The presentation of this film seems more honest than people give it credit for. It is a Chinese production set in Japan. If they wanted to, they could have insisted more Asians be in the cast but don't forget that a lot of nineties classic Manga and so on whitewashed themselves in that so much Asian art and fashion replicated (and still does) Western culture. It 's a complex social and cultural thing. Anyway who gives a shit really, there's not that many people who genuinely appreciate these things (Sci-Fi, Anime etc) who are actually bigots and racists. Sci-Fi and Anime have been key players in the integration of very different cultures over the last 40 years or so and i think that these movie makers know all this anyway, hence the whitewash thing is just bullshit couch revolutionary wank. As far as the movie itself goes.... Just go watch the original. (again) This was OK but it just reminded me of how great the original was.

@split.infinitive said:

The presentation of this film seems more honest than people give it credit for. It is a Chinese production set in Japan. If they wanted to, they could have insisted more Asians be in the cast but don't forget that a lot of nineties classic Manga and so on whitewashed themselves in that so much Asian art and fashion replicated (and still does) Western culture. It 's a complex social and cultural thing. Anyway who gives a shit really, there's not that many people who genuinely appreciate these things (Sci-Fi, Anime etc) who are actually bigots and racists. Sci-Fi and Anime have been key players in the integration of very different cultures over the last 40 years or so and i think that these movie makers know all this anyway, hence the whitewash thing is just bullshit couch revolutionary wank. As far as the movie itself goes.... Just go watch the original. (again) This was OK but it just reminded me of how great the original was.

Many Anime fans will tell you that even though the cartoons you see look White, they're actually Japanese. Anime modeled itself after Disney. They adapted the round like eyes and various skin colors from Western art. However, that still doesn't take away from the fact that the characters are ethnically Asian. Which is why they should have chosen Asian actors for this movie. Asian American actors are having issues finding work in Hollywood. Which is why it was wrong to cast mainly Caucasian actors as the lead.

@mechajutaro said:

Be prepared for yet another sh--storm after Battle Angel sweeps through our multiplexes

Apparently it's actually good.

I have fairly strong feelings about conscious and unconscious attempts to retain a Whites Only Party in various walks of society, its lazy, misrepresents source material and means top talent that should getting identified, nurtured and displayed based on merit probably ends up stacking shelves in supermarkets. Its also just generally embarassing that huge film studios, with all the resources at their disposal, can't even drum up more than a handful of decent actors of non-White European ethnic origin in this day and age. Its pitiable really.

However, I wasn't too bothered with how they handled it here given the story they chose to tell (of an east-Asian ghost in a more European shell). Given the futuristic setting they just about got away with the extreme multiculturalism of the cast. I'd been living under a rock and intentionally avoiding this film due to admiration for the original so I wasn't even aware that this was particularly contentious.

Again, this is all on the assumption that the original creator approved of the plot choice here rather than any sense of the plot having been mutilated so that it could explain the casting of the lead actress.

I think a lot of producers are just afraid to put a lot of money into unknown quantities. Scarlett Johansson is a big name in Hollywood especially in the action genre and could potentially sell a movie that would've otherwise slipped under the radar. Granted, that's not what happened in the end, but I can understand where the makers of this were coming from.

@Fergoose said:

I have fairly strong feelings about conscious and unconscious attempts to retain a Whites Only Party in various walks of society, its lazy, misrepresents source material and means top talent that should getting identified, nurtured and displayed based on merit probably ends up stacking shelves in supermarkets. Its also just generally embarassing that huge film studios, with all the resources at their disposal, can't even drum up more than a handful of decent actors of non-White European ethnic origin in this day and age. Ite pitiable really.

However, I wasn't too bothered with how they handled it here given the story they chose to tell (of an east-Asian ghost in a more European shell). Given the futuristic setting they just about got away with the extreme multiculturalism of the cast. I'd been living under a rock and intentionally avoiding this film due to admiration for the original so I wasn't even aware that this was particularly contentious.

Again, this is all on the assumption that the original creator approved of the plot choice here rather than any sense of the plot having been mutilated so that it could explain the casting of the lead actress.

The problem isnt a 'Whites Only Party' its the fact that Hollywood is lazy and cant seem to write original roles for POC. Im a purist at heart, I want a production to stick to the source material as close as possible. If that means the fucking cast of the original story is all white than they better be all white. Im sick of Hollywood just token up productions to meet some quota for woke points. The same goes for gender swapping. Simply turning a male into a female dosent do anything for equal rights. How hard is it to write a film about a strong lead female? Or a strong black man? Or a sexy Asian man? The woke/SJW/tokenism is completely killing the film industry and plenty of other media as well. And its heart breaking.