Just a small nitpick, but Casper Van Dien played Johnnie in the film adaptation, not Matt Damon. Not that it makes things better.
I remember reading Starship Troopers as a boy and being amazed in that little scene where Johnnie reveals that his real name is actually Juan and the language he grew up speaking at home was Tagalog. It was the first time ever I’ve seen an Asian character as a lead protagonist in a sci-fi. The film version ensured that Johnnie was forever whitewashed. Now in any Starship Troopers spin-off I see him in, he’s always portrayed as a white man.
They couldn’t even get a single Asian cast on the crew of the Serenity even though Firefly’s universe is supposedly filled with Chinese people and Chinese culture has permeated every facet of life in the 'verse.
