Death Note movie and white washing in general

[Floydical]

People are pretty angry about a white actor playing Light Yagami. This would be a problem if, and only if, the Anime character actually looked Japanese, BUT HE DOESN'T. Anyone who knows the series knows Light looks white and if you ask me, if they cast a Japanese actor to play Light it would end up doing the series less justice because the actor most likely wouldn't look like Light at all.

People have often pointed out that many characters in Japanese Manga and Anime don't even look Japanese. Does Naruto or Ichigo look like your average Japanese citizen? No, they have very distinct western or white features. Why is this? Perhaps they are trying to cash in on the enormous western market. Now I completely understand the modern movement against racism and sexism, but this is not a proper instance to boycott. Light Yagami looks white.... get over it will ya?

It could be argued that white washing in Hollywood is quite plentiful, but that does not mean Hollywood is racist in general. We all know about the black stunt actress who died earlier this year. She died doing a stunt that was outside of her ability level. She was cast for that role SPECICALLY BECAUSE OF HER RACE. What this means is there was a very small talent pool of black female stuntwomen, otherwise she would have never been hired to do that job. Now you can't generalize this fact to Hollywood overall, but clearly minority races in Hollywood are just that.... minorities.

Sure there is plenty of cases of discrimination and white washing in Hollywood but I want to make 2 things clear:

1. The Death Note movie is not a good movie to boycott for white washing. Just because its a Japenese Manga/Anime that does not mean you have to cast a Japanese lead actor to do the series justice... its just the opposite in this case.

2. Not all of Hollywood is racist. Its a simple fact that the majority of Hollywood actors are white. They pull from the actor pool they are given and, in a world where money is king, they cast based on ability level and level of fame in order to get the most money out of the movie they can.

If you were to ask me, police discrimination on our streets is a far greater and more relevant problem than any argument that could be used against discrimination in Hollywood. A person's focus would be much better spent on police brutality than Hollywood white washing.

 

[Goetia]

Whitewashing isn't the problem with the Death Note movie. Its just a shit movie.

 

[Mandume]

so characters with purple hair look white? Mangakas draw their character as Japanese by default and they are white when is a white country setting or foreign students (btw those who are foreign look either super pale or super tan depending the weather of their country) so whenever a character in a Hollywood reboot is casted as white it is whitewashing. His name is not even Light its Raito Yagami

Edit.: How many asian actors do you see on movies as lead or diverse on their roles besides being the asian guy that fits an asian stereotype? They always fit some asian trope but never as a normal character. Representation is important and it is as important as police brutality.

Whoever uses other important subjects to dismiss another is just being an hypocrite.

 

[Peculiar Chester]

Naruto isn't American or Japanese.

Ichigo's a mix.

Light is Japanese.

 

[Ōkami]

Well it wasn't whitewashing, it was a western adaption.

Whitewashing would be if everything was still set in Japan but Light was white.

Also, I didn't see anyone *****ing about L being black.

 

[Punk Hazard]

Well it wasn't whitewashing, it was a western adaption.

Whitewashing would be if everything was still set in Japan but Light was white.

It's still whitewashing since a Japanese character is made white; changing the setting along with the whitewashing is still whitewashing.

Also, I didn't see anyone *****ing about L being black.

Because L was (mostly) white in the manga. There is an overabundance of white roles/characters in Western media, so white people lose nothing a white character being made into an historically underrepresented and/or misrepresented race.

 

[Floydical]

so characters with purple hair look white? Mangakas draw their character as Japanese by default and they are white when is a white country setting or foreign students (btw those who are foreign look either super pale or super tan depending the weather of their country) so whenever a character in a Hollywood reboot is casted as white it is whitewashing. His name is not even Light its Raito Yagami

Edit.: How many asian actors do you see on movies as lead or diverse on their roles besides being the asian guy that fits an asian stereotype? They always fit some asian trope but never as a normal character. Representation is important and it is as important as police brutality.

Whoever uses other important subjects to dismiss another is just being an hypocrite.

You say Mangakas draw their characters as Japenese as default... yet you get characters like Light, Naruto, Ichigo and countless others that simply don't look Japanese. So its not as much a matter of where their world is set but rather how they Mangaka wants to represent his or her characters. In modern times, its really common for a Japanese manga character to have a very western look.

Equal representation is fine, but my point was minority actors are simply outnumbered in Hollywood. Perhaps you can argue black actors don't get the opportunities they should but it ends up being a numbers game and they are outnumbered.

So you think equal representation in Hollywood is as important as police murdering minorities on the street? I was making a point that there are much more important things people can concentrate on then Hollywood discrimination.

Naruto isn't American or Japanese.

Ichigo's a mix.

Light is Japanese.

Light may be Japanese but that doesn't change the fact he looks white. If he was cast as a Japanese actor it would do the series even less justice than it does now.

 

[Dreckerplayer]

Didn't read all of it, and I don't watch death note.

To be honest, a lot of these anime main characters LOOK WHITE, with tall statures, etc...they hardly ever look asian. Ichigo, naruto, kid from black clover...I mean, needless to say.

And really, it's the other way around. When these asians try to imitate WHITE characters, it looks ridiculous. I couldn't watch a live action movie of naruto, ichigo...etc if they look asian. Wouldn't take it seriously.But it DEPENDS. And a lot of japanese movies SFX...look too fake and unrealistic, and the characters look corny. In animation, they pretty much run things...as far as live action, I'm not sold, at all.

 

[Ōkami]

It's still whitewashing since a Japanese character is made white; changing the setting along with the whitewashing is still whitewashing.


Because L was (mostly) white in the manga. There is an overabundance of white roles/characters in Western media, so white people lose nothing a white character being made into an historically underrepresented and/or misrepresented race.

No, it's a western adaption, they adapted from Japan to America, they do it all the time with TV shows and movies. Look at Godzilla, The Office, The Magnificent Seven. Again whitewashing would just be making the main characters white and not changing anything else.

A prime example of whitewashing would be Exodus: Gods and Kings, set in ancient Egypt but everyone is pale as ****.

To your next part, that's irrelevant, because as stated it wasn't a whitewashed film.

People often confuse Adaptions with whitewashing if the original is from a non white country(Japan).

Don't get me wrong, the movie was still shit.

 

[Avani]

Light being white was not the problem. Him being turned in to typical Hollywood character stood out:

Light to his GF: " We are not good guys anymore"

Seriously?

Black L was doing ok till Watari died, and then he too lost his cool - L chasing Kira around with a gun??? Netflix could avoid the cliche of mad Black guy running around in the city with a gun....

Ryuk too became Goblin- actively pushing Light .... he could be used better if they worked on script a bit more. Or didn't use the same names as the manga. Then people would be able to see them as different people and bicker less.

 

[Punk Hazard]

No, it's a western adaption, they adapted from Japan to America, they do it all the time with TV shows and movies. Look at Godzilla, The Office, The Magnificent Seven. Again whitewashing would just be making the main characters white and not changing anything else.

A prime example of whitewashing would be Exodus: Gods and Kings, set in ancient Egypt but everyone is pale as ****.

To your next part, that's irrelevant, because as stated it wasn't a whitewashed film.

People often confuse Adaptions with whitewashing if the original is from a non white country(Japan).

Sounds like the adapting that you mention is just another form of whitewashing. At the end of day, characters that are originally non-white were portrayed as white. It might not be as bad as making L white and keeping him in Japan, but it's still taking a Japanese character and making him white. A fancy term for it won't change that.

The second point isn't irrelevant because you very blatantly alluded to no one complaining when a white character is made black, hence the response.

 

[Conspirator.]

I really don't have a problem with the actor for Light being white in the DN movie. I do however, have a problem with the fact that the movie sucked completely.

 

[Mandume]

You say they look white, they look white but Japanese don't do the same distinction that westerners do. For exemple, dark skin characters on manga aren't always the black person, sometimes they are that one group that go hard on their tan which is ganguro if I'm not mistaken. So don't push your white perception on manga media. Watch a video on Japanese identifying character's race many answer that they think the character is Japanese by default.

