MovieChat Forums > Lost in Translation (2003) Discussion > Why is this movie considered racist?

Why is this movie considered racist?

posted 2 years ago by greenvelvet (171)
2 replies | jump to latest

Whenever this movie is brought up these days, it's quickly dismissed as being horribly racist. I also asked a Japanese friend and they agreed though we never went into details why.

As someone who moved to Japan without much knowledge of Japanese culture or language, most of these scenes in the movie ran true for me. Is it racist to acknowledge this? Or is it how this movie presents it?

I will say that the "black toe" joke is obviously racist but that is only one joke and was improvised by Murray, yet it is Sofia Coppola who I see receiving the most flack for the movie. Movies also don't tend to be branded entirely racist from only one joke.

To be clear, I'm not trying to deny that this movie is racist as I'm not Japanese (and so don't get to decide these things), but that I'm having trouble understanding it.

[–] jcnyclv (1624) 2 years ago

It's been a long time since I saw this but I never thought it was "racist". I remember enjoying this movie very much, albeit feeling sort of sad at the end. The relationship between these two lonely people - two very different lonely people, in a foreign land - was done beautifully, I thought. Things are different in Japan. Things are different in each and every country. I didn't see where the country or the Japanese people were looked down upon, just differences mentioned.

I don't understand how anything "racist" is in the mix and am very curious to hear other people's opinions on the subject.

[–] PinbackWiggly (428) a year ago

It's not racist. It is a movie made from a realistic American perspective where part of the movie is about trying to navigate in a country where many people do not speak English. I would take no issue in a movie where a Japanese man came to America and had a confused look on his face while dealing with a mysterious language (English) and stereotypically American culture.

And you don't have to be Japanese to decide if something is racist towards people with Japanese heritage. You can still have an opinion about right and wrong and make some best guesses about what is not appropriate. I doubt all Japanese people 100% agree with each other what is racist towards them anyhow.