“Lost In Translation” racism rewarded with the Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay”

(originally published April 2016 after a post about Scarlett Johansson and whitewashing)

…Speaking of Scarlett Johansson, last weekend, I watched Lost in Translation again for the first time in 12+ years. I went to Japan last month and wanted to compare it with my memory of Tokyo from that film (among a few others). I probably had it listed as one of my favorite movies when FB first came out, most likely because I thought it was beautifully shot, and thought Scarlett Johansson was hot, but after much growth since then, let me sum up the narrative and themes of the movie:

Two lonely, attention-starved assholes who suck at communication, don’t communicate with their spouses, meet, spend inappropriate nights together having vacuous conversation, and end up cheating with the BEAUTIFUL exotic backdrop of Japan, where they are all short, weird, speak Japanese, and don’t pronounce sounds (phonemes) not used in Japanese but used in English well (l+r distinctions)! 53 year old men can feel entitled to 19 year old women!

What amazing writing, Sofia Coppola. The Oscar for Best Original Screenplay? Fuck that.