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Live-Action Ghost in the Shell movie - your thoughts?

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Resident Realist
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So I just went and saw the new Ghost in the Shell movie. I looked for threads about the movie and found this one from all the way back in 2008, when Dreamworks first bought the rights, full of cautious optimism: Live action GITS film | Japan Forum

There was a lot of controversy over the casting of the film in the US, and as a result, I believe it'll flop (it seems to be headed that way). It's an interesting example of whitewashing and its reactions. When a Japanese vlogger went around asking people in (I'm guessing tokyo?) about it, they responded positively to the casting. This is being used by some outlets as an example of how SJWs in the states are getting all worked up over issues that don't matter to the people they claim to be defending. More on that below.



My thoughts (spoiler alert):

Please read this interview, these ladies sum it up pretty well: 'Ghost in the Shell': 4 Japanese Actresses Dissect the Movie and Its Whitewashing Twist | Hollywood Reporter

I totally agree with them: the reveal (and much of the movie) lacked any emotional development or investment. I feel like in changing the backstory of the character, the film makers had the opportunity to take a new twist on the story and really delve into the psyche and what it means to be an individual (and actually face the race issue head-on). In the end, it came off like a cheap attempt to explain casting Scarlet Johansson as a character that was originally Japanese. They had the individuality-suppressing drug trope (Equilibrium did it better) and the human experimentation angle (which they glossed over quite a bit). This could have been done in a way that might have satisfied a lot of those critical of the casting, but I don't think it made its case very well. Just because people in Japan might be complacent in their cultural appropriation doesn't excuse the whitewashing: it just shows how pervasive these attitudes are, a testament to the power of Hollywood and cultural hegemony.

The movie was beautifully shot and had such high production value (costume design was pretty on-point, with some exceptions), and in many ways lovingly recreated the aesthetic of the anime, but the heart of it felt bare. Also, I felt like the script was weak; Takeshi Kitano was already phoning his Aramaki in (which was thankfully but inexplicably the only character that spoke Japanese in the film), but his lines were pretty flat. When he was rambling an expository monologue at the Major, and used the loan word ゴースト, my eyes rolled all the way back. The only scene he seemed to enjoy was his little action scene where he got to play out his surplus gangster "Outrage."

Overall, I'd say it's marginally rewatchable, but I heard they were assembling the original anime cast to voice the dub. That sounds interesting, I wonder if it would change how I feel about it, since most of my misgivings are due to casting choices. I just wish they'd trusted the project to a Japanese director who was familiar with the original material and the culture from which the material came, rather than the target audience.

What did you think of the film? Do you think the film makers made mistakes in casting and direction?
 
I can't say much about the movie since I haven't seen it yet, but I'll point out that the term ゴースト is in fact used in the original Japanese animated movie. The Wikipedia article has a whole explanation around it.

ゴースト
あらゆる生命・物理・複雑系現象に内在する霊的な属性、現象、構造の総称であり、包括的な概念である。作中においては主に人間が本来的に持つ自我や意識、霊性を指して用いている。

And slightly off-topic, but looking at the upcoming Death Note movie, I'm wondering what the opposite of white-washing is called:
hqdefault.jpg
 
I thought Carmen Jones was a striking adaptation of Bizet's opera. I wish people still treated alternate artistic visions as celebrations instead of theft. Culture is not like a cake, it's not gone when someone uses it. There is nothing stopping more adaptations, more visions, more celebrations and homages to the original artists.

Perhaps if the Japanese aren't offended, it's a bit presumptuous for anyone to be offended on their behalf.
 
I don't know enough about the movie to comment on this particular casting. But in general whitewashing is never much of a concern for Asians in Asian countries because they are in the majority and no Japanese actor is going to struggle to get parts because of their race in Japan. Whereas it is a bigger deal for Asian actors in America and other countries where they face discrimination and feel they are underrepresented as main characters.

So to me it doesn't make sense to dismiss the concerns of Asian people in America and other majority white countries on the basis of opinions given by Japanese people in Japan. They are in very different situations which IMO it does no good to conflate.
 
I don't know enough about the movie to comment on this particular casting. But in general whitewashing is never much of a concern for Asians in Asian countries because they are in the majority and no Japanese actor is going to struggle to get parts because of their race in Japan. Whereas it is a bigger deal for Asian actors in America and other countries where they face discrimination and feel they are underrepresented as main characters.

