Major Scarlett Johansson

Major Scarlett Johansson

Some kinda big news happened recently with Scarlett Johansson being cast in the main role as Major Mottoko Kusanagi in the live-action western adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Course this has been met with some, ehh, let's call it disgruntlement within the online anime community. Perhaps a little bewilderment. Maybe even anger?

lol

Ghost in the Shell takes place in the near future and is one of the mainstay representatives of cyberpunk as a genre. In a future where nearly everyone is technically a cyborg with electronic enhancements the question of 'what makes us human?' is sort of the main theme. Core ideas of the 'self', self-perception and how we define our conscious reality. Heavy philosophical ideas against the backdrop of technologically advanced fictional Japanese city 'Niihama' following the main characters of what is essentially an shadowy special operations team. Between action and moving the plot along we have the characters that will stop to discuss Descartes or quote passages from the bible. It's not as clunky as I'm making it sound here. Fact the strength of the franchise is how it seamlessly melds these themes and ideas together. Also it's a franchise with separate story arcs and cannon depending on whether you watch the film or the TV series or whatever else. For the sake of this piece of writing I'm gonna mostly be referencing the original film and it's direct sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence.
The film has sat in the awkward development stages for a while now when Steven Spielberg purchased the rights back in 2008. If wikipedia is to be believed it has passed hands between a number of writers which normally does not bode well for any film especially one that deals with a heavy philosophical narrative that Ghost in the Shell has (or rather - needs). I'm wondering if the film might end up becoming a pure action film - more or less disregarding the current fanbase and an attempt to cash in on filthy disgusting normies. In which case - why bother making an adaptation of Ghost in the Shell? Why not make a similar flick with a heavy orientation towards action with cyborgs? 

Maybe it has something to do with the success of Pacific Rim - which is pretty good by the way I recommend it if you haven't seen it - which borrowed very heavily from the primarily Japanese 'Mecha' genre. Although its to be noted its success was mostly due to overseas sales. In a globalized community it only makes sense that Hollywood is realizing it doesn't quite have to make films that strictly appeal to American audiences. Although this is me armchair projecting so I'll digress.

I thought what I'd do is play the optimist and try to list the reasons why it might not be awful. 

Scarlett Johansson.

ScarJo is a decent actor. The reason for her being cast in this role is probably because shes carving herself into a sort of action girl - her performances in the Avengers and Lucy being the foremost in my mind at this point, mind you I heard Lucy was awful. However as I said before Ghost in the Shell isn't a continual action fest. It's slower. It's considered. It can be subtle. Helpfully ScarJo can probably pull off the brooding, thoughtful Major.

NO

See the Major isn't human. She's a cyborg, the only part of her that is human is her brain - and even that is mostly robotic too if I'm remembering correctly. A core plot point is the Major struggling to come to terms with whether or not she is indeed 'Human'. Can she even be really defined as a living being? She doesn't know herself. Hence the 'Ghost' in the 'Shell' - in the film(s) the term Ghost may as well be interchangeable with Soul. Or what gives us consciousness.

Through discussion with the other characters she openly debates how we rationale if we are truly alive or not. How do we know what is real? Cogito Ergo Sum etc etc - really what I feel is that if you make a live action film you are relying on subtlety of the actor to accurately portray these emotions without saying it. Watching ScarJos in Lost in Translation I feel we see this, it's a nice, fairly slow examination of two people falling in love. I haven't had the time to really go through ScarJo's entire back catalog but I think she could pull it off.

Also undeniably - She puts bums on seats. She is a screen filler regardless of the subject matter. Such is the way of the stars of Hollywood. Perhaps having her name in it will encourage more money to be thrown at the film because this undeniably will be very high budget. To recreate the futuristic city Niihama with it's bustling streets, advanced technology and the actions scenes that come with it will need all the green screens and set designers the film industry has.

But there's the other problem - Japan.

The setting I mean.

Whitewashing.

kek

Niihama is in Japan and, well, ScarJo doesn't look Japanese. Know what I'm saying? That's gonna be a bit weird. There's a few arguments you can make like 'Anime characters look white anyway' - see this isn't strictly true. Arguably they aren't caucasian as much as they are 'idealised'. Big eyes and all that.

When you see an Anime character - to the creator and to the target audience (i.e. a Japanese person) isn't seeing a white person nor were they attempting to create a caucasian specifically - when a Japanese person is watching anime they will assume that the character is Japanese unless something else informs them otherwise.

We are outsiders looking into another culture here - remember Lost in Translation? Two white people against the backdrop of a strange and different culture. The stranger in a strange land. ScarJo is going to look like a very white thumb sticking out among the Japanese in future Niihama - and sticking out isn't exactly desirable if you're on an undercover police operation. Unless the famously xenophobic Japan suddenly becomes a mecca of multiculturalism in the near future it's not gonna make a lot of sense.

Consider this with the other argument 'the Major is a cyborg - she can look like anyone' True but one of the interesting elements of the Major is that she is modeled to look like what is already a mass produced cyborg unit - hence helping in undercover operations and making her very unlikely to be identified. The cyborgs themselves are undoubtedly seen as mere tools to be used by humankind. Why would the Japanese make a bunch of caucasion robots? Presumably you'd want to make them as close to Japanese ethnicity as possible to allow for better integration - if you think people get uppity about immigrants taking jobs wait till you see the unease about robots taking them. And like I say the Japanese are pretty xenophobic. Or maybe they're not so much? I dunno. 

There's two options here really: 

1. You move the setting out of Japan and to an American city. This isn't a great option as it again raises the question of 'why even bother calling it Ghost in the Shell? Why not make your own blah blah blah'

2.  You justify that cities in Japan has somehow become far more ethically diverse in the nearish future. 

If I had to put money on it I'd say this is what they'll go for. It's not exactly a crazy stretch of the imagination by any means considering our continually globalized world.

I wouldn't be too bothered in the end so long as they justify it somehow. If it's just Scarlett in a room with Japanese people I'll be pretty put off. 

Direction and Artsy Fartsy Stuff.

Can you imagine going down the street only to see yourself? You're already in the grip of an existential crisis, you look in the window, and there you are. A copy of yourself at an office desk. And again in a shop window.

Well fucking Ghost in the Shell done it.

And it's one of my favourite moments in cinema.

 

That is a little over a 3 minute scene where nothing happens except some character development and some hefty symbolism thrown in for good measure. When was the last time you watched a Hollywood blockbuster that took a good solid few minutes to stop just to simply, show you the world, let you immerse in the minutiae, let your eyes look around and have your brain thinkgood. I'm probably being unfair here as I'm sure plenty of Hollywood films do this but my question is whether or not the guy penned as the director Rupert Sanders is up to the job. 

His main calling cards are his (admittedly rather good) Halo 3: ODST advert and the grimdark 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman. He is obviously technically solid director and I'd say he is certainly a very stylish. He likes his fancy, elaborate set-pieces and isn't afraid to take the camera off the stabilizers to give shots a nice realistic documentary feel. Although I'm not exactly gushing about the guy I think he might surprise us. I just hope he wasn't chosen for the job simply because the loose association between video games and anime as nerdy pass-times.

On a side note the two producers attached to the project each have filmographys that read like my worst nightmares. 

jesus christ.

Conclusions.

There isn't one. Why would you wish to? All things change in a dynamic environment. Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.