It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…Scarlett Johansson?!
What do a Japanese android, a trans man, and a comically racist caricature of a Latina coworker have in common?
They’re all probably played by Scarlett Johansson on the silver screen.
We’ve all been there at one point or another. We’re all sitting down to watch an exciting new movie in a packed cinema. You’ve eagerly eaten half of your popcorn during the previews, but I’ll admit to taking some. Finally the opening credits roll, and the scene is set. We could be in futuristic Japan, introduced to a strange, yet powerful Japanese woman.
Or maybe you don’t like action pieces so you watch something modern. Slice-of-life movies have casual settings, varying budgets, and more relatable casts. The movie follows a group of hip young adults roughing it in the city. Everyone’s here except Tex, who wasn’t born Tex.
Nah, you don’t like slice of life movies. We just want to watch a good old fashioned comedy. Some slapstick is exactly what you need to break up the humdrum office life. The movie follows a below-average joe as he attempts to woo his fiery Latina coworker, and for some reason you know she’ll end up with him in the end (even though it wouldn’t happen realistically).
These may seem like arbitrary roles. Surely ScarJo can’t do everything…and you’d be right. However, she’s already played one of the aforementioned roles, and cast as another.
I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a cybernetically enhanced Japanese woman named Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell, my mind immediately goes to a white woman.
Why not cast an actual Japanese woman to play a Japanese character? When interviewed by Marie Claire Magazine, Johansson had this to say:
“I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.”
Except…that’s exactly what she did when she donned the role. She attempted to justify her role by claiming it was impossible to pass up a lead female role:
“…having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that — the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.”
Strong female roles are a necessity in modern day cinema. Women have had to struggle and fight to get where they are, which is still not quite where they should be. However, feminism extends beyond White Feminism. Plenty of capable Japanese-American actresses could more than handle the role, given the chance. Yes, Johansson is a talented actress, but there needs to come a time when you stop asking if you can, but rather if you should.
Women continue to be marginalized in the workplace, and women of color even more so. But whitewashing roles practically written for women of color isn’t the only theft Johansson commits.
Johansson paired up again with the director of Ghost in the Shell to play another controversial role. She was slated to don the role of Dante “Tex” Gill, a trans man.
If you thought it was hard for actors of color to secure an acting job in Hollywood, transgender roles have a horrific history of cisgender actors. When initial backlash came out about Johansson’s casting, Vanity Fair reported on Johansson’s less than appropriate response:
“Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”
Bad move, ScarJo.
Much to her credit, she eventually listened to the rightful outrage of those in the crowd, and has since withdrawn from the film. In a statement to Out magazine, Johansson declared:
“I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive…I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film.”
While the casting backlash sparked conversation about diversity in film, it’ll without a doubt fade. Unfortunately, whitewashing people of color and casting cisgender actors in trans roles isn’t something new. Just ask the likes of:
- Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl
- Max Minghella in The Social Network
- Elle Fanning in 3 Generations
- Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods and Kings
- Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent
- Emma Stone in Aloha
- Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
- Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange
I could individually go through all of the whitewashed roles and trans roles played by cisgender actors, but we’d be here all day. This is an issue extending beyond Scarlett Johansson. While she didn’t step down from Ghost in the Shell, she did back out of Rub & Tug. This kind of behavior shouldn’t be commended; it should be expected. As I’ve said before, Hollywood and its actors should take a step back and ask not if they can, but if they should. In order to take steps towards a solution, more actors and actresses not only need to stop being cast, but stop auditioning for roles not written for them. Representation and diversity in films needs a helping hand, and if big name actors can take the high road by assisting where they can, then we can give the mic to those whose voices are unheard.