Memoirs of a Geisha

[constantvoyager]

Isn't most of the "look" of a Geisha achieved through make up?

I must admit that I couldn't distinguish an Ethiopian from a Nigerian, but I've lived in Asia, and am able to distinguish Easter Asians from Western Asians, from Northern Chinese etc. fairly well. There is a distinction between Chinese and Japanese and Korean, but I don't find it large enough to matter in a film.

Then again, I'm not Asian.

The stereotypical Brit also has a different look from the stereotypical American to me.

I don't know. At least film has made some strides. Now it's a Chinese playing a Japanese. It used to be a Caucasian in make up.

I think it all comes down to the fact that I as an American don't know the name of a single Japanese actress while I have heard of the Chinese actress whom was cast. It's just about marketing and box office. If there was a Japanese actress equally well known in the States, she would have been cast.

[Deleted]

jynni said:

slanderous said:

I fear that the release of this movie will mean an increase in "Hey, geisha girl! Konichiwa!" cat calls for me (and other Asian American women). Ugh.

I hear ya.

Oh, you hush, you little Geishas, you!

I was so surprised to hear that the movie had actually been made and released with so little fanfare. When I read the book years ago I was so excited to hear it was going to be made into a movie, but then nothing happened. I thought the whole notion had been completely dropped. Now I'm going to have to re-read the book to refresh my memory before seeing the movie.

[Deleted]

There was an entire article in the NY Times, I think it was, regarding this movie in Asia. However, it was more focused on the rampant Japanese-Chinese racism going on now (racism by Chinese against Japanese and vice versa).

[Hamatron]

I could see Chinese actors and actresses playing Japanese could take people out of the movie-- though ideally a good performance is a good performance.

I remember people having the same type of debate over Cold Mountain-- and I remember when I saw it, there was something that was making the movie feel off to me. I figured out what is was, overall-- most of the people in that film, and the director, weren't from the US... and *something* about the that was vaguely present in the film.

[mugatu]

What's sort of cracking me up is the merchandising for it.

I'm not sure if it's at every Banana Republic, but there is one in New York which has a 'Memiors of a Geisha' section. Clothes with Japanese influence. There was another store other than Bath and Body Works that I saw had promotional stuff.

[Hamatron]

Sephora is pushing their stuff hard too... I agree it's a weird campaign.

[emoiguess]

I wasn't really surprised by the casting; Hwood will always go for the safe choice, and having a largely unknown Japanese cast for a huge movie like this doesn't really fall into that category. I do really hate the whole "But all {insert ethnic/racial group} look like alike to non-{ethnic group} anyways, so who cares?" attitude. I don't know, maybe the members of that ethnic group care?

OT
It's kind of like how Hollywood and most of the world thinks all American Indians look like your stereotypical Northern plains Dances With Wolves warrior, which is ridiculous. I mean, I'm half white, and look white coloring-wise, but every AI I know can tell what region my mom's from just from my bone structure. And don't think I didn't laugh when I saw Jay Tavare being passed off as a Dakota chief in that horrible "Into the West" miniseries. I mean, I do understand it's a fairly small pool of actors from which to choose, but come ON, people. /OT

Anyway, I just about died when I heard Zhang Ziyi was being cast as the lead. I think she's a great actress, and very beautiful, but it made me laugh to think of someone so Chinese looking being a geisha. Ditto with Gong Li.

Regardless, I'll definitely see this, the trailer looks awesome and I have a serious crush on Ken Watanabe. It looks like the kind of melodramatic popcorn movie I love. However, I'll also probably giggle a little bit the first time Zhang pops up in a kimono.

Edited to add that I totally bought the little Sephora makeup compact, cheesy as it is. The colors are awesome, I highly reccomend it.

[realitybug]

OT
It's kind of like how Hollywood and most of the world thinks all American Indians look like your stereotypical Northern plains Dances With Wolves warrior, which is ridiculous. I mean, I'm half white, and look white coloring-wise, but every AI I know can tell what region my mom's from just from my bone structure. And don't think I didn't laugh when I saw Jay Tavare being passed off as a Dakota chief in that horrible "Into the West" miniseries. I mean, I do understand it's a fairly small pool of actors from which to choose, but come ON, people. /OT

Yeah, most definetely. That whole "they all look the same" attitude is horribly annoying. I'm Native American and I get annoyed when non- Natives assume I'm Cherokee or Lakota when in reality I am Ojibwe (Chippewa). People don't even bother to ask my actual tribe. All tribes are different and it does matter. So I can see where they're coming from. Asian is general, yeah. But it branches off into their own traditions/customs. Into the West was bad and so boring. And I love my history.

On topic, I finished the book a couple days ago and I am really looking forward to this movie now. I really liked the book.

[indygirl]

I enjoyed the book, but I just can't muster up the enthusiasm for this one. (Of course Moldy convinced me to see the new P&P which I loved so maybe this will happen here as well.)

[iClaudia]

Are any of the actresses Japanese? I don't need 100% authenticity, but jeez.

I think it all comes down to the fact that I as an American don't know the name of a single Japanese actress while I have heard of the Chinese actress whom was cast. It's just about marketing and box office. If there was a Japanese actress equally well known in the States, she would have been cast.

I'm having a hard time getting past this one. I'm not Asian, but I was certainly offended when I saw the trailer. Hollywood has a horrible history in this regard and while I understand the point abut marketing, how can Japanese actors become well known enough to have a name that can be used for marketing purposes when they aren't even given opportunities in films that feature Japanese characters?