The trailer for the Netflix live-action 'Death Note' is something

Look, there is a lot of buzz around the upcoming Death Note live-action film that Netflix is bringing us this summer. I don't know enough about the anime or manga to get into it all that much, but the "whitewashing" of the main character seems a bit weird; Although I get it from a marketing perspective. 

I have no problem with Scarlett Johansson taking on the main role in Ghost in the Shell for a number of reasons, the creator being super cool with it helps and it high among them. The issue I really have with Death Note is that it takes place in the modern-day, and is pretty heavily tied to Japan and that culture. 

I totally understand moving the main plot/story of the anime to the United States, as Netflix has a larger Western audience, but also because the anime already exists, as well as live-action stuff in Japan. That being said, I still would have loved to see a Japanese kid playing the lead, as it could have brought a nice twist to the story that so many people already know.

There isn't enough representation in films and television as it is, (an argument for another time) but removing that representation from projects built around other ethnicities seems like, at the very least, a dick move. And whatever you might think of the film, it's going to push more people to check out the anime and manga, which is always a good thing.

Here is a small taste from the broad spectrum of comments that the trailer is getting: