MovieChat Forums > Shutter (2008) Discussion > Seiko and Retsuo should have been the le...

Seiko and Retsuo should have been the leads

posted 9 years ago by ilykyu
4 replies | jump to latest

The only two Asian starred American made movies not starring Jackie Chan, and much smaller movies with Lucy Lui and recently Jamie Chung, where made by entirely American-Asian crews. It's highly questionable to me to transpose an Asian movie to english, whitewash the leads and then fill the background with Asians and Asian influences. It's so much more 'in your face' than other remakes. I'm not Asian BTW.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!"

[–] psdhart 9 years ago

I agree

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

It's highly questionable to me to transpose an Asian movie to english, whitewash the leads and then fill the background with Asians and Asian influences.

It's a remake. They can do what they like. This was clearly made for North American audiences, but set in Japan, I reckon to cash in on the popularity of The Ring films both Japanese and the American remakes.

Ran is a brilliant Japanese rendition of Shakespeare's King Lear with a Japanese cast and influences. Are you going to claim that it was inappropriate of Kurosawa to direct such a film because Shakespeare was English?🐭

[–] alligatoruk 8 years ago

It's not like the film industry doesn't do it the other way around sometimes...the new Annie with Jamie Foxx or The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith or The Wiz with Michael Jackson/Diana Ross.

I agree there's not a lot of Asians in US films and it's a shame this can't change but as Shutter was an American remake, they can do what they like in terms of casting. To still set it in Asia and use some Japanese cast is actually better than remaking it entirely in America.

[–] ilykyu 8 years ago

Some people just cannot get it. Two of those are practically public domain. And they are done because 2% of movies are predominantly African american, and already popular properties help normalize the newer stuff. Annie and Karate Kid will help greatly the next original black kids movie, both with producers and the audience.
Its obnoxious to take a movie that's been unneccessarily forced into some niche and subsume it into the dominant hegemonious culture and race. It's cultural genocide.