" and one can easily replace the other (guess what, Japaneses didn't like that a Chinese played a geisha, jeez, think about the sensibilities people; it's like asking a French gal to play the role of an English princess, it'd be as fucked up).
Akira should have have at least an Asian cast. Asians can play very well too, thank you very much. I definitely won't see this Akira, it's going to be substanceless, I can already feel Hollywood fucking this up. >>
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Not defending whitewashing at all. That shit makes me mad every time. You don't just "happen" to cast all characters of color with white people.
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Incidentally, this conversation made gmail display an ad with the headline "Meet Pretty Oriental Lady." SO MUCH FAIL, GOOGLE, SO MUCH FAIL.
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The ones on Cracked are consistently a cesspool of misogyny. And oh god, YouTube.
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Also, lol at "I don't think of myself as a race!" comment. Only privileged people have the luxury of not labeling themselves. Only they have the luxury of pretending race doesn't matter (that little game of make-believe is, of course, nearly always used to oppress POC).
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That is why I will never agree to "color blindness." It just fosters ignorance.
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