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NEWS: Live-Action Death Note Film's Producer Responds to Whitewashing Controversy

I find it a bit unbelievable to me they couldn't find a single Asian American actor that didn't speak "perfect English."

Gotta agree with everyone saying this is getting out of hand.

It's 2017 and production teams still can't give us better excuses for why they actively deny access and representation to people of color on a routine basis? Oi vey. Let's go through this bit by bit.

Yeah OK but Japanese people also live in places that aren't Japan, like America and even *gasp* Seattle, so no.

Because, as CrowLia pointed out above me, the idea presented here is that we have to condescend to ignorant "English-speaking" (coded White) Americans who have no capacity to sympathize or identify with stories outside of their cultural comfort zone; for those of you citing white oppression and calling us racist for demanding improved representation, uh, maybe you should be pissed that Hollywood thinks y'all are too limited to comprehend the casting of an Asian lead actor?
Nope, it's definitely the idea that Asian actors should be able to get work, too. That's just ridiculous Shonen Jump Weekly posturing. White people have the most problems.

BINGO! We all know people of color are interchangeable, and if you just select an ethnic shade at random from your personal diversity palette and stick it in somewhere, you've done your part. A black actor portraying L does nothing for the Japanese-American community in terms of cultural awareness and encouraging their stories to be told, and there's no need to be apologetic about just how racist it is to use black folks as a shield against criticism surrounding ethnic authenticity in casting. That is some nasty passive-aggressive politicizing of race relations, and what's worse is Lee probably doesn't even know he's doing it: this all just comes naturally to him, like, *shrug* we have a black guy in the movie isn't that good enough for you?
Nope, no it's not, you still get an F.

OK let's pretend that Asian-American folks were even allotted the opportunity to voice their perspectives and feelings about virtually any adapted property in the early 2000s, yeah let's just take that assumption at face value and run with it and say nobody even cared: so? We live in 2017, not 2002. Advancements in social dialogues occur as society progresses, this is basic common sense. Increased awareness of the manners in which disempowered classes of people (women, queer folks, black and brown communities, take your pick) are exploited has always been supplemented by a generational shift in attitudes and understandings, and this is a good thing. It means people, especially young people, are thinking critically, reexamining the world around them, and making determinations about what kind of a society they want to contribute to propping up: one that is stagnant and boring and rooted in the same old inhibiting cliches and power dynamics, or one that can expand and grow and be informed by the voices of the many rather than one select group.

It's worth noting that Masi Oka (not really a neutral party but OK) pretty avidly contradicts Lee in his statement to EW, insisting it wasn't a business decision (what's this about making it more appealing to "English-language audiences"?) and admitting they straight-up could have selected an Asian actor. The rest of his argument is typical Hollywood "conventional wisdom" indicative of his own internalized notion of "Asianness" in the film industry in that it reinforces a myth of absent Asian-American talent rather than a fact of anything. Big Hero 6, Power Rangers, Nikita, the upcoming Mulan remake (supposedly), Suicide Squad, Arrow, hell even that French live-action Code Lyoko reboot which was no doubt drawing from a much smaller pool of talent than any available to Hollywood have successfully cast Asian performers who are as qualified as anyone else. The idea that lol there just aren't any who can do it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is a pretty unconvincing suggestion, especially when your go-to white substitute is a real A-lister like Nat Wolff (lmao) and you have a Japanese-American performer in your movie like...?

Agent355 wrote:

FackuIkari wrote: I like how pretty much nobody cares if the movie is good or bad, that's funny. If it turns out to be a really good supernatural thriller, who cares? seriously How many people have to say that they care about how good the movie is for you to think "somebody" cares about its quality? Because quite a few people have said that in this thread alone. But, you know what? It could be good or bad regardless of who's cast. Just so happens that a lot of whitewashed movies that justified racist casting before their film's debut happen to be really bad. Remember how many times Shymalan & co claimed they got "the best actors" for the part of Aang, Katara and Sokka? Did anyone actually still believe that after the movie came out? Sometimes I think producers get all defensive towards whitewashing critics before a movie comes out in order to drum up "controversy" and get free publicity like this article. Then when the movie's terrible, they're all like "well, all those critics who said it was racist made sure no one even gave it a chance! It's *their* fault our movie bombed!!!" That was Ghost in the Shell's strategy, in any case.

So my question is, what happens if it is good? like Edge of Tomorrow, I don't really remember a lot of people screaming at the heavens because Tom Cruise was in it instead of a asian american playing the part of Keiji, or maybe I wasn't really into the internet when that movie came out, I don't know. I'm just tired of this bullshit about a movie nobody saw. I just want a good movie, If it makes sense in the world of the adaptation to Light to be that guy who cares

Because I'm sure not a single person of any other race or gender has done anything bad in history ever! If we're going to blame an entire section of humans for things some of their ancestors may have done in history at one point, then we might as well blame all Americans for Hiroshima and call every German a nazi, all of Japan for their war crimes etc. etc.

People should be judged by what THEY do, not what some crusty old dead person they've never even met did way before they were born.

