A White Sheriff?

A White Sheriff?

 

Why does anyone care that Scarlett Johannson is being casted as Motoko Kusanagi? Is it because she's just not a good pick for the role? Well, she isn't. But that's not the problem and it has certainly never been a factor for most people as far as I can tell.

IDENTITY POLITICS!

Whoa, where did that word come from? I just kind of showed up right there right then at that exact moment. And it's in red, that's got to be bad. Why would that even happen? Weird. Oh well, let's just ignore that for the moment as I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Ok whatever just get to the point

 

If you don't want to hear my explanation on actor marketability, skip this part.

 

Let's make it clear that I don't exactly hate Scarlett Johansson so it's not as though it's just a personal objection like when anyone casts Tom Cruise or Russel Crowe for a role. I just kinda hate those guys. I like Scarlett but I just don't think she's right for absolutely every part in Hollywood. I didn't like her as the Black Widow, she was too cute and I just didn't buy it. And it seems like every time I hear speculation about a movie being made out of an anime or some other damn thing, it seems the hypothetical creators almost invariably look to Scarlett to be their prospective lead. Maybe I'm making all this up, I'm not really sure. But it seems like this isn't the first time and probably won't be the last.
Why does anyone think Scarlett is right for every role film makers can come up with? Answer: They don't. She's not a good actress(sorry Scarlett, but you're really not). She's pretty, sure, but pretty girls in Hollywood are a dime a dozen. She's recognizeable. She's familiar. You know who she is and you probably like her and you're probably a huge fan of the Avengers movie so of course you want to see another movie with one of those actors in it. Same reason people keep listening to the same pop singers who are terrible at everything they do but you wouldn't know, would you? You have no taste, you have no style, you just want to be doing what the other people are doing because you want to fit in and be up to date.

Oh great, so I'm Patrick Bateman.

 

Yeah, basically. But the point is that you will be much more likely to go see a movie which stars someone you know and recognize from other movies which makes it less of a risk for both the moviegoer and the creators. It's less of a risk for you because you figure this actor is legit and so they wouldn't waste their valuble actor time on a movie that wasn't worthwhile. The fact that you are more likely to go and see it is what makes it less of a risk for the creators because they know it's going to make them lots of money off of your ignorance. And at the end of the day, that's all they want. They call it the movie business for a reason.

Ok, I'm done explaining how Hollywood works so you can stop skipping now if you want.

 

But there's no Asian people. Really, we looked!

 

I'm sure we've probably all heard the old defense that there are just no marketable Asian actresses available for the role SO FUCK IT LET'S GO WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSON!!! Yeah, that makes sense when you say it like that. But let me tell you why this is bullshit because it's probably not for the reason you want it to be. But first, let's consider that you have no idea what it's like to make a film and have to find just the right cast for it. It's easy for you to make suggestions about what part should be played by what actor when you're just a person on the internet or otherwise not actually the one making the dang film. Maybe you just made a list of 10 or so Asian actresses who would be much better for the part of Major Kusanagi than this silly white lady. But what if every single one of those actresses were offered the part and not a single one of them had the slightest interest or were currently engaged in other projects. You do realize that actors are people, right?

OK, so maybe it's harder than it looks. But couldn't they at least have found someone a little more...Asiany?

 

Yeah, they probably could. But then you would be bitching about how Hollywood will cast a white actress and try to pass her off as "Asiany" instead of just casting someone who fits the part. Just like The Human Torch, right?
Whoa, what do you mean by that, bro?
Nevermind for the moment. Wasn't I supposed to be explaining why the defense of unavailable Asian actresses was bullshit? It's because they don't owe you a fucking explanation. All the film makers want to do is make money off their film and you are going to do see the damn movie anyway, idiot. So you're helping them to keep doing all the things you hate seeing them do.

So I should boycott Hollywood?! But what if I get bored?

 

I know, I know. The other(real) reason the no available marketable Asian people defense is bullshit is because it matters less that you have a marketable actor as it does you have someone playing the part who makes it work. Nobody gave a shit about Harrison Ford before he was Han Solo. NOBODY! But now he's a legend and don't you dare even think about recasting Han Solo! Terry O'Quinn had been an actor since probably before I was born and nobody noticed. You still don't know who that is, do you? He's been in marginal parts in marginal films seldom if not never playing a lead character. Awwwww, just like all those poor Asian people! Then he was cast as John Locke in Lost and now you still don't care who he is. But he made the character work and the character made him work. But it's TV so who cares?

Sorry, who are you talking about again?

 

See? The point is if you get the right actor for the right part instead of just getting the most marketable actor to make sure you sell the thing, you'll get a much better film and it will probably have better longevity. But I don't think producers care about longevity, they just want to make the money and move on to the next one.

It's only wrong when you replace non-white people

 

You know that's true. Search your feelings. If someone proposed a remake of Superfly and wanted Ryan Gosling, people wouldn't be having any of it. But people who aren't even in any way a part of the film business start saying we should have Idris Elba be the new James Bond and everyone says awkwardly, as though at gunpoint,"Oh yes, great idea! Let's do have that!". And as I understand, Elba will be playing the lead character in a movie version of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" who is undeniably meant to be a white guy and anyone who has anything to say about it is a racist. It's almost like people(somebody, I don't know who really) were just bound and determined to have a black guy play a white character just to stick it to us and Idris Elba is the only black guy anyone can think of besides Samuel L Jackson(who is doing that very thing already).

Here's why I don't care

 

As long as Hollywood keeps making high profile big budget action blockbusters based on comic books, anime, video games, or whatever else they can mine for ideas, people are always going to go see whatever is new even if it sucks. And it won't. At least, not if you're gauging the movie's worth by how cool it looks. And you do that. The Ghost In The Shell movie doesn't need to happen in the first place because it's already a movie and doesn't need to be redone. But that never seems to stop Hollywood from doing it anyway. It might be cool and perhaps even worth watching, but it'll still be something you already knew about. And no matter how you feel about Scarlett Johansson playing the part, you will go see it anyway.

I will not. At least, not until I can see it without paying money for it. But my objection is not that they should have found a more Asian actress to play Major Kusanagi(she might not be called that either, btw) but they should have found someone who just fits the part better. It's not that it's any business of mine what decisions are made by Hollywood film makers, but I lose respect for them when they're such pussies that they think it's neccesary to cast the most marketable person possible for their lead role(and usually all other roles) as though nobody would want to go see their film otherwise. It makes it seem like they know their movie is going to be crap and they're trying to dupe us into seeing it anyway and then laughing all the way to the bank. So often do we get the idea that They are giving the people what they want. They are giving us what they know we will pay for. And while I can't fault them for wanting to make money or for succeeding in doing so, I will be much more inclined to go to the movies again when Hollywood grows a pair of balls.