George Takei petitions against all-white casting choices for Akira adaptation

December 19, 2014 by Luke Owen 223 Comments

Following on from the controversy surrounding the all-white casting of Exodus: Gods and Kings, legendary Star Trek actor and King of the Memes George Takei has spoken out against the proposed casting choices for the American adaptation of popular anime Akira.

It was reported by Deadline that the cast choices included Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past) for Testuo and Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Chris Pine (Horrible Bosses 2), Joaquin Phoenix (Her) and Justin Timberlake (Friends with Benefits) for Kaneda.

“The manga and anime phenomenon is mostly white in this country,” he told The Advocate, speaking out against the casting. “It originated in Japan, and, of course, it has a huge Asian fan following. But it’s the multi-ethnic Americans who are fans of Akira and manga. The idea of buying the rights to do that and in fact change it seems rather pointless. If they’re going to do that, why don’t they do something original, because what they do is offend Asians, number 1; number 2, they offend the fans.”

“The same thing happened with M. Night Shyamalan,” he continues. “He cast [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it’s an Asian story, and the film flopped. I should think that they would learn from that, but I guess big studios go by rote, and the tradition in Hollywood has always been to buy a project, change it completely and flop with it. I think it’s pointless, so I thought I would save Warner Bros. a bit of failure by warning them of what will most likely happen if they continue in that vein.”

When asked about the difference between the politics behind African-American and Asian-American actors, Takei said that there is huge gap. “African-Americans have made enormous advances,” he said. “There are a whole host of bankable stars who are African-American. Can you name one bankable Asian-American star? No. There isn’t. You have Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson. A whole host of them. One can’t name a single Asian-American whose name you can take to the bank and get a project financed. We are making headways. I’m not a pessimist. We have made tremendous headways from the time I started in this business in 1957. Asian faces are part of the ensemble in many TV shows playing not roles that are specifically Asian, but playing doctors and detectives. Advances have been made, but we have still not caught up with the African-American achievements.”

“I don’t think it’s a reluctance, they just don’t know better,” he concludes.

Akira has been written by Steve Kloves (the Harry Potter franchise) and is being produced by Andrew Lazar, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran with Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop) in the director’s chair. Warner Bros and Legenday Pictures paid a reported 7-figure sum for the rights to adapt Akira.

cdrbly327

While I agree with him, pointing out this fact (constantly) is the key factor in allowing racism to perpetuate. Everyone wants to be treated equal, but keeps pointing out the differences. “Way to take one step forward and two steps back.”
- AdumbroDeus
  
  Pretending it doesn’t exist just makes it continue going on right under our noses, nothing will ever get fixed if it’s ignored. After you fix the systematic problems of inequality then you can actually stop pointing out differences.
- BReal
  
  you’re blind about how racist the media is. i’ll give you one example: what’s the predominant role for Latina woman in media? Answer: a cleaning lady. A blockbuster movie can’t be made unless it’s a Latina cleaning lady that is going to fall in love/be swept off her feet by a white man. What roles are Asian specific? Like George said doctors/detectives. There’s no superhero Asian roll, wall street tycoon, gangster etc etc etc.
  - Nope
    
    Hiro from Heroes was fantastic. Only a sith deals in absolutes. And if you’ve never seen Asian gangsters in a movie, you’re just not watching movies involving Asian gangs
  - ABC
    
    “There’s no superhero Asian roll”
    
    I don’t know… Banh mi are pretty good.
  - bob
    
    no Asian gangsters? really? also this is sort of a moot point: growing power of east asian markets means more asian actors are being cramed randomly into big films anyways and the next step is more leading role casting
  - cdrbly327
    
    So you have never heard of the Yakuza or Triads in film?
    - andrewi
      
      Subject specificity kinda evades the point. If you make a Triad film with all white actors there would be an actual lawsuit from the Triads because you are misrepresenting them and they don’t like that. If you make a movie and you have a choice of white or Asian actors, it will – most of the time – end up being white, and that goes for any and every other lead role, simply because the bias towards white people is able to cloak itself once it’s established under things like “more white people are famous actors” etc etc forgetting how it came to be that way.
  - cdrbly327
    
    Clearly you didn’t read the article, you just jumped on the racism bandwagon.
  - MJ
    
    Have you ever watched a Japanese or Korean movie in your life?
    - really
      
      dumbass, he’s talking about American movies..now name one..
      - cdrbly327
        
        Fast and Furious, Death Race, Sons of Anarchy, …
      - really
        
        Ah, OK, you are right.
        
        I apologize.
- JEIAC
  
  Are you seriously suggesting that ignoring a problem would make it go away?
  
  Has burying your head in the sand ever done anything positive?
- http://mattaningram.com/ Mattan Ingram
  
  Yep, just close your eyes and racism goes away!
  
  Sorry but that’s ridiculous. Talking about racism is NOT what is keeping it alive in this country.
- decentralize things
  
  Are you fucking retarded? Btw that question is rhetorical you don’t actually have to answer. Did you think Martin Luther King should have STFU too? That question is real.
  - cdrbly327
    
    Missed it completely… Dr. King actually fought racism. He didn’t misappropriate the racism label on poor casting hopes in a Hollywood movie.
    - Anonymous
      
      Actually, when Uhura from Star Trek, played by Nichelle Nichols, a black woman, wanted to leave Star Trek, Dr. King dissuaded her from it by saying “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on
      television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as
      intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can
      also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be
      professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now.”. I’m pretty sure he would care about topics like this.
    - Anonymous
      
      Actually, when Uhura from Star Trek, played by Nichelle Nichols, a black woman, wanted to leave Star Trek, Dr. King dissuaded her from it by saying “Don’t you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time on
      television we will be seen as we should be seen every day – as
      intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, but who can
      also go into space, who can be lawyers, who can be teachers, who can be
      professors, and yet you don’t see it on television – until now.”. I’m pretty sure he would care about topics like this.
      - cdrbly327
        
        The difference is she was actually cast into a role and portrayed the character. Right now this movie is all speculation and hearsay. I’d wager that even he would take a “wait and see” approach, as anyone with intelligence would see that this hasn’t even become a reality (yet?).
  - MJ
    
    Great, now the mentally ill are being name-called.
- RadicalElation
  
  I agree with you to an extent. Constantly forcing separations in culture and race are only going to keep racism alive, but looking the other way isn’t going to solve anything. We need to recognize that there are differences that only amount to adjectives. We need to stop look at each other as different people. People are black in looks. People are Asian in looks. Beyond that, something that should really just be seen as cosmetic, we’re all people.
  
  Yes, there are cultures and traditions that could be tied to those differences, but it’s regional more than anything. Besides that, we’re just people.
  - Bob
    
    So it’s okay if a Japanese woman plays Queen Elizabeth or Princess Diana? It seems that somes whites are more than happy to preach to minorities about why they shouldn’t be upset with cultural appropriation and white washing but will scream bloody murder when it encroaches on their territory.
    
    I recalled how the young Black, actually mixed, actress was maligned in the Hunger Games because certain fans felt she should not be any part Black despite the ambiguous manner in which the author wrote the character. Idris Elba playing Hamdeil(?) brought about a furor from white fans….and quite frankly Asgard having a Black doorman was not a hit with me…I grew up reading Norse mythology and expect to see white people in those roles not a PC lovefest.
    
    We can respect and appreciate other people’s cultures and stories without interjecting ourselves in them, that being said…..Akira should be cast with Asian actors regardless of the stylized anime look of the characters.
    
    P.S. The Dragonball Z mess should have been a lesson to HW, not only did the Asian fans cry foul, so did the diehard non Asian ones as well.
    - RadicalElation
      
      My comment was in regards to racial issues in general. Forcing separation just perpetuates the problems, and allowing a particular group to do one thing while another can’t is not going to help anything. Seeing black Americans as a separate people is not going to help anything. We’re all just people on our lonely planet.
      
