TAKEN FROM THE LOVE LIFE OF AN ASIAN GUY (facebook) because everyone needs to know
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Forest
Aries_Girl84 — 10 years ago(December 16, 2015 11:14 AM)
TAKEN FROM THE LOVE LIFE OF AN ASIAN GUY (facebook) because everyone needs to know
This Is So Much Worse Than Whitewashing
Why I'm Boycotting Hollywood's Newest Movie "The Forest"
As an Asian-American, I am no stranger to seeing my people whitewashed on the silver screen. It happened in "The Conqueror" when John Wayne played Genghis Khan and it's scheduled to repeat in 2017 when Scarlett Johannson stars as as Major Motoko Kusanagi in "Ghost in the Shell."
But NONE of these films compares to the whitewashing in Hollywood's newest movie "The Forest." This is by far the most sickening, low-class piece of beep I have EVER seen. Before I talk about why this is possibly the worst whitewashed Asian movie in history, you NEED to understand the context of this story and what "Forest" this movie is referring to.
Here's the scoop.
West of Tokyo, Japan at the base of Mt. Fuji is a stretch of forest called Aokigahara. Aokigahara is known for its lush and green foliage that remains fertile all year long. Walk along the trails and you'll see petite trees that ebb and flow with the wind and a ground painted with a thick layer of furry moss. But underneath this excessive life, woven between the leaves and bushes, is the exact opposite of life: death.
For 30 years, residents of Japan have come to the Aokigahara forest to commit suicide. Most hang themselves, others overdose on medication, and a select few hide deep in the woods and force themselves into dehydration and starvation. Rotting corpses hang from the branches and skeletons with the clothes intact are scattered all around.
In Japan, suicide is a national crisis. While America ranks 50th in yearly suicide rates, Japan is at a chilling 17th place with an estimated 70 suicides per day. Some are pressured into suicide by the stress of Japan's overwhelming work culture while others do it because of unemployment. One major factor that isn't as highly recognized due to Japanese social stigma is depression and mental health.
Japan's rigorous culture of conformity heavily stigmatizes those with mental health issues. Many Japanese have grown content with suicide and see it as a "reasonable" solution. In reality, suicide is an epidemic and is the second leading cause of death in the country.
Why "The Forest" Is Worse Than Regular Whitewashed Hollywood Films
"The Forest," a HORROR movie which stars a BLONDE WHITE GIRL, takes place in Aokigahara. So not only did they whitewash a movie and sidestep the opportunity to cast an Asian actress, they COMPLETELY DISRESPECTED the fact that Suicide Forest IS A REAL beep PLACE where the Japanese go to end their life. And it's not like these suicides happened 400 years ago. This is happening RIGHT. NOW. Over one hundred bodies are found in Aokigahara every single year.
To put this into perspective, imagine if a white-skinned Italian film director made a movie about police brutality and anti-Black violence in America, filmed the movie in America, but cast non-Black Italian actors.
The ABSOLUTE WORST thing about this film is the erasure of mental health issues among Asians worldwide. The model minority myth doesn't just assume that Asians are universally intelligent or rich, it also assumes that we're able-bodied and don't suffer from mental illness.
NO ONE talks about mental health among Asians. NO ONE talks about disabled Asians. Why? Because everyone believes that we're rich and smart enough to access healthcare.
Newflash: WE AREN'T
"The Forest" had an opportunity to address an issue that is LITERALLY killing Japanese citizens by the thousands. An issue that would have hit home with many Asian-Americans who also suffer from mental illness and depression. But instead of reaching out and confronting a problem that exists and is on-going, Hollywood turned it into a horror movie and whitewashed its cast, thus dehumanizing not only Asians around the globe affected by mental health, but those who have already committed suicide.
Words cannot describe my level of disgust. Hollywood can dehumanize me all it wants. It can cast me as the Asian side-kick in every movie, emasculate me with characters who never get the girl, and erase my history by whitewashing Bruce Lee or Sesue Hayakawa. But why this? Why erase mental health among Asians? Why stab an already invisible community that is suffering in silence?
beep this movie.
beep whoever this beep actress is for taking on the role.
And beep beep beep Hollywood for beep ON those affected by mental health. -
rupert-ian — 9 years ago(April 06, 2016 07:52 PM)
It's 2016 and the cool thing to do now is cry racism, bigotry, profiling, xenophobia, transphobia, etc etc etc any time someone feels like the world doesn't bow to them and tell them how special they are.
Everyone is a victim. Nothing is ever anyone's fault. Every time a person does wrong it is because they were oppressed, discriminated against, and just not made to feel special enough.
It's disgusting, and the left-wing politicians love it and clinch to it in order to get more and more votes.
The only answer (according to these leftist SJW types) can be reverse discrimination, like that will fix anything.
Until people learn a simple concept called accountability, the world will just continue to fall into this "woe is me" left-wing hell hole, while the real evil people take advantage of it and continue their slaughter.
