Scarlett Johansson Is ‘Lying’ About ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Whitewashing, Asian Group Says

At least, that’s the word from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), which says the actress was “lying” when she said that her new film “Ghost in the Shell” isn’t guilty of whitewashing. “Though defenders of [Johansson’s] casting claimed that both the original 1989 manga and 1995 animated Japanese film were vague about Major Motoku Kusanagi’s original ethnic identity before her brain was placed into the body of a cyborg, this film verifies she was Japanese; her real name, in fact, was Motoku Kusanagi (her cyborg identity, implanted with false memories, was Major Mira Killian),” the group said in a press release issued Friday. The group also called out the casting of Michael Pitt in the role of Kuze, which MANAA said “is revealed to have originally been named Hideo, meaning he too was Japanese.” Without a conscientious effort, how will anyone ever break through and become familiar enough with audiences so producers will confidently allow them to topline a film? “Remember that hiring white actors to star in live action movies based on anime/manga source material has always backfired: ‘Dragonball Evolution’ and ‘Speed Racer’ were flops and now, we have ‘Ghost in the Shell,’ which, this weekend, is predicted to gross only $25 million (against a $120 million budget) behind ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Boss Baby,” MANAA said.