Hollywood’s Diversity Dilemma

John Cho has been cast as Spike Spiegel in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the acclaimed anime “Cowboy Bepop,” Netflix announced.

The announcement of Cho, who is Korean-American, shows progress of proper representation in Hollywood. For a town that prides themselves on their liberal morals, whitewashing remains a controversy to this day. From Scarlett Johansson as the Japanese protagonist in “Ghost in the Shell,” Justin Chatwin playing Goku in “Dragonball: Evolution” and Mike Myers playing a guru in “The Love Guru” just to name few.

Controversies of white actors playing ethnic roles has caused people to take action into their own hands. In 2016, the social media campaign #StarringJohnCho showed what major films would look like if they cast Asian and Asian-American actors like Cho in lead roles instead.

“Cowboy Bepop” has been described as one of the most appealing anime to western audiences. Its popularity in America is greater than in its home country of Japan, where it suffered low ratings. Netflix faces pressure from dedicated fans, especially after their recent flops of other popular anime adaptations. A release date for the Netflix series has yet to be announced.