DreamWorks accused of 'whitewashing' Ghost in the Shell by casting Scarlett Johansson

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"][center]DreamWorks accused of 'whitewashing' Ghost in the Shell by casting Scarlett Johansson[/center][div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"][center]

[/center]

Campaigners angered at the paucity of roles for east Asian actors in Hollywood have launched a petition calling for Scarlett Johansson to be dismissed from the forthcoming US remake of classic anime Ghost in the Shell.

The campaign on thepetitionsite.com, which has picked up more than 15,000 signatures, calls for studio DreamWorks to replace her with an actor of Asian origin, and accuses Hollywood of “whitewashing”.

“The original film is set in Japan, and the major cast members are Japanese,” reads the petition. “So why would the American remake star a white actress? The industry is already unfriendly to Asian actors without roles in major films being changed to exclude them.

“DreamWorks could be using this film to help provide opportunities for Asian-American actors in a market with few opportunities for them to shine. Please sign the petition asking them to reconsider casting Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell and select actors who are truer to the cast of the original film!”

...

[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','Infindel B',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]More at link...

With as few leading roles as there are currently for Actresses of Asian origin, this seems like a rather egregious case of whitewashing to me, but I thought the Asian Group here at DU might have more insight than a Gaijin like me.[/font]