      For film, context matters. If culture/race isn’t important to the story, or vice versa, in any way, it shouldn’t make any difference.
      
      Your first example? No, that of course wouldn’t make any sense. It’s culturally and historically significant and it shouldn’t change.
      
      On the flip side, while the source material of The Last Airbender was created by white Americans, the show itself is rooted in Asian culture. What M. Night Shyamalan (who is notably not white) did to it was messed up. Keeping only “cool martial arts” in it while tossing out the rest of the cultures that deeply inspired the source material, without really any Asian of any kind to be seen throughout the film, was just wrong.
      
      As for Akira, it’s set in Japan with a deep connection to the culture. It should be made with a Japanese cast. Some anime really has very little to do with the setting or culture and could be set anywhere with any color of cast, but Akria is not one of them.
      
      Ideally, for most anime adaptions, I think it would benefit both Hollywood and the fans to work with Japan. Their live-action adaptions are top notch in terms of sticking with the story, characters, and much of the style from an anime, but they tend to lack the budget and some of the film-making prowess that Hollywood can provide. That kind of collaboration will probably not happen anytime in soon though.
    - RadicalElation
      
      Should also add, as it’s a recent fuss and you brought up Idris Elba in Thor, him as 007 should be no problem either. Even though the series has long had a white James Bond, his race has no real bearing on the character. Even in the source material by Albert Broccoli, despite his description, it changes nothing more than his cosmetic appearance.
      
      Much like Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, which is based on a book with the character, played by Washington in the film adaption, being white, but it’s nothing more than a cosmetic alteration.
      
      It can matter contextually, but sometimes it doesn’t. Akira is rooted in Japanese culture, it should have Japanese actors and be set in Japan.
      
      Historical pieces *should* be accurate as well, but sometimes it’s understandable when things are changed. The recent Exodus, though… they had the budget and influence to have people of the historical heritage be able to star, but they decided not to, and that’s messed up. I understand Ridley Scott’s remarks about it, it wouldn’t have been funded without bankable Americans, but… c’mon. Studios need to learn to take a chance, and help make more bankable stars.
- Daniel T. Callahan
  
  You are absolutely correct. We should just pretend there is no problem and then it will just go away.
- pictor
  
  Oh please, pointing out racism causes racism? By that logic, if no one reminds you, then it ceases to exist?
- Cypher Reese
  
  I think most of you are missing the point of the argument.
  
  How exactly is casting someone because they are Asian not equate to racism? Casting someone of a specific race because there is an expectation for that race to fill the role is racist.
  
  An absence of racism would require zero expectation of what race should be in that role.
  - oldmanjap
    
    Do you know Akira’s plot? It takes place in an Asian society.
    - Got Anymore brain busters?
      
      Because it would be so hard to take the same plot and move it to a futuristic American society seeing as an American company bought the rights and are hiring American actors.
      - I’m an American too
        
        You know we have Asian AMERICANS, right? George Takei happens to be one of them. Also, many of the people listed in the article as possible stars, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, & Michael Fassbender, yeah NONE of those people are American. So you have no point. Other than highlighting how Hollywood casting has maintained the Asian people as perpetual “foreigners” forever seen as “the other” by mainstream America. White person actually from another country with accent and all? Oh but he has a White face, he must be American. Person actually born in this country with no accent whatsoever (Lucy Liu, Margaret Cho, Russell Wong, Kal Penn, James Hong, to name a few)? Uh oh, slanted eyes, must not be a “real American! “
      - Bob
        
        There’s not even any point in arguing with this guy. He doesn’t know what Akira is. He just saw that someone was lambasting a whitewashed cast and felt the need to pull the tried and true “reverse racism” card.
        
        Anyone who actually knows the story would realize why it should have an Asian cast and be set in Japan. Unless you’re one of those people who watches shit mindlessly, in which case it’s slightly more understandable you don’t get the symbolism.
      - Bob the builder
        
        because Asia is the only place where a post apocalyptic society conducting ESP experiments could occur. Good call on that one.
      - Bob
        
        Sit down, fucknugget. Actually learn the symbolism and what the story of Akira represents. It’s a story rooted in the times of Japan. You can’t translate that because there’s no equivalent for white America. Maybe you could do it with black America, but even that’s a stretch. Might be kind of relevant right now, though.
      - cdrbly327
        
        Your name calling and constant use of profanity only undermines any and all arguments you make.
      - cdrbly327
        
        Your name calling and use of profanities only undermines any and all arguments you make as no more than angry attacks.
      - Bob
        
        Good job not arguing. Really proves your point. Or, proves how little you know about Akira’s relation to nuclear fear and the disparity between Japan’s growing position as a superpower in the world with its technology. That, too.
      - hypocrites
        
        You know we have African AMERICANS, right? We also have European, Pacific Islanders, Middle Eastern, and every other area in the world. So where is your rallying flag for those under represented groups in this movie?
        
        Oh I forgot, the cast has to be Asian BECAUSE ASIAN IS EXPECTED. Nothing discriminatory/racist about that.
      - David T
        
        And American = white. And with this comment, you’ve just illustrated the thinking of a Hollywood studio and how white privilege works.
  - David T
    
    You don’t see the inherent problem in this? Or how it’s actually working out in reality? So a studio can have an all-white cast for asian characters and respond to critics with the defense of “we don’t look at someone’s race. we just hired the best actors out there.” Yet it never works the other way around. An asian actor will rarely ever be cast for a white character.
    
    That’s the definition of white privilege. White is seen to encompass all races. They can play any ethnic part with just a little makeup. To other white people, it’s just as convincing. But Asians can only play Asians. Except they can’t because caucasian people are being hired for those parts as well.
    - Working with geniuses
      
      So lets just all be racist in the opposite direction. That will fix everything. You don’t see the inherent problem in that? If this film was set in Asia with an all Asian cast you certainly wouldn’t be on here claiming its racist. Well guess what, white people, black people, and asian people live in Asia. So how about you stop being hypocritical and realize the argument being made is about the hypocrisy of only calling out all white casts when racism clearly exists in the other direction as well.
      
      We know nothing about where the film is set other than that it will be the plot of Akira. So all your arguments of it should be Asian characters in an Asian society are mute because newsflash, we don’t know it is set in Asia.
      
      Plot: the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.
      
      setting: the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.
      
      Heres some definitions for you imbeciles that can’t tell the difference between using the plot of Akira and the setting of Akira.
      - David T
        
        And your post is exactly illustrating the inherent racism of your logic. You’re trying to counter the argument by attempting to turn the tables by what goes on in *their* country, being in Asia. Except that *they* are not from Asia. They’re American. They see themselves as American. Hollywood sees them as not. In other words, you’re falling into the same ignorant line of thinking that American = white people, while foreigners = non-white people. This is the type of ignorance that continues the status quo.
      - cdrbly327
        
        By that thinking, they do it to themselves with that label of Asian-American.
      - David T
        
        If you’re talking about their race, try calling them “yellow.” See how that works for you.
      - cdrbly327
        
        I’d rather call them American, like the rest of us who are born here. You are only “Asian-American” if you were born in Asia and are now a legal American citizen. Same with African-American, German-American, etc. If those cultures are so great, then go back.
      - Elizabeth Miller
        
        You think African-Americans isolated themselves by calling themselves African American? Not that they lived in a country that didn’t treat them as real Americans? You don’t know what you’re talking about and you sound incredibly dumb.
      - Elizabeth Miller
        
        “So lets just all be racist in the opposite direction. That will fix everything.”
        
