Avatar Casting Rumors Cause Fandom Tremors
- By Mara Greengrass
- Published 12/14/2008
- Movies
-
Rating:
Mara Greengrass
I'm a 30-something work-at-home mom. I divide my time between working as a freelance writer/editor, taking care of my husband and kids, and various fannish pursuits.
In my past life, I was a writer, editor, PR flunky, administrative assistant, and archaeologist. (No, not at the same time.)
Say you had a hit cartoon filled with obviously Asian and Inuit characters, from their skin color through their architecture, writing, and clothing. And say you'd decided to make a live-action movie with those characters.
Who would you cast to play, for example, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe? Why, of course it would be the extremely white and non-native Nicola Peltz, right?
Not if you're a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the amazing American-based cartoon that showed fans a fantasy world that, for once, wasn't based on European mythology. No, Avatar fandom has erupted in anger since Entertainment Weekly's website ran a December 9 article listing the apparent picks for the live-action movie, The Last Airbender.
In the past few days, rumblings have been heard in comments and postings around the Internet, as fans who reveled in the beauty of the Avatar world reeled at the news that their favorite characters might be portrayed by an all-white cast (partially picked at a casting call in . . . Texas, that noted hub of Asian and Inuit people).
"Acting ability aside, no it is NOT RIGHT," argues Glockgal. "The Avatar animated series is mired with and 100% composed of Asian influences. The world, the cultures, the people, the costumes, the script, the belief systems, the references, the mythology-- everything is Asian-or-Inuit based. Casting all-white actors to play roles that should go to fully capable Asian/PoC actors is insulting and discriminatory."
For a cartoon that began with the news of near-total genocide against the title character's entire culture, an all-white cast is a pretty low blow. And rather misses the point of the cartoon.
As Vagabond_sal says, "[The creators] made a conscious effort, a committed effort, a noble effort. They did their research. They did the leg-work. They hired historical consultants to help them fashion one of the most nuanced, challenging universes in contemporary speculative fiction. They hired martial arts masters to work with their animators. . . . They researched architecture and cuisine.
They did all the things you're supposed to do, and then decided that that wasn't enough, so they doubled their efforts on top of that."
And over on a post at /film, commenter Carolyn says "The characters in the cartoon are clearly of an ASIAN decent. . . . The fact that a blond kid is playing Prince Zuko WILL ruin the Avatar franchise. Nobody wants to see a bunch of dull white kids pretending to have deep cultural roots. I am so scared to see M. Night kill my favorite show!"
Angry Black Woman speaks for many fans, saying, "[I]f this is really the cast they’re planning to go with, I will definitely be boycotting this movie, and urging everyone I know to do the same."
It's safe to say that fandom isn't going to shut up or go away when it comes to this issue, so it should be interesting to see if The Powers That Be even notice the brouhaha.
If you want to join the letter-writing campaign and make your voice heard, head on over to Aang Ain't White and Glockgal's LJ post for information on who to write to and suggested talking points. There's also a Facebook group, which can be found here.
Many fans have commented on the irony of non-white director M. Night Shyamalan--who apparently discovered Avatar because his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween--choosing white actors. What can we say, except...Hollywood strikes again.
Commenter Izzybelbooks at Deadbrowalking nails this issue dead on with perfect sarcasm: "I'm sure it's just because there are no good Asian actors out there. Right? Really. Honest. Not one Asian actor to be found in all of Hollywood. And certainly none anywhere else in the world. Besides, if they cast it with real Asians, American audiences wouldn't go see the movie. You know, like how we didn't go see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or any of those other Asian fantasy/adventure movies."
Here's hoping that maybe this once, Hollywood will come to its senses, and The Last Airbender will feature actors who look like the characters they portray. Hey, it could happen, right? Right?
Who would you cast to play, for example, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe? Why, of course it would be the extremely white and non-native Nicola Peltz, right?
Not if you're a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the amazing American-based cartoon that showed fans a fantasy world that, for once, wasn't based on European mythology. No, Avatar fandom has erupted in anger since Entertainment Weekly's website ran a December 9 article listing the apparent picks for the live-action movie, The Last Airbender.
