George Takei to Hollywood: “Quit Whitewashing Anime”
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Apr 22, 2011 23:40 JST
- Tags: Adaptations, Akira, Hollywood, Interviews, Production Controversy
Actor George Takei (aka “the guy who played Sulu from Star Trek”) has spoken critically of Hollywood’s penchant for taking Asian film, manga and anime and recasting everyone with white actors, citing the upcoming and thoroughly purified Akira as a particularly egregious example.
He was recently interviewed about the adaptation, which transposes Akira from Neo-Tokyo to “New Manhattan,” features a cast of handsome white men in place of the 2D yellow dwarves of the original, and according to supposed leaks takes radical liberties with the script:
Were you surprised to find out Warner Bros. is courting white leading men for roles in the adaptation of Akira?
[…]
It’s an old Hollywood tradition that we’ve always been battling, not just Hollywood but Broadway too, if you remember Miss Saigon and the furor over that.
So, no, I really wasn’t surprised, but the audience has changed now, and I’m surprised Warner Bros. is not keeping up with the audience.
The manga and anime phenomenon is mostly white in this country. It originated in Japan, and, of course, it has a huge Asian fan following.
But it’s the multi-ethnic Americans who are fans of Akira and manga. The idea of buying the rights to do that and in fact change it seems rather pointless.
If they’re going to do that, why don’t they do something original, because what they do is offend Asians, number 1; number 2, they offend the fans.
The same thing happened with M. Night Shyamalan. He cast his project [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it’s an Asian story, and the film flopped.
I should think that they would learn from that, but I guess big studios go by rote, and the tradition in Hollywood has always been to buy a project, change it completely and flop with it.
I think it’s pointless, so I thought I would save Warner Bros. a bit of failure by warning them of what will most likely happen if they continue in that vein.
What would you ideally like to see happen with the Akira adaptation?
Well, ideally, they should do it properly and get Asian-American actors cast in those roles.
In the adaptation they would of course be speaking in English and understandable to a popular American audience. That’s the whole point. They bought a project that is popular and enormously loved by its fans, and if they want the fan following to support the film, that’s the way you do it.
Of course, from the perspective of actual Asians (most of whom hate each other) rather than the happily undifferentiated “Asian” Americans, the prospect of seeing a bunch of Chinese and Korean actors play faux-Japanese in a Hollywood production may be even less appealing than seeing a bunch of big-name Caucasian actors in any case…
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Now a man with dignity!!
Only if he were straight.....
George Takei is awesome, he is allowed to be gay.
I see no qualms with "white-washing" a cast as long as the acting and directing is good.
The only problem is that Hollywood equals bad news, and includes bad acting and bad directing.
Well to be honest Mr. Takei, everyone IS white in anime, so...it does kind of make sense man.
Maybe if he gives up taking it up the squeakhole by other men he can lecture people on how they ought to behave.
I think this anon is just jealous that Sulu is not taking him up the squeakhole. Damn homophobes are always anons...
My god this man is an idiot.
My god, you're a Hollywood ass-kissing CGI fag.
And you're made of Stupid [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yytbDZrw1jc].
It's probably Shatner.
That's my spokesman, right there.
I agree with him. This is why I thought the prince of persia movie was stupid.
The prince looks "caucasian" in the games though.
That prince is more look alike villain on Assassin Creed Brotherhood.
hahaha, you know the prince came long before assissin
Middle Easterners, more specifically Iranians (modern Persia), have publicly stated that Jake Gylinhall looks like a Persian in that movie...
Filthy fucking americans. Enslaves blacks, kill idians and white wash the world.
DIE DIE DIE AMERICA!
LOL i enjoy you random America hating piece of shit poster! You must be butt hurt because America has kicked your ass before or your one of those goat fucking Arab's.
You posted that from you comcast account in your basement located in good ol' howdy-doody texas, didn't you?
Those americans that you're insulting so hatefully would know how to spell "indians" and "whitewash."
