Ghost in the Shell Casting Shows We Need More Than White Feminism

[Signa]

Jeeze, one step at a time guys!

Let's get some actual female talent in the industry before we start bringing up their ethnicity. It's bad enough now that if you're not hot, you're not in Hollywood.

 

[Coreless]

You know who I think would be awesome in the role, but Hollywood won't go with her for "reasons"?
Pacific Rim's Rinko Kikuchi.

(No! Don't! It makes TOO much sense!)

I think everyone would love to see this happen but lets be real here... no one is going to see this movie if Rinko is in it. I could ask a hundred random people on the street if they know what Ghost in the Shell is or who Rinko is and I bet you would get barely a handful that know what or who we are talking about. This movie is a serious gamble as it is (being originally an anime) and requires someone with box office draw let alone the action chops to make this at least good enough for people to grab tickets. I would love to see Rinko take this role but lets be honest here, there is no studio out there that is going to drop millions for her to take a lead role.

 

[theNater]

Y'know what, I have just decided to be stupidly optimistic. Near as I can tell, the only announcement is that Johansson has signed on to star, not that she has signed on to play Major Kusanagi. My new (completely unsupported) theory is that she will be playing a modified Togusa, who will be a western law enforcement official recently added to Section 9; the minimal augmentation will be because western nations aren't quite up to date on cybernetics. As the audience surrogate, she'll get enough screentime to be technically considered one of the stars of the show. Major Kusanagi will be one of her co-stars; Dreamworks is trying to entice Kikuchi to the role.

I choose to believe this because I think it would be pretty cool. I intend to cling to this belief as long as I can. So if anybody has a primary source indicating that Johansson is Kusanagi, please don't tell me.

 

[Trishbot]

You know who I think would be awesome in the role, but Hollywood won't go with her for "reasons"?
Pacific Rim's Rinko Kikuchi.

(No! Don't! It makes TOO much sense!)

They wouldn't go for her because, one her English is not that great and 2 and because in Asia she is not considered as "beautiful" as probably would be expected of a leading lady.

Well, that's still a bad excuse, considering the Jackie Chan-led films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon made millions of dollars, and his English is pretty limited too, all things considering.

And she's drop-dead gorgeous. Even not to someone's tastes, well, that's what make-up is for. Women - using special effects to make ourselves look prettier for centuries.

 

[UberGott]

Well, that's still a bad excuse, considering the Jackie Chan-led films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon made millions of dollars, and his English is pretty limited too, all things considering.

While true, it's also not quite the same thing. Nobody ever wanted Jackie Chan for his acting ability or his good looks - his fame can be placed squarely on his one-of-a-kind physicality.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Well, that's still a bad excuse, considering the Jackie Chan-led films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon made millions of dollars, and his English is pretty limited too, all things considering.

While true, it's also not quite the same thing. Nobody ever wanted Jackie Chan for his acting ability or his good looks - his fame can be placed squarely on his one-of-a-kind physicality.

Shinjuku incident?

I think he's a good dramatic actor, and a very good comedic actor... As well as the remarkable physical talents he has.

Let's all give the man some credit. You'd have trouble naming someone who can put more skills on their resume.

I'm not actually bothered by Johansson's selection. Hollywood picked it up, they can do as they wish with it. I imagine they're not going to set it in Japan either. They're surely aiming to capitalize on the strong themes of the anime and whatever pull the name has... The details might not be of the utmost importance.

Besides, if I were going to push anyone into the spotlight as a potential casting, I'd push for Jeeja Yanin.

Spoiler

If you've seen Chocolate, you know this girl has the moves.

 

[JarinArenos]

Hear hear. Lynch the white cis witch.

Remember the old times and accept your guilt.

I have another article for you.
NPR - Why Doesn't America Read Anymore? [http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297690717/why-doesnt-america-read-anymore]

 

[Batou667]

Nice race-bait article, Bob.

Except, I can one-up you. Johannsen is Jewish. Why are you trying to deny one of the handful of female Jewish actors screentime? Is this an act of erasure? What do you have against diversity and inclusiveness? I thought race was an unimportant social construct anyway, and what's more important is to let good actors get lead roles? This is very problematic.

 

[UberGott]

Shinjuku incident?

I think he's a good dramatic actor, and a very good comedic actor... As well as the remarkable physical talents he has.

To be clear, I wasn't trying to give Jackie Chan the business - he is a decent actor, and I'm excited to see him in Dragon Blade, which looks to be as much a drama as a spectacle.

That said, my point wasn't "Jackie Chan is a hack". My point was "Nobody in Hollywood cared about Jackie Chan's acting, just his stunt work". I stand by that.

Besides, if I were going to push anyone into the spotlight as a potential casting, I'd push for Jeeja Yanin.

You. I like you.

 

[ngl42398]

Honestly, this may sound kinda selfish, but it doesn't really matter that much to me. Yeah, it sucks that Hollywood is whitewashing shit like always (when they don't occasionally decide to blackwash it for some arbitrary reason). But let's keep our fingers crossed that the movie doesn't happen. I've never seen Ghost in the Shell, and I don't know anime at all, but I know enough to be aware that this is a bad idea and will most likely be a bad movie if it comes out.

 

[Username Redacted]

What does this have to do with feminism at all?

I have no idea. Pretty sure this casting choice is about one thing and one thing only. Starts with the letter 'M' and rhymes with bunny.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Honestly, this may sound kinda selfish, but it doesn't really matter that much to me. Yeah, it sucks that Hollywood is whitewashing shit like always (when they don't occasionally decide to blackwash it for some arbitrary reason). But let's keep our fingers crossed that the movie doesn't happen. I've never seen Ghost in the Shell, and I don't know anime at all, but I know enough to be aware that this is a bad idea and will most likely be a bad movie if it comes out.

