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If it were Caucasians we were talking about, I could understand, but we are talking about Chinese women playing Japanese characters. For me, that's close enough. There has been plenty of discussion about wether or not people can tell the difference. Put me in the camp of not being able to tell. There is enough similarities between Chinese/Japanese/Korean people that they could pass for each other to most people.
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Unfortunately, for me, Chinese women playing Japanese women in a film about a culturally specific
Japanese institution is anything but "close enough." Like anyone else interested in the topic, though, I'll go and see the film. Might even like it. And I've no doubt these three fine (and fine-looking) actresses will deliver excellent performances. Heck, maybe there will be award nominations in the long run. But that doesn't mean such high-visibility miscasting is right. I suppose it could be argued that Hollywood can do what they want on some little TV show that won't likely cross borders, but this is a blown opportunity to play fair on a film that stands to be seen the world over (unless it tanks for other reasons, I guess)
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To be honest, I don't want to be educated as to the racial distinctions between a Chinese woman and a Japanese woman. I want to just see the woman. Why do I need to be trained to be able to see everyone's ethnic differences, when all I want is to see people for who they are, not the folds of their skin or skin color or eye color or hair color. "Oh, but we must be sensitive to race. Therefore, you must be trained to see how we are all different. Now in this slide, you'll see what a typical Japanese woman looks like. Notice that blah blah blah...In this slide, you'll see a typical Chinese woman. She differs because blah blah blah..."
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Dome already addressed this, but I think the comment was aimed at me. Nowhere in this entire thread have I tried to suggest that I would want people to learn the differences between cultures based on facial construction
alone, as its obviously prone to inaccuracy and the innocent ignorance of the beholder, as I and others have admitted. There are plenty of other cultural factors that are worth investigating first, should one wish to increase their understanding and recognition of other ethnic cultures. As this discussion happened to be about Asian actresses, I've tried to keep my comments limited to the topic at hand, but I have to admit I'd have more difficulty telling apart plenty of non-Asian and non-Caucasian ethnicities (like some of the ones Lew mentioned) were I put to the test, but that's largely because I haven't got 'round to learning about them yet. It just happens that my interest in Asian cinema and culture got me to thinking in the first place about this casting.
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And that is PRECISELY the attitude and rhetoric that guarantees Song of the South will not receive a mass home video release in America anytime soon. "Song of the South should be released so that people can be made to feel uncomfortable. Song of the South should be released so we can educate people to the cultural ignorance of their grandparents and great-grandparents." More likely than not, people with racial axes to grind will just use the occasion of the home video release of SOTS to bash Disney in the press to promote their own groups and racial agendas.
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Alright, supposing I agree with you here, Ernest, and I'm inclined to, but what's the answer to getting SONG released on DVD in a country where ignorant people of all creed and colour are
still unable to see past their own agendas and
still have racial axes to grind? Censorship to keep the peace? Denial that it exists? Low visibility promotion? A 'there it is, deal with it however you want" approach? Mail order only? I guess we've still got a long ways to go - both minority and majority alike. I know down deep that casting proper actresses in a GEISHA adaptation wouldn't go very far in "educating" people or even showing that Hollywood is culturally sensitive, but it might at least stand as one of the few big-budget, high-profile examples where it was done right, regardless of the bankability of its talent.
At the very least, no one can or should accuse these actresses of stooping to play broad ethnic stereotypes. As I mentioned before, hopefully those days are behind us all, and in that regard, I probably should not have even mentioned SONG, since the whole issue with that film is much more odious than three Chinese women wiggling around in kimono. I like to think that if they ACTUALLY had auditioned some of the great female Japanese talent available today, at least one of those roles might have gone to her. But the three BEST choices just happened to ALL be Chinese? Come on.
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Clearly, some people have short-term memory loss, as a lot of British press talked about how angry they were that an American actress had been cast in the role of the beloved English character.
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I remember that. Thanks for the memory jog, Tim. It's sad, though, that any hubbub raised over the GEISHA casting will ultimately amount to nothing, just as it did with the successful BRIDGET JONES, and the world will move on ever ignorant. By the way, anyone know the ethnic origins of the name Zellweger? My guess would be European of some kind, and hell, if she's decended from Europeans and they're all pretty much white people, then why did the British even get their panties twisted in the first place? They should've been grateful because there obviously was no "name" British actresses who could fit the bill and guarantee worldwide boxoffice.
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The sequel to the film is underway, and I haven't heard a peep of protest from the British press. Have you?
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This doesn't automatically mean they AREN'T peeping, or WON'T when the film comes out. Although to be honest, I can't imagine they'd care at this point. The initial uproar is always the biggest. Now they'll probably just make wiseass remarks about it in their reviews or something.
