Hachiko the Dog: Please Help Us To Entangle Cultural Appropriation in American Films

So cultural appropriation in the context of movie remakes is murky. But ponder this. One thing differentiates Hachi from Shall We Dance, Infernal Affairs, Open Your Eyes or many other non-American films that have been Hollywoodized: usually, they are not about a cultural hero who has great significance to their countries of origin – a significance that may or may not be properly handled by Hollywood’s hammy paws.

The blog Tartar Sauce feels the same way as Elton Joe:

Hachiko is obviously an important symbol in Japan. And his story is being turned into an American movie that takes the story completely out of context. While there is Japanese writing on this poster, that’s because this is a poster for the Japanese release of it, not because the movie mentions Japan at all. It’s set in Rhode Island, and stars Richard Gere, Joan Allen, and Jason Alexander. All white actors. In Japan, the story of Hachiko is one about loyalty, and it’s a story that has great cultural significance. From the looks of this poster, the movie will be much more sappy, and from everything I’ve heard about it, all of the its cultural significance will be stripped away. This is a Japanese story. It’s being sold in America as an American one. And there aren’t even any Asian lead actors. This is based on a story about Asian people, and none are present. The only remotely Japanese character is the dog, who happens to be an Akita, and has a Japanese name. Everything else is changed, and Asian countries, Asian cultures, and Asian people are still being ignored.

So is Hachiko starring Richard Gere a racist remake?

Before you answer, consider this. In writing this post I did a little sneaking around messageboards, and from that very poor sample, I found multiple Japanese people who expressed excitement about the American remake. I didn’t find a single Japanese person who raised objection.

I do not speak Japanese and like I said, it’s a poor sample of what folks are really thinking. But notice the poster on this here post is from Japan. All the posters and promotion that I found for the American film are in Japanese; it seems like the big advertising push for this film is starting in Japan long before it starts here. The film clearly is anticipating a huge audience in Japan.

If many Japanese people have no problem with a Hachi remake, do we as Americans have reason to cry foul on their behalf?

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