Is Scarlett Johansson the Right Lead for <i>Ghost in the Shell</i>?

A good friend of mine recently posted 17 words on Facebook questioning the choice of Scarlett Johansson as the main character in a live-action version of 1995’s anime classic Ghost in the Shell. Those three sentences turned into a heated 21-comment thread that had to be defused with purposely humorous video embeds to calm everyone down, as happens with many such Facebook exchanges.

Why did my buddy and his buddies and a lot of other people’s buddies get riled up about Johansson taking the central role in a not too well-known sci-fi action flick? As Black Widow and Lucy, she’s proven herself to be a box-office draw as an action movie star, and she’s an excellent actress regardless. Well, if you’re not familiar, Ghost in the Shell occupies a place in the anime pantheon as one of the genres best-written, best-animated, and well-received anime movies ever. Oh, and the white, (usually) blonde, American Johansson would be portraying a raven-haired Japanese cyborg named Major Motoko Kusanagi. Let the flames begin.

This Facebook thread created some deep and interesting discussions regarding race, racism in Hollywood, Western adaptations–and many would say adulterations–of Japanese cinema, film casting in general, and a several other issues not really germane to the topic. Chief among them was, should Johansson be playing an Asian character?

The matter of race in cinema is not a small one. Given that many actors who are members of an ethnic minority, even those who have found critical acclaim, assert that making it in Hollywood as a non-white actor is still difficult, the topic deserves more than cursory treatment, and certainly more than I can give it here. On the surface, it would seem that casting Scarlett Johansson as Major Kusanagi in the most anticipated live adaptation of an anime film (Akira just ain’t happening anytime soon) would be an obvious insult to Asian or Asian-American actors who could ably play the role. I’m not so sure it is, though, for the following reasons:

1. Though GITS is Japanese in origin and most of the characters have Japanese names, being Japanese or Asian is not an irreplaceable part of the character of Kusanagi. The story could have been–and could still be–the same were she named something American or Russian or Sudanese. It’s not like she’s being cast as Minny Jackson in The Help. If the live-action GITS is set anywhere but near-future Japan (see #2 below), I suspect that the main character will not be named Motoko Kusanagi. That said, I would have a huge problem with Scarlett Johansson playing a Japanese character named Motoko Kusanagi (wait for the last portion; link slightly NSFW). That would indicate that the director thought being Asian is integral to the character, but that such an important role couldn’t be played by an Asian actress. That would be a pretty big Eff-You.
2. The story deals with themes of human- and transhumanism, the relationship between humans and machines, identity, individualism, etc., which are ideas that transcend most cultural and ethnic boundaries. In fact, if I had to guess, since Londoner Rupert Sanders will direct, the movie could be set anywhere from London to New York to Tokyo to Shanghai, really anywhere that can resemble a metropolis in the not-too-distant future. This shouldn’t materially change the movie. After all, The Grudge and The Ring (to name just a few) were successful adaptations of Japanese horror movies, largely because their most important elements weren’t dependent upon setting.
3. Johansson is a gifted actress, and can probably pull off the mental/emotional complexity and demanding physicality of the role. Not saying other actresses couldn’t, but Johansson is a known commodity both talent and profit perspectives. This decision is about money, whether we like it or not, and Scarlett is a safe bet.

All that being said, while I think Johansson is a superb actress, I would prefer she not be cast in the role of Kusanagi:

1. The more GITS becomes about Johansson as Kusanagi, the less it becomes about the original movie itself. It is then infinitely more likely that the film becomes a huge-budget blockbuster worried only about making its money back and not too much about making a good movie. Yes, I understand that movies don’t get made for free, but I’m tired of really bad movies that could have been really good with a little more attention paid to screenplay, dialogue, etc., and at minimal expense. We’ve suffered through enough of that crap (Star Wars Episodes I-III, Terminator Salvation, etc.). I don’t want that to happen to my favorite anime, especially when there really haven’t been any good live anime adaptations (Fist of the North Star? Bleargh!), and especially-especially because GITS could be perfect for live adaptation in the right hands. Don’t get me wrong: I’d love to see live-action Akira, but it would be really tough to make the effects look good.

2. So many good actors of non-white ethnicities–especially women–get so few good non-stereotyped roles. If nothing else but for better representation in film, I would love to see an Asian actress play this originally Asian role. There must be dozens of women who could fit this part well, maybe as well as Johansson. For studio purposes, a lesser-known but talented Asian actress could take the role for less than a tenth of the $10 million reportedly offered to Johansson. If the movie is crap, Johansson’s draw is only going to be so much after the first weekend, and probably winds up not being worth the price. If GITS ends up being a good film, though, it will be because of the screenplay adaptation and other non-Johansson elements. In this case, it probably brings in a ton of money worldwide with or without her, so why not save some money?
3. Maybe the movie loses something in the translation, starting with its American lead actress? This is a stretch, but there may be cultural elements of GITS that simply don’t make it from animation to live action. I honestly have no idea what those might be, and we’d only recognize them when seeing the movie. By then it’s too late. GITS doesn’t get another shot at adaptation for another 10-20 years, if ever; and gets unfairly tagged as a cautionary tale for future anime adaptations.

I realize that my status as a white, American male in his 30s influences my views in ways that I don’t even realize. There are probably dozens of things that I dwelled on that others don’t think are a big deal, and several that I completely overlooked that might be very important to someone else. In either case, Scarlett Johansson can and likely will do a great job with Major Kusanagi, or whatever her name ends up being. And really thinking about the characters and themes in Ghost in the Shell, the live-action version probably doesn’t have to stay an “Asian” film to have the same impact as the original, if the movie is done correctly and stays close enough to its source material. But the further it gets away from 1995’s masterpiece, the less hope it has of matching the quality of its progenitor. To boil it down, I really just want to Ghost in the Shell done right.

Please let me know in the comments section what you think about all this.

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