DontBeThatGuy
Member
Doubt it.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Ghost in the Shell has Changed the Name of its Main Character
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
- Status
Doubt it.
What leak?
Diprosalic
Banned
i guess i'm an idiot then because i think it looks okay. i will go and see it.
Bob Coffee
Member
This whole issue could have been solved in universe very easly by casting a japanese motoko kusanagi, and having her switch bodies to scarjo as part of an infultration operation and it would have been totes ok. No white washing needed.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Well that and the fact that Rila Fukushima casting was supposedly leaked as Mira way back but she hasn't been shown or mentioned since.
Now "Mira" being official.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
It only makes sense considering the casting. The whitewashing is already done. Calling her Motoko would only make it worse.
DAVIDHUXLEY
Member
Are we retroactively mad at Hollywood for whitewashing Seven Samurai ? Just wondering.
4 is a cutie
Banned
I didnt expect her to have a Japanese name, so this isnt suprising
InfiniteBento
Member
FTFY
SuperStiltzkin
Member
How can you be okay with the whitewashing, but take issue with the name change? If her race isn't integral to her character, why draw the line at the name?
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
The difference there is they didn't sell The Magnificent Seven as Seven Samurai.
That's just it, if you're going to do an adaptation like that, just go all the way.
I've been thinking it would be really cool if the film transitioned into an ending or sequel where Fukushima was the real Motoko and the lead for a sequel
Zoe
Member
The teaser suggests switching bodies isn't such an easy thing.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Sure. It happened in 1960 though, so not exactly the standards of the present day.
I disagree - she could have been a white baby with Japanese parents. I say stay as close to the source material as you can, because since SJ's clearly portraying Mokoto, all this move does is try to impose more westernisation on the property.
Like, if Black Panther had to be played by Timothy Oliphant, I'd rather he was still the son of a black king from the African country of Wakanda than that he was the son of some white dairy farmer who owned Wakanda Creamery, Kansas.
Jzero
Member
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
The biggest problem they're going to run into is that the target audience is predisposed to dislike literally any change from the source material, but the only reason a big-budget tentpole English-language adaptation of Ghost in the Shell exists is that one of the most bankable actresses in the world was attached to it.
The fact that the list of most bankable actresses in the world doesn't include any Japanese women is a different issue, but it isn't one that the producers of this adaptation could do anything about.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
They could have skipped the issue all together and just called her The Major.
Hades Hotgun
Banned
People who don't think that the original Ghost in the Shell film counts as a movie?
Assholes, basically.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
They didn't call it Seven Samurai and set it in Japan.
Robot Pants
Member
Makes sense. Looking at Scarlett with the name Motoko would have been jarring.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
No because the Magnificent Seven isn't Seven Samurai.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
They already were and it still wasn't good enough for certain people.
What did he mean by this?
Member
This really offends me. I dont think I will.be watching this
Theyre erasing the original character all together
Theyre erasing the original character all together
I'm not okay with the whitewashing, as I said I wasn't a fan of the casting, but the casting has already been made. The character was written as Motoko Kusanagi working with all of her crew at Section 9. It's weird to try and pretend that's not who the character is, especially considering a lot of the cinematography is straight out of the Ghost in the Shell animated movie starring Motoko Kusanagi, not Mira...
Zoe
Member
Did you watch the teaser?
FusedAtoms
Member
At this point I'm just going to see this movie for the interesting looking visuals
Funny seeing this on a forum that regularly beats off to comic book movie/Marvel trash.
SuperStiltzkin
Member
But why does the name matter? They already made her white. A name is just another surface level/cosmetic change and arguably the most minor change after whitewashing her.
4 is a cutie
Banned
What difference does it make? "Major" is a codename
andythinkpad
Member
Is she even a major?
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I think it officially looks interesting. I'm going to wait and see on it.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Right, but that's why I think this movie is going to be in big trouble. Those people are the target audience and they're angry at things that have nothing to do with whether the movie is good (since 0 people have seen it).
WrenchNinja
Member
Couldn't even stick with just Major huh
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
Marvel movies are actually good, though.
s_mirage
Member
There was speculation when the artbook description leaked the name that perhaps they'll spin it that Mira Killian is Motoko Kusanagi with a blanked memory and new body. I'm not holding my breath though; I'd bet on the producers simply being uncomfortable with the original name as it would highlight the whitewashing to people who are unfamiliar with the anime/manga.
Violence Jack
Member
The sad thing is, I expected something like that to happen. Audiences wouldn't have given a shit what her name was outside of Major.
Shit is hilarious.
I guess I'm being a stickler. As a fan of the series it matters to me. I can't properly articulate why it does, but it does.
That's where I land on the issue too. It's interesting that some of us think westernisation is less egregious the fewer changes are imposed, while others think it's less egregious to make more changes to the point at which the adaptation becomes more divorced from the source material. I certainly understand that argument, and agree that the best thing to do would have been to cast a Japanese actress to play the Japanese character in the movie set in Tokyo.
This seems to be vastly overestimating the number of people who will really give a shit. ScarJo was attached to another scifi/action movie Lucy that made around half a billion dollars if I'm it mistaken. The notion that this movie will flop simply because some anime fans of the original movie from over two decades ago will be offended by the name of the main character is quite frankly ridiculous.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked