Chinese, Japanese...same thing (geisha related)

shitzr

At first, I was like "whatever, Hollywood picked Ziyi Zhang to star as a Japanese geisha girl because she'll bring in stupid bank for the movie, dispite the fact that Zhang is Chinese."But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage, are casted as Japanese women as well and play two main characters in the movie. Memoirs Of A Geisha opens doors Now what this tells me is, Hollywood will shit on a race, heritage, and culture anyday if it will result in huge box office revenue.Your thoughts?

DJCire

At first, I was like "whatever, Hollywood picked Ziyi Zhang to star as a Japanese geisha girl because she'll bring in stupid bank for the movie, dispite the fact that Zhang is Chinese."

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage, are casted as Japanese women as well and play two main characters in the movie.

Memoirs Of A Geisha opens doors

Now what this tells me is, Hollywood will shit on a race, heritage, and culture anyday if it will result in huge box office revenue.

Your thoughts?

Even though I don't like that Hollywood does that - its nothing new...

hammertime

yeah guys...it's called ACTING. Maybe you've heard of it?

PEK

At first, I was like "whatever, Hollywood picked Ziyi Zhang to star as a Japanese geisha girl because she'll bring in stupid bank for the movie, dispite the fact that Zhang is Chinese."

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage, are casted as Japanese women as well and play two main characters in the movie.

Memoirs Of A Geisha opens doors

Now what this tells me is, Hollywood will shit on a race, heritage, and culture anyday if it will result in huge box office revenue.

Your thoughts?

Author is Arthur Gold - doesn't sound Japanese to me... It's a Hollywood production that has its setting in Japan - it's not Japanese per se... You're better off seeing a movie like Mizoguchi's 'Story of the Last Chrysanthemums' (chrysanthemum tea - ) or any of Naruse's films dealing w/ geisha as the protagonists for a better flavor than this... I ain't taking anything away from Zhang, former Miss Malaysia Yeoh, or Gong Li, but this is a movie that holds very little if any appeal for me personally (for what it's worth)...

luck

yeah guys...it's called ACTING. Maybe you've heard of it?

Not the point.



You really have to understand - it's not like a German actor is playing a Brit in a romantic comedy. This is one of the most storied traditions of all Japanese social customs. Its importance is seemingly reduced in this Westernized Blockbuster Movie to: "Let's get some 'Asian chick' to fill this role. No one will know the difference or give a shit if they do." The USA really has no suitable metaphor for this.

shitzr

it's called ACTING.

acting is one thing. but playing a native Japanese woman with a heavy Chinese accent is clown shoes.

Birdman9

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

idiotproof

yeah guys...it's called ACTING. Maybe you've heard of it?

Are they that good they can act a facial appearance...

Hard to watch & to be drawn in with this glaring mistake. wtf?



I thought the days of John Wayne playing Genghis Kahn were long gone...

Young_Phonics

Is Lucy Liu mad she's losing work? That's the real question.



P.S. This reminds me of when I saw Charlton Heston playing a "Mexican" in "A touch of evil". The literally put some brown make-up on him, gave him a "swarthy" looking moustache and named him"Vargas".

luck

I'm not a purist about the story being told - just about its inaccurate (and frankly a bit insulting) depiction of this custom. Admittedly, most people (Asians included) probably won't care.

hammertime

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

exactly...this is a Hollywood movie...WTF do you expect. Y'all need to lighten up.

rootlesscosmo

You really have to understand - it's not like a German actor is playing a Brit in a romantic comedy. This is one of the most storied traditions of all Japanese social customs. Its importance is seemingly reduced in this Westernized Blockbuster Movie to: "Let's get some 'Asian chick' to fill this role. No one will know the difference or give a shit if they do." The USA really has no suitable metaphor for this.

I agree with this.

idiotproof

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

Very true though...

I want a Vietnamese authour to write a book about New York graff culture & then get a Romanian to direct it in Argentina with Pakistani actors. Might be kinda cool!! Ha!

rootlesscosmo

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

...but of Chinese heritage, right?

Jonny_Paycheck

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

Very true though...

I want a German authour to write a book about New York hip-hop culture & then get a Australian to direct it in New Zealand with Japanese actors. Might be kinda cool!! Ha!

I think this has already happened at some point

idiotproof

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

Very true though...

I want a German authour to write a book about New York hip-hop culture & then get a Australian to direct it in New Zealand with Japanese actors. Might be kinda cool!! Ha!

I think this has already happened at some point

Ha ha!

Ha ha! Smart arse...

Or you mean like this one..

Birdman9

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

...but of Chinese heritage, right?

Could be...not Japanese, that much I know.