        Racist in the other direction? Are you kidding me? White actors are sought out by default and already get the majority of roles. 90% of movies have white leads. So when they also get the roles meant for Asians, Asians aren’t supposed to get mad? If people don’t see race then why are white people given all the roles? What a dumb argument.
  - Elizabeth Miller
    
    “I think most of you are missing the point of the argument.
    
    How exactly is casting someone because they are Asian not equate to racism?”
    
    I think you’re missing the point. The majority of roles ALREADY GO TO WHITE ACTORS. And then even roles that were meant for Asians like in The Last Airbender and now Akira also go to white people. You have to be pretty stupid to not understand what’s wrong with this. White people can afford to not talk about race because it doesn’t affect them. Minorities don’t have that luxury.
- ego
  
  HAHAHA wtf
- DigitalSmoke
  
  im sorry but it isnt. NOT YET. There is still alot of healing that needs to be done and now is the time to lay it all out. People like you are the reason closet racist can and do exist in places you would never have imagined.
- albatrosMyster
  
  Not being racist, like not being sexist is not about acting as if there was no difference at all, there is obviously some cultural sencibilities at work here…
  
  Now, to me seeing the cast with all these big names actors makes me think there was no proper respect paid to the original work, why more it to new-york? why change anything to fit the usual big hit american movie story telling model? They may as well not release it if they are to make it like one more comic book adaptation.
- Hurna
  
  Everybody wants equality. Just, you know, some want to be more equal than others. And I bet you’re some cisgender male white man who enjoys his silver spoon. Your opinion is only worth 1/4 a real person’s opinion. THAT is equality. …That’s actually sarcasm.
  
  Whites cannot say anything that even slightly departs from the current popular thinking, even if it supports true equality, because they will just be ignored or crucified. It seems one has to entirely agree with the portrayal of the terrible white man, or be regarded as racist. Not everybody is trying to ignore it, they just *get* ignored and trampled under the mob.
  
  Also Akira is in Tokyo, so it should be cast as such. The only people who really want to see this movie are fans of Akira or anime/manga in general, so trying to cater to anybody else will simply result in alienating the audience. It’s not *entirely* about race; it’s more about respecting the source material.
  - cdrbly327
    
    Your presumptions about me make you part of the problem. Congratulations.
- Dr. Perky
  
  The reason an all white cast is a bad idea is because Akira is a story about Japanese youths taking place in Japan an all white cast doesn’t really make sense at all.
  - cdrbly327
    
    I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you either wrote the movie or made the decree about adherence to source material.
    - Kyle Posey
      
      Yeah man. A lot of people making a lot of assumptions about this movie. The fact that an American studio, with american producers bought the rights, I feel like they’re probably going to set the movie in The U.S. None of these people threw a fit when Scorsese took Internal Affairs and recast it with all white guys in Boston. If they want this movie with an all Japanese cast….there’s the original movie.
- jack2211
  
  Let me guess, you’re white?
  
  Pointing out racism causes racism? What? How do you know this? Acknowledging racism and acknowledging that we’re different races does not keep racism alive.
  
  Uh, and you are indeed saying “bury your head in the sand” and “pretend it doesn’t exist” — you’re telling a Japanese-American actor not to be publicly upset that a live-action version of a Japanese classic set in Tokyo is reportedly being cast with all white actors?
  - cdrbly327
    
    So is it racist to be upset that Annie was remade with a primarily black cast? Or that death at a funeral was remade with a black cast? No one even knows what the setting of the movie is, it may very well not be Tokyo. It could be Nova Scotia for all anyone knows.
    - Bob
      
      Considering Annie’s race makes 0 impact on the story, the need for representation is way more important that fueling a racist agenda for a play you probably don’t even care about, and the content of the story stays exactly the same regardless of the race of the main character, no it isn’t.
      - cdrbly327
        
        So by your theory, if the movie takes place in New York, it won’t matter if it’s a white cast?
      - Bob
        
        Considering New York is one of the most culturally diverse centers of human activity in the entire world, yes, yes it will. Doesn’t stop Hollywood from doing it, though. Over and over and over and over and over and over again.
      - cdrbly327
        
        You miss the point. If the story that they tell (in a still developmental stage, mind you) I’d not remotely impacted by race, then the race of the cast doesn’t matter.
      - Bob
        
        Then why don’t you just make your own story instead of ruining another one? Stop excusing Hollywood’s racism.
      - cdrbly327
        
        Oh yes, Hollywood is so racist. They don’t use actual actors like Denzel Washington, Danny Trejo, Lucy Liu and the like. Instead the make the Brad Pitts and Ali Larters wear blackface and other makeup.
      - Bob
        
        Loan Ranger, Exodus, the fact even Marvel’s movie lineup is whiter than an explosion in a dairy processing plant. I can go on, but I have a feeling that blindfold covers your ears, too.
      - cdrbly327
        
        Oh ya, I’m sure that Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Idris Elba, Kenneth Choi, Evgeniy Lazarev, Don Cheadle, and the like will very firmly agree with your unfounded allegations about Marvel.
        I’m not even going to get into the religious implications of Exodus.
        The Lone Ranger was just a failure for too many reasons.
      - Bob
        
        I’m sure they will until they get their own movies. Hell, Anthony Mackie’s already made statements about it, and Jackson knows exactly what this is about.
        
        How does religion affect the whitewashing of Exodus? Because the white baby Christians in America couldn’t handle seeing one of their favorite characters as anything but white?
        
        Totally missing the point, but good try.
      - cdrbly327
        
        Of course Mackie wants his own movie. There is an entire extra video of him saying “cut the check”. So him wanting his own movie isn’t a “race” thing, it’s a payday thing. Time for you to remove your blindfold, none of the marvel people are stirring the racism or gender pot… they all too busy cashing their significant checks.
        As for Exodus, only a fool would allow an American studio to make a movie with religious icons that aren’t white. That is the just the way this country is, the small minded, republican, “Christian” bigots are in control.
      - Bob
        
        Not like everyone’s talked at length about how stupid it is that there’s no Black Widow movie, or anything. Or how Mackie just delights in making people feel uncomfortable that he’s a popular black superhero.
        
        There are no white religious icons from biblical times. Who, exactly, do you think owns the rights to the Bible in such a way that they have the veto power over that movie? Your whole colorblindness bullshit is so tired and stupid, but you sure are making those “small minded, republican[sic], ‘Christian’ bigots” happy.
    - jack2211
      
      Yeah, being upset in those two examples is kind of racist, actually. White people are in nearly every movie ever made (let’s say 99% of all movies) — so, yeah, when something that was orginally nonwhite becomes white solely to make more money, it’s potentially troubling to nonwhite folks.
      
      If there was a shortage of white roles, then, yeah, those examples might be troubling. But there isn’t. You picked two movies out of thousands released that don’t have African-American or Asian-American cast members in significant roles.
      - cdrbly327
        
        There it is. No matter how you support it, it is still a one way street.
- David T
  
  The path to racial equality is not a color-blind society. It’s not only naive, but a perpetuation of racial status quo. Race matters. The idea of color-blindness promotes bias in how we perceive someone because characteristics that you don’t think have to do with the color of their skin are, in fact , informed by their race.
  
  You judge people by certain standards of what you grew up with while being unaware that these standards are informed by the culture you grew up in. You will always have this natural bias. So for example, you deny someone a job because of characteristic informed by his race/culture, but not specifically because of his skin-color. It’s not overt racism, but it’s still racism. It’s actually worse than overt racism because it perpetuates unfair treatment under the defense of “color-blindness”.
  