"White-washing" eh? Where are the lines drawn? Magnificent 7 is more or less a western version of Seven Samurai, I believe A Fistful of Dollars is basically a western retelling of Yojimbo... Does it matter?

As far as I can tell, the only real difference between the adaptations that I mentioned, and what's happening here... Is that they're using the name.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Shinjuku incident?

I think he's a good dramatic actor, and a very good comedic actor... As well as the remarkable physical talents he has.

To be clear, I wasn't trying to give Jackie Chan the business - he is a decent actor, and I'm excited to see him in Dragon Blade, which looks to be as much a drama as a spectacle.

That said, my point wasn't "Jackie Chan is a hack". My point was "Nobody in Hollywood cared about Jackie Chan's acting, just his stunt work". I stand by that.

Besides, if I were going to push anyone into the spotlight as a potential casting, I'd push for Jeeja Yanin.

You. I like you.

Thanks.

Honestly, you could dismiss a lot of working actors and actresses on one ground or another. I believe the most common would be "noone would care about X if he/she weren't unusually attractive". It is what it is, and I don't see a problem with it. Brad Pitt probably got a massive heap of help from his looks, and I say that's good for him. I've still enjoyed his work. First impressions are never going to be terribly informed.

Jeeja needs more work. I loved Chocolate, everything else has been bad. Wtf was Raging Phoenix? She'd be great in a Gareth Evans production.

 

[Chris Moses]

wasted opportunity, sure. potential subpar anime adaptation hollywood butchering, sure.

sad that they picked a good looking, sufficiently good acting, proven can do action movies, crowd drawing, actress to play the lead role?

no, I am not.

stop going far out of your way to be offended, it is becoming really really really

really

really

reallyreallyreallyreally

really tiring.

stop it

So, you are saying that certain people are too easily offended. Might it also be possible that you are too sensitive to people that are offended?

There are many negative aspects of human behavior that aren't going anywhere anytime soon. All things considered, oversensitivity just seems silly next to problems like murder, rape, robbery, assault, cheating and lying.

Just saying...

 

[Darkness665]

While the article has a few good points the whining about Scarlett Johansson being white and getting the role is tiresome. Get over it.

The financial backing of the movie will be easier with SJ in the lead. Why? Because of what the author stated. She, along with many, many others will check out the movie if SJ has a role in it. Money talks, BS walks. It's not fair to those that aren't SJ but they will not bring in another magnitude of viewers that SJ will. Her face, her very white face, will bring in enough fans to make the move a viable project. Hopefully. Without her it will be what the others were, niche products sold to already existing fans and their children.

If the author wanted to get some real points across you really needed a different film with a different lead. I would suspect that many readers agree with the basic concepts. I also suspect, that like myself, the author didn't actually accomplish getting us further on board. Life isn't fair. It never will be. Hard working, good actors of every imaginable ethics/gender/sexual preference/age will be treated poorly in Hollywood. An article in the Escapist will do little about it, in particular one that is whining about SJ getting a role.

Seriously, Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell! I will definitely watch that. Lucy is already on order. ;-)

 

[ensouls]

Welp I hear there's a new animated movie in the works so now I could really care less about a dubious live action version that will probably implode in Production Hell.

Hey guys, wasn't Keanu great in Cowboy Bebop?? Oh wait

 

[Requia]

While I share the concerns of Hollywood whitewashing, people are coming at this from the assumption that this will be a movie set in Japan. That's probably not going to be the case simply because setting it in Japan would alienate the general US audience they're trying to attract. That in mind, this isn't more noteworthy than any other movie with white leads.

 

[Jburton9]

as a fan of Asian cinema...they do have their own industry y'know...plenty of (extremely famous and accomplished) Asian women cast there...

there's more to the world than the Hollywood zeitgeist...and i see no reason why Hollywood should not equally serve its own (primarily home) market demographics.

that said it would be nice if Ghost in the Shell was an international production...but US audiences don't generally go to see foreign language films afaik.

The problem is, increasingly Hollywood is serving a world market. Particularly these big blockbusters may make more money overseas than stateside. It does both a disservice to the material and it's audience to halfass the casting. I mean assuming they stay true to the political landscape is this going to still take place in Japan but have an entirely white American section 9?

Fortunately there's a new Ghost in the Shell anime to look forward to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUEktyhOSxg

Oh! Now I am somewhat liking Arise but this, this gets me going again. Granted it is short but so far for the moment this feels right. Thanks for the link!

 

[Qvar]

It's only racist if a white person replaces a non-white person and it's only sexist if a man replaces a woman.

That's, essentially, the bottom line here. Certainly, there's a slew of historical justifications for this phenomenon but when we get down to brass tacks: you can't be racist towards white people and you can't be sexist towards men in the film industry.

I would like to think you're being sarcastic, but I'm affraid you are not.

Seeing as how Thor was not made female I don't see how this comes into play.

Another person has assumed title and power of Thor But THOR is still around and relevant in the Marvel comics universe and the two have met and interacted.

I guess that they announced it with big 'FEMALE THOR' all over the place doesn't bother you even a bit. Or spiderwoman, or batwoman, or she-hulk, for that matter.

While I share the concerns of Hollywood whitewashing, people are coming at this from the assumption that this will be a movie set in Japan. That's probably not going to be the case simply because setting it in Japan would alienate the general US audience they're trying to attract. That in mind, this isn't more noteworthy than any other movie with white leads.

^ Also this. Judging by the names of the other characters (I see a Matsuka turning Trevor around there) it will be set in american. I'm no fan of american stealing and adapting others works, but frankly if you are going to complain about that (read: americans using their american money in american actors) as if it were some sort of social justice problem... Well, let's just say I'll have to look at you in annoyance.