So to me it doesn't make sense to dismiss the concerns of Asian people in America and other majority white countries on the basis of opinions given by Japanese people in Japan. They are in very different situations which IMO it does no good to conflate.
I frankly know nothing about the movie or cartoon it appears to based on, but from my little understanding it's from Japanese culture, correct?

In which case why would a non-Japanese asian person's opinion carry any more weight than a non-Japanese black, white or other person's opinion? Though I don't necessarily buy 'cultural appropriation' as a valid concept, even if I did if the people from whose culture this is derived are happy with the results what business is it of people with the same racial makeup who are not from the same culture?

My family comes from Germany and Russia (what there is left of it after the attempts in those countries to prune my family tree to a stump) but i certainly wouldn't presume to speak or act on behalf of a culture with which I merely have a genetic connection. I definitely wouldn't have the gall to have any expectations that I deserve any benefit from something a German person created.

It seems strange to me that anybody would think someone is defined by their race to such an extent that it overrides their cultural experience, or that someone's race would determine their culture and viewpoints.

It seems so simplistic and reductionist.

I'm a Jew who grew up in the back woods of Michigan with a civil rights attorney father who never made a dime, and a healthcare working mother who spent over half her time volunteering instead of bringing in a paycheck. If you ask me about my formative experiences they're things like sitting next to the big tree behind our house watching the baby rabbits play who were born in the burrow under it, or putting together my first bike from parts from the junkyard, or being chased by the peacock and peahen my father was given in lieu of payment by a drug dealer client (I absolutely hate peacocks now). The idea that I would identify within the culture of a New York Hassidic Jew is ridiculous. It would be ludicrous for me to complain that I'm not getting a cut of the diamond trade money.

I guess I don't understand why anyone would feel that they are the rightful beneficiary of someone else's work purely because of their race. It smacks of the same mindset that created slavery.
 
Have to support madphysicist here. The use of Japanese in Japan's opinion to counter what Asians in America are saying is deceitful. They are simply people living completely different lives.

Very few Asians can become successful 'name' actors without coming out of the Japanese or Chinese studio system first. There are very few leading roles for Asians in Western movies in the first place and every time they remove one (whitewashing), it hurts them. It's for business reasons officially, because studios say Asians can't carry a movie in America, much less internationally, but that is just a red herring. Movies starring white people flop all the time, and it's never blamed on the race of the actors. It's just the laziness and conservatism on the part of studio execs that they continue as they have been.

Constance Wu goes into a lot of depth on the topic, including GitS, in this interview.
Constance Wu Doesn't Want to Be Your "It" Girl -- Vulture

I think the casting of Matt Damon in the Great Wall was more ridiculous though. Or when Tom Cruise was the Last Samurai. White people! What can't they do?!
 
Have to support madphysicist here. The use of Japanese in Japan's opinion to counter what Asians in America are saying is deceitful. They are simply people living completely different lives.

Very few Asians can become successful 'name' actors without coming out of the Japanese or Chinese studio system first. There are very few leading roles for Asians in Western movies in the first place and every time they remove one (whitewashing), it hurts them. It's for business reasons officially, because studios say Asians can't carry a movie in America, much less internationally, but that is just a red herring. Movies starring white people flop all the time, and it's never blamed on the race of the actors. It's just the laziness and conservatism on the part of studio execs that they continue as they have been.

Constance Wu goes into a lot of depth on the topic, including GitS, in this interview.
Constance Wu Doesn't Want to Be Your "It" Girl -- Vulture

I think the casting of Matt Damon in the Great Wall was more ridiculous though. Or when Tom Cruise was the Last Samurai. White people! What can't they do?!
I certainly agree that blaming a movie's success or failure on the race of the acting talent is ridiculous.

Can you link me to articles within the last 5 years where a respected, mainstream critic, producer or studio executive has blamed the race of an actor for the failure of a movie without being roundly disabused of the appropriateness of such a statement?

On to the meat of the matter. While I disagree with the premise, let's say for argument's sake that it's appropriate to expect writers to write how someone else wants so that person can ensure that they get a role in a movie. Let's also say that it's appropriate to attempt to shame them in the media in an effort to coerce them to write in a way that favors one group over another in the future.

The exact same reasoning that says that changing the race of a character hurts Asian American actors also states that using an Asian American actor to play a Japanese role would hurt Japanese actors who might want to work in American films.

