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Here are some photos of Scarlett Johansson at last night?s New York premiere of Ghost in the Shell. I have to say? this might be my favorite gown that Scarlett has ever worn. This is Balmain. It has clean lines. It makes her look taller. It?s super-flattering. It has a vague ?70s vibe which really works. I love this. Scarlett also debuted a new shorter haircut, possibly because her haircut last month was looking very ?Kate Gosselin.? She seems to have shaved her sides. Meh. But the dress? the dress makes this work.
So, that was the nice stuff. Now for some not-so-nice stuff. Apparently, Ghost in the Shell is a total mess. I can?t even figure out if people think the film is good because we?re still talking about how the movie is super-whitewashed. Scarlett has repeatedly said in interviews (including interviews this week) that ?I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously. Hopefully, any question that comes up of my casting will be answered by audiences when they see the film.? She?s playing a character who was originally (in the source material) called Major Motoko Kusanagi.
SPOILERS BELOW.
Sooo, guess what, you guys? Scarlett IS playing a Japanese character. The brain of a Japanese woman, Major Motoko Kusanagi, was placed inside the (white) ?shell? of Scarlett?s robot-body. Nerds of Color saw an early preview of the film.
Well, yes it is whitewashed because Scarlett Johansson does not belong in the role of the Major, but man it gets worse. From the sneak peak footage I saw, it looks the Major is originally Japanese. Let me explain. It appears that the character is in a nearly fatal accident. This accident causes her body to be rendered useless, but her brain is the only thing that can be salvaged. So this Japanese woman whose brain is recovered is transferred into a body, or Shell, that just happens to be Scarlett Johannson?s new body. Now her name is ?Mira.?
This is horrifying.
The ?yellow face? comments hold merit because there is a scene that shows Mira awakening in her new body. That particular shot is suspect as Johannson looks? well? Asian. Even the cut of her eyebrows makes me side eye. However, nothing about the Major has ever screamed WHITE WOMAN. That is in the imagination of people who default to whiteness.
So, not only has the role been whitewashed but they start with a Japanese woman and put her brain in a white body. So what does this say? It says that an Asian actress was an afterthought and that Asian visibility wasn?t valuable enough to carry this through to the end. This is made worse by Daisuke Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano) continuing to speak Japanese to her character at the beginning. Wait, what? I understand many non-Japanese folks can speak Japanese, but since her brain is that of a Japanese woman, she still retains her mother tongue. It?s just on the outside she looks white and is named Mira.
[From Nerds of Color]
So, yeah. A lot of early reviews are talking about this too, and it wouldn?t surprise me at all if the critical response to this film is overwhelmingly bad, merely based on this one issue. Now, all that being said, I hate the fact that Scarlett is the one who will have to take ?the hit? for this. While she should take a hit – it was her choice to do this movie, after all, and chica is NOT poor – it?s also the fault of the screenwriters, director, producers and the studio. A lot of people made a lot of bad choices here.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
More Photos Here
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