Scarlett Johansson is up for a new role. DreamWorks Studios has recently offered Johansson a staggering $10 million to star in its live-action adaptation of the anime juggernaut, Ghost in the Shell. The problem with this? The protagonist of the Ghost in the Shell franchise, Motoko Kusanagi, is Japanese. Scarlett Johansson is decidedly not.
Many movie adaptations get away with whitewashing their main characters. This occurs a lot of the time because some books do not provide vivid descriptions of their protagonists. When a character is not designated physical characteristics by the author, the character’s race is automatically dictated to be white by those adapting the novel. White is treated as the default. It is rare to see a nondescript character being portrayed by a black or Asian actor. If and when they are, they are often reduced to stereotypes (i.e. the black gang member, the overworked Asian student).
Even worse, some adaptations of previous works are made with descriptions of characters in mind, yet veer from previously established elements to provide an image that is supposedly more palatable to what is perceived to be a mostly, if not entirely, white American audience. This is the case with the upcoming adaptation of Ghost in the Shell.
In another example, Katniss Everdeen, the main character in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, is described within the novel as having “straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes.” Though this isn’t typically how you would describe a white character, Katniss, in the movie version of her tribulations, is portrayed by the pale, brown-haired, blue-eyed Jennifer Lawrence.
Those responsible for the casting of Ghost in the Shell have moved from white actor to white actor, casually regarding the race and origin of Motoko Kusanagi as arbitrary. Race is not a subject that should be treated so flippantly. By rejecting the character’s ethnicity and cultural background, the makers of the movie undermine a civilization that is not American. This perpetuates the idea that being white is the default (and thereby preferable to being Japanese), refuses representation to Japanese people and denies an actor of color a role that they offer instead to a popular white actor.
Although there are not many roles for actors of color to begin with, the roles that they could feasibly occupy are often remade into white characters. And why is this? Despite what Rush Limbaugh may have to say, white Americans are not the ones who suffer most in the current state of things. White characters make up the majority of characters in television shows and movies, and are more often than not the main characters of said productions. The media of the United States serves to bolster the privilege of those who already have it.
Some people make claims such as, “They were the best person for the part,” and “Maybe they couldn’t find an actor of the appropriate race to play the role.” Even more egregious is the statement, “It doesn’t really matter what the race of the actor is if they portray the character well.”
Yes, it does matter, because people in position of privilege first instituted the system of race and continue to exploit it. It is wrong to say, “I don’t see color,” because such assertions ignorantly refute the fact that people of color have been largely oppressed through societal systems like what exists in the U.S. today. To say, “I don’t see color,” is to say, “I choose to overlook that other people have faced troubles that I will never have to confront, because doing so would make me vastly uncomfortable.”
It’s petty to shy away from issues of race that may make people anxious. People often do not want to think they have been dealt a hand in life that they do not naturally deserve. Although people shouldn’t be automatically dismissed with an admonition of, “Check your privilege,” everyone should aim to be conscious of the fact that they maintain rights that others may not.
By no means should white actors be deprived of roles, but their success should not come at the disadvantage of actors of color. It’s absurd that being white is considered more desirable than anything else—perhaps even more absurd than the notion of a white actor playing a woman named Motoko Kusanagi.
