The Concerns of White Washing

 

The Concerns of White Washing

                                                   

 

For Anime Fans exciting news was announced that DreamWorks would be releasing a live action adaption of Ghost in the Shell, something they had acquired in 2008 and has been in the limbo that many titles are dragged into when rights are acquired but nothing else is done for long periods of time. I say exciting but I’m pretty sure there were some upset  from the gecko of this announcement, things took a turn for the worse when they casted Scarlet Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi.  The outrage by some fans has caused a petition that accused the studio of white washing, many arguing that they aren’t casting a Japanese actress to play the role. Among other things.

 

       People being upset about white washing is nothing new and the actual act of it has been going on longer than you think, since the start of film actually. There are many instances when white washing was happening and people could look back and go wow that isn’t right, though most would chalk it up with the sign of the times. See any Charlie Chan film and know there has always been a debate on how he was portrayed, was it a step forward  or a step backwards in regards to race when they had white actors portray him. Was it because the films were getting attention beforehand or just the era the film was being made? Another question once the films got popular did it change anything then, does it change anything now. These questions have been present in film for a long time. How does this affect this film’s project? As a fan of Ghost In The Shell of course I want them to honor this franchise that has given back so much to both Anime and Cinema. With that said I can understand people’s desire to see someone who is Japanese or at least of Asian descent that can act as a Japanese woman and yes there are quite a few actresses that could play the Major.  Would it still remain the same movie though and is it a form of washing if the actress isn’t Japanese but another race acting as one, if so did there is washing happening in every form, in every way in film all the time.  Now that might sound extreme right, it isn’t the same thing is it or maybe it is.

 

     Now here comes my viewpoint. I am not upset that casted Scarlet Johansson and maybe it’s simply  because I’m looking at in the perspective of the industry or because they haven’t enlightened us of the exact plot points. Speaking in the way of how Hollywood might choose to adapt it. It may seem awful that they chose her to some but for Dreamworks, there’s a lot of hope riding on this project, if It works it has the chance of having more stories be told, perhaps even becoming a franchise. An anime adaption becoming a franchise in film, sounds interesting. If it doesn’t it might damn any chance of seeing anime on the big screen. Maybe not entirely but the ones they choose just might. It might affect the way they approach the projects and if they are only the first wave of something that will be permanent, it might be a test to see what they have to learn from it when they do adaptions in the future. Yet why wait for a mistake, why not get it right in the first try. Perhaps if this film is done correctly we could be preventing it from being so if we choose otherwise. Who do they get for these movies, how true will they be, will they flesh it out the way maybe they could? Those are things we always ask with adaptions but perhaps they do get easier with time. Looking at it in Dreamworks perspective, they wanted someone that can get the attention of viewers who might overlook a film at first, someone who has played a strong center role like that before and people noticed, her name helps, it certainly brings in crowds, makes people pay attention after all she is one of the biggest actresses in the world right now.

 

       If that’s true and she is the biggest actress or one of them out there than would it matter what her race was, wouldn’t they wanted her to be casted regardless. Plenty of other big names get casted for high profile projects and they aren’t always the race of the character in the source material. That in it’s self brings lots of people to the table to complain, which would make it interesting to see them talk with the group of people that felt they were whitewashing Ghost in The Shell.  The other reason it probably didn’t rouse a reaction out me or cause me to run to sign a petition is the premise of the story. It’s an amazing premise and it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to see Hollywood taking it and setting it in America. Which is what they’re probably going to do, Section 9 in America, I mean set in Japan would bring the question why is Scarlet in Japan right. Of course there is the far flung idea that maybe their wouldn’t be such a dominance of a particular race in any country in their version of the future, which would make the refugee aspect brought up in the storylines hit even closer to home. Yes there is also the fact that the Major switch bodies, cybernetic prosthetic bodies. She doesn’t have to look like any one person but it’s safe to say they aren’t going that route.

      Who knows though, that’s the thing we don’t know. It’s easy to be upset for people that love something, fans jumped on an amazingly short teaser of Star Wars and it’s one of the biggest films ever. The only reason I’m thinking the whole setting in America approach of doing in the storyline besides Hollywood being in America, is the way the struggling Akira project had said in its early stages, that it would be set in Neo New York.  A country takes a premise and sets it in their country, its familiarity, it happens in TV shows America adapts from other countries like Homeland, The Bridge, and so on and Japan is known to do it with Anime and even some of their live action movies. Have you ever seen their Sideways film? That’s one of the things with art, people take it and incorporate it in other places, it shines because it was relevant to them and some chase down the original source to get an even greater appreciation for it.  Anyone  who listens to early Rolling Stones and Beatles songs might find themselves chasing down the original artists that they admired and chose to do covers of. They owe their art to the people that inspired them to create art.

     Many things from America have been clearly influenced by Ghost In the Shell as was it itself influenced by other things, an American adaption might then be followed by Japan making their own version and rightfully so. Not uncommon in film and so to me it makes it seem less of a problem, sometimes casting is wrong to me but for various other reason, things they choose to adapt you can feel in your bones it won’t be right and that’s something as a fan we have a right to express. So I understand the fallout, when it comes to American comic adaptions I like to keep an open mind but there are times I know who the right casting should be. But American casts in a story from another country is not uncommon in fact it’s very common as it is of an someone from another country maybe even in the UK or Australia to be casted for an American role.

 

        Whitewashing, there are times maybe not the race but simply the choices they make are what upset us, everything from Avatar The Last Airbender to Dragon Ball but let’s face it those films just weren’t that good from the start. In the hands of who had it, with an all Asian cast it might not have made a difference but if they were the race we wanted, acted well on polished scripts with directors that could pull the vision from their mind to the screen than yeah they would be great.  We can say we don’t want the films to be made, it won’t stop it, we can hope it will go in the hands of someone that will instead make us surprisingly wowed at the results, after all that’s what film is about. There are so many Anime/ manga properties acquired by Hollywood in some form or way they are bound to have quite a few that will get it right and we can hope.

      Also despite the way some people might feel, I like Scarlet Johansson as an actress and she certainly has helped break some of the barriers when it comes to high profile, gender related roles. Along with others that have been doing the same, or have long since done it in other genres. It can also be just that reserved way we saw them approaching the film and seeing them go another route upsets us. A personal one, Battle Angel Alita has been waiting for James Cameron to helm it but I say why not give it to Neil Blomkamp, a fantastic director with the perfect vision for it. I’m just saying. Ghost In the Shell is a big favorite with me so I can see why people are deterred, you want it to be given justice but for a second let’s consider that it can work. Steven Spielberg was vocal about how much he enjoyed Ghost in the Shell and though he’s not directing it, I could imagine he’s just as interested as we are, besides he’s a big part of DreamWorks, so why don’t we just wait and see and like we always do as fans, wait, hope and look forward to a surprising wow. Worse case scenario we always have the anime and with that being so great and it's own upcoming anime film, it may not be such a bad thing after all.