Dreamworks to make live-action "Ghost in the Shell"

[Bob Schroeck]

And apparently, Scarlett Johansson's been offered $10 million to play the Major.

-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[DHBirr]

One would think that after all the hubbub that's been raised about such things in recent years -- the The Last Airbender debacle comes to mind -- someone in the casting department would be savvy enough to consider the notion that a character named Kusanagi Motoko, working for the Japanese government, just maybe possibly should be played by an ethnic Japanese.  I mean, maybe I'm stereotyping here, that people with Japanese names are slightly more often than not going to look Japanese, but I don't really think that's too much of a stretch.... 
I grant that Motoko, in an almost-completely mechanical body, isn't absolutely constrained to look Asian of any flavor -- but still, she certainly didn't look Nordic in the original manga. 
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[Ebony]

DHBirr wrote:

---

One would think that after all the hubbub that's been raised about such things in recent years -- the The Last Airbender debacle comes to mind -- someone in the casting department would be savvy enough to consider the notion that a character named Kusanagi Motoko, working for the Japanese government, just maybe possibly should be played by an ethnic Japanese.  I mean, maybe I'm stereotyping here, that people with Japanese names are slightly more often than not going to look Japanese, but I don't really think that's too much of a stretch.... 
I grant that Motoko, in an almost-completely mechanical body, isn't absolutely constrained to look Asian of any flavor -- but still, she certainly didn't look Nordic in the original manga. 

"Memoirs of a Geisha," an award-winning, critically-acclaimed film, produced by Steven Spielberg, starred two Chinese actresses as the titular character and her mentor. Don't hold your breath.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Bob Schroeck]

Update: It's confirmed, Scarlett Johansson will be Motoko Kusanagi.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Black Aeronaut]

Uuugggghhhh! Why Dreamworks? Why? I mean, I get that she's popular and that she's got the action-star chops, but she doesn't have the freakin' look for it! This is gonna be The Last Airbender all over again, I just know it. At the very least get Lucy Liu! At least she's Asian!

[Foxboy]

Calm down a bit, BA: a case can be made that Kusanagi is a full-conversion cyborg, and is thus freed from the necessity of *looking* Japanese.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Logan Darklighter]

While that is true, there are plenty of Japanese actresses who would have been just dandy for the role. 
Like for example, Rinko Kikuchi, recently in Pacific Rim. 

[Black Aeronaut]

I think this Forbes article hits the nail on the head.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder ... e-casting/

Like, BOOM - HEADSHOT! even.
EDITS - I'd still have grave concerns even if it was being directed by James Cameron.

[OpMegs]

The Forbes article may have a point in that there are alternative actors with the chops to pull it off. But I have to look at this point and go "really?"

While Johansson is a good actress she’s not a good fit for the Major. Especially as her action prowess in Lucy is being touted as the reasoning behind the decision to cast her. While there is action in Ghost in the Shell, it’s very often decisive and not the focus of the narrative. The Major is a very complex and difficult character and just slapping an action film on top of that sounds like all kinds of wrong.

Admittedly, her portrayal as a detached alien in the rather interesting Under the Skin is more appropriate for the Major but it’s still not right. [...] Much of that is clearly down to the quality of the writing but a more experienced character actor would be a better fit in terms of handling the role.

Someone like the talented Rinko Kikuchi comes to mind, as she has already proven she can handle more complex and layered roles. Not to mention being a better fit for the Major overall.

I find it interesting that neither of the mentioned examples mention her as Black Widow, and if anyone tells me that Johannson isn't portraying character depth in Winter Soldier, where she's dealing with the fact that her entire attempt at "redemption" may have been in service of the evil she wants to fight, I'd suggest they haven't seen the film.
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"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Valles]

Yeah. I'm gonna put myself down in the 'I approve of this choice' column, too. We know that Johannson can act, we know that there are a number of potential in-character justifications for the Major not choosing a 'Japanese' shell...

...and frankly, even if there weren't, her race isn't the first distinguishing characteristic to come to mind when attempting to describe the character.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Matrix Dragon]

Given how the Majors body is a total conversion cyborg deliberately made to look like a generic mass produced model, I'd say this is one of those times a race change based off the actors skill is acceptable. And we know she can do damaged badass very well.

