I don't see how this is whitewashing. There is nothing inherently Japanese about Kusanagi or the narrative of the movie. The same story could have been set in NYC, London, etc.
Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese film, set in Japan with Japanese characters and you don't think casting the Japanese protagonist as Scarlet Johansson is not whitewashing?
On top of that, Paramount contracted a VFX studio which claims Paramount asked them to do some CG tests to make Johansson look more Asian. Paramount claims it was other characters and not Johansson but either way that is about as clear cut a case of whitewashing as there is.
Now if they're redoing the movie such that it is set in NYC and organizations and characters are all changed to reflect being set in NYC, it would be a little bit different, but it would it still be yet another case of Hollywood taking a story and purposefully eliminating people of color from it.
Richard III is an English play, set in England with English characters. It's performed all over the world by local actors in the local language. I don't hear anyone crying foul or claiming that Shakespeare is being blackwashed.
The real outrage isn't that a non-Japanese actor is being cast to play a Japanese character, it's that their casting decision is based on what they think will result in the highest ticket sales.
It's set in a world of cyborgs and the main character doesn't look Asian, even has blue eyes. Scarlet looks just as much like the character in the anime as any Asian actor would.
Btw while the tv series is based in Japan, the film you mention never says its location. It was left ambiguous on purpose by the creators but most signs actually point to it taking place in somewhere like Hong Kong.
You're not saying that it's not whitewashing so much as you're saying racebending is OK. And of course it is. Because changing the race and cultural background of characters can subtly change the meaning and context of the piece.
Except for the separate issue of majority cultures erasing minority peoples. Now, Japan is not a minority culture, it is a nation-state. But why is it always (in American media) that Asian characters are made white and never white characters made Asian?
I hope and suspect that this is addressed in the movie, that Kusanagi has taken a white body for reasons.
Writer is disappointed at the lack of outrage in Japan:
"The reactions are depressing, but if you've been following up to now, fully predictable. "I think this is better than hiring a Japanese actress," says one woman enthusiastically. "Yeah, it will look more anime-ish if the actors aren't Japanese." Every interviewee seems genuinely flummoxed as to why American audiences would be opposed to the casting."
Personally, I am only concerned that Scarlet or the script won't be very compelling.
>(Of course, the average anime character does look unmistakably Japanese, but in the same way a rococo painting in a gilded frame looks unmistakably French.)
Uhh... No. I actually remember wondering why anime characters almost never look Japanese, and ended up decided that they wanted them to look different from themselves. Blue and pink hair, huge eyes, all those differences added up to "not us" in my mind. There are some anime characters who do look distinctly Asian to me, but they're pretty few and far between.
In addition, they often give them non-Japanese names as well, which further cemented my belief that they didn't want them to be Japanese. The ones with Japanese names often didn't look more Japanese, either.
But according to the article, Japanese people aren't upset at all with the casting of this film... Why should I be? Worse, what right have I got to be upset about that? It's specifically not affecting me or my culture, and I can only be outraged for them, to help them with their issues. It makes no sense for me to be outraged if they aren't.
Representation is mostly an american issue, most of the world doesn't have problems with it; when I was a kid, we played to be anime characters, us cartoon characters or local heroes depending on tv popularity.
I can understand that in the segregated America, having a hero of your etnicity is important, but none of us cared about the skin or ethnicity; it wasn't an issue in our local culture.
On the other hand, shaming another culture into having the same perspective as your own, it's the book definition of cultural imperialism.
EDIT: BTW, I do think Scarlett is a poor casting choice.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 26.6 ms ] threadOn top of that, Paramount contracted a VFX studio which claims Paramount asked them to do some CG tests to make Johansson look more Asian. Paramount claims it was other characters and not Johansson but either way that is about as clear cut a case of whitewashing as there is.
Now if they're redoing the movie such that it is set in NYC and organizations and characters are all changed to reflect being set in NYC, it would be a little bit different, but it would it still be yet another case of Hollywood taking a story and purposefully eliminating people of color from it.
People in Japan (or, as the epithet you call them, "people of color") are OK with it.
Most of the people watching are OK with it.
Maybe the whole thing is overblown by people looking for outrage?
The real outrage isn't that a non-Japanese actor is being cast to play a Japanese character, it's that their casting decision is based on what they think will result in the highest ticket sales.
Except for the separate issue of majority cultures erasing minority peoples. Now, Japan is not a minority culture, it is a nation-state. But why is it always (in American media) that Asian characters are made white and never white characters made Asian?
I hope and suspect that this is addressed in the movie, that Kusanagi has taken a white body for reasons.
"Ugh, so you're trying to justify race bending?"
"The reactions are depressing, but if you've been following up to now, fully predictable. "I think this is better than hiring a Japanese actress," says one woman enthusiastically. "Yeah, it will look more anime-ish if the actors aren't Japanese." Every interviewee seems genuinely flummoxed as to why American audiences would be opposed to the casting."
Personally, I am only concerned that Scarlet or the script won't be very compelling.
Uhh... No. I actually remember wondering why anime characters almost never look Japanese, and ended up decided that they wanted them to look different from themselves. Blue and pink hair, huge eyes, all those differences added up to "not us" in my mind. There are some anime characters who do look distinctly Asian to me, but they're pretty few and far between.
In addition, they often give them non-Japanese names as well, which further cemented my belief that they didn't want them to be Japanese. The ones with Japanese names often didn't look more Japanese, either.
But according to the article, Japanese people aren't upset at all with the casting of this film... Why should I be? Worse, what right have I got to be upset about that? It's specifically not affecting me or my culture, and I can only be outraged for them, to help them with their issues. It makes no sense for me to be outraged if they aren't.
Representation is mostly an american issue, most of the world doesn't have problems with it; when I was a kid, we played to be anime characters, us cartoon characters or local heroes depending on tv popularity. I can understand that in the segregated America, having a hero of your etnicity is important, but none of us cared about the skin or ethnicity; it wasn't an issue in our local culture.
On the other hand, shaming another culture into having the same perspective as your own, it's the book definition of cultural imperialism.
EDIT: BTW, I do think Scarlett is a poor casting choice.