GHOST IN THE SHELL Short Film Succinctly Explains Why Whitewashing Matters in Hollywood Movies
By now, you're all aware of the controversy surrounding Paramount's Ghost in the Shell movie. It's a Hollywood adaptation of a beloved manga and anime, and the source material had a Japanese woman as its protagonist. But Scarlett Johansson was cast in the lead role for the adaptation, which has left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. It's the latest instance of Hollywood failing to provide representation for Asian actors in leading roles on screen, and this short film from Chewy May and Jes Tom (via /Film) nicely shows the kinds of mental effects decisions like this can have on people who are vastly underrepresented in our modern media landscape.
Look, Paramount clearly ran the numbers on this and thought they'd get better box office returns with Johansson playing the Major instead of an Asian actress, but all it takes is one studio having the balls to actually put an Asian woman in the lead of a movie like this for one to succeed and be the example that Hollywood turns to in order to prove that it makes financial sense. Paramount wasn't willing to go out on a limb this time, but hopefully another studio will soon.