In which case wouldn't it be just as bad to steal the role from a Japanese person and give it to an Asian American?

If not, why not?

Aren't there less Japanese actors getting roles in American movies than Asian Americans?

Therefore, aren't they even less well represented?

Is there a cutoff point, or a cutoff race/ethnicity wherein everyone less well represented gets no extra benefit and it is appropriate to give roles to anyone of X race or those with lower representation without consideration of representation?

What race or ethnicity is this?

Should this role have been made African American since they are not as well represented as white people?

Should future roles be Azerbaijani-American since they are even less well represented than East Asians?

Is there a specific percentage of roles that writers should be forced to allocate to specific races?

If so, what are the percentages and breakdown?

My personal view is that there is nothing stopping anyone from writing anything. Granted, I watch *very* little media (I'm trying to cut down on internet too), but when Robert Rodriguez wanted to make movies he made the movies he wanted to make and because the movies he made were very enjoyable he was able to make more. I know I'm dating myself, but El Mariachi was a great film and I can't imagine it wasn't a financial success (I don't really know, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Years ago I read what he wrote about making movies and I got all hot under the collar about how I would write and direct a movie. I did it. I wrote it, directed it, edited it (awful experience, I was using a community access television station's equipment and it was all tape-based linear editing). It was utter garbage. It didn't go anywhere, not because of my race, but because of the ridiculously bad movie I made.

I'm no Robert Rodriguez. If I were, I'd be successful in media regardless of my race, ethnicity, or religion.
 
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I'm no Robert Rodriguez. If I were, I'd be successful in media regardless of my race, ethnicity, or religion.
Nice! It's Asian Americans fault movie studios don't give jobs to Asian Americans. Scarlet Johnson earned her position 100%. Lazy, untalented Asian Americans!
 
Nice! It's Asian Americans fault movie studios don't give jobs to Asian Americans. Scarlet Johnson earned her position 100%. Lazy, untalented Asian Americans!
Got it, you have no answers to my questions and instead want to attack a straw man.

So as long as you believe that people of different races deserve more access purely due to their race, I have a few questions.

You were recently published.

Did you refuse the publishing and request that the space granted to you based on the work you did to earn it be given to an artist with less access than you?

If not, why not?

Are you of a group which is granted less access than any other group?

Is your concern about talented people of races or groups with less access only applicable as long as it allows you to chastise others and not put your money where your mouth is?

If so, why?

I get the impression from your flippant response that you don't see the importance of the questions I'm asking, so let's stop the internet superficiality and have a real conversation about beliefs and actions.

Do you know why it's called virtue signaling?

Because it's done by those who wouldn't think of acting in a consistent manner with the virtues they profess to possess and excoriate others for lacking. They get all of the social currency and positive feelings of acting virtuously without suffering any of the hardship it causes when one does actually act out the virtues one professes to hold.

It's equivalent to Hollywood actors and actresses who go on TV and tell people how they should use less energy whilst at the same time flying in private aircraft and powering multiple mansions. Superficial and utterly see-through to anyone who considers it for a moment.

I respect those who live out the virtues they believe in.

I understand those who don't do so but at least have the modicum of decency not to accuse others.

I have nothing but contempt for those people who profess a belief, signal their virtue about it, attempt to excoriate, mock and shame others for not acting out that virtue, and yet scorn opportunities to actually live in a consistent manner with the virtue they claim to hold.

Not because I care what they do for themselves, but because when they virtue signal they actively hurt those they profess to want to help. Especially with things like identity politics.

If they virtue signal and they are accurately representing the problem and the solution they propose is valid, they are knowingly stealing opportunities from a person who is genuinely oppressed and they are masking it in such a way that the oppressed party can never acquire the opportunity because it is seized by a person with the societal appearance of being an ally to the oppressed.

If they virtue signal and they are not accurately representing the problem or the solution they propose is invalid, they are placing the 'oppressed' person in a trap where they are told that the fault of their failure is something they can in no way influence and they are forced to remain 'oppressed' with no leverage to escape. Worse yet, they are in fact oppressing these people who were not priorly oppressed and would not be currently except due to the virtue signals that put them into a self-oppressed state purely for the social currency the virtue signaler receives through virtue signaling.

In either case, I believe virtue signaling is actually evil.

It is cruel.

