Above: Johansson in a promotion still from the "Ghost in the Shell" adaptation, juxtaposed with her character from the original anime.

"Ghost in the Shell" was one of my favorite anime growing up. When I heard that in the live action movie adaptation producers chose Scarlett Johansson to play the protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi, I was floored. With movies that have hugely successful people of color actors playing protagonists, many are saying that racism in the film industry is dead. However, what they're not noticing is that Asians are still consistently getting the short end of the stick. Yes, white actors are no longer donning yellow makeup and slanted eyeliner to play the part of Asian characters. Instead, either the Asian aspect of the character is erased, or we are just expected to accept that this white actor is Asian for the sake of the role. Come on Hollywood, you're not fooling anyone. While people may say, "they just chose the best person for the part, there aren't enough Asian actors to choose from, there are plenty of Asian roles as it is", these comments promote racism against Asians both in the movie theaters, and in our minds. Here's why:

1. "They just chose the best person for the role."

Above: Emma stone in "Aloha" playing Allison Ng, a woman of Chinese and Hawaiian descent.

A common argument in favor of whitewashing is that the studio objectively chose the actor who gave the best audition for the part. This argument is especially prevalent when the actor is a big name, such as Emma Stone in "Aloha" (white woman playing an Asian / Pacific Islander woman) or Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games" (white woman playing a mixed race / olive-skinned woman).

However, what many people don't realize is that many times studios don't even give Asian actors the chance to audition. Either the studio reaches out to the big name actor to give them the role on the spot, or casting calls are severely limited to people of specific (racialized!) appearances. For example, the casting call for "The Last Airbender", a film adaptation of an animated series set in a fantasy Asian setting, called for "Caucasian or any other ethnicity" for the protagonists, and for extras to be people of color: "If you're Korean, wear a kimono!"

While it may be easy to think that your favorite white actor was the best person for the role, it's important to keep in mind that the best person for the role may not have even been invited, and that person might have even been Asian.

2. "There aren't enough Asian Americans to choose from."

First: Actor Constance Wu Photoshopped as Katniss Everdeen in a poster for "Mockingjay Part 2".

Second: Actor John Cho Photoshopped into posters for "The Martian", "Me Before You", and "Avengers: Age of Ultron".

Another common objection is that there just aren't that many Asian actors in Hollywood. With very few Asian actors seen in movie or film, some people might just not think they exist.

The problem is, they do exist. They're just not getting roles.

Twitter campaigns such as #starringjohncho, and more recently, #starringconstancewu, illustrate these two Asian actors as protagonists in popular contemporary films. This campaign is an attempt to show that while the actors of these popular films are white, they could have just as easily been played by an Asian actor with little change to the tone of the film.

While people may think that there just aren't enough Asian actors, John Cho and Constance Wu are only two examples of Asian actors who just haven't broken into the mainstream popular movie culture. When people say "there's just no Asian actors to cast", John Cho and Constance Wu are standing at the front of the line, impatiently tapping their toes.

3. "There are plenty of Asian roles as is."

First: Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow in "The Hangover".

Second: Katie Leung as Cho Chang in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix".

While Asian actors playing Asian characters is not commonplace, it would be wrong to say that none exist. Many people argue that the amount of Asian characters in film is enough to say that no further progress needs to be made. Furthermore, casting more Asian actors might even be too many.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

While there certainly are Asian actors playing Asian characters in films, even popular films such as "The Hangover" and "Harry Potter", it's important to think critically about the roles these actors are being cast in. Asian men are often cast as the comic relief, nerd who never gets laid, or as a mystical villain. Asian women are often cast as the quiet schoolgirl or the sex goddess. While these certainly are roles, nothing about these roles create a positive way to see Asian people. While it is imperative that there are more roles for Asian actors, it is also imperative that these roles are meaningful.

Asian actors deserve more roles, and better roles. However, they will never get them unless we as an audience both notice the injustice and demand change. You can start the change this summer: You will most likely take the opportunity to cool off in a movie theater and check out the latest blockbuster hit. I implore you to not only enjoy the movie, but think about who's in it, and more importantly, who's left out.