Asian American group slams Scarlett Johansson’s ‘whitewashed’ Ghost in the Shell

This weekend’s arrival of Ghost in the Shell, the live-action adaptation of the landmark Japanese anime film, is being met with criticism from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, or MANAA, which is condemning what it calls the “whitewashed” casting of Scarlett Johansson in the lead role.

The organisation’s complaint joins the backlash that erupted following the announcement in early 2015 that Johansson had signed on to star in Paramount and DreamWorks’ version of Masamune Shirow’s manga series that spawned the classic animated film.

Many fans of the franchise called the casting of Johansson yet another example of Hollywood “whitewashing” because she plays an Asian heroine named Motoko Kusanagi.

When asked about the ongoing flap, Johansson didn’t agree with the critics’ point of contention.

“I think this character is living a very unique experience, in that she is a human brain in an entirely machinate body,” Johansson said on ABC’s Good Morning America earlier this week. “She’s essentially identity-less ... I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously.”