  Equality is not color-blindness. You should be aware of someone’s race. You should be aware of how it forms their identity and perspective. You should be aware of all these things so you CAN treat people fairly, rather than by your own cultural bias.
  - cdrbly327
    
    No. If we perceive people as American then I see no problem. There shouldn’t be any racial or cultural barrier at all when it comes to doing something. People who continue to use the labels of African-American, Asian-American, etc. just extend the problem. By those terms you should not have been born in the U.S., if you were you are American and any hindrances are self born not pressed upon.
Cyber Slammer

He should threaten to expose his pooper to the world…
Brandon Bailie

I don’t care who plays the roles, as long as they do a proper job portraying the characters.
Rodrigo_Girao

Isn’t this stupid adaptation dead yet?
- ANNON
  
  yes, no need to worry about it now
Kyle Posey

I think it should all depend on where they’re going to have the story take place. If it’s in Tokyo, obviously it shouldn’t be an all white cast. If it’s a major U.S. city, it make it a bit more difficult to not use a mostly white cast.
- Jacob Marks
  
  In the future cultures and races will be even more mixed. It would probably make more sense just to do an extremely varied cast no matter where it takes place.
  - koopapoopas
    
    They should just mix it up like the Fast and Furious movies.
    - SeanSu
      
      Yeah but too bad, the mixed cast doomed the Fast and Furious movies so… Oh wait.
      
      Seriously, makes you wonder what Hollywood is thinking.
      - jayme
        
        Fear of losing money….
  - Kyle Posey
    
    True. But knowing Hollywood, they’re going to want to mix it up, but only enough to where they’ll still consider it a bankable cast.
  - maverick
    
    In 100 years people won’t be that much mixed, even in USAA. And Akira doesn’t take place in far future
    - jayme
      
      Scientists say we will be extinct anyway.
      - maverick
        
        good
- JMFG
  
  if it’s a major U.S. city, it makes it extremely easy to not make it a mostly white cast. The show centers around a gang. Gangs in American cities run in all colors. Reference “the warriors”. somewhat diverse casting
- seeper212
  
  The problem is they will change the setting just so they can do an all white cast.
- Remember the Melting Pot?
  
  If it’s in a MAJOR U.S. city, then I think it would be just as ridiculous to have an all white cast. You know we have Asian AMERICANS, right? George Takei happens to be one of them. Also, many of the people listed in the article as possible stars, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, & Michael Fassbender, yeah NONE of those people are American. This just highlights how Hollywood casting has maintained the Asian people as perpetual “foreigners” forever seen as “the other” by mainstream America. White person actually from another country with accent and all? Oh but he has a White face, he must be American. Person actually born in this country with no accent whatsoever (Lucy Liu, Margaret Cho, Russell Wong, Kal Penn, James Hong, to name a few)? Uh oh, slanted eyes, must not be a “real American! “
  - Kyle Posey
    
    Asians make up 5% of the US population. That means statistically 1 in 20. Also, try casting a blockbuster action movie starring Kal Penn and Russel Wong and see how quickly nobody finances it. I never said the U.S. doesn’t have Asian Americans, and I never said anything about the rumored cast even being any good.
    - Bob
      
      You realize 5% is over 15 million people, right?
      - Kyle Posey
        
        Ok? The point is no movie studio is going to sink tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to appeal to anything less than 50% of the population.
      - Bob
        
        I think you’re grossly overestimating the number of racists in this country.
      - Kyle Posey
        
        Again with people who don’t even know the actual definition of racism. I’m trying to say that, like it or not, a movie with a majority asian cast would be considered more of a niche film in the United States. Not saying no one else would see it, but a casting that way creates a number of marketing problems. Not to mention nervous financiers.
      - Bob
        
        We just had a moving starring a talking tree and a raccoon with a machine gun. You have no argument.
      - Kyle Posey
        
        And? That movie had the Marvel banner, it could market to adults, children, and families. This would be a hard R, expensive special effect film based off of an Anime movie. However great, and influential it is, it’s based off of no currently popular franchise. Not to mention anime isn’t very popular in this country outside its ardent fans. Without a very high profile, marketable cast this thing is going to be very difficult to market.
      - Bob
        
        Yeah, a Marvel movie with one white character among the main cast whose only notable role is on a TV show, flanked by a Woman of Color playing a green alien, a wreslter, a CGI tree and raccoon about a team no one had ever heard of before. Good excuses.
        
        Not only that, Battle of Gods was sold out every single day it premiered during the week it was in the US, so much so that they actually extended the limited week-long run another week. There is a gigantic anime market in America.
      - David T
        
        More in LA and NYC where most of these movie take place. Whites make of only 62% of the population when you take into account that Hispanic isn’t considered a race by the Census, but we all know hispanics consider themselves a minority and are underrepresented in film too.
      - thesteelguy
        
        ‘only 62%’
        lol
Terrance Earle

Kinda racist to say there can’t be an all white cast. But honestly I’d like a multi-culture mash up of it like with The 5th Element since is basically in the future. Doubt the quality will be the same. It’ll probably be as bad as the Dragon Ball movie.
- Jacob Marks
  
  It’s not racist.
  - jewjingle
    
    It shouldn’t be a white cast is like saying all those Tyler Perry movies shouldn’t be a black cast.
    - seeper212
      
      Tyler Perry is making his own stories. The people behind the Akira adaptation and others like it are just taking stories made by & starring minorities and then removing all the minority characters.
    - Swedishiron
      
      Every Tyler Perry movie I have seen has had White actors including several in lead roles.
- http://www.talesfromsuburbia.com kopfsammer
  
  It’s called whitewashing. Taking a foreign film and pretending only WASPs make up the U.S. Pretty sad that they’re making this in the first place.
  - brian
    
    How about when Lifetime remade Steel Magnolias with an all-black cast. Was that blackwashing?
    - http://homeinbabylon.com/ Chuchundra
      
      Do people really not understand why this is not the same thing at all?
      - Bob
        
        Obviously not. They actually said that.
- JEIAC
  
  Did you wander out of Stormfront?
  
  Would you say the same thing about a movie about American slavery that utilized all white actors? Would it be racist to say there can’t be an all white cast in that case?
http://www.talesfromsuburbia.com kopfsammer

Wait, this movie is actually happening again? How could this possibly be any good?
The Walking Cuban

George takei is perpetuating this needless remake (reboot, inbetweequel, whatever)
JoeSchmoe

Last time I checked asians were white too…
- NamesAndStuff
  
  Umm, what? That’s like saying Indians from India and Latinos from Mexico are the same because they’re brown. Different cultures, different races.
  - maverick
    
    Not all latinos and indians are brown, some look caucasian, some are pure caucasian.
    - Bob
      
      Not all Latinos…
Andrew Paul Moulton

That’s really ignorant, just because YOU aren’t a big movie star doesn’t mean Jackie Chan and Lucy Lu don’t exist.
- RaWr
  
  Jackie Chan is 100% Chinese
- Yep
  
  Jackie Chan isn’t Asian American, and Lucy Lu was a popular star 20 or so years ago but she sure doesn’t pull in major movie roles like he was describing.
jordanlund

While not “Asian-American”, Jackie Chan and Jet Li were both bankable stars back in the day. I’m not sure who qualifies now. Grace Park was phenomenal on Battlestar Galactica. Seems a shame to waste her on Hawaii Five-O now. Same goes for Daniel Dae Kim who was fantastic on Lost and is also stuck on Five-O. Then there’s Steven Yuen on Walking Dead.