Hey, let's go kill germans as well. Oh, and the japs. They bombed Pearl Harbor, remember. Fuck, let's kill all them there squinty-eyes. They all look the same anyway, who'll miss them? That'll take the edge off china's impending invasion.
Man, you're a generalizing p.o.s.
"That's George Takei, like 'too gay,' only different ...but still gay."
Persians actually look pretty caucasian. I'm sure you guys have seen pictures comparing Jake Gyllenhaal and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, with the beards they actually look quite similar. Persians are also famous for having green eyes where most "middle easterners" usually have brown ones. Also as was mentioned, the Prince in the original games looks quite like Jake Gyllenhaal, especially in Sands of Time. I thought that movie was quite good, especially for a blockbuster and ESPECIALLY for a video game movie.
As for Akira...well, if the script commented on by a writer on cracked.com is accurate, it will be an abortion of a movie. I agree with Artefact on the casting of "Asians" though, Asian-Americans and others may not know or care about the difference and there may indeed be little or no genuine distinguishing characteristics (the "eye" thing is kind of dubious). However, Japanese Chinese and Koreans definitely notice when one of the other groups is cast as one of them.
On the other hand, the movie's not being made for them, it's being made for westerners and the international box office, which includes lots of countries who don't give a shit. While casting white people in Asian roles is just dumb because they look nothing like the characters should, limiting the casting pools to separate ethnicities because of old hatreds in countries halfway around the world would be almost as stupid.
Ditto. I simple hate casting like this.
Persians ARE Caucasians.
I agree with him, though the "Asian-American" point does let him down since it makes it sound more like he wants a role. Imagine if Frodo was played by a Japanese guy and Aragorn was black. You can do the whole "It doesn't matter as long as they're a good actor" thing, but where do you draw the line? Could Aragorn be played by Dakoto Fanning as long as she does a good enough performance? Could Legolas be played by Vin Diesel and Gandalf by Justin Bieber?
George Peppard as Gandalf, Dirk Benedict as Aragorn, Dwight Schultz and Legolas, and Mr. T as Gimili. Justin Beiber as Gollum.
I could live with that.
Actually I think there are many people who would want to see Justin Bieber get pulled down a hole by the Balrog...
I could be wrong, but I do believe he's arguing for proper context.
Story deals with Asian characters? Then use Asian-American actors, and not regular WASP looking folks.
Story deals with say Medieval English folks, than casting an Asian-American or an African-American actor, unless there's a damned good reason for it (example, Morgan Freeman playing a Moor in Prince of Thieves), is just lunacy.
So LotR as it was made with English folks (Tolkien did write it as a sort of alternate mythology for England) in mind, wouldn't fit with the type of cast that you've outlined.
Let's take Kurosawa as an example. Ran, which is a mix of the legends of the daimyo Mōri Motonari, combined with Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear.
And yes, I know he discovered the similarities only after he'd preplanned the story, but the influences are there nonetheless. But the point, I'm trying to make is that King Lear was adapted in such a way, that it actually fit within a Japanese framework, thus providing the proper context to use Japanese actors.
Not quite the case with Akira, Dragonball and a host of other works.
Then again, not respecting the Lore of the work they're basing their movie on. Hollywood does have a nasty habit of that, whether it be Alien vs Predator, Max Payne, Akira etc.
They let their actors look like their target audience. This makes them easier to relate to.
Hollywood's target is the western market, go figure... If the story does not allow for this, they would rather change the story. This usually ends bad.
Anime is a completely different thing. I know that those characters are supposed to be japanese, but they don't look like it, at all.
So when watching anime, I never imagine them to be asian (me being a "white guy").
Akira is a notable exception, with it's rather realistic character designs.
I'd argue that it rather depends on the anime in question.
Example, Macross (the first series), it's clearly multi-ethnic and would thus allow for a varied cast.
Black Lagoon, again, multi-ethnic.
Burst Angel, also multi-ethnic.
Cowboy Bebop, multi-ethnic.
Valkyria Chronicles, Mock-Europeans.
Tytanis, multi-ethnic again.
Witch Hunter Robin, multi-ethnic again.
Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo, mostly Japanese with some Europeans tossed into the mix.
Meanwhile, something like Himitsu: The Revelation is firmly set in a Japanese context. Same goes for Genshiken or City Hunter.
And yes, there are plenty of series where it's rather obscure a la Chrome Shelled Regios, Claymore or the Sacred Blacksmith.
But even then, it's not that hard to figure out what may be the appropriate choice based on the relevant context.
Thanks for naming some of my favorite Animes.
triti
>Cowboy Bebop, multi-ethnic.
>Witch Hunter Robin, multi-ethnic again.
>
>Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo, mostly >Japanese with some Europeans tossed into the >mix.
I would put Witch Hunter Robin on the same level as Ryoko, in that they both were heavily dominated by Japanese characters, with Europeans or half-Europeans thrown in mostly for flavor.
By contrast, Cowboy Bebop showed a highly-mixed, vibrantly multi-ethnic fictional world. The soundtrack highlighted extremely diverse styles and called attention to the visual diversity.
Hollywood shouldn't even make movies based on games or anime. It doesn't matter if the cast is white or Asian, it's going to suck either way.
It's because they didn't do it right, not that movie base on game or anime will be suck.
what blows ass is the warped generic impotent scripts devout of any engaging thought from title to credits
if they get that right they can cast whoever they want
He's missing the point entirely. Akira had a grungy, dirty, and gritty feel to it. Almost no one in that movie was handsome or pretty. They're going to make a post apocalyptic world look pretty.
where's the independent film industry when u need them....
What horrifies me is that if George Takei stands for anime, people will think (AGAIN) that anime is GAY; liberache scale GAY...
You miserable little dipshit. This guy is practically speaking for anime fans like you & you go on a snide homophobe remark.
Trolls are supposed to be funny. You fail in so many ways it's even sad.
Sand in your anus?
I hated that George took away a straight role from a straight person. They should have cast Sulu better and gotten someone that didn't predominately suck cock.
George should only be allowed to play gay roles. See what I did there...
Idiots...
The independents end up getting ignored by Hollywood. Just look up the movie Ink and you'll see.
i meant it would be bettre if independent film makers were doing it. & we'll ignore hollywood ^ ^
American pigs
"He cast his project [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it’s an Asian story, and the film flopped."
I thought it flopped because it was bad
It flopped because not a single one of the actors have seen the actual series. You just can't capture it in film if you don't know what you're doing.
Well, of course. Take a bright surrounding cartoon series with cheerful characters and good looking actions and give it to some idiot director who's career only hangs on a failed thriller movies with monotonous lines and casts of people who hardly can even act; what's worse can it be other than ended up turning into a trainwreck?
What a twist!
Nah, WAHT A TWEEST
Sounds like Hollywood alright :3
That's one thing the producers of Dragonball: Evolution were blamed - not casting Asian actors...even though Goku is not Japanese (he's an alien, LOL) ...but the story did suck and the movie flopped (because the writers did not do their homework)
fuck america
I'm not gonna spend my money on some poorass Hollywood-made anime adaptation films anymore.
No, Goku is asian. Z was a spin off.
The people who created Avatar:The Last Airbender were Non-Asian.Sure they used a Korean Animation Company to produce the series. I do agree that they should of cast a few Asian actors into the movie for some of the roles.
As for Dragonball movie technically they used Chinese mythology mix with Japanese sure they had Yun-Fat Chow,Eriko Tamura,Jamie Chung in the movie but that didn't save the movie.
I hope 'wood sinks with the rest of Cali. (Yes, I live in America, just around the Eastern part of the country.
CANADAAAAAA!!!!
blame stephen chow, he should make it a comedy
i agree, how hard is it to follow manga. the story panels are right there, they dont have to do anything but follow it - for god sakes its already drawn and and the script is done.
Goku should be mexican
They'd probably just cast a bunch of actors with what they stereotypically think asians should look like. *cough*Lucy Liu *cough*mirrors edge
American film makers have had no new ideas for 20 or more years. So they steal. Too bad they don`t know what they are stealing, and don`t get a single thing right.
