As the Oscar-nominated actress and new mom has been cast as the lead in a live-action adaptation of classical anime film "Ghost in the Shell," Scarlett Johansson's new movie gets panned over what many facts consider racist: that a blonde American actress will star in the adaptation of a Japanese story.
After a very short hiatus of a few weeks following the birth of her daughter Rose Dorothy with husband Romain Dauriac, the Scarlett Johansson new movie is getting a whole lot of hate online, even though she was only just cast in it - because the casting people made the terrible mistake of going Caucasian for an Asian role.
According to CNN, the official casting of Scarlett Johansson's new movie came last Monday, causing controversy in social media, as fans of the original 1995 anime (considered a cyberpunk classic) have noted that Johansson is the wrong choice for the role, as many say it's a completely Japanese story that should be adapted as such.
According to The Guardian, in Scarlett Johansson's new movie she'll be playing Major Motoko Kusanagi (a Japanese name if ever there was one), a cyborg employed as the squad leader of a law enforcement division of the Japanese police; as a robot, she's powerful, intellectual and very strong-willed, as well as a great hacker.
The casting of blonde and blue-eyed Johansson in a role that was originally written as Japanese has caused outrage, as many have called the antic "whitewashing" a character's authentic heritage.
In any case, it is clear that the possible success of the American live-action adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell" would profoundly depend on the fans of the original manga, and so far they hate the choices quite a bit.
As USA Today notes, fans have been noting that Rinko Kikuchi could have played the role, in a manner not too different from what she played in "Pacific Rim" - but then again there are millions of Japanese actresses out there, and Kikuchi seems to get all the roles for the ethnicity.
In any case, only time will tell whether audiences will watch Scarlett Johansson's new movie adaptation when it's out in theaters.