Police brutality is an issue based on racism, when Hollywood producers don't cast POC actors that's based on a racist misconception that POC actors aren't worth enough to invest their money on. Culture is important and POC representation on media is also important to correct the misconceptions that drive to police brutality. Not only asian but also black representation on media think about it.

 

[Ōkami]

Sounds like the adapting that you mention is just another form of whitewashing. At the end of day, characters that are originally non-white were portrayed as white. It might not be as bad as making L white and keeping him in Japan, but it's still taking a Japanese character and making him white. A fancy term for it won't change that.

The second point isn't irrelevant because you very blatantly alluded to no one complaining when a white character is made black, hence the response.

You're still confusing adaption with whitewashing. They took a Japanese show and turned it into an Americanized movie. That's all it is. It's like when South Korea took Entourage and adapted it, they adapted it to South Korea.

You're essentially screaming whitewashing for the sake of screaming whitewashing.

And again, it's irrelevant because L's actually ethnicity was never revealed and people just assumed he was Japanese.

 

[-Punk-]

I liked the movie so I had no problems with something different

 

[~WastelandSociety~]

I find it idiotic for people to complain over what color the actor skin is. That doesn’t make a show,movie,etc good.
The Death Note movie sucked.So having a Japanese actor play the role as Light wouldn’t save it in my opinion.

 

[GrapeApe]

Wait hold on, so you're saying people are racist? I can't believe I'm reading this. Good thing I have posts like this to teach me about the world. Thank you.

 

[ArabianLuffy]

You know? Some celebrities really fit as some anime / video game characters.

Tom Cruise (as Dante)
David Boreanaz (as Chris Redfield)
Zac Efron (as Light Yagami)

 

[Umari Senju]

I find it idiotic for people to complain over what color the actor skin is. That doesn’t make a show,movie,etc good.
The Death Note movie sucked.So having a Japanese actor play the role as Light wouldn’t save it in my opinion.

They had a Japanese live action movie of DN....it sucked too so you’re right.

OT: The Death Note movie wasn’t. A whitewash as Okami said it was an American adaptation. The difference is all in the location. White washing is when a Caucasian male is chosen to be the hero or savior of another people’s culture.

Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves is a what man saving the Native American way of life.
Avatar: the white man saves blue aliens way of living

Basically the white person solves the plight and hardships of another culture is whitewashing

DN movie took place in American soil and acted by American people. This it is an American adaptation.

If they s particular (American) Light were to be in Japan doing the same thing, that would be white washing.

All an all though the movie just plain sucked so there is that.

 

[Punk Hazard]

You're still confusing adaption with whitewashing. They took a Japanese show and turned it into an Americanized movie.

If in the event that you take the South Korean characters and make them white Americans, then you did indeed white-washed them. Creating a western adaptation and white-washing aren't mutually exclusive concepts. In what you're doing, BOTH are happening. An example of western adaptation without white-washing would be making the characters Americans of South Korean descent.

Just like I said earlier, just because you include a fancy term into it and it's more acceptable doesn't mean white-washing isn't still happening.

That's all it is. It's like when South Korea took Entourage and adapted it, they adapted it to South Korea.

This would just be the South Korean version of white-washing. The difference however is that South Korean media doesn't reach areas and isn't looked to for representation anywhere near the level of American media. There aren't any white populations yearning and struggling for representation in South Korean media because they've been subject to misrepresentation and underrepresentation.

And again, it's irrelevant because L's actually ethnicity was never revealed and people just assumed he was Japanese.

L's ethnicity was given to be 1/4 Japanese, and 3/4 various European descents, which is why I said he was mostly white.

I find it idiotic for people to complain over what color the actor skin is. That doesn’t make a show,movie,etc good.
The Death Note movie sucked.So having a Japanese actor play the role as Light wouldn’t save it in my opinion.

It's almost-ALMOST-like a movie can have multiple issues, both in the context of technical filmmaking AND in the context of social climate...and it's almo-ALMOST-like people can talk about one of these issues while acknowledging the others exist, and alm-ALMOST-like no one said the movie would have been good if the cast wasn't whitewashed.