Scarlett Johansson’s casting in “Ghost In The Shell” has certainly brought the idea of Hollywood whitewashing back to everybody’s consciousness, whether or not you agree the film was indeed whitewashed. But what does the phenomenon really do to people?
Last week, with less than a month before the film’s release, a video that captures the heartbreaking effects of whitewashing was posted online. Titled “Ghost In The Shell PSA,” it focuses on a young Asian girl struggling to find characters who look like her at a comic book store.
She then spots “Ghost In The Shell,” but little did she know that the worse is yet to come.
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The two-minute clip by Chewy May and Jes Tom tells one side of the story, but it sure sums up the gut-wrenching impact the phenomenon leaves on others’ psyche.
May told io9:
“People don’t realize how whitewashing affects us as adults, and also our inner child that always wanted to see us represented. I wanted to put a face and a story behind why people are angry, and to show why this affects us so much.”
Check out the video below:
