hollywood 'doing asia'

[Paddy]

it really annoys me that ever since crouching tiger, michelle yeoh and zang ziyi have become ubiquitous, not for their talent (which i'm not doubting), but because hollywood is so fucking blind that it can't look a little further and find thousands of other asian actors and actresses. why, for example, are MY and ZZ, as two chinese women, playing the part of two japanese geisha in memoirs of a geisha? are there not enough pretty japanese actresses with good enough english available?

i know that this is a pretty redundant point, because hollywood has always been this way and probably always will be this way, at least until all of the big studios finally collapse.

dude i gotta agree! and what was the point of putting kimtaku in 2046??????? just to have a jappo heartthrob???

[content]

hollywood sucks

[Sheridan]

Originally Posted by niknak

why, for example, are MY and ZZ, as two chinese women, playing the part of two japanese geisha in memoirs of a geisha? are there not enough pretty japanese actresses with good enough english available?

because in the book those characters are chinese, not japanese.

[content]

really?

[Sheridan]

Originally Posted by content

really?

well, that is what sister told me. and she has read the book.
surely someone else on the board can either back me up or prove me wrong.
I know I have seen the book 'geisha' mentioned here before.

[Paddy]

i've read the book, but i read it years ago, so i can't remember if the characters are chinese or japanese. it wouldn't really matter, because hollywood would end up using michelle yeoh and zang ziyi anyway.

[Ladytron]

everything in the book is japanese and it's based on a true story

[Sheridan]

Originally Posted by niknak

i've read the book, but i read it years ago, so i can't remember if the characters are chinese or japanese. it wouldn't really matter, because hollywood would end up using michelle yeoh and zang ziyi anyway.

true.
I was bitching about the same thing and then that is when my sister told me. but I think your argument holds some truth because I think they still have a lot of other actresses that are chinese where their character is japanese.
I saw michele yeoh on the daily show and she was actually talking about this 'controversy'. she made a good point that in aisa, especially in kung fu movies, they interchange the races all the time. having people from hong kong play japanese people vietnamese playing chinese, etc.

[Sheridan]

Originally Posted by Ladytron

everything in the book is japanese and it's based on a true story

but the main character, played zhang zhi, is chinese who is kidnapped and taken to japan to become a geisha. isn't that true?

[Paddy]

Originally Posted by Ladytron

everything in the book is japanese and it's based on a true story

no it's not. i read the book, enjoyed it, then when i got to the end, there's a little paragraph by arthur golden exclaiming that it's entirely fiction. it completely ruined the book for me.

[Ladytron]

Originally Posted by Sheridan

but the main character, played zhang zhi, is chinese who is kidnapped and taken to japan to become a geisha. isn't that true?

not true. she was born in small fish vilage by the see called Yorido and from there she was taken to Kyoto where she become a gaisha.

[Paddy]

ahh, ladytron's right, it's all come flooding back to me...

[Ladytron]

oh! i just noticed that i'm listening to a japanese band MU right now. they are great!

[Sheridan]

ah fair enough.
well, hollywood is shit none the less.

[Mui]

zhang ziyi should be in every film made from now on.
and then she should marry me.

mu = kitsch : p

anyway who ever heard of a chinese geisha. that was funny. maikos are interesting tho.... KYOTO is the best.

[Mui]

Originally Posted by gunjack

mu = kitsch : p

must be why I like your music