There are several issues that this film raises, none of which necesarily means that the work itself is bad, or even lacking. I mean, hey, I love watching Orson Welles play Othello...and he was NOT of Moorish heitage. That's why I say, if you want to be a purist about mainstream entertainment representing historically and culturally, you are due for A LOT of disappointment.

rootlesscosmo

Regardless of the merits of this particular film, I think we can all agree on this statement:

Hollywood will shit on a race, heritage, and culture anyday if it will result in huge box office revenue.

luck

But damn. I just read that Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, both very successful actors also of Chinese heritage,

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.



and even tho my gut reaction is to think that the casting is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to be purist about an historic novel about Japan written by a white guy and directed by an American(or a Brit, I just know dude is NOT Japanese)....so 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

Very true though...



I want a German authour to write a book about New York hip-hop culture & then get a Australian to direct it in New Zealand with Japanese actors. Might be kinda cool!! Ha!

I think this has already happened at some point

"Hip-Hop Culture" is not really comparable to Geisha custom(s). Really: it's not. It's a wholly other thing to have a hipster/arthouse film cast as "ironically-funny-because-it's-oddball,uninformed,and-outsider-but-still-makes-you-think."

SolidState16

Regardless of the merits of this particular film, I think we can all agree on this statement:

Hollywood will shit on a race, heritage, and culture anyday if it will result in huge box office revenue.

Cahoots

-

rootlesscosmo

"It???s the equivalent, not to put too fine a point on it, of a fine Jewish actress happily playing a heroic Nazi prostitute.."

What? A Jewish actress playing a Nazi OK that's fucked up I guess. Don't understand the prostitute part...

Anyway the lead woman in that terd Passion of the Christ movie was a Jewish Israeli I think.

idiotproof

"It???s the equivalent, not to put too fine a point on it, of a fine Jewish actress happily playing a heroic Nazi prostitute.."

What? A Jewish actress playing a Nazi OK that's fucked up I guess. Don't understand the prostitute part...

Anyway the lead woman in that terd Passion of the Christ movie was a Jewish Israeli I think.

Mary was played by a Romanian & Magdalen was played by an Italian, Monica Belluci. I don't think either of them are Jewish. Not sure what director's cut you saw.

rootlesscosmo

"It???s the equivalent, not to put too fine a point on it, of a fine Jewish actress happily playing a heroic Nazi prostitute.."

What? A Jewish actress playing a Nazi OK that's fucked up I guess. Don't understand the prostitute part...

Anyway the lead woman in that terd Passion of the Christ movie was a Jewish Israeli I think.

Mary was played by a Romanian & Magdalen was played by an Italian, Monica Belluci. I don't think either of them are Jewish. Not sure what director's cut you saw.

Actually Maia Morgenstern is[/b] Jewish.

Not Israeli, but Jewish.

And yeah the director's cut was DOPE. Except for the annoying voiceover.

Danno3000

And yeah the director's cut was DOPE. Except for the annoying voiceover.

Is that the one with the Desi porn? Because if so, I agree, it was dope.

idiotproof

Mary was played by a Romanian & Magdalen was played by an Italian, Monica Belluci. I don't think either of them are Jewish. Not sure what director's cut you saw.

Actually Maia Morgenstern is[/b] Jewish.



Not Israeli, but Jewish.



And yeah the director's cut was DOPE. Except for the annoying voiceover.

Ha. So a Jewsih actress playing a Jew... Thast' good, um, er..isn't it?



As a non-believer watching Passion was like watching another LOTR. Lots of fantasy & biffo. Just needed Arnie as Conan to swing through & lop a few heads off.

Cosmo

Monica Belluci's husband is Jewish.

And I don't see anything wrong with a jew playing the role of a Nazi.

rootlesscosmo

Ha. So a Jewsih actress playing a Jew... Thast' good, um, er..isn't it?

someone mentioned how it would be fucked up for a Jew to play a Nazi (i think). so I brought up a movie about how the Jews killed Christ....starring a Jew. Get it?

Please to return to original topic: Casting Chinese chicks to play Japanese chicks in a movie depicting a curlturally-sensitive aspect of Japanese culture/history =

hammertime

Monica Belluci's husband is Jewish.

And I don't see anything wrong with a jew playing the role of a Nazi.

me neither...like i said, it's called "acting". These movies are "fiction".

idiotproof

Monica Belluci's husband is Jewish.

And I don't see anything wrong with a jew playing the role of a Nazi.

me neither...like i said, it's called "acting". These movies are "fiction".

No This is gospel.. Okay...? Remember us foriegners live by it. Ha!


Didn't Joan Chen & John Lone play Japanese characters in that Chris Lambert film, The Hunted. Set in Tokyo.
And James Hong has played every Asian race for decades on US TV & in films.

I guess we just feel that if you are going to spend millions of dollars to make something look authentic, you should at least go for the single most thing that people will be watching. The actors.

hammertime

I guess we just feel that if you are going to spend millions of dollars to make something look authentic, you should at least go for the single most thing that people will be watching. The actors.

Who is "we"? Anyway I guess when you make movies you can do them up however you want.