Alternative Casting Faux Pa

Once upon a time there was a Japanese manga/anime series called Dragonball. I had a Japanese buddy in college who grew up with the stuff and loved, loved, loved it. Apparently he was representative of his generation of Japanese boys.

About a decade ago Dragonball was imported to the States. Often when I went to my local comics shop/nerdcave I noticed a guy or two buying Dragonball merchandise. These guys were usually black.

So now they've made a live-action Dragonball movie. They cast a white guy as Goku, the main character. Obviously an Asian guy would have made more sense, but if they had to go outside Asia they should have cast a black guy. C'mon.

Another thing: I'm an old Watchmen fan, but I look at those trailers and the phrase "Madam Tussaud's" springs to mind. Terry Gilliam considered making a Watchmen movie, but instead he made original films like Brazil and Twelve Monkeys that bore a Watchmen influence but were magnificent originals. That seems like a better approach to me.