Just make sure you don't offend anyone, apparently nothing else matters. -
Jayne_Doe_Cobb — 9 years ago(April 08, 2016 05:45 PM)
It's 2016 and the cool thing to do now is cry racism, bigotry, profiling, xenophobia, transphobia, etc etc etc any time someone feels like the world doesn't bow to them and tell them how special they are.
Everyone is a victim. Nothing is ever anyone's fault. Every time a person does wrong it is because they were oppressed, discriminated against, and just not made to feel special enough.
It's disgusting, and the left-wing politicians love it and clinch to it in order to get more and more votes.
The only answer (according to these leftist SJW types) can be reverse discrimination, like that will fix anything.
Until people learn a simple concept called accountability, the world will just continue to fall into this "woe is me" left-wing hell hole, while the real evil people take advantage of it and continue their slaughter.
Just make sure you don't offend anyone, apparently nothing else matters.
Refreshing to read such plain truth. Imo you should have added 'misogyny' to the list first btw., as it's what's being cried about the most nowadays. Anyway, I applaud you for this post. -
amigajoe — 9 years ago(May 06, 2016 12:03 PM)
Sounds like YOU are the one that's whining here; especially since your reply has absolutely nothing to do the original post. You seem to just be looking for an opportunity to bleat about a subject you're entirely ignorant of. I don't even agree with OP (The Forest is just a backdrop for a cheap horror movie, not a documentary about mental illness in Japan) but pointless 'reply' is just stupid.
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Holder_Matador — 9 years ago(November 09, 2016 09:03 PM)
I agree, I dont get how this is the same as the example he gave.
A more appropriate example would be that an Italian film director made a movie about an Italian visiting New York and cast an Italian actor. OMG that is so racist.
While I agree that there aren't enough good roles for minorities and women in movies I massively disagree with the concept of "whitewashing". It's called an adaptation, they're not trying to say other cultures dont exist, quite the opposite, they want these things (such as Ghost in the Shell) to be available to a wider audience. Hollywood versions of Ringu and Ju-on made the originals waaaay more popular in the western world.
"If God was a villain, he'd be me" -
queentulawanda1 — 9 years ago(April 24, 2016 11:48 PM)
Perhaps no one cares about mental illness issues, but they should. And Aries-Girl84 isn't a sorry-for-themselves person. Can't you understand she's desperate for this problem to get publicity so that Japan can come out of the stone age about mental illness? For heaven's sake, they locked their Empress up in the palace because she was depressed, never allowing her to be seen!
The forest in this film just illustrates that the Japanese don't want to confront a national crisis. They'd rather ignore it and let the mentally ill solve the problem themselves by walking into a forest to die. Out of sight. This is how wild animals deal with death!!!
I must say here that I don't think the makers of this film didn't even have a clue about their action, and that's a pity. I'm not Asian, but those of you who haven't lived in Asia wouldn't understand this issue. In China, the mentally ill are put away. If you're a baby girl with ANY illness such as autism, Downs Syndrome or other handicaps like deafness or blindness- you're murdered, either by a Dying Room (Google it), or just starved or drowned. These atrocities are usually committed by a relative. You must be born "perfect" in order to be considered useful. And that's something worth putting on the silver screen if anything is. -
queentulawanda1 — 9 years ago(April 24, 2016 11:56 PM)
Perhaps no one cares about mental illness issues, but they should. And Aries-Girl84 isn't a sorry-for-themselves person. Can't you understand she's desperate for this problem to get publicity so that Japan can come out of the stone age about mental illness? For heaven's sake, they locked their Empress up in the palace because she was depressed, never allowing her to be seen!
The forest in this film just illustrates that the Japanese don't want to confront a national crisis. They'd rather ignore it and let the mentally ill solve the problem themselves by walking into a forest to die. Out of sight. This is how wild animals deal with death!!!
I must say here that I don't think the makers of this film didn't even have a clue about their action, and that's a pity. I'm not Asian, but those of you who haven't lived in Asia wouldn't understand this issue. In China, the mentally ill are put away. If you're a baby girl with ANY illness such as autism, Downs Syndrome or other handicaps like deafness or blindness- you're murdered, either by a Dying Room (Google it), or just starved or drowned. These atrocities are usually committed by a relative. You must be born "perfect" in order to be considered useful. And that's something worth putting on the silver screen if anything is. -
inuimari — 10 years ago(December 17, 2015 04:43 PM)
As a Japanese guy (well this is my opinion only), I really don't care. Most Japanese people won't care either.
How is this any different to the Grudge? I'll admit that it's pretty weird that the protagonist will find so many people that speak fluent English-speaker in Japan. -
wartengu — 10 years ago(February 09, 2016 07:48 AM)
Most people in Japan these days speak English. The younger generation want to be like Americans and speak English. The good thing about having a suicide forest, dead bodies make good compost for the plants. Too early to crack a smile?