It caused quite a stir when it was announced that Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: Civil War) had been cast in the lead role of the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell [the first picture from the film was released yesterday], which once again brought out the ugly side of Hollywood’s ‘whitewashing’ of Asian roles, similar to how the proposed Akira adaptation is set to do.
One person who is very unhappy about this is Johansson’s fellow MCU star Ming-Na Wen, who tweeted that she is a fan of the actor but is very against the whitewashing of Ghost in the Shell.
Nothing against Scarlett Johansson. In fact, I'm a big fan. But everything against this Whitewashing of Asian role.???? https://t.co/VS6r6iish9
— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) April 14, 2016
It calls to mind George Takei’s petition for Akira to cast more American-Asian actors, who he says are always overlooked for roles.
What do you make of Wen’s comments? Let us know in the comments below.
Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, “GHOST IN THE SHELL” follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.
Ghost in the Shell is being directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman), with Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: Civil War) leading a cast that includes Beat Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale), Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Michael Pitt (Hannibal), Pilou Asbaek (Lucy), Kaori Momoi (Memoirs of a Geisha), Chin Han (Independence Day: Resurgence), Danusia Samal (Tyrant), Lasarus Ratuere (Terra Nova), Yutaka Izumihara (Unbroken) and Tuwanda Manyimo (The Rover). The film is set for release on March 31st 2017.
themacway says
Whitewashing, blackwashing, etc. If the the original character is written as a particular race or color – stick with it. Quit being either so ‘pc’ or hollywood’s ‘protected elites.’ The original (story) author’s intent for the character IS the story, so leave it alone.
Ash Simp says
I completely disagree, whoever is making the film has creative control, they can change whatever they want about the source material and they will if they think it will improve their film. If the author of the source material has any problems with this they shouldn’t sell the rights to the movie. And the fans of the original shouldn’t get upset either, it doesn’t change anything about the original, it’s just a different version they might enjoy or they might not enjoy.
Mia Wallace says
They’re going to look stupid and lose money in the process. This has happened before and frankly having Scarlett play a Japanese character, with the Japanese name unchanged is stupid. There are plenty of Asian actresses out there. No excuse as to why an Asian actress couldn’t play an Asian character.
Ash Simp says
I didn’t know that they announced she had the same Japanese name, I’ve only ever read the character being referred to as The Major. And they don’t need excuses for not hiring an Asian actress, they wanted Johansson, presumably for her box office appeal, to justify how much they will have paid for the rights to make the movie.
Gary@FlickeringMyth says
The press release only said The Major.
I don’t think this is a case of whitewashing personally. If it ends up being set in Japan, and Scarlett Johansson is playing a Japanese character, then yes. But I really doubt that’s going to happen.
Japan remade Unforgiven. They did not hire a white American actor, because they did not set it in the Old West with a white American character.
Mia Wallace says
She is the Major to the people under her command but they also call her by her given name at times.
But it will flop anyway. It’s a very good manga and frankly, white washing movies aren’t making much money. This will end up crashing. And Scarlett was dumb to even sign on. Probably bitter there’s no Black Widow movie..
SkulloManiac says
To be honest I don’t really give a f***, the movie’s going to blow anyway.
Solbandus says
I hear ya, But this shit show around the movie is freaking great.
tony pearson says
Unfortunately, these things are done in the name of what as seen as marketability. The essential nature of a leads ethnic identity to the story is irrelevant to what will get the movie sold ( Keanu Reeves in the 47 Ronin?) A Nina Simone with ‘traditional’ African features would be a hard sell so we’ll get a ‘prettier’ Hispanic ( Zoe Saldana). We can always add blackface and a fake nose later.
Ultravixen says
I never considered the original anime as Asian characters. As a matter of fact except for the names, most anime does not look really Asian.
Said that, casting Scarlett for the role it is idiotic. But of course not more idiotic than take one of the best anime ever and try yo use actors and a ton of CGI to emulate a classic.