In the past few days, rumblings have been heard in comments and postings around the Internet, as fans who reveled in the beauty of the Avatar world reeled at the news that their favorite characters might be portrayed by an all-white cast (partially picked at a casting call in . . . Texas, that noted hub of Asian and Inuit people).
"Acting ability aside, no it is NOT RIGHT," argues Glockgal. "The Avatar animated series is mired with and 100% composed of Asian influences. The world, the cultures, the people, the costumes, the script, the belief systems, the references, the mythology-- everything is Asian-or-Inuit based. Casting all-white actors to play roles that should go to fully capable Asian/PoC actors is insulting and discriminatory."
For a cartoon that began with the news of near-total genocide against the title character's entire culture, an all-white cast is a pretty low blow. And rather misses the point of the cartoon.
As Vagabond_sal says, "[The creators] made a conscious effort, a committed effort, a noble effort. They did their research. They did the leg-work. They hired historical consultants to help them fashion one of the most nuanced, challenging universes in contemporary speculative fiction. They hired martial arts masters to work with their animators. . . . They researched architecture and cuisine.
And over on a post at /film, commenter Carolyn says "The characters in the cartoon are clearly of an ASIAN decent. . . . The fact that a blond kid is playing Prince Zuko WILL ruin the Avatar franchise. Nobody wants to see a bunch of dull white kids pretending to have deep cultural roots. I am so scared to see M. Night kill my favorite show!"
Angry Black Woman speaks for many fans, saying, "[I]f this is really the cast they’re planning to go with, I will definitely be boycotting this movie, and urging everyone I know to do the same."
It's safe to say that fandom isn't going to shut up or go away when it comes to this issue, so it should be interesting to see if The Powers That Be even notice the brouhaha.
If you want to join the letter-writing campaign and make your voice heard, head on over to Aang Ain't White and Glockgal's LJ post for information on who to write to and suggested talking points. There's also a Facebook group, which can be found here.
Many fans have commented on the irony of non-white director M. Night Shyamalan--who apparently discovered Avatar because his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween--choosing white actors. What can we say, except...Hollywood strikes again.
Commenter Izzybelbooks at Deadbrowalking nails this issue dead on with perfect sarcasm: "I'm sure it's just because there are no good Asian actors out there. Right? Really. Honest. Not one Asian actor to be found in all of Hollywood. And certainly none anywhere else in the world. Besides, if they cast it with real Asians, American audiences wouldn't go see the movie. You know, like how we didn't go see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or any of those other Asian fantasy/adventure movies."
Here's hoping that maybe this once, Hollywood will come to its senses, and The Last Airbender will feature actors who look like the characters they portray. Hey, it could happen, right? Right?
Spread The Word
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Related Links
- Picspam showing the people, architecture, writing, and landscape
- Angry Asian Man's take
- Tablesaw has something to say too, and a lot of interesting comments
- Pajiba is not impressed
- IMDB listing for the movie--check out the message boards at the bottom of the page
- The Avatar Wiki
- Ciderpress on Why This Matters
Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Danielle St. Jean)
Rating:
At first I wasn't so bothered by the casting for this movie...or should I say, I wasn't surprised. I thought about it a little more though and I've become frustrated with this notion that fantasy has to feature all white casts. Why is this the case? This story was set in an entirely Asian world, so what changed in the leap to live-action? There are a lot of people offended by this, and rightly so. Sadly, I feel that if Paramount gets the message from fans, they won't listen to it...I'm curious about what the creators, Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, think about this.
Comment #2 (Posted by jbone)
Rating:
yeah i was upset they couldnt find anyone who could fly too.
Listen I know you all are miffed about casting white people..but this is 2008 and there are all SORTS of CG they can do. Dont knock the movie till you see if.
Comment #3 (Posted by Melissa)
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Yes, this *is* 2008. So if they try to CGI the actors in yellowface, the rest of us will know that it's wrong, degrading and racist like the rest of this FUBAR casting.
Comment #4 (Posted by Lucy Gillam)
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You're right, jbone. This is 2008. Which means the people making this movie should KNOW BETTER.