It is equivalent to using slave labor to mine diamonds. These people deserve better treatment than this. They deserve honesty in thought and deed. They deserve introspection and self-examination by those who choose to use them for their own purposes.

I believe those who do it, once they know what it really does to other human beings, are basically bad human beings. Hopefully, most people do it with barely a superficial thought about what the consequences are to others, and only because they've been indoctrinated.

So my questions to you are quite simple:

Did you refuse the opportunities offered to you and demand that they be granted to those with less access, or are you virtue signaling?

If you did not refuse every opportunity in order to live up to the virtue you profess to hold, did you understand the effects of your choice on the people you profess to want to help as you signaled your virtue without any intention to live up to it?
 
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I think the casting of Matt Damon in the Great Wall was more ridiculous though.
Why was that ridiculous?
Or when Tom Cruise was the Last Samurai.
You're missing an "in" in that sentence, and I'm curious what's ridiculous here too.

Representation.
So despite your sentiments expressed here and the lack of successful Asian-American actors, replacing an Asian character with another race (as long as they're not white) is a good thing? Seems like you're contradicting yourself there.
 
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I know I'm dating myself, but El Mariachi was a great film and I can't imagine it wasn't a financial success (I don't really know, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
El Mariachi made $2 million on a $7,000 budget. I'd call that a success.
 
Why was that ridiculous?

You're missing an "in" in that sentence, and I'm curious what's ridiculous here too.


So despite your sentiments expressed here and the lack of successful Asian-American actors, replacing an Asian character with another race (as long as they're not white) is a good thing? Seems like you're contradicting yourself there.
I'm not going to school you on stuff, since you're either aware of a discussion that's been going on for decades, or you aren't interested in it. Asian Americans think it's an issue, and since I'm not Asian American, I'll take their word on it.

This is a good starting point if you're honestly interested though:
White savior narrative in film - Wikipedia

I have no clue what the cast of Death Note is, it really depends how it's done on the whole. As for blacks and whites being completely different, again, either you've been following along on this long long discussion, or you aren't interested. Here is a post by a person of color (not the article writer, but the post within it) who wants to communicate it to you if you're curious:
Casting minorities as white characters is not a double standard. Here's why.

Basically, you and Wonko are just justifying the status quo, which isn't evil or anything, but I'm guessing you're both white-ish men who are part of the status quo, as am I. When people getting shafted by the status quo complain, I feel an obligation to listen.
 
Basically, you and Wonko are just justifying the status quo, which isn't evil or anything, but I'm guessing you're both white-ish men who are part of the status quo, as am I. When people getting shafted by the status quo complain, I feel an obligation to listen.

But no obligation to be the solution you castigate others for not being.

Not even an obligation to justify why you get to be the voice of virtue with the hands of a thief.

I'll note that I just did a bit of research and of the 20 highest grossing films of 2016 two of them, or 10%, had Asian leads (listed first in the credits). I did not look at all the roles, only the highest billed acting talent. The latest census has Asian Americans at 4.8% of the US population. So it appears that Asian Americans are over-represented in leading acting talent of top-grossing films.

The Numbers - Top-Grossing Movies of 2016

But don't let little things like facts and statistics derail your moral (voiced but unlived) superiority.

nahadef said:
I'm not going to school you on stuff, since you're either aware of a discussion that's been going on for decades, or you aren't interested in it. Asian Americans think it's an issue, and since I'm not Asian American, I'll take their word on it.

As a Jew, I think you should give me everything you own unless your family personally took Jews in during both the Holocaust and the Pogroms. Unless you're a Jew I guess you have to agree and take my word on it.



I read that article you linked about recasting white roles as black not being a double standard. It was not only one of the worst analogies I've ever seen, missing out on significant important aspects and relying entirely on an appeal to emotion, but also purely a justification of "It's ok to steal from someone because they already have a lot and I really want the stuff they have."

But since you felt it was accurate and fair, let's, for argument's sake, treat it that way for the purposes of this discussion. In which case...

I'm curious when you were recently published did you change the race of all of your characters in order to move all the raisins to the article author's horribly bad analogy of a little black girl's raisin bowl to make sure it was filled to the brim?

If not, why not?

Certainly, you don't feel it's appropriate to steal from little black girls, do you?
 
