On its own, the decision to cast Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the film adaptation of the Ghost in the Shell manga might not draw outrage. But, as this video shows, it comes on top of a century of casting choices that, at times, blocked Asian actors from getting good roles, and at others, blatantly mocked Asians for … being Asian.
Hollywood’s best Asian roles still go to white people
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Directors sometimes defend whitewashing by claiming they need A-list actors on board in order to get big projects made, and there simply aren't any Asian A-list actors to choose from. That logic didn't pan out for Aloha, where an all-star white cast couldn't save the movie from massive box office failure.
But the bigger question is, why aren't there more big-name Asian actors? As the video above shows, part of the answer is that roles that should go to Asians often go to white people — and that hasn't changed much since they taped back Katharine Hepburn's eyes to play "Jade" in Dragon Seed (1944).
Other roles are complete caricatures that hold Asians back, whether they're played by white or Asian actors. On their own, in a world where there are also big, nuanced, roles for Asian actors, people could probably laugh off some of the stereotyped characters.
But we don't live in that world yet, as Aziz Ansari's character expressed in Master of None: "We're like set decoration. We're not the ones doing the main stuff. We're not fucking the girls and all that stuff. We're just not there yet."
