Hi all. I hope everyone is doing well. I've been taking an extended break from FimFiction lately. Had some undesirable interactions with some users. That coupled with some of my creative frustrations just makes logging on... kind of unpleasant? If I do log on, it's usually to try and catch up with the fics I'm reading and then I quickly log off. I'm just feeling drained with the MLP fanfic
Writing updates. Chattin' up about life. Not a dense post, but get it after the jump.
Art by Nookprint
It was my birthday yesterday! I'd meant to post the day of, but honestly, I was so tired and busy I just didn't have much time or energy to sit at my computer. Wanna hear a funny story or two, plus see the new playlist I made for Sassaflash? Get it after the jump!
New chapter for What They Hope to Find is out! I talk about what's next after the jump, but before that, a quick anecdote:
Last night, my family was having trouble finding something to watch together. My nine-year-old son didn't have any ideas, but he pretty much shot down every suggestion we had. Eventually, out of frustration and half-serious, I say, "Let's just watch ponies."
I'm participating in this year's Jinglemas! It's a cute fic exchange that happens every year. I requested a rare pair ship, three guesses which. 
Today is the last day to join, so if you want in on it, be sure to read over the rules and PM Shakespearicles!
Ghost in the Shell is getting the live action treatment. The movie looks like it could be pretty decent, except for the continued trend of white-washing by the film industry, but... yeah. Trailer came out just yesterday I think.
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I am extremely torn. Johansen is the best choice if they had to have a white actress at least? Which they didn't and they shouldn't have. I dunno. I want to like it but her being Japanese, and the whole being set in Japan thing is actually really important to the whole thematic program.
I am... modestly excited for this film. Yeah it's being white-washed. That doesn't really bother me because to me... if you can act and do the part you should get the role no matter what race or gender you are. ...problem is Disney is obviously using star power with Scarlett instead of somebody who's actually perfect for the part (Her name is the video title for crying out loud).
They did this because this film isn't for fans of the anime like me or you. It's for the general movie going audience and the general audience probably doesn't know what the hell Ghost in the Shell is (Remember this is for people like Joe Shmoe who probably never saw an anime in his life and probably thinks it's for little kids). ...they do know Scarlett though from the Marvel films and such and so boom there she is. This is a gaurantee seller now thanks to her (Which is why Lucy sold well despite being an awful movie). Same thing happened with Bennedict Cumberbatch with Dr. Strange. People don't know who Dr. Strange is, they know who Bennedict is... boom there he was. It's completely understandable from a business standpoint.
Regardless of that, it's being made by Disney and they've been on a winning streak with me lately so I expect SOME sort of quality. Even if it isn't good, it will at least draw some attention back to the original Ghost in the Shell movie or even better Stand Alone Complex. And if it is good...excellent we finally have a live action hollywood anime movie that isn't garbage and that's a win for me. And if it isn't and it also bombs... oh well I guess... I still have the anime series I can watch and enjoy.
The best scenario in my mind is that this movie does EXTREMELY well and is even good for fans like me. Because then maybe Disney and other studios will look into other anime properties and see potential there. There are tons of anime properties out there that I think would do well in live action or deserve some attention. I think something like Trigun would work well in live action or even Cowboy Bebop (That would be walking an extremely fine line though). I even think something like Fate/Stay Night might do well in Live Action if done correctly. Oh and... yeah I'll just leave this whole GUNDAM FRANCHISE sitting here guys... you know... just in case someone finally want to put Michael Bay and his Transformers garbage in it's place... just saying guysssssss.
So yeah, modestly excited for this film and I hope it does well both for the fans and the box office. PLEASEEEEEEE.
What other anime properties should get the live action treatment if this film is good and does well?
Ok, can we all just ignore the white washing for a minute?
Because I'm Japanese (American) and I don't mind. And none of the Japanese people I've talked to mind either. I'm not saying that white washing isn't a problem. I'm just saying that it isn't a problem in THIS case.
I'm more worried about LITERALLY EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF THE FILM. Sure, Ms. Johanson definitely looks like a life action Major, but it seems like she's just phoning in the role.
And besides, GitS is not exactly an easy anime to adapt. It's a very atmospheric movie, and almost everything about it relies on the visuals. ESPECIALLY it's themes about feminism, sexuality, and human nature. I'm worried that those things will be lost in a live action adaptation.
4302321
None.
Speaking as a woman that is really only a fan of a dozen anime/manga titles, and only a dozen more tokusatsu TV shows, I'm of the opinion that American studios shouldn't adapt these properties.
Sure, there are exceptions, like Power Rangers, but the fact is, most of these adaptations suck major major balls. And they often loose what made those titles THEM.
