"Memoirs of a Geisha" is stirring controversy among Asians and lovers of Japan. According to some sites, it is reigniting the tension between China and Japan as the movie is set "during Japan's 1937-38 occupation of Nanjing, [where] Japanese troops killed at least 150,000 Chinese civilians and raped tens of thousands of women." (Gold sea article) It appears that some Chinese are calling Ziyi Zhang a sell-out for romanizing the very country that hurt China. And as if that weren't enough all of the leading roles are played by Chinese actors instead of Japanese. A very interesting discovery, at least according to Gen Kenai weblog,* the original book "Memoirs of a Geisha" was inspired by Mineko Iwasaki a geisha herself who "agreed to an interview by the author [Arthur Golden] because she thought she could help dispel 'the Fujiyama-geisha image of a woman who sells herself to her customers.' She was shocked when Golden's novel turned out to be a narrative that contradicted her very intentions." Is this movie "perpetuating the stereotype of the overly exotic Asian woman,"? And is this oddly blue-eyed Sayuri (hmmmm Anglo beauty standard?) the result of "a white male?s perspective."?
*http://www.kanai.net/weblog/archive/2004/09/21/12h34m49s

I am eager to hear others' views!

The only thing I gotta say is, I'm not even Japanese, but the preview of the movie made me cringe

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