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September 12, 2005
GEISHA TROUBLE
This just in from Hollywood Elsewhere: apparently MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA has been confusing American test audiences with its Japanese culture. Why those people eat with sticks? Why they don't speak English? Why they wear bathrobes everywhere?
So Anthony Minghella, director of THE ENGLISH PATIENT and COLD MOUNTAIN, has been brought in to write a voice-over that will probably say something like: "This is Japan. Can you say it with me: Juh-Pan. It is a country over the sea, near China, where everything you are wearing was made."
To read the original post, go to Hollywood Elsewhere, go to the "Wired" box, and scroll down to the post from 9/11 at 6:06AM.
September 12, 2005 at 09:13 AM in News | Permalink
Comments
And an even bigger question, why did they cast Chinese actors in a movie about Japan? Isn't that even more confusing?
Posted by: Joshua James | Sep 12, 2005 4:41:43 PM
No more confusing when British and American actors play parts as Europeans. How many real Italians were in Gladiator? Why did they give an Aussie the leading role?
Posted by: oj | Sep 12, 2005 9:22:45 PM
Heck Americans don't even care if you cast Ralph Kramden as a black guy...
-goro-
Posted by: Goro | Sep 12, 2005 9:52:38 PM
Maybe they asked George W. Bush to preview the movie.
Posted by: RT | Sep 17, 2005 2:44:53 PM
"No more confusing when British and American actors play parts as Europeans. How many real Italians were in Gladiator? Why did they give an Aussie the leading role?"
Well, Americans and Brits ARE Europeans, for starters ;). There are different kinds of Europeans, sure.
And for Italians in Gladiator: People in the Roman Empire came from all over Europe, they weren't just "Italians".
Posted by: Marcel | Sep 21, 2005 8:13:09 AM
"No more confusing when British and American actors play parts as Europeans. How many real Italians were in Gladiator? Why did they give an Aussie the leading role?"
Well, Americans and Brits ARE Europeans, for starters ;). There are different kinds of Europeans, sure.
And for Italians in Gladiator: People in the Roman Empire came from all over Europe, they weren't just "Italians".
Posted by: Marcel | Sep 21, 2005 8:15:06 AM
Well the Japanese are essentially the descendants of the Chinese who colonized Japan :)
Posted by: Jay | Sep 21, 2005 7:52:56 PM
why would they use a test audience to make judgement on all american movie goers? how annoying!!
just release it and have those who want to see it, see it!
what audience did they use this on? The border of Mexico? Americans know where Japan is, know what Chopsticks are, know what a freakin Kimono is!!
Posted by: Dawn | Sep 26, 2005 11:56:18 AM
"Americans and Brits ARE Europeans, for starters ;). There are different kinds of Europeans, sure.'
Chinese and Japanese ARE of the Mongoloid race. And the ancient Japanese copied ancient Chinese culture en toto.
Posted by: oj | Sep 27, 2005 12:40:53 AM
Mongoloid is an outdated racial term first coined when the world was caught up in the eugenics craze of studying race. More infamously, the Nazis used the study of race to justify their consequent actions and Aryan nation.
Chinese and Japanese might be racially related but their culture's developed along separate lines over a longer period of time than the "European" cultures had time to develop into separate ones. So yes, I would say that it is a bit disrespectful to cast Chinese actresses just because they're Asian so should be a suitable substitute for Japanese geisha. Of course, the Chinese influence is rather pervasive but the same could be said for the French and English as well as Greek and Roman influence over European cultures.
The movie was already a dumb exercise in ignorance. The voice over doesn't do much but make it even less likely that I'd go see it.
Posted by: eshfemme | Sep 28, 2005 1:51:26 AM
I heard a rumor in my Japanese class that no Japanese actresses wanted to play the part of a geisha. It seems that it may have been too presumptuous for even an actress to portray such a role for social reasons. The world of geisha is very much a part of Japanese culture, but it is very separate from everyday modern Japan.
I think that most Asian countries were influenced by the Chinese. They thought of themselves as the best example of a model society. You can still see their influence by the way a kimono is worn with the left side covering the right. Though the kimono is almost entirely a Japanese thing that was created by Japanese women.
Posted by: kimono-san | Nov 13, 2005 1:08:46 AM
Japanese actresses have played geisha even in recent times. E.g., in THE SEA IS WATCHING (2002). However, note that unlike MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, THE SEA IS WATCHING was shot in Japanese and based on a story/script by someone Japanese (Actually, none other than the late great Akira Kurosawa)...
Posted by: YTSL | Nov 13, 2005 6:59:49 PM
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