I suppose what really bothers me is that it seems that in general, Westerners believe they can direct films about Asians, but that somehow Asian directors can't possible have the insight to direct films about Westerners. For example, pretty much nobody in America thought anything strange when Bernardo Bertolucci directed The Last Emperor; same with Western directors doing The Last Samurai, Shogun, Marco Polo, and now Memoirs of a Geisha. But when many people think of a director like Ang Lee directing non-Chinese-oriented movies in America, they usually say, "How can a Chinese direct that?" It's a very condescending attitude; on one hand, Asians are stereotyped as being over-educated and "smart"; on the other hand, we're too stupid to direct anything outside of a narrow spectrum of subjects within our own cultures.

As for "Geisha," I might see it just because besides King Kong there hasn't been anything in recent release I feel like seeing. Also because I do like Zhang Ziyi. I'm of Japanese descent but don't feel too strongly about the use of Chinese actresses to star in it. I have doubts the film would do too well in Asia. I don't agree with the filmmaker that they were necessarily the most qualified actresses to play the roles; I think they were chosen because of their fame and familiarity to Westerners, and because in the West, most people don't think there's any difference anyway.

Whew. Got that rant outta the way.