Fans outraged over Ghost in the Shell’s Scarlett Johansson photo, plus tests to make her look more Asian?
Paramount and DreamWorks Pictures debuted the first-look image of Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie yesterday. It automatically became controversial as many fans expressed disappointment with the look of the actress as Major Motoko Kusanagi… if that’s going to be her character’s name in the film.
I have to admit, even though she’s not Asian, it looks like they’re still capturing the look of the character via the black haircut and style.
Fans and Ming-Na Wen took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction of the whitewashing of Asian roles.
Nothing against Scarlett Johansson. In fact, I'm a big fan. But everything against this Whitewashing of Asian role.? https://t.co/VS6r6iish9
— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) April 14, 2016
1st pic of the Ghost in the Shell movie. I still think they could've found someone else to play Motoko Kusanagi. pic.twitter.com/Gp43s3LW1i
— Allissa (@AllissaByGrace) April 14, 2016
Scarlett Johansson has completed her Japanese transition https://t.co/3PG7mARfKA
— Kris Cheng (@krislc) April 15, 2016
@ParamountPics @DWAnimation should have casted an Asian actress and now you ruined it
— YUNG KENYAN BOY (@FinallyMohamed) April 14, 2016
@ParamountPics @DWAnimation whoever did the casting for this movie needs to be fired. They have completely ruined the entire movie.
— Angol Mois (@Ms_Mois) April 14, 2016
@ParamountPics @DWAnimation good to see Hollywood making great strides in diversity. Short memory?
— Reuben Ayala (@AyalaReuben) April 15, 2016
Chronicle writer Max Landis posted a video about how angry fans are targeting the wrong people.
If that’s not enough, there’s another controversy surrounding the project.
ScreenCrush’s sources have said that Paramount and DreamWorks hired Lola VFX to do a test to make Scarlett Johansson look more Asian in the film. This is the same company that did the aging special effects on Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The insiders have said that the test was rejected “immediately” after it was produced and evaluated.
Paramount Pictures told ScreenCrush a different story that didn’t involve Johansson:
“A test was done related to a specific scene for a background actor which was ultimately discarded. Absolutely no visual effects tests were conducted on Scarlett’s character and we have no future plans to do so.”
However, the site’s sources have said that Johansson’s character was the focus for the tests to make her look more Asian.
Major Motoko Kusanagi is a special ops cyborg agent working for Section 9, a group tasked with combating cyber crimes. The film is based on the manga by Masamune Shirow.
Ghost in the Shell hits theaters on March 31, 2017.
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