Maybe that’s the solution… cast Daniel Dae Kim and Steven Yuen in Akira and move it to Korea instead of Japan.
- Kyle Posey
  
  I’ve been seeing Lee Byung-hun start to pop up more and more in Hollywood productions.
- OnlyGodIsDeath
  
  chow yun fat and donnie yen but they aren’t asian americans lol
  
  There was one however Bruce Lee. RIP.
Intrepid

Oh, myyyy… -.-
David Curry

I’ll support a petition against making an adaptation, period.
- Andre
  
  This.
Jon Boriss

Why does anyone care what he thinks?
- Jason Robert McMahan
  
  Exactly. Guy thinks he has a lot more pull then he really does.
JEIAC

That’s fine, Hollywood. Keep doing what you’re doing. Just another movie me and other like-minded Asian Americans don’t need to see.
- maverick
  
  you mean you and your parents?:?
  - Bob
    
    No, him and everyone else who didn’t go see Exodus. All those people that didn’t make it enough money to pay back its budget to the point where they lost 3/4 of the money they paid to make it. That audience.
    - maverick
      
      Wrong, Exodus already paid itself and was a financial hit. Also, “the film’s debut audience was 18 percent Hispanic and 20 percent African-American.” So you are wrong. The people who didn’t go see it in America were, in fact, White, while minorities enjoyed it.
      - Bob
        
        Where are you getting this from? Because it barely made anything. In fact, it had one of the smallest opening weekends of the entire year. At this point in time, it’s only made 100 million of its 140 million dollar budget back. Its reviews are terrible and currently hold a 28% on Rotten Tomatoes and a little over 5 on IMDb.
      - maverick
        
        Because the movie is awful!!! But so far it made exactly what it was predicted to make. Just pointed out that it was mostly minorities who went to see the movie. Having white or black cast wouldnt save the movie from being bad.
        Exodus had a good opening weekend (25 mln) and hasn’t been released in half of the world yet
      - Bob
        
        You like to make things up, don’t you? Talk to me when you actually read what people were projecting for it and how miserably it has failed and will fail in the future.
      - maverick
        
        you are anti white so ofc you want it t fail. Because you have a sht skin and you are undesired by women. My sources were news website and box office com
Darkrhyes

I am guessing Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li didn’t want to do it. Also they are probably mad that George Takei inferred that they weren’t bankable….

Yeah this needs fixing.

Oh and Avatar didn’t fail because of lack of Asian-American stars. It failed because whoever adapted it doesn’t know how to write a good script. That thing was flying crap on fire.
- seeper212
  
  Well, Avatar has a pretty large fanbase(why they decided to adapt it in the first place) and whitewashing the cast turned that fanbase off from the movie really early on. Had they actually tried to do a legitimate adaption that fanbase may have actually supported the movie.
- NamesAndStuff
  
  They should really cast someone like Steven Yeun or someone like that.
- yep
  
  He said Asian Americans, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li are all not Asian American.
  - Bob
    
    Not only that, none of those people would actually fit the roles presented in the slightest. Tetsuo and Kaneda are both teenagers, but they’re all in their 50’s. Just throwing out random names from kung fu movies is a really bad way to make your point.
Gary Hughes

Takei is manlier than half this cast. Faggots.
- maverick
  
  this cast and him are all faggots
badideallaround

Can I start a petition against any adaptation of Akira. It is going to be awful
David Warschauer

how about instead they do an all japanese cast 🙂 i love akira
- maverick
  
  no one in the west would watch that crap and they want to make profit
  - David Warschauer
    
    better yet. how about
    Katsuhiro Otomo just remaster the original.
chalotron

Maybe a similar petition should be started for the live action adaptation of Attack on Titan where all but one of the characters are European in origin but are all being played by Japanese actors?
- Bob
  
  Yeah, they sure got an abundance of white actors in Japan who could play those roles.
MichaelJPierce

“Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past) for Testuo and Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Chris Pine (Horrible Bosses 2), Joaquin Phoenix (Her) and Justin Timberlake (Friends with Benefits) for Kaneda.”

In any combination these are all terrible choices for these characters. Firstly, I doubt the agents for james McAvoy, Chris Pine, or Michael Fassbender would allow for this. I think Joaquin Pheonix in researching the role would understand the stretch. Andrew Garfield is still doing Spiderman 3 and has other commitments.

So lets not kid ourselves, we are likely looking at Justin Timberlake , a wild card to take the role, so far any SciFi film has not treated him well. Gerrett Hedlund seems like a wild pick for the role. “Oh he road a motorcycle in Tron, must be perfect for the Motorcyclist Punk in Akira”

This list is crap. I would be surprised if this EVER materializes with any of these listed actors.
MM2k

THIS IS NOT ABOUT RACISM. I know everyone likes to cry foul but it has nothing to do with race. It’s about return on investment. They would only cast caucasian actors if they bring star power to the project. Financiers won’t put up money if there isn’t a proven track record of return. If you think for one second that they would cast a movie for any reason but box office history / production company involvement then you have another thing coming. Besides, where were you when they did a live action Fist of the North Star?
- Give Us a Chance
  
  But that line of thinking keeps only White actors in the major roles because they are the only “bankable” actors. Or at least the only ones given the opportunity to show that they can fill a theatre. How does an Asian actor become bankable when no one will cast them in leading roles…even in a story that takes place in Japan with a cast of Japanese characters? Also, the Chinese movie market is the fastest growing and is on pace to be larger than the American market very soon. So while American audiences may be uneasy with Asian led movies, the studios most certainly have the opportunity to make money if they produce a quality product.
- Bob
  
  I knew it was you, Ridley Scott! Wait until I tell Mohammed so-and-so about this.
uncoveror

A Hollywood version of Akira will be as awful as Dragonball Evolution no matter who they cast.
pat

lol that is not why the avatar movie flopped….
- maverick
  
  no the avatar movie was just a piece of shhhhhhhhhhhht. this will be too regardless of race of the cast
Lloyd B

Good point Sulu, let’s make everything about race. We don’t talk about race enough
- Bob
  
  Apparently not if cops now have free license to kill any black people they see.
jsucese

Why wouldn’t they go with Asian actors? There are plenty of them, right? Why does Hollywood say one thing and do another. They are hypocrites. They espouse Global Warming and Climate Change or racial equality or women’s rights yet they spend millions of dollars creating pollution through their explosions and driving fast cars. They make women change their appearances and stop hiring them after 40 and here they show that they are as racists as any other organization. It’s hard not to see they are two faced.
dwinkle

I get his point, but how many top tier actors do we have that are Asian?
- Have to be cast first
  
  We have a lot of Asian American actors, but they don’t get to be “top tier” because they don’t get cast in leading roles. Hell, they’re not even being cast as leads in a Japanese story set in Japan!!!
Matthew Loom

Uh… Wasn’t Avatar The Last Airbender an American created series?
6ุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุุ

I am a big fan of Akira and I shall never lay eyes on that abomination film.
Cagalli

Latest example: Annie “It’s a hard knock life for us.” starred a black family instead of the original red head girl the movie was adapted from and flunked with 18% “liked it” on Rotten Tomatoes, when I checked, seems a bit higher now. I’d wager the failure was in not keeping it original to the FANS.
Josh Forsyth

The main character should be japanese at least. The film would really benefit from the neo Tokyo feel. We crave that Japanese culture because it is different from our western one. If the cast is all white it would lose the appeal of being Akira. Akira is a original Japanese film…keep it that way!
IanSic OPK ACED

also the movie/manga has to do a lot with the post-war narrative of Japanese history and culture it would not feel right if neo-tokyo was not tokyo and the characters were not Japanese
Josh Zorn

Kaneda and Tetsuo are like 16 why are they casting waaaay older actors? All of Tetsuo’s actions are made out of his immaturity and inability to cope with his powers and feelings of jealousy against Kaneda. They’ve already ruined it without shooting one scene. Fuck this.
Bleh

