STAR TREK Star George Takei Accuses Warner Bros. of Whitewashing AKIRA

YEAH![frick] warner bros for green lantern and for the upcoming akira

I understand the thing about buying the rights and then changing stuff for no good reason but I just don't get this..

"what they do is offend Asians, number 1; number 2, they offend the fans. The same thing happened with M. Night Shyamalan. He cast his project [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it’s an Asian story, and the film flopped."

How is buying the rights to an Asian story and remaking it OFFENSIVE to Asians? I believe WB have bought the rights to an Irish Movie called The Snapper. If they remake that is it "offensive" to Irish people? Is the American Shameless tv show offensive to Brits? No is the answer.

Is he Asian or gay?

^^^ Thanks!

I agree. They buy the rights and ruin the flicks but count on the name to get customers. I have talked with people about how the movies are done over seas. He said they do it cheaper and faster. Why not a colaberation of the two. Let them do the flick but add effects and some help from the US. I can name several movies made that make ours look bad. Take the new Iron Man and X-Men animes. Won't say no one should go see it but I will not.

I think Tom Cruise is Asian ; give him the work.

@RorMachine I think what he meant. Y that was that taking a piece that is set in an Asian environment and is huge in those circle and completely changing that whole setting is what offends the Asians .. And the fans of the material. I have no idea what Akira so I can't know for sure... But if it's set with Asian characters and is getting "whitewashed" then I sympathize with what he's sayIng.. It's like taking naruto and making everyone white. But at the end of the day it's all about quality so WB might have not found enough good Asian actors with a good command of English language to be able to sell it to the American populace they are targeting.. Who knows? This is by no way a suggestion that there are not good enough Asian actors .. Just saying everyone could have their reasons.. But I do sympathize with his concerns.. Just my two cents :p

Thank you Mr. Takei!
I completely agree with him. Changing a character's race is like changing their gender; it is completely unnecessary, pointless, and often ruins the character.

When it comes to adapting stories, either stay faithful or reinvent the story (Seven Samurai, Magnificent Seven, Bug's Life).

As an asian, i could not disagree more with george takei on this issue. First of all i am asian and im not offended by the idea of non-asian actors being cast in "asian" roles, so theres that. Unlike takei, i dont believe that the roles "belong" to us asians, or anyone for that matter. In fact the only person the characters in Akira belong to is the writer of the manga. George Takei doesnt own them, i dont own them, kim jong-il doesnt own them, the global asian community doesnt own them. Frankly george takei has no right telling white actors they arent allowed to play them, and even less of a right telling me what offends me. What should matter above all else is that the original story is presented in the form of a strong, well written script, and performed by talented actors, regardless of where they come from. That, above all else, would honor the original story and do asians proud. Im not sure where takei gets this idea that only asians are allowed to write and star in a feature like Akira, as long as the final product is good, what does it matter if the actors arent asian? Can only white people play Shakespearean roles? Is that what we should be teaching kids in high school drama productions? Does Takei even realize the socially regressive sensibilities and message that he is promoting here? As an openly gay man, i'd think that he of all people would be able to better appreciate the civil implications of what he's saying.

The bottom line is that this is a movie they are making. For gods sake its supposed to be fun. Movies like Akira are supposed to be entertaining. Thats it. That is the only reason movies like Akira exist. The means to that end is less important to me as a film fan, and even less important to me as an asian.

Please. The roles dont "belong" to anyone. Get a clue and realize what the hell youre talking about, guy.

@soaponarope, ah..was it..yes it..was! Sense!

look white* hate typing fast and it comes out wrong.

I agree with George completely. Hollywood is just scared to spend any money on a movie without white leads. They don't think anyone will watch it. And more to his point, WTF is the purpose with buying the rights to a beloved property both here and abroad only to change nearly everything that made it interesting and popular to begin with?
So this movie is no longer about a post war neo-tokyo being ravaged by rival biker gangs and a fascist government straining to keep control and experimenting on the misplaced youth to weaponize them, not to mention all the undertones and various subtlety that I won't go into. Now, its about a New-Manhattan bar owner after WW3 and his brother, then they insert some of the basic plot about the government kidnapping his brother (who is no relation in the original) and turning him into a weapon.
So why? Just make your own shit. How about the Japanese make a Batman movie, except he'll be Asian never put on a Bat suit, and he'll be an accountant who never fights crime. Except his parents do get killed and he still has a cave under his house. That'd be cool right?

Hahaha.. You got a point ^^^

The real bloody question here is WHY are the Japanese selling their properties in the first damn place?? Ugh...

Ok, here is my 2 cents. As an Asian-American it does kind of irk me that Hollywood casts non-Asians for Asian roles. Mainly because of the hypocrisy. Let me use Dragon Ball as an example. In the movie, Goku is played by a white guy. Goku is clearly Asian in the anime (minus when he turns super-saiyan and turns into a White guy with blond hair and green-blue eyes). I've asked some people why this was acceptable and the response I got was because he was an alien. Who knows what kind of race an alien is, anyone can play that! Ok. I suppose that is right. But you know who else was an alien? Super-man. White people would lose their minds if an Asian or Black man played Clark Kent. I'm all for finding the "best actor for the part". Just as long as it swings both ways, I'm cool with it.

george is my man and he could not be more right about this. I don't know Akira from a hole in the wall other than that it is an asian animation with asian characters. STAY FAITHFUL TO THE MATERIAL!!!!

So changing Nick Fury from an old cigar-chomping white guy to a smooth, bald black dude is okay, changing Heimdal from Nordic to Negro...well, it happened (I haven't decided if I thought it was cool or not. Thought Heimdal and Sif were siblings. That can happen in Midgard, but Asgard?) Jeez, people were upset that John Cho played Sulu because he's Korean, not Japanese.

Well, now this.

I think George is right. If you want to tell the story of Akira, then tell it like it is--with Asian people. (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hmong, whatever)