She's Hawaiian. She's still American. You're only calling her 'polinesian' to make her sound like a minority.
Plus since not only can I imagine it's easier to find an english-speaking Hawaiian who fits the part, it's pot luck. Even in Auli'i's case, she nearly didn't audition.
On an unrelated note, she went to a high school called Kamehameha.

Why does it only matter then when the person's a different colour? Aren't we going to complain about the fact they cast Emma Watson - an English actress- as Belle, a French girl? Of course bloody not.

Besides, why doesn't anyone understand how the industry works? Disney is so popular, they can cast whoever they want and it'll still sell. Anime isn't as popular as everyone here thinks it is. Death Note is one of the few things people who don't watch anime may've heard the name of, but they're not going to watch it if it's a cast of all unknown actors. The Death Note film is such a gamble in the first place, they need big-name actors to sell it to the normies.

I personally cannot wait for the Live-Action Hollywood adaptations of Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist,where they will cast the appropriate races in every role (they won't all be Asian) and be accused of White-Washing.

Wait...does that mean the cast of the Japanese live-action films of Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist mean they are Asian-Washing all the roles?

So confused....

"I can understand the criticism ... if our version of Death Note was set in Japan and [featured] characters that were Japanese-named or of Japanese ancestry," he said. The film's story takes place in Seattle instead of Tokyo and the protagonist, played by White actor Nat Wolff, is named Light Turner instead of Light Yagami. According to Lee, story changes such as these were necessary to "make it more appealing to the US or to the English-language market."

"the actors we did go to didn't speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten."

I find it a bit unbelievable to me they couldn't find a single Asian American actor that didn't speak "perfect English."

I personally cannot wait for the Live-Action Hollywood adaptations of Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist,where they will cast the appropriate races in every role (they won't all be Asian) and be accused of White-Washing.

Wait...does that mean the cast of the Japanese live-action films of Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist mean they are Asian-Washing all the roles?

So confused....

But there are two different issues here: one is American producers taking on a beloved property and messing with it to begin with

The second issue is whitewashed casting and Hollywood's tired excuses for it

But when the producers respond defensively to that criticism before the movie even comes out

Quote:

"I can understand the criticism ... if our version of Death Note was set in Japan and [featured] characters that were Japanese-named or of Japanese ancestry," he said. The film's story takes place in Seattle instead of Tokyo and the protagonist, played by White actor Nat Wolff, is named Light Turner instead of Light Yagami. According to Lee, story changes such as these were necessary to "make it more appealing to the US or to the English-language market."

Yeah, because Asian looks don't "appeal" to the US.

What's more ridiculous is this

Quote:

"the actors we did go to didn't speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten."

I think some people are missing the point of the back lash, POC have always been ignored in the US market which is mostly imported internationally so that means people of all around the world watch what they create. They mostly represent white in big hit movies and the face of beauty is mostly white. If this not racism, I don't know what it is. I find statement like it's more appealing to the US market offensive when America isn't consist of white people only.

:rol:

="IG"

Don't like it make your own stuff. Instead expecting other people do it for you .

"I can understand the criticism ... if our version of Death Note was set in Japan and [featured] characters that were Japanese-named or of Japanese ancestry," he said. The film's story takes place in Seattle instead of Tokyo and the protagonist, played by White actor Nat Wolff, is named Light Turner instead of Light Yagami. According to Lee, story changes such as these were necessary to "make it more appealing to the US or to the English-language market."

This motion picture is protected under the copy laws of the United States and other countries throughout the world. Country of first publication: United States of America. Any unauthorized exhibition, distribution, or copying of this film or any part thereof (including soundtrack) may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious and have no relation with the Japanese anime/manga Death Note. No identification with actual Death Note characters (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

(2017)

Quote:

="IG" Don't like it make your own stuff. Instead expecting other people do it for you .

You mean like the American comic book Death Note published in the American magazine Weekly Super Jam or the 1995 cult American cyberpunk movie Ghost in the Shell directed by Michael Orson, written originally by Americans with American characters animated by Disney

Thanks, I forgot about those- the Catholicism stuff just came to mind first because of how much there is. I'm pretty sure there was a Zelda game that incorrectly used an Islamic prayer chant too.

Death Note is one of the few things people who don't watch anime may've heard the name of, but they're not going to watch it if it's a cast of all unknown actors. The Death Note film is such a gamble in the first place, they need big-name actors to sell it to the normies.

You can twist the interpretation all you'd like, but they're not going to hire a Japanese actor who can't speak English clearly, particularly for roles that require a degree of eloquence to properly portray the characterizations. Broken Engrish would be a major distraction from the production.

I'm Asian American. Let me tell you, there aren't a lot of us here in the US. To my understanding, we make up less than 6% of the US population, and most of that are people from India. Japanese Americans are way less than that, I think they're like half a percent. That's not a lot of people, and you can imagine, most of them aren't even actors/actresses, they're working in many other industries besides Hollywood. We're not showing up in movies because there just aren't that many of us to begin with, and more often than not, Hollywood would have to go out of their way to try to find someone of Asian descent to fill roles for productions like this. That's just the demographic reality, so as much as you might want to fight for more Asian-American representation, it's pretty understandable things are the way they are right now. We live in a country of incredible diversity, much much more so than Japan, but it's nowhere near a melting pot yet, so you have to have realistic expectations.