Comment #5 (Posted by Stella)
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I am so sick and tired of the white men who put their ignorant and privleged thumbs all over popular culture.
Comment #6 (Posted by Maryclare)
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My kids and I are all horrified. If this casting goes through, no way would we watch this movie, anymore than I'd watch Hallmark's bastardised version of Earthsea.
Comment #7 (Posted by ATLAANBenderToph)
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yes, i'm a megafan. but i'm not just taking the mad side because of that. i actually think that what paramount is doing is wrong. m. night should know better. at least make the water tribe indian or something! i am going to write a letter. u can believe that.
Comment #8 (Posted by angry_asian_chick)
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Yes, I think what they're doing is 100% wrong.
I never realized it until now but I always crave diversity in movies. Like, in that 4rth Harry Potter movie, I was soooo excited that an Indian girl actually had a sorta major role(meaning, she was on screen for like, more than 5 seconds lol).
Why doesn't Hollywood realize that diversity is actually a *good* thing? Because, no offense to anyone, but I'm tired of seeing the same old boring one color casts.
I mean, this is AVATAR we're talking about here! And this story's definitely not European like Lord of the Rings so it makes absolutely no sense to have an all white cast for it!
I mean really, arn't we living in ObamaLand now? The land of change and diversity? Hm, guess we still have quite a few more centuries to go before full acceptance occurs. Too bad.
Comment #9 (Posted by lis)
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This movie will be destroyed...i was really hoping for asian actors and unknowns!
Comment #10 (Posted by WTF)
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I actually don't think ANY of the leads should be white. They should be Asian and Inuit/Native American. I just find it amazing people find an ALL Asian cast inappropriate but yet did not blink an eye at Lord of the Rings being all white, which I didn't have a problem with. So let's keep this one true to that spirit and make it Asian and Inuit. I know I'm dreaming Hollywood would ever do that.
Comment #11 (Posted by Tres)
Rating:
The first time I saw the casting I thought, "they're joking, right? This is just a silly rumor going around on the internet, right?" But apparently, it's not. And I'm utterly dissapointed that the cast is ALL WHITE. To see a show so beautifully crafted and diverse be ruined by one simple yet huge thing such as casting is a disgrace to fans. I mean, the show is CLEARLY of Asian and Inuit influences, and yet they decided to completely ignore the roots in which the show is based off of and make the whole cast white.
Putting the talent these actors may have aside, I am completely horrified that Hollywood would make such a low blow.
If Paramount decides not to change the casting, then I DEFINITELY will be boycotting this movie and will be telling everyone I know to do the same. I'm just afraid that despite all the protest and fuss and letter-writting we're doing, Paramount and the casting agency and everyone else who plays a significant role in this movie's creation and production will not listen.
Comment #12 (Posted by Diya)
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WTF? Whites portraying characters obviously asian...blackface anyone?
What, are asian people not good enough to portray themselves? Oh no, the poor white actor is losing a job to someone not-white! Seriously, the white actors have much better chances of getting another role than asian actors.
This better be a joke. How ridiculous would these white actors look portraying characters with names like Aang, Zuko, Mai, Jeong Jeong, Long Feng, and Yang Chen?
Comment #13 (Posted by fuckno)
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i'm so bothered. i'm OUTRAGED at this. I'M so angry. I'm sending a letter to those racist pigs now.
>:(
Comment #14 (Posted by Michelle)
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I have been against this ever since they said they were making a live action film. Sorry, but CGI or no, live action will not capture the magic and fantasy of the cartoon. It ain't gonna happen.
