A new report suggests Ghost in the Shell producers used special effects to make Scarlett Johansson look more asian.
Critics have already started bashing The Ghost in the Shell movie for filming in New Zealand and featuring Scarlett Johansson as the leading actress. But to make matter worse, reports claim that producers at one point considered testing special effects to make Scarlett Johansson Asian features and make her look more Asian instead of just casting an Asian actress.
Related: Hundreds Audition for Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’
Yesterday, the first image of Johansson’s character as Major Motoko Kusangi- a Japanese cyborg – featuring Johansson with short and dark hair. The movie just started filming in New Zealand this week and hits theaters on March 31st next year.
However a Screen Crush reports suggest producers wanted to hire Lola VFX, the company that digitally recreated Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to test effects that would have changed Johansson’s physical attributes and make her look less white:
After the backlash surrounding Johansson’s role in the film, producers reportedly attempted to quell the controversy with an old standby Hollywood uses to fix a lot of problems: CGI.
According to multiple independent sources close to the project, Paramount and DreamWorks commissioned visual effects tests that would’ve altered Scarlett Johansson in post-production to “shift her ethnicity” and make the Caucasian actress appear more Asian in the film.
According to reports Johansson didn’t know about the testing, and:
Though the tests were requested by the production team, once they were developed and reviewed, the idea was rejected “immediately,” says an insider.
Paramount Pictures has denied these claims, telling Screen Crush: “A test was done related to a specific scene for a background actor which was ultimately discarded. Absolutely no visual effects tests were conducted on Scarlett’s character and we have no future plans to do so.”
Related: ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Starring Scarlett Johansson Open Casting Call
Apparently, Hollywood has not gotten the message from the dozen movies that have whitewashed the movie’s cast. For example, Aloha featured Emma Stone as an Asian-American instead of casting an actual Asian American actress. Or, Gods of Egypt featured Caucasian actors playing Gods of AFRICA. It’s important to point out that both of these movies have flopped in the box office. This is not the first time Hollywood whitewashed anime movies. The live-action version of Dragon Ball Z also featured an all white cast. And just like Gods of Egypt and Aloha that movie also flopped in the box office.
In fact, Scarlett Johansson’s recent movie Lucy was bashed by many people for whitewashing, the movie’s plot and depiction of Asian people in Hollywood. From The Huffington Post:
How is it that in a film whose premise rests on the idea of reimagining the past, present and future, we still end up with a blonde white woman with flashing blue eyes as the stand-in for what personifies evolution and supremely fulfilled human potential?
Hopefully, Ghost in the Shell doesn’t get boycotted. But, many people on Twitter are already threatening to boycott the movie. A user with the user @XavierDLeau offered, “If there’s any Japanese protestors out there protesting against Ghost in the Shell, know I stand with you.” And a person named @SamuraiErika tweeted, “I like ScarJo. I’m still disappointed to see Ghost in the Shell whitewashed. More casting like this is coming, and now’s the time to object.”
“I REALLY like Scarlett Johansson… But it bothers me Hollywood STILL overlooks a lot of Asian actors,” a person named @Meghan_IGN tweeted upon seeing the still from the film. A user with the handle @NeilaK20 plans to boycott the movie, expressing, “I’m prob not gonna see the Ghost in the Shell movie even tho I like ScarJo. I’m tired of Hollywood casting white people for Asian characters.”
I guess if you can’t find diversity, then you can always add diversity in post-production.
Source: Screen Crush