Goku is too dumb to be asian, though. Clearly must be played by an American. Texan, even.
Didn't it seem like they split the elements into races? Like the firebenders are Indians, waterbenders Caucasian, Earthbenders Chinese, and Airbender some sort of mixed thing
I haven't seen the movie so I can't speak for it, but in the cartoon series the pattern seems to be:
Fire Nation - Japan
Earth kingdom - China
Water Tribe - Inuits (eskimos)
Air Nomads - Tibetan monks
Americans like penis fest games and movies.
Fire nation appeared more Middle Eastern to me.
Because apparently that makes you evil, which unfortunately works in post 9/11 America.
i'm going to go out on a limb and defend the last airbender, not in that it was good, but in a NO BODY COULD HAVE DID IT RIGHT kind of way.
you are taking 10 hours of show, which has very little you can cut out and still keep its charm, and cutting it down to 1/5 to 1/3 its length. there is no body who could have did that and made it work.
and dbe failed because it took 30+ hours of show and cut it to 2 hours, something that is impossible in dragon ball (but feasibly doable with dbz)
the only way these could have been done right is if it went to a mini series. that way you could have a 5-7 hour season, and make it seam like an event, allowing for a bigger budget. a series would fail, but mini series may win.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that Anon. I think the fire nation seemed far more Chinese in style than Japanese. I don't disagree with the earth kingdom seeming Chinese as well though.
Swamp water benders-American rednecks?
@alidan
Or make it three movies, like Peter Jackson did with LotR.
About the only big cut that I can think of that he made was Tom Bombadil, and that's because he didn't know how he could make him work with the rest of the movies, and that's a reasonable enough argument for a cut.
caucasians are only good at bending one thing, their sex.
"I haven't seen the movie so I can't speak for it, but in the cartoon series the pattern seems to be:
Fire Nation - Japan
Earth kingdom - China
Water Tribe - Inuits (eskimos)
Air Nomads - Tibetan monks"
This person speak the Truth.
Anonymous
14:06
it was going to be 3 movies.
the whole seriese is about 30 hours long.
all in all there is possibly 10 hours of cutable material in it that you can take out and still have a story, but the story would loose allot of its character.
now if you mean 1 season into 3 movies. there is no logical way to split it 3 times, or even 2, because the places where you can split them, a logical end (a climatic fight/moment, what you could end a season on) doesn't happen till episode 15+ and it also doesn't leave enough room for a second movie, to have some build up, fight, than end, unless you are ok with spilling over into the next season.
firenation's building look like thailand
while airbender clothes somehow resemble Himalayan monk
Waterbender looks like ainu tribe from japanese
and earthbender is chinese
I thought it flopped because the show was bad.
because of BOTH.. u.u
Yeah actually you're right about that, this story is american made by 2 american authors that infuse japanese animation artistry into it. In fact the creators are both graduates of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and even did stuff for well known animated sitcoms.
BTW they are not asian themselves, what truely made this movie awful was messing up the script, changing the designs from the show, actors not looking like their characters, and the names were changed or mispronounced.
But I do support George Takei's opinion 100% I had the same impression about the exact same thing. Though what I really found the most odd about the Akira series was it was never made into a anime series.
There was still some pretty bad whitewashing going on, like turning the two dark-skinned Inuit kids white.
This. Katara and Sokka being white was just ridiculous on so many levels.
It flopped because they casted a bunch of lame ass children actors with only 1 or 2 films to their names or zero in the case of the lead character.
I know that I and plenty of others boycotted it because of the whitewashed cast. AND I heard it was bad. xD Not even like entertaining bad... just bad bad.
The casting was definitely the least of the TLA movies problems.
It flopped because M. Night Shyamalan directed it.
Airbender is a freaking loooong story. You can't just take the whole series and pack it into 3hrs show. In fact the whole thing doesn't work in real life movie anyway. By the time the series reached end volume, the real life actor would have been a 30 year old with beer belly.
Another symptom of the same disease.