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I'm not going to school you on stuff, since you're either aware of a discussion that's been going on for decades, or you aren't interested in it. Asian Americans think it's an issue, and since I'm not Asian American, I'll take their word on it.
Ok, so your contribution here is less than useless because you're just labeling movies as ridiculous while refusing to elaborate on your comment. You're saying, "somebody told me it was bad so I believe them," and we're supposed to take this second-hand information on faith as you apparently are.

This is a good starting point if you're honestly interested though:
White savior narrative in film - Wikipedia
Have you actually seen either of those movies? Neither Tom Cruise nor Matt Damon played a "savior".

I have no clue what the cast of Death Note is, it really depends how it's done on the whole.
Ok, so you're running your mouth without even knowing what's being discussed. Hint: the vital part of lanthas' rhetorical question was the image in his or her post. You don't need any prior knowledge about the cast of Death Note. lanthas provided all of the necessary information right there.

Ok, so are you saying it's ok to take raisins out of the Asian-American bowl and put them in the black bowl, even though the Asian-American bowl has much fewer raisins? Or do you just have no idea what you're talking about?
 
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Okay, so the white dudes are sure there's no problem, nothing to even consider. Not a shocking thing, to be honest.

This isn't going anywhere, I'm moving on. Enjoy yourselves!
 
Turning "ANY", yes ANY anime tv series and movies into Live action is very complex for any American, UK or Asian companies. You should always put in mind the story is going to be all F%C*$K up, that what they do best.

You can make cartoons into live action, you can make superhero's into love actions, but anime nope, take a closer look at the characters.. If no anime fan has not figure it out after years of watching anime.. every Live action anime will let them down.

This how I feel
 
Okay, so the white dudes are sure there's no problem, nothing to even consider. Not a shocking thing, to be honest.

This isn't going anywhere, I'm moving on. Enjoy yourselves!
Judging people's viewpoints based on the color of their skin instead of the content of their arguments?

Do you really find it appropriate to use race as a determining factor in a person's value as a contributor to a discussion?

Again, the veil of virtue signaling parts for a moment and the true face is revealed.
 
Judging people's viewpoints based on the color of their skin instead of the content of their arguments?
If you came at this topic as, 'There is a problem, but we disagree a lot on the degree,' I would be happy to discuss it. That's not the case.

Instead, you rallied hard on the idea that there is no problem. When a minority group, in large numbers, claim there is a problem, I think there is enormous arrogance on the side of members of the group in power to 100% dismiss it.
Example:
def: Birds fly.
Wonko: KIWIS! PENGUINS!
def: but it is a thing that is.
Wonko: OSTRICHES! EMUS!
def: fine, I won't argue birds fly anymore. I'm moving on.

Personally, I think you calling my hobby into question in this and the previous thread about portrayals of women pretty poor. I don't usually post my fiction comics here, since they have no connection to Japan, and are not relevant to the forum, so you're just speaking out your a$$ as the saying goes, but even if I didn't write what I do in my comics, you come across as harassing a poor environmentalist for owning a car. Calling out a problem does not mean you are the absolute answer to a problem. The problems on this planet are immense, and most people are relegated to support, and not action. I do the action I can when I can, and still focus on supporting my family on a day to day basis. But people on the Internet will continue to harp on their 'opponents' with the limited ammunition they have. As you have. I suggest going back to that Constance Wu interview I posted in the first place, and harassing her on Twitter if you feel a need to rail on her that her own experience is statistically false.

I'm replying to this, and just ignoring the other white dude, since however far back it was I got along with you. The other guy showed his stupidity when he established that he couldn't understand literary metaphor at a 9th grade level. His hostility alone was reason to ignore him.

I know some people treat arguing on the Internet as a hobby, but I don't. Blocked you both. And my 2017 will be all the better for it.

I'd rather discuss and understand than win... Just too old for this stuff
 
If you came at this topic as, 'There is a problem, but we disagree a lot on the degree,' I would be happy to discuss it. That's not the case.

So you're happy to discuss it as long as I agree with you.

Got it.

You seriously can't see how this is ridiculous?

Instead, you rallied hard on the idea that there is no problem. When a minority group, in large numbers, claim there is a problem, I think there is enormous arrogance on the side of members of the group in power to 100% dismiss it.
Example:
def: Birds fly.
Wonko: KIWIS! PENGUINS!
def: but it is a thing that is.
Wonko: OSTRICHES! EMUS!
def: fine, I won't argue birds fly anymore. I'm moving on.

Let's put it another way.