[Ebony]

And given some of the twists in GitS, she may not be the only actress playing the Major. 
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Matrix Dragon]

Didn't want to bring up that theory just yet.

[Rajvik]

I reserve judgement for a later date when I at least have a trailer for comparison.
 

[OpMegs]

Rajvik wrote:

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I reserve judgement for a later date when I at least have a trailer for comparison.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, I'll defend Scarlet Johannson's ability to act, but that can't save her from an odd script. I saw Lucy once in theaters, and while Johanson may have been dead on for what the director wanted in an increasingly detached, inhuman intelligence, it's impressive to see her go from acting incredibly well in the first ten minutes to nearly deadpan flat as a board the minute the "super switch" gets thrown. By the end of the film, I didn't exactly want my money back, but I doubt I'll ever watch the film again having seen all its party tricks once (for bonus points, most of those are in the trailer, making it look far more action packed than it was). But decrying something as on the level of Shamalamdingdong's Last Airbender based on the fact they cast one good actor that happens to be Not Asian is something that makes my eyes roll so hard they might dislocate. Especially since we don't have a giant neon warning sign like Shamalynkadinkajo attached to the picture yet.
tl;dr version: Johanson hasn't doomed this movie just because she's white, but we won't know if the movie hasn't doomed her performance until we actually get to see it.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Black Aeronaut]

OpMegs wrote:

---

Johanson hasn't doomed this movie just because she's white, but we won't
know if the movie hasn't doomed her performance until we actually get
to see it.

Forbes Magazine wrote:

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What is more worrying though is the creative team behind this new film, that of the writer Bill Wheeler and the director Rupert Sanders.
They may do a good job but with something as big as Ghost in the Shell, surely you’d want someone with experience at dealing with sci-fi and cyberpunk.

Like I said, even if they had Cameron writing and directing this, I'd still have my reservations.

[s3yang]

Meh. I'm just going to come out and say it.
It's anime.

At no point has Motoko Kusanagi actually ever struck me as 'looking Japanese' or even particularly Asian.
That said, I'm curious who they're going to cast for the rest of section 9.

[Black Aeronaut]

Honestly, I think it would be interesting to hear who Masamune Shirow thinks would do a good portrayal of the Major.

[khagler]

While I agree that Scarlett Johansson isn't a good choice to play a Japanese cyborg named Motoko Kusanagi, there's an assumption there which I think is unwise. This is Hollywood we're talking about, and they're not exactly known for faithfully reproducing the things they rip off. We should consider the possibility that Scarlett Johansson was chosen because she is a good choice to play an American cyborg named, say, Rachel Keller, who works an imaginary but very CIA-like agency. (Rachel Keller is what the main character of The Ring got renamed as in the American remake.)

[Bob Schroeck]

This is Hollywood we're talking about, and they're not exactly known for faithfully reproducing the things they rip off.

True, but as more and more of folks like us -- people who were sickened by the kind of adaptations we saw in the seventies and eighties -- get into positions of power in Hollywood, the better Hollywood gets on that front. Compare, for instance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe to what got done in Marvel's name 20-40 years ago. Or Peter Jackson's Tolkien movies with Ralph Bakshi's attempt. (And lest you think I'm a Hollywood apologist, I'm the one who wrote the original Adaptation Decay and Executive Meddling articles for TV Tropes to express my deep loathing for those practices.) I'm going to reserve my judgment until there's actually a product, not make up an imaginary film in my head to fit my prejudices and then complain about that until the real movie is in the theatre.

Plus, I've been impressed by Scarlett Johansson's work ever since I turned to my wife after watching The Horse Whisperer and said, "That little girl's going to be a major star." I'm more than inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

And, as Ebony pointed out, they may well go the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus route with the Major.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ebony]

Bob Schroeck wrote:

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And, as Ebony pointed out, they may well go the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus route with the Major.

Hopefully not for the same reasons. Ms. Johannsen seems to have a stable head on her shoulders, but I thought the same thing about Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."