Stop Defending Ghost in the Shell
Why Scarlett Johansson’s casting is just one of many problematic instances of misrepresentation of East Asian culture in film.
The erasure of Asian actors in favour of their white counterparts has been prominent issue for decades. Mickey Rooney in yellowface as Mr. Yunioshi, Holly Golightly’s Japanese neighbour in Breakfast at Tiffany’s perpetuates racist stereotypes, while the Celtic modification of the originally Himalayan Ancient One character played by Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange is blatant whitewashing. The lack of Asian representation in film has lead to a number of issues regarding normalization of anti-Asian racism and stereotypes that affect Asian people living in North America every day.
Though Scarlett Johansson’s non-Japanese portrayal of a Japanese character, set in a distinctly Japanese setting, and originally drawn and sourced from Japanese media is undeniably problematic, there are still many people who defend this casting for various reasons. This article is meant to disprove the arguments used to justify this whitewashing of the character.
The Creator Approves of the Casting Choice
The director of the original Ghost in the Shell anime, Mamoru Oshii, has made a statement regarding Scarlett Johansson’s casting, saying that, “Her physical form is an entirely assumed one. The name Motoko Kusanagi and her current body are not her original name and body, so there is no basis for saying that an Asian actor must portray her.” The casting has also been less controversial in Japan, with people receiving it as a flattering novelty of the original anime. However, it is important to note that these people are primarily exposed to media with East Asian and particularly Japanese actors. They do not experience the uniquely Western concept of lack of East Asian representation in film the same way that Asian-American and Canadian people do, so they are unable to recognize why this matter is so much more important to us than to them.
Motoko Kusanagi was not her Original Name
This is a true statement: the character’s original name was never revealed, so there is no way to determine her ethnicity based on the entymology of her name. Motoko Kusanagi, however, is a distinctly Japanese name, and it is strange and, frankly tone-deaf, to name someone a name of a different ethnicity or culture, in any situation. Just as you wouldn’t name a Japanese child Hakizimana, a Rwandan name meaning “God is our saviour,” you wouldn’t- out of both respect and common sense- name a consciousness in a mechanical form of a white woman Motoko Kusanagi.
She Doesn’t Look Japanese
In the source material, the Ghost in the Shell heroine does not look distinctively Japanese: her hair colour is a dark purple or black, and her eyes change colours ranging from orange to blue, which is obviously unrealistic of any real person, let alone a real Japanese person. However, very few Japanese animes pay much attention to racial specifics, because they are cartoons that are not meant to imitate life. There are some characters that have blonde hair and blue eyes, but this does not necessarily denote whiteness or European descent, because racial features are simply genetic differentiation that may occur within any racial group.
The Loss of Identity Theme
One of the most common arguments used to defend the casting of a white woman in this role is that her racial difference plays into the character’s feelings of isolation. The theory states that her race is an intentional casting choice that is meant to further isolate her from her environment of majority East Asian people. However, this theory is easily disputed through the fact that her fellow Section 9 colleagues are also non-East Asian people, from Pilou Asbaek’s Batou to Michael Carmen Pitt’s Kuze. Additionally, her character is not meant to be isolated or to stand out; she is a stealth agent of an anti-terrorist organization, and it would make more sense story-wise to have her blend in as an East Asian mechanical body in an East Asian country.
Scarlett Johansson is a Bankable Actress
In 2017, FiveThirtyEight released an analysis of Scarlett Johansson’s films based on their audience reception and amount of money that the film made. Although Ghost in the Shell does not appear on the graph, it is evident that the claim that, “Scarlett Johansson was cast to make the film money,” can be disproved. Her top-grossing films are all from the Avengers and MCU franchise, movies with ensemble casts in which she has never been a lead. In films where she is the lead, there have been positive reviews but rarely made more than $100 million at the domestic box office. In Ghost in the Shell, Johansson plays the lead character in a non-established franchise, and drawing from past data, the film would be likely to garner positive reviews but less likely to make money, so the claim that she would guarantee box office success is untrue.
Final Thoughts
As an Asian-Canadian woman, I was disappointed with her casting, but also with the overall lack of representation in film. First, the justification of such tone-deaf casting must be stopped, and the casting directors and actors who were involved must be held accountable for their part in the erasure of minority roles in film. Second, the industry as a whole needs to become more inclusive in the stories told with Asian characters: no more Dragon Lady or Martial Arts Master tropes. Asian people have been a part of North American culture for a long time and it is important to recognize us as such by giving us roles that are substantial and more importantly, stereotype-free. Finally, I believe that Hollywood needs to do better in making content for, by, and with Asian creators, and by changing the practices of whitewashing that are so often used today.
