More anime than ever is getting movie adaptations. Both in Japan but also in the rest of the world, usually they are referred to as "live-action movies". Not too long ago the teaser for the Fullmetal Alchemist live-action movie was released(it looks fucking badass btw). We also got the first trailer as well as the premier date for the long expected live-action movie of Ghost in the Shell. On the other side of things we have Netflix still working on their adaptation of Death Note, with only the cast released so far.
The controversy surrounding these movies and series have probably reached everyone's ears by now. With the major(pun intended) one being that the Major in Ghost in the Shell is played by Scarlett Johanssen, and not a Japanese actress. Although that kind of pales in comparison to the Death Note production, since pretty much none of the characters resembles their original. With a black actor (Keith Stanfield) playing the role of "L" for instance, also it's been reported that certain Asian actors been turned away from auditioning the roles because they were not looking for "Asian actors".
I have very strong opinions upon this and really do not wanna write them down before I hear you guys's opinions, but if you wanna read mine first then go ahead, I'll leave them in a spoiler here.
Spoiler: My opinion on "Whitewashing" anime.
First of, I do not believe that one can start trashing a movie or a project just because it doesn't turn out the way they wanted to. Nor do I think you can judge a book for it's cover, it's insane how much hate the production for Ghost in the Shell and Death Note has gotten from the "fans". Unlike most people I was really happy when I heard that Scarlett was gonna play the role of Major. Granted I have never seen or watched the anime Ghost in the Shell, but from the clips I've seen of the Major on youtube etc I thought that Scarlett would make a great Major. Looking closely at all the hate she has gotten for this role, they do not hate on her lack of ability to play the major but more the fact that she "stole" the job from a Japanese actress. I can understand that argument to some degree. But it would definitely be a problem if the entire cast would be played by western actors. But so is not the case, the script and project was given to a Hollywood director(Rupert Sanders) and producers from the beginning. The man had been a huge fan from the start of both the manga and the movies. He also said in an interview that he was going to make this his lifework, considering how much he loved Ghost in the Shell. The reason he picked Scarlett was because he could not see anyone else play the role of the Major. Scarlett is an amazing actor and there are not a lot of people who would doubt her talent as an actress.
So my opinion on this is clear. Well I guess we have to see after the movie is released in March of next year... But as far as the hate on Scarlett goes, I think it's insanely stupid, there are a lot of Japanese Actor/ress in the movie, just not the lead.
When it comes to Death Note I am a little bit more skeptical. I kind feel like this show could resemble this years U.S Election but knit up in a series. But it could also become great, considering I have a lot of faith in Netflix. But like I mentioned before, the main cast does not at all resemble the original anime/manga cast... Which is kinda of pissing me off. I guess we have to wait until we know more about it, maybe it turns out that Keith plays a perfect "L" then I guess color won't matter as much. But It's not just him, though. As I mentioned the others does not really resemble the manga characters either. So we better see some good darn acting, and not a huge let down like the live-action movie adaptation from Japan. God that was bad...
Spoiler: Here is some of the Japanese opinions.
I asked some of my Japanese friends and find some surveys online on the very subject, and I found the results really interesting.
First of they were all really happy about Scarlett Johansen playing Major. Partly because she was a very famous actress and it would bring "light" to the franchise. But mostly they argued that most anime characters are made in the image of westerners, they tend not to watch most of the live-action movies in Japan, because the actresses and actors usually do not resemble the original. Hence the choice to cast Scarlett as Major was really well received.
When it came to the Death Note adaptation, the excitement was slightly lower when seeing the cast. But they some of them still believed that it was alright to make a Death Note in Hollywood not casting Asians in the main roles, because Japan had already made their own live-action movie adaptation of Death Note. Although there were some negativity since they saw the character in Death Note to be more "Japanese-like" than most other famous anime works.
So what do you guys think?
Do you believe that "Whitewashing" need to stop? Should there be a limit?
Or is this whole controversy started by some bored dude needing to flame something?
