Aw, Gaiman, why you gotta play like that?
Neil Gaiman is scripting the James Cameron-assisted movie version of Journey to the West.

I feel really kinda queasy about this. There are no few Asian writers for whom this story came with their milk teeth, like Cinderella does to an English-speaker, and Gaiman has been...bad...about stuff relating to other cultures before. I really doubt that having been for a visit to China is enough to justify his treatment of the script.

(And let's not talk about James Cameron. Ick.)

Mercredigirl over at Dreamwidth has more to say.

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rosehiptea
2011-03-28 07:50 am UTC (link)

Even the fact that they're filming in China isn't about recognizing China as culturally authoritative here -- it's about saving money!

Yeah, that really stuck out to me too.

And I'm tired of the idea that there has to be Western/American/white people version of everything. There really doesn't.

Note: I know Neil Gaiman isn't American, but Hollywood does this on a regular basis, so.

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	full_metal_ox 2011-03-30 01:46 am UTC (link)
	And I'm tired of the idea that there has to be Western/American/white people version of everything. There really doesn't. And--strange to relate--there are actually Western American white people who are perfectly capable of enjoying a story without some pasted-on white Viewer Proxy there to hold their hand. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	rosehiptea 2011-03-30 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	Oh that film. I didn't see it, mostly because I don't like Tom Cruise, but also because I kept saying to myself "Hold on, how is the Last Samurai a white guy?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	full_metal_ox 2011-03-30 10:03 pm UTC (link)
	As far as I'm concerned, the role Cruise played in The Last Samurai was Guy Blocking My View Of Sanada Hiroyuki. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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