06. That American Death Note Movie...

So that American adaptation of Death Note was released for streaming on Netflix this past Friday. I remember the internet getting all worked up (and rightfully so) about whitewashing a movie that could've easily had Asian actors, at least in some important role if not Light himself. The movie is...bad. I had to stop 10 minutes in. Whether or not I'll be willing to torture myself to finish it in the future is likely to be a no. However, I found PLENTY wrong just in the little amount I actually did watch.

Where to begin? At the beginning, I guess. Now I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that dude who's playing Light? Nowhere near attractive enough. Not only that, but he seems like an outsider, nerd loser who is not only a loser, but a cheater as well who accepts money for doing other students' homework. Light would NEVER do this. A cold, heartless sociopathic killer he may be, but I can assure you Light NEVER cheated or helped anyone else cheat in school. It also appears that Light is in high school now? Oh, and Misa is a cheerleader because America, I guess? Sorry, her name is Mia, not Misa. The movie starts out with the old, played out stereotype of everyone worshipping the football players/jocks and cheerleaders. What American school is still like this? Nobody gives a shit about people who are good at throwing a ball back and forth, and they give even less of shit about girls who jump around in skirts. Yeah, and Light eyes Mia because she's pretty, I guess. Lol, we all know the real Light only cared about women who were advantageous to him.

Light is just chilling outside, helping other people cheat when the Death Note falls from the sky. Now, that's accurate, HOWEVER, the notebook fell right beside him. Unlike how in the anime, Light is looking out the window during class and sees the notebook fall into an empty courtyard outside. I think the important difference here is how in the American adaptation, there was really no way Light could've missed the Note falling directly beside him. In the anime, however, had Light have been looking anywhere but out the window at the exact moment the Note fell, he wouldn't have noticed it, which makes it seem more like a chance encounter, which it was. It's not like Ryuk specifically chose Light to find the Note. Oh, and instead of opening the Note right away, he tucks it in his bag and then promptly gets in a fight with the school bully because he pushed the girl he was making eyes at earlier. The fight is short-lived as white Light falls in a one-hit K.O. When he wakes up, he's in the principal's office because they found out about his little cheating "business". Light then tries to scold the principal for not worrying about the bully who punched him instead. Really? Another "bullying is bad" movie?

White Light then is in detention for cheating and decides to finally look at the notebook he picked up earlier. Can we also dwell on how old and dishevled the notebook looks compared to in the anime? I believe I remember reading or hearing Ryuk say that the Death Note has been around for like ever and tends to take the form of whatever's appropriate for the current time period. Anyways, that's when Ryuk appears. Light screams (and screams and screams) like a little girl while knocking down shelves and effectively wrecking an entire classroom. Some people found this humorous. I found it over the top and poorly acted.

That's where I stopped. I couldn't take it anymore. I realize this post is gonna make me seem like a total weeb, but just...

I feel like when you keep the name of not only the show, but also the characters (with the exception of last names from what I can tell), you obligate yourself to keep them somewhat true to the original. Light was so effective as an anti-hero because he seemed like the perfect son and student. He was at the top of his class (I think he even ranked #1 or damn close to it in the nation, not just his class), well-liked by girls though he had no real interest in them, he wasn't bulled, and his home life was good (his mother was NOT dead, she stayed at home and while his father worked a lot, he was caring and around as much as he could be), there was really no precursor to indicate Light would develop a crazed God complex. He kind of kept to himself, but that kind of figures for someone who was pretty much a genius like Light. This white Light, though? He looks like the type. He looks suspicious as hell. Like the type of kid who would bring a gun to school. He looks like the type of kid who would have a regular notebook, write Death Note on the front cover, write in some names, get caught, and then be broadcast on the local news for having what could be considered a hit list.

I didn't even get to see much of Ryuk, but from what I've heard, he takes a much more active role in Light's affairs, even edging him on to go ahead and write in the Death Note. This is a major flaw. In the anime, Light had already used the Death Note. Ryuk even mentions how most humans are too afraid to even try to use it. Hell, after Light gets over his initial shock of Ryuk appearing and being as big/creepy as he is, Light tells him that he was expecting him and figured he was there to claim his soul or something. I won't retell the whole first episode, but basically, Light has had the Death Note for a few days and is already planning to use it to become the god of a new world. Ryuk is impressed and excited.

Also, another thing Ryuk and Light had in common? They were both bored. Bored with the way things were. I've heard people say Ryuk and Mia (wtf?) were the ones who were manipulating Light and pushing him to keep going in this adaptation???? Light is supposed to be the king manipulator. He starts out with what could I guess be considered a somewhat moral ambition, but it quickly turns from being kill criminals to make a perfect world for the good people to killing anyone who gets in my way or might get in my way in the future. This is where Light begins his slow but guaranteed downfall.

I know people are still upset about this movie having essentially an all white cast, with the exception of L (which even I found weird, and was most likely just a token so nobody could call the movie 'racist'). But you know what? Let the white people have this garbage, because it was a very white people movie. I think we can all agree that if Light was Asian, black, Latino, just about anything but white, this movie probably would've been at least a little less stupid. Even the first 10 minutes were full of stereotypical white male high school teenager problems that make white male high school teenagers look bad.

I also don't like how Ryuk is being portrayed as evil? I realize this may be a cultural difference and I also realize that I've been very into Japanese culture for nearly a decade now so I may not see how "typical" Americans view things like this, BUT Ryuk is a shinigami, literally a God of Death. It seems like he's being portrayed as more of a demon who's been sent to haunt and torture Light. I don't even consider Ryuk a demon, he's more like the Grim Reaper in a way. We don't consider the Grim Reaper a demon, do we? I mean, he's no angel, but in essence, we all will be greeted by Death at some point no matter how good or bad of a person we may be. I say this to show that Ryuk wasn't good nor was he bad. He was about as neutral as they come. He also made it clear multiple times that he was DEFINITELY not on Light's side, or any other human's for that matter. He also said he would be the one to write Light's name down in the end. Ryuk was just bored. He decided to drop his Death Note into the human world and see what would happen.

Light was by no means innocent and he needed no pressure from Ryuk to carry out his plans. I think the anime showed how us humans are responsible for our own actions. Light was simply given the means to accomplish (try to anyway) his goal. And then there's also the bigger theme of does any person have the right to play judge, jury, and executioner in any person's life.

Yeah, this American adaptation pissed me off. I think it would've been passable if maybe this were a scenario where someone else came across the Death Note. Like Ryuk had gotten bored again, dropped the notebook, and we saw how someone else handled the power of life and death. But then again, even with the way the first 10 minutes jumped around and was rushed, I honestly don't think this movie can stand alone even if you had note clue what Death Note was. And the Death Note anime wasn't perfect, it dragged is some places and got a little convoluted at times, but it all came together in the end. Hell, I still watch that last episode on occasion just because it was such a satisfying and believable ending. Furthermore, the Japanese live action movies weren't even my cup of tea, either. Had this movie of been good despite straying so far from the basic concepts of the series, it could've been forgivable. But it wasn't, so it's not.