Bollocks. A Japanese will be able to tell the difference. Look, I've got nothing against Michelle Yeoh, for instance. Superb actress. However; Hollywood passed over legions of available Japanese talent for this film. Be Seeing You,
Chris
By this argument, actors of Polish descent should never be cast in a Jane Austen movie because there were no Polish families among the landed gentry of 18th century Dorsetshire.
Racism has nothing to do with it.
It is ridiculous to insist directors match precise ethnicities to roles in movies.
Bollocks. A Japanese will be able to tell the difference. Look, I've got nothing against Michelle Yeoh, for instance. Superb actress. However; Hollywood passed over legions of available Japanese talent for this film. Be Seeing You,
Chris
This whole thing is silly.
It is a MOVIE.
It is a FICTIONAL story.
It is a STYLIZED representation of FICTION.
It was written by Arthur Golden. That doesn't sound Japanese to me.
This is a story about Japanese culture, written by a westerner.
Sorry, I just have to roll my eyes here. Nothing personal against anyone who is complaining...I just think they are wrong.
I live in Japan for 2 1/2 years. I liked it. I liked the people, but...they are Japanese, and a challenge for westerners to really understand well. They are people capable of great beauty and sensitivity, and at the same time, great brutality. I happen to like the fact that they are more or less on our side now.
If someone wants to make a stylized representation of Japan that will make westerners appreciate some aspects of the beauty of Japan, then...what harm can come of it?
Good gosh.
Don't get me started on James Cahn, George Raft, and Paul Muni playing Italian gentiles. Even Vin Diesel, who's German and Puerto Rican, played an Italian-American in "Boiler Room."
One thing you can say however, is that I have NEVER met a Cuban American who complained about Al Pacino and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio playing Cubans in Scarface. As my pal Mike in Miami told me, Pacino was more Cuban than most Cubans in that film.
BTW: This Polish/Italian guy has been mistaken for Cuban (among other Latino ethnicities), Middle-Eastern, and Jewish. Sometimes you can't tell based on appearance.