Last week, marketing geniuses at Paramount Pictures decided to launch a viral marketing tool to drum up interest for its upcoming feature film, Ghost In The Shell.
The marketing tool is a meme generator that fans can use to write their own captions and upload images that it will use to create a photo, with in addition to the fan’s text will have an “I’am Major” line emblazoned beneath.
The “Major” is the main protagonist of the film which is based on a beloved anime franchise. Paramount’s version is based on the first film in the franchise which follows the story of Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg in pursuit of a hacker that takes over people’s cybernetic parts.
The upcoming movie proved to be controversial when Scarlett Johansson was cast in the role. The film was accused of whitewashing. It also did not help that there were leaked reports that Johansson who is of European ancestry allegedly underwent CGI testing to make her look more Asian!
And it looks like the criticism has not died down in the slightest, because now fans have used the meme generator against the Hollywood Ghost In the Shell!
Things started out with twitter user @ValerieComplex who uploaded an image of Pacific Rim actress Rinko Kikuchi, who is Japanese just like “The Major” in the source material. She captioned it with “I’am the woman that should’ve been cast.”
The Ghost in the Shell Website https://t.co/eqy8CpndC6 has a meme maker of sorts where anyone could “become Major” so I had some fun…. pic.twitter.com/EadKs04H9a
— VzA (@ValerieComplex) March 11, 2017
Other users then followed suit, and used the hashtag #IamMajor to bring awareness to the issue of the film’s whitewashing.
#IAMMAJOR pic.twitter.com/N8qGVP59hM
— 葵白 (@darkpastels) March 13, 2017
I Am White. I Am Appropriated. #IAmMajor https://t.co/SrLHTgQgsT pic.twitter.com/KVzk4XAHqk
— Pink Veronica ?️? (@riotgrrlriot) March 13, 2017
But then the trending topic did not just stop with Ghost In The Shell, it eventually became a platform to criticize the long-standing tradition of whitewashing Asian roles in Hollywood.
Recent examples include Tilda Swinton playing the part of the Ancient One in Doctor Strange or Emma Stone’s role in Aloha.
Tilda Edition #IAmMajor https://t.co/Cyu5IjlDbJ @helpmeskeletor @KellyKanayama
— Wei Ming Kam (@weimingkam) March 12, 2017
@ValerieComplex pic.twitter.com/uo3AeKyFQM
— Zwei (@ZweiXross) March 12, 2017
@helpmeskeletor @weimingkam @KellyKanayama @JennLi123 pic.twitter.com/d4yCHK6YOr
— VzA (@ValerieComplex) March 12, 2017
Even the upcoming Netflix series, Iron Fist was not spared.
@ValerieComplex @JennLi123 pic.twitter.com/fGLySmZv8z
— David Lo Pun-ch Nazi (@helpmeskeletor) March 11, 2017
As of present, Paramount has surprisingly not taken down the Ghost In The Shell meme generator.
What do you make of all of this? Hit the comments below and tell us what you think.
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