This is the kind of thing that just gets my goat, though naturally I find none of it surprising. In a Guardian piece about the Spielberg-produced film Memoirs of a Geisha, based on Arthur Golden’s best selling novel, there was this little tidbit:
The geisha’s traditional white make-up […] has been deemed too scary for American audiences.
Like I said, how can one be surprised when sappy Spielberg is involved, producing an adaptation of a book that comes already laden with a LOT of baggage? Nevertheless, I found it amusing that the film’s own adviser on all matters geisha, Peter MacIntosh, is quoted in the article as saying “It’s not being made for a Japanese audience and it looks like they’re going to juice it up a bit. Anyone who knows something about Japanese culture might actually be appalled by the whole thing.”
And can one be surprised when the lead role is played by the Chinese Zhang Ziyi with a support cast that seems partly made up of Japanese, partly of Chinese? (In digging around, found this news story about a South Korean actress who turned down a part in the movie because, as she said, “Even if it is Hollywood, I don’t want to start by playing a Japanese geisha. It’s a matter of pride.” A loaded sentiment coming from a Korean woman, but best left to another discussion.)
And can one be surprised by a production that didn’t even have the forethought to snap up the .org domain for memoirsofageisha, leaving it available for an enterprising self-described “New Yorker-American-Japanese-LA-based writer and actor” named Keisuke Hoashi, who is using the site for as he tells it, “intelligent commentaries on American Asian issues, but with a perspective completely contrary to those from the typical ‘Asian American’ crowd.” His thoughts on the “Geisha” film and book are not surprising, nor are they predictable.
You know Superman, don’t you? In its theme song, they sing, “who disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!” But in Japan version, the part, “and the American way!” is eliminated. In Japan, he is thought as man who fights for the peace of the earth. Did you know this?
The sentiment of Korean actress is based a little on some kind of stereotypes, I suppose. However, I appreciate her thought, because there is always some differents between one culture and another culture and something that is good in one culture needs some change in order to meet with another, like Superman.
You know, I was really looking forward to seeing this movie at one point, but removing the white face paint is enough. I was already dubious when I saw who was in the cast (never mind that I myself am Chinese and like Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh–I just don’t think they’re suited to their roles).
Taking away such a fundamental part of geisha culture in a movie about geisha already makes the movie unwatchable for me.
Odd how timely this is; there was a lecture last week at the University of Tokyo on The Last Samurai and how it skewed Japanese culture…
i could have sworn i left a comment in here… now it’s gone… hmmmm…
catsudon-
indeed you did. I accidentally deleted it (damn comment spam making me go crazy) and then yesterday put it back (as a comment from me), and now it’s gone again! weird! Anyway, here’s Catsudon’s original comment:
“this movie is too hollywood-ish. i would rather love for this movie to be an all japanese cast, with the likes of izumi motoya or watabe atsuro. the first time i heard about the cast, i thought, hmmm crouching tiger reunion?”
thanks kurt! i thought i said something offensive and scratched my head silly thinking what it was… 🙂 thanks!
Hey, cool, thanks for the mention! You find my thoughts unpredictable? Most excellent, I’m glad that I can give something new and interesting and different to the world.
I have spoken with someone who has been on the set of the “Geisha” shoot, and he reports that they are indeed using the wrong kimonos, wrong alphabet on the signs, wrong hairstyles … and worst of all, they are all speaking their variously-accented-English.
It’s tempting to organize pickets or protests when this dreck arrives at … where else? … the Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood next year.
ugh ugh ugh! how horrible! i’m completely aghast that they would bastardize all of the wonderful japanese elements of the book in order to make it more palatable to an american audience. speilberg should be ashamed. and you know what, i’m really shaking my head at a chinese woman playing sayuri. hollywood only does this sort of thing because they think that all asians look alike. imagine if you mistook a japanese for a korean or chinese or vice versa? they would be appalled! i think that i’ll boycott this movie.
The very definition of an actor is somebody impersonating somebody else. Americans can play Italians, Japanese Chinese and vice versa. As long as they either keep the details right (white face paint!) or make a fantasy movie with no claim to even a hint of accuracy, that’s fine with me. This particular case (memoirs) seems like a case lost from the start, though.
For all of you who can tell your Koreans from Japanese and your Chinese from Koreans by just a glimpse of their face:
http://www.alllooksame.com/
thanks for the comments everyone….and thanks Uli for that link, I seem to recall that site from a while back but I took the test (again?), and am quite dismayed that I only scored 10 out of 18 (though apparently the average score is only 7 correct)….
It is like telling Europeans apart judging from their appearance… maybe not what I would call politically incorrect, but still a questionable if not totally redundant exercise.
i hear what you’re all saying about actors being able to play roles beyond their race/religion/etc but i still feel that it would have been in the studios best interest to get japanese actors to play the roles. it’s an inherently japanese book and subject matter. to me, it almost feels like blasphemy. maybe i’m more sensitive to it because i know more about japanese culture than the average american. i probably would have gone and seen it anyway if the only thing done differently had been the casting but the fact that they removed the white geisha makeup (possibly one of the most distiguishing characteristics of a geisha!) is just too much. i won’t be putting my money towards this film.
Regarding the website testing your recognition of different East Asians, it is not an accurate test because they are all people who have lived for years in a Western country. If you showed me people in mainland China, Korea, and Japan, I am confident I could get close to 95% correct. But you show me different Asian Americans, and I of course don’t have a clue. It’s not just facial features, but also hair style, clothing, and general demeanor. All of these distinct factors soften or disappear after being assimilated into a foreign culture, be it European or American. Even body types change with diet. But to claim based on this that there is little identifiable (and immediately recognizable) difference between Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese is just wrong. I’m not expert on Europe, but I would bet that many there could easily recognize Americans and Australians (and the difference) just by looking at them, unless they had lived in Europe for some time.
Just a quick correction of my last post. I’m way too confident to claim 95% recognition. Dumb me. I mean more like 75%. You can test yourself with it on trains. When you see people that you think are foreigners, just pay attention and wait until they speak. Chinese and Korean are easy langauges to tell apart, even if you don’t speak them.
I have known a lot of mainland Chinese and Koreans, so for me the only clues with facial structure would be people who look a lot like people I’ve known. Mainstream Korean style is also pretty recongnizable, just as American style often is, so that alone is a good way to guess. Of course there’s no point to all of this, but in Tokyo I bet most of us do pointless things to pass the time on trains.