<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'>Nah. If the producers want to play by the rules they established in the series milieu (which is really the "authenticity" the fans are arguing for) then it'd be nice, at least, for the characters to be portrayed by Asian actors. So I don't buy the argument that in general "anime" characters are intended to look international, so then it's okay to cast non-Asian actors in the film (I don't even buy that premise).<br><br>I think the fans of the show are unwittingly arguing for fair play for Asian actors in Hollywood more than fighting against any notions of cultural appropriation (the post Aaron linked to accused the show's fans of cultural voyeurism). For me, this is what the argument is about - the business of Hollywood. <br><br>The show itself is a funny mishmash of myths and icons curiously passed off as both authentically "Asian" and created out of whole cloth, which begs a question (and perhaps is what Tim is getting at?); if something is initially inauthentic can one expect authenticity derived from it?<br><br><br><br>----- Original Message -----<br>From: "Tim Iles" <timiles2003@yahoo.com><br>To: KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<br>Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 3:43:14 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central<br>Subject: Re: White Washing<br><br><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; -x-system-font: none;" valign="top">This is an interesting issue and thread, but I have to ask whether this is really a "problem" as such (I'm hoping to sidestep the invisibility of Asians in non-Asian popular media in general, something which does frustrate me)--in some ways it is a different issue from casting Zhang Ziyi and Li Gong in _Memoirs of a Geisha_. <br><br>One can argue that the _faces_ of Japanese anime characters are themselves intended to be 'international' rather than particularly Japanese, or even Asian for that matter. If that's so, then there's almost a tacit license for using non-Asian actors in a live-action adaptation. <br><br>Given that the creators of the animated series are not Japanese and the program uses a "mish-mash" of Asian references and influences (I haven't seen it so I can't comment on whether it all works), perhaps it's forgivable for the live-action film to
make use of non-Asian characters. <br><br>I have much greater trepidation at the thought of another Hollywood remake of a Japanese film, such as _Ringu_ or _Kairio_, neatly excising all traces of Asia... That to me is a much less forgivable issue, especially considering how poor the remakes are. Greater distribution of Japanese films just doesn't seem likely when Hollywood is content to plunder Japanese sources for remakes, reaping the benefits of direct profits etc.<br><br>Best,<br><br><br>Tim Iles<br>University of Victoria<br><br><br><br><br>--- On <b>Tue, 8/25/09, Roger Macy <i><macyroger@yahoo.co.uk></i></b> wrote:<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br>From: Roger Macy <macyroger@yahoo.co.uk><br>Subject: Re: White Washing<br>To: KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<br>Received: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 5:26 AM<br><br><div id="yiv1074601104">
<style></style>
<div><font face="Arial">Interesting, Jun-Dai,</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Your mention of Miyazaki and your suspicion that the
promoters are going for two hits for the price of one by provoking controversy,
chimes with a piece in London's <em>Guardian</em> newspaper last week, 'Ponyo:
can a Japanese fantasy finally animate US audiences ? Miyazaki's latest animé
release follows string of acclaimed cartoons that had muted success in America.'
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/14/ponyo-miyazaki-anime-us-release?commentpage=1">http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/14/ponyo-miyazaki-anime-us-release?commentpage=1</a></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">I originally picked this up in a badly-mangled print piece
the next day (in 'International'[news]) that looked like nothing more than
a studio puff-piece but, even so, the story presumably originated from the
studio *, and the use of 'original' to describe a US version with Hollywood star
high-recognition looks like an attempt to lengthen the news cycle by courting
'controversy'.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">But the connection to this thread is that, whilst dubbing
may often have some comparison to white-washing, when the publicity is all about
identifying home-market stars to the roles, then it has become, I contend,
a process wholly comparable to white-washing.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">* - for a comparable, non-Japanese case of a studio
concocting a 'controversy' about subtitles last week, there was -</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/used-subtitles-to-watch-the-wire-the-writer-says-thats-just-criminal-1773087.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/used-subtitles-to-watch-the-wire-the-writer-says-thats-just-criminal-1773087.html</a></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">Roger</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div>---- Original Message ----- </div>
<blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;">
<div style="background: rgb(228, 228, 228) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;"><b>From:</b>
<a rel="nofollow" title="jd.kinejapan@kurutta.net" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=jd.kinejapan@kurutta.net">Jun-Dai Bates-Kobashigawa</a> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>To:</b> <a rel="nofollow" title="KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</a>
</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 24, 2009 11:25
PM</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Subject:</b> Re: White Washing</div>
<div><br></div>This reminds me a lot of the controversy around casting a white
actor to play Ged in the TV Earthsea adaptation (Goro Miyazaki's Ged is also
very caucasion-looking), though in that case Ged's dark skin was a matter of
great importance to LeGuin, whereas I'm not sure how much of a similar 'point'
is being made by DiMartin and Konietzko.<br><br>Given that Hollywood's idea of
the widest possible audience and the lowest common denominator is a white male
hero, the move makes sense. TV can be niche-targeted, but big-budget
films can't be, and unless your hero is Jackie Chan, Jet Li, or one of a
handful of established-in-the-US martial arts actors, then casting an Asian or
Asian American as your hero qualifies as niche targeting, since white people
will have a bit of a barrier identifying with the character (a barrier that
Asian Americans, African Americans, women, etc., are less likely to have
regarding white protagonists). I am kind of surprised that they chose to
make all three heroes white. That and choosing an Indian for the bad guy
makes it seem like they *want* protest websites and letter-writing
campaigns.<br><br>It's unfortunate, but the trend seems to be getting worse
rather than better, despite the slightly increased awareness of Asian films in
the mainstream (Miyazaki, anime in general, Crouching Tiger, etc., and, if it
counts, Slumdog).<br><br>How many Japanese American movie actors can you
name? (that's probably why John Cho gets to be
Sulu)<br><br><br>Yours,<br> Jun-Dai<br><br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 12:35 PM, Nornes, Mark <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="/mc/compose?to=amnornes@umich.edu">amnornes@umich.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">
<div><font face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">There has been some discussion over the years of
Asian characters being played by Caucasians in American remakes. Here’s
another one for the mill, from an article in the new Flow: <br><br>"Fan
Protests, Cultural Authenticity, and the Adaptation of Avatar: The Last
Airbender" by Patricia Nelson (<font color="#0000ff"><u><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://flowtv.org/?p=4215">http://flowtv.org/?p=4215</a></u></font>) A consideration of
the fan backlash surrounding Paramount?s choice to cast white actors as
Asian characters.<br><br>Markus</span></font>
</div></blockquote></div><br></blockquote></div></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><br>
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