Why did anyone think an American adaptation was a good idea in the first place? Just watch the movie that’s out now. It’s still amazing, I don’t need/want a new version, let alone one that stars Robert Pattinson. I couldn’t care less about the racism issue, just don’t make a new version of something when the original is perfect as it is.
Chiburi Splash

Set in Neo Tokyo, “Akira” should have an ALL Japanese cast.
Aaron GrandeCorazón Clark

He is a whiney little bitch.
Guest

How the hell can they even justify this? White washing the cast? So now what…the story is going to take place about an american agency? So the whole micromachinery thing being developed in Japan and the hyper militaristic United States bringing upon itself it’s own downfall and then seeking to undermine Japan theme is just getting trashcanned? Oh but hollywood is going to add more explosions and nekked pplz so I guess everything is somehow alright? Fucking hollywood.
jetch

so does that mean if an asian is cast for a “white” character, it’s okay for whites to be offended?? i think not. whites that are offended by an asian playing a “white” role would be considered bigoted, so…

the names listed are kind of big names, so i think the casting had more to do with star power, than race.
- Can’t Have Star Power Without
  
  But what drives the concept of “star power??” Oh yeah, getting cast in movies. And who gets cast in most leading roles? You guessed it – white people!! Isn’t it nice how that system of White dominance feeds itself? Hell, we can’t even have Asian actors cast in a story set in Japan and about Japanese people. Imagine how impossible it is for Asian actors to get work in movies that aren’t race or ethnicity specific.
  - jetch
    
    your “system of white dominance” theory is silly. why don’t you take your complaint to china, africa or central america, i don’t see very many white actors getting jobs over there.
Jesse

The all white cast is just icing on the cake of reasons why this movie is a stupid idea.
DH

This reminds me of how the book that Edge of Tomorrow was based off of was written by a Japanese person, and it’s main character was Japanese. Obviously Tom Cruise isn’t Japanese (or Asian for that matter) and I get it. I guess movie studios don’t think an Asian person can carry a blockbuster film in America and sell well at the box office. The thing that gets me, though, is that I don’t remember there being a SINGLE Asian person in the movie. You’d think the studio would want to include at least one Japanese actor to at least pay homage to the source material. *shrug*

I still loved the movie, btw.
joe

a few things, avatar the last air bender didn’t flop because it was a non asian cast, it flopped because the way they did the story was HORRIBLE. they couldn’t even get the names right..

how are they supposed to make a movie that takes place in japan with a full cast of white actors? they could just not re-make the movie and leave it as is, since a live action version will only be worse and not better
barnstormer

I agree with most of what he said, but he’s wrong about “The Last Airbender”. That movie failed, not because of the casting, but because M. Night Shyamalan is an over-rated hack who can’t direct his way out of a paper bag. He is also responsible for the horrific writing. Seriously, that script made almost no sense at all. The best actors in the world couldn’t have saved that POS.
Carl Potter

This guy hasn’t heard of Jet Li or Jackie Chan.
DigitalSmoke

i swear to god if you ruin this movie i will find you.
Pier

Not all characters of Akira are white, for example the Joker head of the clown gang. I’d say the film should be as faithful to the manga and the anime as possible.
Barty Jordan Androcles

I hope this film never goes through pre-production. 😛
Michael Tefft

Takei
is just plain wrong (or maybe he just doesn’t want to remember) about
no bankable Asian-American actors. I can think of several. Jackie Chan,
Bruce Lee, Pat Morita, Jet Li, Mako, Luci Liu, James Hong, Keanu
Reeves.
Kyle Posey

Whatever the casting, this movie faces an uphill battle to be any good. Anime is like video games, almost impossibly difficult to adapt into a live action movie.
http://www.fantastic-realities.com/ SamuraiArtGuy

Just like almost all trace of Asian people – except the villains – were
excised from the lead cast of “The Last Airbender’, a story steeped and
overwhelmingly based on Asian culture – M Knight Shamalan, you should be &$#@%&
ashamed.

And AKIRA is SO Japanese, people are so incensed about this, fans of the original anime film are calling the Americanized version “Steve.”
Wintersoldier7020

If you make the adaptation with a bunch of 30 year old bland white guys it will be just like every other bland predictable film out there. I want to see a live action Neo-Tokyo(not New York), especially when the 2020 Olympics will actually be in Japan. White American Hollywood needs to focus on story writing and finding American actors that can act, and leave Akira alone.
http://cake-full-of-fist.tumblr.com/ Abraham Lincoln

if they’re going to whitewash this movie, might as well let it burn in development hell
Kenneth Brockert

The guy from twilight and Timberlake… Someone just kill me now. Whoever is making this movie needs shot. This is literally the worst news I’ve heard all day. I really hope this is a joke. How could this happen. The teeny boppers that would even watch this movie with a cast like that couldn’t appreciate Akira. It sounds like another Dragonball evolution, but at least they had chow yun-fat…
Kama

Whatever they do, I won’t watch a remake from USA. As for the washing away. Not surprising, given for example The Ring had white cast too.
Aru

So frustrating! Its true…there are no bankable asian-american stars, but there could be if they get opportunities like this. Robert Pattison considered? seriously? that’s just offensive to every asian-american actor that would be interested in the role
mage

Anyone pretending that the film has the potential to be better by casting people of any specific ancestral lineage, instead of it actually being written well is deluded. The article mentions that GT insinuates that Shyamalan’s ‘The Last Airbender’ was bad because it had white actors, instead of the fact that the film was a total mess from almost any point you care to examine it from.

Just because you cast people of a specific race as characters in a film isn’t going to magically make that film better; hiring writers, directors, and other staff who are familiar with the work and are dedicated to creating something good will create good work.
bipolar

They did the same thing with ‘Annie’…
lol

as Japanese man I must say, white people act good, Japanese make anime good. When white man make anime, it bad, for example Avatar. When Asians act, it almost always bad. There is nothing to be ashamed about what makes us unique.
lolllll

Hello I am a straight white male and I would like to complain that the show Attack on Titan is cultural appropriation. It is animated by Japanese people and appropriates European ingenuity. Thanks.
Jason A. Quest

So, are they changing the setting to Neo-Topeka or something? That’s the only way these casting choices would make sense.
Torn

We need more asian actors in cinema!

You can’t take their culture and then ignore them!
KD

They really will be committing sacrilege in the fans eyes if they go with a cast like that. But I’m not sure which audience they’re more interested in targeting, general theater goers or anime fans. General theater goers do not require every actor be white to enjoy a movie, but Hollywood seems to think they do. I dare say most general theater goers would even prefer characters to be their correct ethnicities. They could get around all this by rewriting Akira as taking place in the U.S., but that would defeat a lot of the point of it being Akira.

First and foremost is story, always. But casting is a close second, and I find it hard to believe that there are no good asian actors out there for them to pick from.
Rocker

Well i understand his point most movie fans just want good acting and if they can find someone whos asian and can play the part well then great make it happen but don’t just pick actors because of race.Fans want a good well acted movie not a politically correct crapfest
Jeff

Wasn’t this already dubbed like 20 years ago? This is old news. Go read the comic for gods sake.
Jason Robert McMahan

Just to point this out, he blamed the ‘all white cast’ the Last Airbender for its flop, not the fact that it was a terrible adaptation. He’s struggling to find support for this.

As for the actual topic, not sure what I think. If the ENTIRE main cast is white with this subject material then eeehhhh. And with the list of names up there, it looks like they are trying to aim for the ‘phenomenon’ actors, guys who attract a lot of attention. It could still wind up good in spite of that, though. And if it doesn’t, well the original Akira is still there. This wouldn’t decrease its value in the slightest.
smh

if hollywhite has one ounce of dignity left they wouldn’t pull this shit off..i’d rather this project be dead as a doornail
Mwatuangi

It makes perfect sense! If it wasn’t a white-washed film with white A-listers completely disrespecting the spirit of the very text it’s supposed to be adapting, it wouldn’t be a Hollywood film. Kinda sad that the people cast even associating themselves with this guaranteed disaster are actors I like.