Jews are a minority. The majority of them believe the Old Testament is a true accounting of historical fact to at least a large extent. They might be swayed on the degree. Would it be reasonable for them to only be willing to debate the issues surrounding the factuality of the history contained in the Old Testament if you first had to agree that the Old Testament was a true accounting of historical facts because they are a minority and they feel this is true?

Why is this not just as reasonable as your contention that in order for us to discuss this issue I need to agree with the premise you propose in the first place?

Again:

I did a bit of research and of the 20 highest grossing films of 2016 two of them, or 10%, had Asian leads (listed first in the credits). I did not look at all the roles, only the highest billed acting talent. The latest census has Asian Americans at 4.8% of the US population. So it appears that Asian Americans are over-represented in leading acting talent of top-grossing films.

Sounds like you're on the side of the dodo birds on this one...

Did they fly?

Were they birds?

A minority group, in large numbers, claim the coming Moshiach is a problem. By your logic, you now have to agree with them or else it is enormous arrogance on your part to dismiss it. Purely because they are a minority group.

Now ignore all of the fossil records and listen and believe the history of the Old Testament because their status as a minority group means you have to treat them like children to be pandered to instead of adults to be expected to show their work.

Were the Gastornis birds?

Could they fly?

Did they even exist since their existence defies the claims of a large number of a minority group?

Personally, I think you calling my hobby into question in this and the previous thread about portrayals of women pretty poor. I don't usually post my fiction comics here, since they have no connection to Japan, and are not relevant to the forum, so you're just speaking out your a$$ as the saying goes, but even if I didn't write what I do in my comics, you come across as harassing a poor environmentalist for owning a car.

No, I come across as expecting you.

Not some guy.

But you.

To live up to the words you say.

I do my damnedest to do so, and sometimes I fail and sometimes I succeed. I'd be aghast at myself if I completely disregarded my values but castigated my peers for their failure to live the virtues I eschewed in practice but espoused in public speech. I don't see how one could not be living in a world of self-disgust if they did this.

You're not a poor environmentalist, you're a published content creator. The vast majority of your posts on this forum are either your content or you advertising your content. The bottom of every one of your posts has a signature line where you link to places people can buy your content.

I, in fact, just went to some of those links... Can you guess what I found in terms of equal representation?

Interesting that the tennis shoe thief in your Kobot comic was a young, black male...

Calling out a problem does not mean you are the absolute answer to a problem. The problems on this planet are immense, and most people are relegated to support, and not action. I do the action I can when I can, and still focus on supporting my family on a day to day basis. But people on the Internet will continue to harp on their 'opponents' with the limited ammunition they have. As you have.

If you believe this problem truly exists, and the solution is as you have advocated, in the face of statistics I've posted, then you specifically are the problem.

Or are you claiming somehow that you "can't" make your characters all black, Asian, and female?

Why can't you?

You imply that somehow it would stop you from supporting your family, but you also claim your comics are a 'hobby.'

You are a content creator refusing to mold your roles into the races you believe are underrepresented although you have specifically said this is exactly why the problem persists and posted articles advocating changing role's races to make sure that one race is denied roles in favor of granting those roles to members of another race.

You are the media you despise.

Pogo21.jpg


I suggest going back to that Constance Wu interview I posted in the first place, and harassing her on Twitter if you feel a need to rail on her that her own experience is statistically false.

Why would I harass her? I don't know her. And further, why would you characterize my disagreement based on statistics and facts harassment? This seems like an easy way to dismiss an argument without addressing it.

You, on the other hand, are a member of the same community as I am and when I see my fellow community members speaking or acting in a bigoted way I'm inclined to speak out because I don't want my communitiy to be a bigoted place. When the random people of the world do so, I ignore it in the hopes that their community members will speak to them personally.

I believe that pandering to the soft racism of low expectations is absolutely bigoted behavior. If instead of expecting arguments to have a factual basis behind them and rather assigning weight to them solely because of the race of the person making the argument then that's exactly what you're engaging in.

Also, I don't twit. Or twitter. Or do twittering. Whatever. I don't do it.

I'm replying to this, and just ignoring the other white dude, since however far back it was I got along with you. The other guy showed his stupidity when he established that he couldn't understand literary metaphor at a 9th grade level. His hostility alone was reason to ignore him.

You mean when you posted an article about changing black roles to white being OK as some sort of justification of the post @lanthas made about how another movie was having an Asian role changed to black?

