[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Panuru

I've read and heard members of Japanese cultural world expressed disappointment and said the movie is very disrespectful towards Japanese traditions and spirit. It's been described as the average Hollywood superficial misrepresentation of Asian culture.

Yeah, I heard about that too, though not from actual Japanese but mostly from Americans. Some of them said they cannot stand the mistakes made in the film, such as the hair, the lips, the kimono, and the dancing...it's not the proper or the right way of the geisha or the maiko and after seeing the trailer, I have to agree...the movie looks awful. Yet, some of the Americans argued back, saying that the book was written by an American, so what is the big deal? And to add on to the stupidity that is these people, the director Rob Marshall, goes off and states, "Geisha means "artist." It's a very theatrical profession, and it does connect to me on that level." Look man, we know you did "Chicago" but that doesn't mean every thing you're going to direct has to relate to the "theatrical" profession to "connect" to you. Plus, some of them argued that the point of a movie is to simply be a movie, not a documentary, so why is it a big deal if the hair is done wrong or the dancing is improper - these are trivial when it comes to the "beauty" and "glamour" of the film...or, in other words, I assume they're talking about the "talented" Ziyi Zhang. *spits in disgust*

I was very surprised to learn they are going to release the film in Japan (under "Sayuri" not "Memoirs of a Geisha") since I thought the film would be a disgrace for the Japanese...but I suppose they don't want to look bad by turning it down in their country...otherwise, Hollywood or the West might start going off about how "snooty" the Japanese are.

Originally Posted by Panuru

Not to mention that according to both Chinese and Japanese communities, the movie is another proof Hollywood can't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese (they look exotic to them, and that's all they seem to be interested in).

Yeah, no shit. The first thing I thought when I heard they casted Ziyi Zhang to play Sayuri was, "Oh but of course they would! After all, this "talented" and "gorgeous" little nobody does one utterly stupid film like "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and omigawd! She's the best! She can do no wrong, she can play ALL the roles even if she's not ethnically correct! Why not?!" I don't understand what the hell is so wrong with casting actual Japanese actors/actresses to play the parts. One American's comment that I read was that because no one in the West would give a damn about the movie if they casted Japanese nobodies. Riiiight...because that Zhang was, what? In every major Hollywood movies since color was first introduced? Whatever. I have a major beef against her and her stupidity...in an interview I read of her, she said she had to speak with an "English accent" when she really meant that she had to speak "American-English." Geez, I know she doesn't know how to speak English, but at least other Asians know to say "I needed to learn how to speak English" instead of saying "English accent" which gives us the impression she's going to speak with a British accent. Can anyone truly be that dumb?

But, as much as I hate it, I do understand Hollywood's need to cast major stars (such as Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li and now, just because of "The Last Samurai", Watanabe, Ken...woo-hoo ) not because Hollywood themselves are superficial idiots (which they are) but because the viewers are idiots as well. I mean, honestly...we cannot say that ONLY to Hollywood do the Chinese, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Koreans, Japanese, Malays, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Singaporeans, etc. look alike...this generalization happens among common people too...you wouldn't believe how many Americans come up to me and spew out crap like "Hey, you from China?" "Uh no, I'm Taiwanese" "Oh...well, it's still China" just because, gee, China is the only dominant Asian country that comes to their ignoramus minds. Sadly, my mother seems to want to see the movie a lot....just because there are Chinese actresses in it. *sighs*

Originally Posted by Panuru

The book was mediocre IMO.

I do like the book a lot; I read it when it was released and this was the time when I only read a little...so it became one of my favorite books. However, now that I hardly read anything, I have nothing to compare the book to, so yeah, it still remains one of my favorites. That's why I was so upset to hear they're making a movie of it.

Originally Posted by Panuru

I don't know if I'm going to watch it.

I will most likely watch it only to see how much they butchered the book.