Sometimes you hear news that almost makes you lose faith in humanity. This bit of news about the forthcoming Memoirs of a Geisha was sent to me yesterday and it almost made my head spin. This comes from the IMDB movie news wire:
“Although it features an almost entirely Asian cast, Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha has evoked anger and calls for a boycott among some of those who have seen advance screenings of the film in Japan and China, Reuters reported today (Monday). According to the wire service, some Japanese are outraged that the leading roles in the film are played by Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li and Chinese-Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh. On the other hand, some Chinese are upset that Chinese film stars would favorably portray Japanese, who are still remembered for their brutal occupation of China in World War II. Reuters quoted one blogger as saying of Zhang, who plays the title role: “She’s sold her soul and betrayed her country. Hacking her to death would not be good enough.”
Wow… is there really anything that needs to be said about this?