Perhaps you need to turn that magnifying glass upon yourself.

I think it was a relevant question when @JimmySeal asked:

Ok, so are you saying it's ok to take raisins out of the Asian-American bowl and put them in the black bowl, even though the Asian-American bowl has much fewer raisins? Or do you just have no idea what you're talking about?

If you think getting along means not calling someone out on their bullshit, you have a lot of learning to do. I am a far better person for every instance when one of my friends or other loved ones told me I was full of **** and explained exactly how. I hope to continue to become a better person throughout my life and I fully expect people I respect to use strong reasoning and arguments to help me do so. I cultivate those friendships and prune the ones in which I am not challenged because one of my core beliefs is that I should leave this world a better person than I entered.

In the threads in which we've had discussions, I have consistently asked you questions that, if you had good answers for them, would have done exactly this to me. I ask questions because it gives people opportunities to rip open my arguments so I can learn and become a better human being. When people don't answer I can only assume that they have no good answer.

I know some people treat arguing on the Internet as a hobby, but I don't. Blocked you both. And my 2017 will be all the better for it.

Then why did you say this?

I'd rather discuss and understand than win... Just too old for this stuff

Let me fix that for you:

I'd rather not discuss or understand.

I remain open to having a discussion. I invite you to answer the questions I've asked. Show me how my statistics are wrong, give stronger reasoning than I've given, and help me grow and learn and adopt your ideas if they are correct.

I wish you felt the same way. I respect what I've learned from you, and I honestly feel your comics have interesting, and sometimes quite poignant, ideas. They've made me think in the past and I intend to continue to read them so they can make me think in the future.

When I said I hope your words become aligned with your art, I meant it. I think you should continue making your self-reflecting art and I don't think there's a damned thing wrong with the fact that it adds to artwork created by white people with primarily white characters. It is your lived experience, and it is valid.

I don't think the races or genders of the roles should be changed unless you believe that the honesty of the art requires it. Art is something higher. I can't create visual arts and I have enormous respect for those who can. It gives us insight into the hearts of the people who create and there is something incredibly valuable about that. To advocate for superficializing that by shaming an artist into choosing races or genders based on consumer pressure instead of what comes from their heart is, frankly, ******.

In the early 2000s, I watched a great show called The Boondocks. It was interesting and funny and made me think. The creator wrote what was true to him, regardless of whether it was true in fact. You could tell because it came across as honest. There were no quotas for specific races or genders, the creator made what he honestly wanted to. I've watched other great shows, some with Asian writers and actors, some with white writers and actors, some with black writers and actors, etc. In no case did the race of the content creator increase or decrease my interest in the show. Because I, like the vast majority of people, want to connect with human beings. I don't want to connect with someone's race, I want to connect with their ideas. Ideas are universal. They can be judged immediately with no knowledge of demographics. That's the beauty of ideation.

You could virtually smell the artistic integrity in the shows I loved. Your work also feels the same. It feels true to you. It wouldn't if you were shamed into specifying racial representation levels or gender representation levels. It would feel contrived. When you chose the black kid to be the tennis shoe thief in Kobot you didn't have a master plan of making black people thieves in your comics, you just wrote a comic that felt true to you and this kid happened to be black.

Your bigotry in this thread also feels contrived. I don't believe it is you because it doesn't align with the person whose comics I read. The person who writes from an individual point of view, not a racial or gender-based one.

I sincerely hope you'll spend some real time on introspection because your art doesn't align with your words here, and I believe your honesty shines through in your art.

I'm terribly sorry that someone lied to you and told you that people of different races, ethnicities, and genders should be treated differently. I hope this indoctrination into bigotry and racism can be overcome in people of your generation through time and introspection. As someone probably quite a bit older, I can assure you that using race, gender, ethnicity or religion to determine the worth of an individual's opinion or life is a bad idea.

It was a bad idea when white people were granted higher worth, it was a bad idea when Muslims were granted higher worth, it was a bad idea when certain tribes of Native Americans were given higher worth over others by those tribes, it was a bad idea when non-Jews were given a higher worth over Jews.

It is a bad idea now when you're doing it.
 
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The other guy showed his stupidity when he established that he couldn't understand literary metaphor at a 9th grade level.

Sorry, what metaphor did I fail to understand? The one that was a nonsequitur in the context of the question I asked because you didn't bother to understand what I was asking about?
 
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