The small glimmer of chance there was that I might see this movie was completely snuffed out when I heard about the casting. It's sad, disrespectful and wrong. I've already written my letter and mailed it off. It is a slap in the face to people of color in general. Screw all that crap about "they don't look asian" or "it's about the acting". Everything about the show screams "Asia! Asia!" The food, the clothes, the architecture, the customs, hell, even the names. Acting has nothing to do with it; it's the disregard for the spirit of the show, which is wholly Asian, that people are pissed about. If you think that an all white cast isn't a big deal you're as brainwashed as Hollywood wants you to be. Here we have an epic story where, for once, the heros are non-white, and rather than cast them as they are depicted (people of color), Hollywood immediately jumps to what will sell: white. We, the fans of this show, are not dumbasses; we kinda noticed that a bunch of white folk are portraying people who are obviously ethnic/non-white. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the characters are Asian and non-white: Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Indian, etc.; the water tribe inhabitants are clearly of Inuit/Native American origins. It's impossible that the producers were unable to find people to better fit the roles who were of proper, or at least closer, descent and wouldn't need to "get a tan" or change their hair to look like they were a race they are not. A person of mexican descent could have played Sokka or Katara if it was just too hard to find Inuit/Native American actors. (I refuse to accept that Asian actors could not be found for Aang, Zuko, etc...that's just them being lazy and wanting the cast they have). Casting one person of color is not a band-aid for the issue either. They've cast Dev Patel as Zuko; personally, I don't think he'd work well at all as Zuko. He looks like a better Sokka to me. They grabbed him simply because of all of the buzz "Slumdog" has made plus they thought having one non-white cast member would shut the fans up. Can you say token? Plus, hello?, don't forget: for the majority of the story Zuko is the BAD guy. The dark person cast as the bad guy...what a shock. Plus, having him as Zuko will trickle down into how they cast for Azula, Ozai and the rest of the fire nation, who always appear to be closer to Japanese/Chinese than Indian. The producers are saying they want a more diverse world for this movie so they're casting more non-Asians; it's bullsht b/c that's not staying true to the source of the material, in which the whole world is south and east Asian, specific to the regions of the Avatar world. Plus, if that were the case, why are the main characters cast WHITE? This isn't like some 60 year old book adaptation. The show just wrapped like a year ago; it's still fresh in people's minds. And doing a complete 180 in regards to casting and creating the world is not going to fly with the fans. I hope they make the movie with the cast they have and spend a crap-load of money on it. Then, I hope it completely FLOPS at the box office. Maybe then people will see how crappy Shyamalan is as a filmmaker and they'll see that just because you film a movie and slap "The Last Airbender" on it doesn't make it equal or true to the show nor does it make it acceptable to the people who love and supported the original work.
Comment #15 (Posted by Solon L Quinn)
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This is a very simple case of "follow the money trail." M. Night Shyamalan is an extremely intelligent filmmaker who believes in creating films that address social injustice. His previous films contain a wonderful amount of peace promoting, thought provoking, material. If I had to take a guess, it would be that the studio heads presented him with an ultimatum; You can do the film with white actors, or not do it at all. Unfortunately this does not clear Mr. Shyamalan of any responsibility. The only choice that could possibly be worse is hiring white actors and making them up to appear Asian, ie black face for the Asian population. In either case this is a shameful display of hollywood racism, and though it is not surprising, it is heartbreaking. Imagine the parents of Asian children, (I'm adopted myself with German-Irish parents) sitting through the truly wonderful experience of the cartoon, Avatar series only to later have to explain to their ten year old son or daughter, why the characters who they've fallen in love with and who look like them have now changed race. Mr. Shyamalan, I know that from your previous works you are a person who believes in fighting the good fight. I would like to remind you of the words a wise man once said. Simply put, "Be the change you want to see."
Comment #16 (Posted by racebender bob)
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WTF! White people for an asian movie? WTF! They got Downey Jr. to play a black guy in Tropic Thunder, but as a JOKE. Now they got all white people to play asians/inuits. This movie will be a joke.
Comment #17 (Posted by american)
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what's the problem? everyone Knows asian ppl can't act.
Comment #18 (Posted by atelierboz)
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It's so funny that everyone says race dosent matter, when the biggest issue here is the fact hollywood always attempts to cast cacaussian people in a good light. For all you desbelievers why is Zoku(the evil one) a minority. Exactly as usual it's the good and supreme white race agaisnt all the evil people of color
Comment #19 (Posted by NoniBeryJuice)
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This pisses me off badly. I hate when people cast White actors for ethnic roles as if we who are ethnic are ourselves aren't good enough to portray our people. What pisses me off is Whites (not all of them) in movies are always sampling cultures without respecting the people that make up the cultures.
