Scarlett Johansson has noted that Ghost in the Shell represented a rare opportunity for a woman to star in a studio-backed action film. Tilda Swinton and her Doctor Strange filmmakers also have noted that gender-bending The Ancient One was a positive step for female representation. What do you make of their points?
Kato-Kiriyama: It's trying to get the conversation away from race yet again. Sure, it's a great role for women. I don't know if kick-ass white woman action stars is such a void, but even that aside, it's trying to step over the dead body. That's fine when there are empowered characters who are women, but that's not what we're talking about. We're actually talking about race. Can we just stay here for a little bit?
Okatsuka: When white feminists don't know what to say about race, they go for the feminist thing. That's what happened with the Women's March. When women of color were like, ”Will you be there, though, for the next march, when the next black kid gets shot? Will you be there when women of color need you?" they were like, ”Wasn't it great for women all around?"
Kato-Kiriyama: To the argument they were making through Doctor Strange about not wanting to create the Fu Manchu character, it's like, well, then don't.
Okatsuka: Give them words to speak that aren't stereotypical.
Kato-Kiriyama: ”If I stick an Asian there, they're gonna be too Oriental." That's how you see us. If you can't see an Asian actor as a fully dimensional human being...