But we’re getting Idris Elba as the new James Bond though, so how bout dem apples Hollywood?
AK

You have some credible citations for that science, Nick? Maybe it will balance out the mountain of evidence that ethnic identity politics reifies pre-existing racial structures and perpetuates racialism.
- http://www.zucchinipeoplegames.com/ Nicholas Yu
  
  All of the links I included above discuss different recent studies. Here’s the one from Stanford, which I’ve heard is a credible institution.
  
  http://ambadylab.stanford.edu/pubs/2010ApfelbaumPauker%20et-al-PsySci.pdf
  
  In fact, the abstract to that study specifically points out that very little science has been conducted on color blindness: “Despite receiving little empirical assessment, the color-blind approach to managing diversity has become a leading institutional strategy for promoting racial equality, across domains and scales of practice.”
  
  Now please point me to that “mountain of evidence” to the contrary.
maverick

nothing on boxoffice says what it was predicted to make, ive read about that somewhere else. I just said where i got the opening weekend statistics u dumba55. And no you arent white. Hilarious how online every white pretend to be black and black pretend to be white to not come across as racist LOL. You are as white as Kony 2012
Like i said it hasnt been released in many countries yet-
France, UK, Germany – actually entire Europe +Russia, Egypt, Japan, NZ, CHINA and many more. So hardly worldwide?

Theres very little people online who call exodus a financial fiasco. Find me some.

Im not even defending the movie, just pointing out that you hate it because you are anti-white, and that white-casting had almost no impact on the profit because the movie was bad and horribly advertised.
- Bob
  
  Damn, Phone Guy was right. It’s amazing how someone can live without their frontal lobe.
  
  http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-projector-top-five-exodus-20141211-story.html
  
  It’s almost like people were hyping this thing to make a lot of money.
  
  http://www.imdb.com/news/ni58111357/
  
  Poor movie. Look at it doing worse than expected.
  
  Oh, and what’s this? Only 2000 locations to go next year? Why, that’s less than now, so unless everyone in Egypt just fucking hates their own people, this shit’s going to bomb just as hard overseas. If it even makes back its budget at this point, I’ll be impressed.
  - maverick
    
    Guess what, i’ve read articles predicting it to be where it is right now. Your point?
    Because my point still stands, you hate this movie because you are anti white and feel envious of whites.
    You will think that it collapsed because of the white cast. Without Bale and Scott this cr4p wouldnt earn even 20 million. And all the top box office movies are almost exclusively white. What are you gonna rgue about? I already said the movie was bad, 4 comments ago. I also said that % wise it was mostly minorities in the US who went to see it (you can google this one).
    Maybe you hate this movie because its about Egyptians who enslaved you, starring whites who also enslaved you
    - Bob
      
      That you can’t materialize any of those articles, so you’re just full of shit and trying to hide that dick now that I’ve debunked you?
      
      Really doesn’t. I hate this movie because it’s shit, historically inaccurate, and racist. Kind of like you.
      
      I think that’s one of the reasons it failed, but there’s plenty of other reasons why this movie failed.
      
      Now, if you want to see how I’m right, look up a little movie called Prince of Egypt. It’s a Dreamworks film, considered a classic, and composed of a cast that actually looks Egyptian that managed to make back over 3 times its original budget (and more than Exodus has right now).
      
      I can’t find any evidence of the demographics you talk about, so I’m forced to assume you’re just pulling it out of your ass like everything you say. Even if that is true, what the fuck does that even prove? That your racism is okay because some people don’t know about their own culture?
      
      Still white, and Egyptians never enslaved people in the traditional sense. Also, Egyptians are Africans, you dumb fuck.
      - maverick
        
        No you aren’t right… You are extremely stoopid./ Just because theres another movie about Egypt that was successful and had a cast of people with undesired skin doesnt prove that exodus was unsuccessful because of that. I could probably find a 1000 movies about the same topic from TME that didnt make a $million.
        This is the link proving that most of the earnings was in fact from minorities –
        buzzfeed . com/adambvary/exodus-gods-and-kings-box-office-diversity# . hbk40Xjm7
        
        So yea i don’t understand why youre still arguing. The movie was bad, i’ve seen it. Ugly no names in lead roles wouldnt save it, and would definitely not pay off financially.
        You are just trying really hard to hide the fact that you are a racist anti-white bigot, it makes you look laughable.
        Never said Egyptians werent africans?
        And what, Arabs never enslaved blacks in TRADITIONAL sense? Have you ever went to school? In before you tell me that Egyptians arent arabs.
        I would argue if whites by buying out already enslaved people enslaved them in traditional sense. lol
        Bob is a black, bigoted, uneducated racist who likes to call other racist and live his envious life feeling inferior. He also likes to pretend to be a white male on the internet to get his point across, sadly no one believes him
        And apparently minorities in USA all share Egyptian culture. today i learned!!bob… the ultimate r3t4rd
      - Bob
        
        So stupid I can spell correctly, apparently.
        
        It’s not supposed to. It just disproves your entire argument about why they couldn’t have cast actual Africans to play the main characters.
        
        The fact you cite Buzzfeed, the people who basically invented the clickbait title, really just serves as a testament to your own ignorance. I also can’t seem to find out how they calculated that, as it’s not sourced anywhere in the article, so I can take their reporting for what it is: Crap.
        
        Why is that all these racists always want to call other people racist when they point out how racist they are? Maybe you should spend more time thinking about that than masturbating to white Jesus imagery and watching Fox News.
        
        We aren’t talking about that. We’re talking about Egyptians, which, as all anthropology has indicated, had “slaves” in the same way America has prison labor. The story of Exodus has also been proven completely impossible, as there was no mass Jewish migration to the region, as well as no exodus from it.
        
        Slavery’s most common cause for Egypt was as a means of repaying debt or for those captured in war. It was also common for people to set their slaves free at some point in their lives, and it was seen as a moral duty not to abuse your slaves.
        
        The people you picture as “Arab” didn’t even exist in Africa until about 3000 years ago, when the anglos and the light-skinned Palestinians started to go there and intermarry. In addition, the American slave trade was on the west side of Africa, so simple geography blows whatever nonsensical argument you’re trying to make out of the water.
        
        Still don’t know why you think I’m black, but whatever. I don’t think anyone but you really cares what I am, probably because you find me so attractive.
        
        I don’t know, man. Learn to read, maybe? Try that “skool” thing you were talking about before? Brush up on your comprehension skills? All we’ve really learned here is that you’re racist and not very smart, but since those go hand in hand, all we really need to say is that you’re racist.
      - maverick
        
        How exactly am i racist? What was the most racist thing that ive said? That you are mentally living in the shadow of white people and you are sexually frustrated because whites get 10 times more tinder swipes than blacks? Im not even racist, you are. For you if the movie isnt overly successful it’s because the cast was white when it was supposed to be slightly darker skinned?
        I was obviously talking about the Arab slave trade, idk why you wrote they weren’t there 3000 years ago when i was talking about something so recent.
        Everything else you said was pointless. And no i dont find you attractive, i just hate when people pretend to be another race because they dont want to appear biased
        By the way i spelled some words like that because of the disqus censorship. And im an undergraduate information technology major so way ahead of you, bigot
      - Bob
        
        It won’t really matter if I quote you. You’re totally awesome in your mind. Someone else should come in here and show you for me.
        