Comment #20 (Posted by SukMahBallzMNight)
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Everybody knows that white people invented martial arts and that white people will save the brown people from themselves. Cause white makes right! /sarcasm
Comment #21 (Posted by Callie)
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I'm so glad I'm not alone on this topic! I may not be Asian, In fact I'm black, however I agree that the movie should be portrayed the way the show is. An ASIAN background. I cannot look at the cast and call them "Aang" and "Zuko" and definitely NOT Katara and Sokka. People might say that the american public wont see the movie if its a cultural cast but was in not the american public who voted for obama? or introduced black history month? how about all the white people flooding the theatres to see Slumdog Millionaire? and what about the people who even watched the tv show Avatar? Alot of these people where white. and if not, then America is not made up of white people alone. there are other races. CHANGE THE CAST IT IS NOT TOO LATE!!!! LET THEM FIND OTHER MOVIES TO STAR IN!!! THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT OF US WHO WILL BOYCOTT HOLLYWOOD FILMS IF THIS "WHITE-WASH" KEEPS UP!!!!!
Comment #22 (Posted by Hanna)
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'scuse me comment #17, but obviously you need go to japan. Take a visit. have a hot spring bath. and maybe you'll see that white people aren't the only ones with talent. I'm sick of seeing white people take up all the good roles and all Asians, Hispanics and blacks are left with are the roles that are a)bad guys, b)dumb guys c)creepy shop owners d)background/x-tra e)good role but ends up killed by the 5th scene... I mean who has ever heard of a white guy beating all the Asians in tae-kwon-do? Hollywood is so racist. And you wonder why Tyler Perry is NOT associated with them anymore. People who still live in the past need to accept the fact that white wash is no longer going to win them a large audience any more. times have changed and you shoulnd have to be white to get the good parts in a movie and we shouldn't still be arguing about racism in 2009-10
Comment #23 (Posted by eccentric_solidified)
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It's only a movie. Who cares? Asians have played Native roles and no one raised a stink back then, except for some Natives and did anyone listen or care? Nope. Why should this be any different? Also, Avatar isn't 100% Asian what with the redneck sounding Swamp Tribe and the Mesoamerican inspired Sun Warriors. To these folks against the supposed "racebending" these two non-Asian cultures should take a back seat to the Asian presences. Oh, much like real NDNs have taken a back seat when a lot of other ethnicities played their roles and I don't mean whites.
Comment #24 (Posted by kaleb)
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Avatar the last Airbender with a white cast, would be like Lord of the Rings with an asian cast, it's not realistic and will most likely not be taken seriously.
Comment #25 (Posted by an unknown user)
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Just a thought - Aang, Katara, and Sokka aren't totally Asian in appearance - Aang's eyes are grey and all the Water Tribes have blue eyes, probably because the animators chose eye colors that matched that race's element.
However, the cultures ARE undeniably Asian. The whole backstory and set up of the world are basically an allegory representing the cultures, geography, and 20th century history of several Asian countries. The Fire Nation is Japan, The Earth Kingdom is China, The Air Nomads are Tibetan Buddhist monks, and the Water Tribes are the Inuits and other tribes inhabiting the Arctic. It's not perfect - obviously, China controls Tibet, so it was Mao's Cultural Revolution that victimized the Buddhists there, not Japan's empire-building - but some parts of it do work really well.
Anyway, I agree that the movie should be more true the cultural aspects of the show, but I'll give the kids a chance.
Comment #26 (Posted by A dissapointed fan)
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This is really disapointing. Just as everyone is saying here, the cast must be Asian or Inuit. They should take some pointers from the "DeathNote LiveAction" movie. You didn't see them using white actors for the asian charactors and it turned out great. Common sence HollyWood!
Comment #27 (Posted by Darnitrea)
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Okay hello i find it really ironic that Katara and Sokka Are Not Native America In The Movie Because I Did some Research And The Water Tribe is Native america and african America And i think That this needs to be issued This is Racist And its really Sad that People Cant get over Racism !!!!