Hollywood can't really seem to win one way or the other these days. Conservatives lambast them for pushing a globalist agenda, but then anime fans complain about white-washing for foreign adaptations. I suppose everyone has a political beef when it comes to tinsel town.

What the heck have you been smoking ? Most countries have their ow n movies, and tv shows . Black people made their own movies . So most the country is white so most of the roles are going to be white . Don't like it make your own stuff. Instead expecting other people do it for you . As for diversity , I been seeing a lot diversity in shows .

Puniyo wrote:

Thanks, I forgot about those- the Catholicism stuff just came to mind first because of how much there is. I'm pretty sure there was a Zelda game that incorrectly used an Islamic prayer chant too.

Yep, it was in Ocarina of Time's Fire Temple. Complaints from Islamic players prompted Nintendo to change the music. (I'm with the players in that aspect, for the record--that chant is sacred and not to be used or even heard in secular contexts.)

Puniyo wrote:

Death Note is one of the few things people who don't watch anime may've heard the name of, but they're not going to watch it if it's a cast of all unknown actors. The Death Note film is such a gamble in the first place, they need big-name actors to sell it to the normies.

In my parents' country, when they were growing up, there WERE movie and TV show makers, but until recently, it was seen as a trash industry made up of people who failed to get so-called "real" jobs. And really, there was no soul, no motivation, no heart, as the public consensus was that they didn't need to bother doing anything good as Hollywood imports and anime provided the people with all the mass media they wanted. Good domestic movies and TV shows only started to become known there in the 90's, and it didn't become a respectable industry until the 2010's. Still doesn't pay well though.

So yeah...that country made their own mass media, but it doesn't necessarily mean the locals prefer it over foreign media.

I'm not sure, but most people in the thread seem to feel the opposite, that this is an overblown issue.

And I think Masi Oka (a Japanese American mind you, and a producer of the film) did give a better excuse --- they tried to find Asian American performers to fill the roles, but couldn't find anyone with the talent or the English-speaking ability.

Japan's uchi/soto culture is very strong --- to the point that they even consider people who've lived abroad to be "outsiders", to a certain extent. Even Japanese Americans can feel like foreigners in Japan, so it's not quite as simple as saying that they can live anywhere else and still be the same.

You can twist the interpretation all you'd like, but they're not going to hire a Japanese actor who can't speak English clearly, particularly for roles that require a degree of eloquence to properly portray the characterizations. Broken Engrish would be a major distraction from the production.

And tbh, while you suggest Hollywood should make these productions outside of their cultural comfort zone --- you know what would happen if they did that? They'd be accused of cultural appropriation, commenting on cultures they don't understand, filtering culture through a Western lens, etc. That they would instead focus on the universal message at the core of a story, as opposed to the cultural elements that surround it, I think is the most reasonable approach to making this sort of foreign adaptation.

The last I saw, White people make up 70% of the US demographics, and Black people about 14%. In fact, to my understanding compared to other minorities, Black people are actually over-represented in Hollywood films right now.

Like it or not, the director is making a good point. People complained about the "white-washing" of Ghost in the Shell, largely because of Scarlett Johannson's portrayal of the Major. But this was despite much of the rest of the cast having largely international and ethnically diverse backgrounds, from Europe, Japan, Fiji, China, etc.

And tbh, I don't think you're giving their production team credit. L's character is a major leading role in the story --- you don't just cast a Black actor for the sake of shielding against criticism, not when the role is so important to the production. You're also ultimately devaluing the actor's ability when you suggest that he only landed the role "because they needed someone Black".

Would it have been okay if both L and Light were cast with Black actors, just because they're minorities?

At what point is it possible for talented White performers to take on these sorts of adaptation roles without fearing accusation of White-washing?

Are we going to just marginalize White people's talent and focus on the color of their skin?

Isn't that a discriminatory approach to casting in its own right?

Or do you think we need to have affirmative action in film-making, where performers from minority groups are given roles ahead of majority demographics for the sake of increased representation, regardless of their acting ability?

I'm Asian American. Let me tell you, there aren't a lot of us here in the US. To my understanding, we make up less than 6% of the US population, and most of that are people from India. Japanese Americans are way less than that, I think they're like half a percent. That's not a lot of people, and you can imagine, most of them aren't even actors/actresses, they're working in many other industries besides Hollywood.

We're not showing up in movies because there just aren't that many of us to begin with

and more often than not, Hollywood would have to go out of their way to try to find someone of Asian descent to fill roles for productions like this.

That's just the demographic reality, so as much as you might want to fight for more Asian-American representation, it's pretty understandable things are the way they are right now. We live in a country of incredible diversity, much much more so than Japan, but it's nowhere near a melting pot yet, so you have to have realistic expectations.