        Still super white, not interested in women, and a made up statistic to go along with that. And “tinder swipes” is probably the dumbest euphemism I’ve ever heard. Apparently, you’ve also got the mentality of a third grader.
        
        Is your brain a master at parkour, or something? That is literally the logic people like you use to justify why movies (this included) shouldn’t hire non-white actors, only reversed to try and point out some kind of fake discrimination against white people.
        
        Reading comprehension. Use it. Anglo-Arabs didn’t inhabit Egypt until 3000 years ago or so. The Arab Slave Trade didn’t begin until the early 600’s CE. Pretending for a moment that the Exodus actually was real, historians would place it in the timeline near 160 CE. This has literally nothing to do with the topic at hand.
        
        I’m sorry you’re so frustrated, but I’m just not interested in you. I’m sure there’s a nice racist Republican guy out there for you. Just try to look for them.
        
        I’m guessing all the missing punctuation, “stoopid”, “i”, “was in fact”, “africa”, etc. were also because of the censorship, right?
        
        I’m sure you are, just like I’m the first astronaut cowboy millionaire to domesticate sharks.
      - maverick
        
        Well i was referring to racial preferences in dating, google that also. Oh wait, you are black, you are gonna tell me that whites arent overwhelmingly preferred by women (and men) of all the races all around the world becaus of the common eurocentric beauty and asian white worship. Because for you black people are (even though they are the second least popular- im talking about online dating website statistics, like okcupid)
        Im actually gay too but im not interested in you. And stop pretending to be white already.
        I type fast so idgaf about capital letters. And yea, stoopid was to avoid it being censored. You can’t even quote me being racist but you cant stop calling me a racist also. I think you have an issue. You want to hate whites and believe that i’m racist so much that nothing is gonna change your mind. This is fighting a losing battle
        Funny you also hate republicans, how pissed off are you gonna be when their candidate wins the election. Anyhow, i thought black people were leaning towards republicans now?
      - Bob
        
        ” had a cast of people with undesired skin”
        
        “Ugly no names”
        
        “you are mentally living in the shadow of white people and you are sexually frustrated because whites get 10 times more tinder swipes than blacks?”
        
        I mean, I’ll go find some more if you want. I could probably just look through all your comments you’ve made on here and in different stuff for more evidence, too.
        
        Wow, dating sites with more unsourced evidence. Truly a winning argument.
        
        I think you need to get over me. We haven’t even met. I’m not sure what I’ve done to be so attractive. I wish I could turn it off sometimes, but this is just how I am.
        
        Then all that proves is you’re a lazy asshole. Doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that, though.
        
        Invoking the false highroad mentally, so you’re admitting you’ve lost. Good to know.
        
        I’m sure this is a Fox News myth, but it’s totally false. Only 2% of Republicans are black, according to the 2013 Gallup results on the issue. There’s always going to be those self-hating black people (or people of other races, too) that believe the Republicans’ racist, sexist, queerphobic message will somehow support them, but they’re proved over and over again to be wrong.
        
        Stay in school, son. If you even are in school and not just in your parents’ basement. Bye.
      - maverick
        
        This is gonna be my last comment… yawn.
        Firstly, every single research that has ever been done on interracial dating and racial preferences confirms what i said. But you won’t even take a second to google and i won’t paste and edit links for you because you arent worth my time so whatevarr
        Still, you are quite clearly black.
        “ugly no names”-> how is this racist? People want to watch hollywood celebrities, not average grey nobodies.
        “undesired skin”-> funny. I thought you are a social justice warrior but you arent. You dont even know your enemy, you have been simply brainwashed to be anti white and feel inferior.
        The whole white privilege thing, hundreds of millions people in Asia (as well as Africa and South America) buying skin whitening products, entire bollywood being pasty skinned, Africans using mostly whit models to sell cosmetics and clothing, even inside racism within black community in the US (dark skinned and light skinned- gooogle it?)
        and me calling dark skin not desired is racism? So you are not calling this light-skin common bias a problem, making you a racist, not me.
        Remember, if there’s 10 people in the room and 6 of them thinks you are ugly- you are ugly in this room.
        ANYHOW, you still cant prove that im a racist.
        Meanwhile that line about Fox news and republicans tells me clearly that you are, in fact anti white, and BLACK!.
        I’m gonna stay in school. Perhaps you should have done the same. See ya daddy
jared

where’s the link to the petition?
Midas68

There are American films remade in japan with asians playing the role of the whites(I understand this and don’t consider that racist)
Hell the Great Bruce Lee often cast white guys are the bad guys and he actually fought against his countries extreme racism against the west(They sent a champion to kick his butt because he was training whites and blacks martial arts here in america and they hated that)

Now I like Akira and I’d rather see a whole asian cast to pay a real homage to the original.
What people continue to fail to understand is that Hollywood execs do not give a damn about anything but money. They are putting up millions and they want to maximize profits.

Is it shallow or short sighted(probably) but one thing we know. These people will sell there own mothers for a buck, If they thought the movie would make more money with a all black cast then this is exactly what they would do.

And Takai, He is funny but he is one of the biggest flaming whiners of our time.

Asians are a very successful minority in America(More so then whites)
But their scarcity in numbers do not make for great box office sales. And the buck, is always the Bottom line with Hollywood..
Tim

rarely do i watch an anime and say to myself “wow these characters all look Asian/Japanese”. thats the big thing right there, the characters look more “Caucasian” the Asian. also many anime’s have been adapted to live-action in Japan, but us in the USA rarely learn of this or even see the movie. i will admit that Hollywood does do a shitty job at anime adaptations. Dragon Ball, to name one, is a movie that should have never been made if it took 15 years just to get to production and then it turns out to be loosely related to the actual story!
Justin Rod

White people playing Tetsuo and Kaneda? Nah, I won’t see it. Just like I won’t see Ghost in the Shell starring the whitest woman in America, after Brooke Shields, Scarlett Johansen.
- ุึีีัั่้้ืืิิ่่ิ้้ีีัีึึึุุุุุ
  
  Moron.
Ambrielle Sephira

You may want to check your facts, as this is not a new controversy. George first stated his displeasure with this alleged casting nearly four years ago, in early 2011. Your article makes it sound like he jumped on the bandwagon after the Exodus fallout, when in truth his outrage happened long before it.
Porst

My question is more related to why they’re considering actors in their 30s and even 40s for Tetsuo and Kaneda. They’re supposed to be rebellious young punks who get caught up in a secret military experiment plot. Anyone Joaquin Phoenix’s age playing Kaneda would be ridiculous.
Stefanie Daniella

north americans forget every time white-washing is given the blind eye, movies and tv shows produced here this way TODAY and … in the last 10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100 years get rerun time in every generation (like NOW), and white-washing content created TODAY will be TOMORROW’S rerun content in decades to come: that is, 10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100 years from now, looking at white-washing in the future back to us now will differ little from our looking back to white-washing of the past of those before us. imagine how much of this white-washing is intentional in the present will look indistinguishable from the past … and the future. this ENTRENCHED white-washing pattern is grossly MISREPRESENTING AMERICA (then AND now) and cannot be unrecognized and brushed away as “okay” (for fiction or not).
Neroke2013

This is just dumb Akira is based in Japan and while you could make an adaption based on the original story (AKA Star Wars based off the Mighty Fortress) Taking the original story and doing this is just dumb.

Then again to the people getting offended about this I have to openly wonder whether you’re equally annoyed at the choice of Idris Elba as Roland Deschaine in the Dark Tower series a character that Stephen King has clearly written as caucasian not black

http://www.hypable.com/idris-elba-stephen-king-the-dark-tower/
dj_iyf

TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOO

Flickering Myth

Movies, TV, Comic Books and Video Games

George Takei petitions against all-white casting choices for Akira adaptation