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'Ghost In The Shell' Trailer Leans Into Its Whitewashing Controversy
November 14, 2016 2:58pm by Graeme McMillan
The entire opening sequence is filled with a curious racial subtext.
If the vocal online outcry over the whitewashing of the live-action Ghost in the Shell was heard by the filmmakers responsible for the movie, their response — at least as far as can be seen from the first trailer — has been to double down on the coded imagery and damn the haters. But that's far from the only problem facing Rupert Sanders' adaptation of the beloved Japanese manga.
For a movie criticized so loudly for its racial politics, it's actually somewhat surprising, and almost impressively bold, that the first image of the trailer is a robotic geisha. But the imagery of the entire opening sequence is filled with a curious racial subtext: It's a white man confronted by the geisha robot (indeed, in the glimpse of men pulled from the table by the robots, it looks like it's only white men being pulled away — saving them from the assault that seemingly slaughters those remaining at the table), and Scarlett Johansson's Major dives to the rescue past a neon sign reading "High Quality" in Japanese. It's as if the trailer opens with a sequence specifically created to lean into the existing controversy.
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In many ways, the opening sequence colors the rest of the trailer, turning things that might otherwise seem innocuous problematic by association. Johansson's skintight, breast-hugging outfit might be faithful to the original source material, but it looks exploitative in real life in a way a drawn version doesn't, for one thing. (Changing a character's ethnicity is fine, but why would anyone change her outfit and risk enraging fans?) For another, the lesbian kiss at 1:01; sure, it shows Major having an emotional connection with someone, but it also feels very aimed at the male gaze at the same time.
It's these elements — the instants that seem intended to provoke — that stick in the mind most from the trailer, which otherwise offers a mix of existential philosophy and gunplay that feels familiar for anyone who's seen The Matrix (ironic, of course; the original Ghost in the Shell manga predated the Wachowskis' breakthrough by a decade, and indeed influenced its creation) and a cityscape that feels as influenced by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Terry Gilliam's Brazil as anything more contemporary.
As a result, Ghost in the Shell is left feeling very much of the now: prodding subjects and obsessions of the contemporary audience without advancing the conversation, and using the imagery of the era today's viewers are obsessed with … which happens to be 30 years ago. Shouldn't science fiction be more forward-looking than that?
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