4302156
Actually, I think her being Japanese is probably the least important part of the film's theme.
4302508 I'll explain what I mean. It's not ethnicity, but its history that I'm thinking of. (I actually was happy it was Scarlet Johanssen at least, cause she plays characters like the Major and I think she'll have the right sort of bearing to get her right. I'm also, culture/history critique I'm worried will be lost aside, cautiously optimistic at best about them doing the REST of it justice. But still a little optimistic.)
To me, GitS's themes are tied explicitly to Japan itself--to the problems of the rapid industrialization and modernization of Japan that followed WWII, and which shook Japan's culture to its core. The questions of Ghost are universal, but they are also very pointedly questions born out of that time period and that place, Japan between 1945 and 1980. You have a society built on ancient ideas having the entirety of its culture uprooted and forced into rapid, often unnaturally rapid change leads into a very Japanese fascination with automation and robots in general.
I see this starting with anime like Tetsujin 28-go whose author was specifically inspired by the German special research department and the devastation of post-WWII Japan. You see a ton of robots, great towering things built to destroy or defend, but always cold and iron and more than human. If I had a bit more energy and time, I'd find some articles that I read awhile back that got me looking into the roots of mecha anime, but I'm not alone in seeing mecha and in general Japanese fascination with almost magical high tech in media as being prompted by their struggle and success in adapting to a more rapid modernazation than just about anybody else. (The US rebuilt Japan as a bulwark against the commies, and in doing so basically squeezed like a quarter century of progress in industry and tech into about five or six years and that trend continued on afterwards.)
So, to go back to Ghost, which is not mecha... I think it asked the questions that mecha couldn't ask. Where mecha grew out of an anxiety about the new Western-style industrialization, Ghost in the Shell is looking at the aftermath. The "Okay, we have computers and stuff now, and we're basically the world's supplier of everything cool and flashy... so now what? What do we do with the cultural void left behind by the mad dash into economic prosperity? Who are we?"
That's just my two cents. I kinda honestly think they'll change the story to the point where a lot of that won't be in the movie at all regardless.
4302156
It's been a few years since I've watched GITS, so I can't comment as to how important Japanese culture is to GITS major themes (I thought the central questions dealt with humanity and the human soul? which I suppose were explored from an Eastern perspective philosophically... but again, I'm not sure because it's been a long time.)
I was surprised they couldn't find someone else. Japanese actresses they could have chosen would have been Koyuki Kato who was in the Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, and Tao Okamoto who is a prevalent model and starred in Wolverine with Hugh Jackman. Mind you, it's not that I don't understand the logic of Hollywood. They wanted star power to attract viewers outside of anime fans. I still wonder if they couldn't have managed this by having a popular actor in a prominent supporting role. It might have even felt better if they had cheated and put Lucy Liu in the role? I don't know... To be perfectly honest, I don't feel terribly strongly about this. Partly because I understand it from a marketing perspective, and partly because GITS was set in a far enough future that large scale cultural globalization seems feasible to me. (Like in Dreamfall Chapters.)
Though I have to wonder, would it have been more or less offensive if they had cast Lucy Liu in the role?
4302321
I think roles should be open to all races and genders and even ages so long as the stories those roles play in do not rely on those factors.
I haven't seen Dr. Strange yet, but I heard it was good. I heard some waves about how people were riled about the white washing in it, but as I was saying to Cynewulf... *shrugs*
4302508
Yeah I don't think it's a major problem in this case either, I was just acknowledging that it was happening. Again.
Honestly, I don't have the energy to get outraged or even mildly offended when I see this stuff happen. Maybe if I see my demographic (hispanic) being replaced in this way in entertainment, I'd care a little more. At most I'd just spit out some strong words, stew on it for a while, then grudgingly check reviews to see if it's worth chancing some money on.
4302557 What about the lady from Pacific Rim? I forget her name, but she was pretty great.
4302563 Oh! Yeah she was pretty good... uhh.... her name was.... Rinko something! I remember her first name because my mind associated it with rollerblading. (I'm a goober.)
4302563
Mako. And yes. She was spectacular.
4302557
Honestly? I didn't care for Ghost in the Shell all that much.
Yes, it's a great film. Visually spectacular and incredibly genius. But it has the name problem as Akira: there's just too much damn world building, and the plot is kind of lacking.
4302569
Rinko?
Seriously?
4302578 Yeah. Rinko Kikuchi. That's who played Mako. IMDB claims she was also in Babel. I liked her in that movie. (Though I disliked the movie as a whole.)
Rinko... like... like skating rink. Makes me think of rollerblades.
Hey, there are weirder memory tricks, okay!?