Whitewashing, you can't get away from it.

If you're into entertainment, you've likely seen or heard of the recent whitewashing controversy surrounding the casting of white actors for the traditionally non-white lead roles for the Hollywood live-action film "Ghost in the Shell" and Netflix's "Death Note," both based off of two hit Japanese mangas. Some people argue that what Hollywood and Netflix are doing isn't whitewashing, but rather "Americanizing."

Well, can someone explain to me clearly and simply what "Americanizing" is supposed to be without bringing race or ethnicity into it? Anyone? No one? Yeah, I didn't think so. That's because for most people "Americanizing" IS whitewashing, no matter what name you try to camouflage it with.

What else is it when a white person is cast as a character with a clearly ethnic name and appearance? If you even consider having to alter an actor's appearance to fit the ethnicity of a character or choose to forgo a character's name in order to reduce or eliminate a clear discrepancy between said name and appearance, then you are whitewashing.

Here's a simple non-whitewashing example to show how important it is to be true to a character: what if Harry Potter were always and only referred to as "the boy who lived?" Imagine if Professor Snape always sneered "the boy who lived" at Harry instead of his trademark "Potter."

Not happening right? That's because he's frigging HARRY POTTER and not just "the boy who lived." So if it doesn't work for Harry Potter, it doesn't make sense that it's okay to change or ignore major traits of other lead characters just because they aren't white in origin. If you think otherwise, you've probably been whitewashed too.