I know I said I wouldn’t post in this thread but I can’t resist anymore. All my points will be in the form of a point and my counterpoint.
Someone: I don’t think the casting is racist!I know, you’ve heard it all before, but let me tell you—these acts of racism were explicit. On the casting sheets, the casters called for “Caucasian or other” ethnicity. If you were casting for, say, Lord of the Rings, for instance, I would understand why you would go about casting “Caucasian or other” for Frodo. However, in a movie based on a television show that is steeped in Asian and Inuit culture, I think calling for “Caucasian or other” is inappropriate.
Not only this, but I want to call to attention the casting director herself, Deedee Ricketts. Here are some snippets of things that she and her crew have said during casting calls.
Apparently, people from Ulan Bator do not smile. I do not personally know anyone from Ulan Bator, but I am pretty sure they smile.
When asked what the Earth Kingdom looked like, she said this:
“Exotically Asians” are apparently those from Mongolia or Cambodia or Laos, and not only this, but apparently the stereotype for these people are “those who could be extras in a series based on Eastern traditions.” So apparently the only media Mongolians and Cambodians and Laotians can be represented in, according to Ricketts, are those of extras in cultures that they are not even a part of. And as for East Asians? We can’t even be in a movie about us.
First of all, I’d like to draw your attention to the term “authentic Asian,” because I’d like to remind you that “nonauthentic Asians” include people like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. If you do not know this clip, I suggest you look it up and watch it, and judge for yourself just exactly what nonauthentic Asian means. Additionally, apparently Mongolians, Cambodians and Laotians are “nonauthentic” Asians, because Ricketts argues that no, they are NOT casting “real” Asians. The Avatar world will be multi-ethnic. They
want to represent the real world in diversity, but then let me ask you this: Why then, would the heroes be white?
They did cast Inuit persons in this movie, as extras of the water tribe, which Katara and Sokka are from. Katara and Sokka are they only Caucasians shown thus far in the water tribe, aside from their grandmother (Gran-Gran). So, what this movie is telling us is that random white people who are somehow in the tribe are going to save the rest of it from the evil fire nation. Right.
In case you’re unaware, kimono are traditional Japanese wear. She is looking for the term “hanbok” here. And if you didn’t know, lederhosen are a traditional Bavarian clothing, which is Belgian in the way that Japanese is Korean. Fail.
Apparently Asians can do all this shit, and we do; I think this is what her assistant meant when he said this is what “we aren’t.” Because apparently we are a continent of gloomy people who basket weave all day.
I am going to leave this quote alone…
Someone: But… M Night Shyamalan is Indian!Yes, he is. In fact, the only reason he got into Avatar in the first place is because his daughter (who is, of course, Indian in ethnicity) wanted to dress up as Katara for Halloween. And in case you’re thinking that M Night Shyamalan is not at fault and does not have anything to do with the casting, think about the fact that he said that Nicola Peltz was the perfect Katara and that he wouldn’t have wanted to do the movie without her; he also reportedly only had a gut feeling like this once before in his career—casting Haley Joel in Sixth Sense. So, how will he excuse to his daughter that Katara is white?
You may think that it isn’t a problem, because children tend to not notice color as well as older people do. That’s true, but what’s also true is that this kind of media portrayal internalizes white supremacy and minority inferiority. Take, for instance, the
Kenneth and Mamie Clark Doll Experiments. Clearly, this was done during the civil rights movement, so of course the thinking of the little girls was skewed in this manner. So, Avatar shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Wrong. The entire Fire Nation (the warring faction, if you’re unfamiliar with Avatar) is comprised of Indian-American and Indian-British actors. This is, again, cementing a portrayal of the victory of white man over the colored man. You may say wait! But Zuko is a hero, and Zuko is played by Dev Patel. Yes, I realize this but…
Avatar Roku, who is Zuko’s maternal grandfather, is being played by Ben Cooke. While it is nice that this means Zuko is mixed-race and championing other racial issues in today’s society, it is also true that Zuko’s ‘good side’ is his mother’s side. Apparently, this means that his granddaddy has to be white, because of course, all darker-skinned people must be either evil or useless and in the background!
Someone: But they gave east Asians the earth nation![/b]
And surprise, surprise. They broke their promise to give us at least that. The only Earth Nation residents so far who have been given names are: Suki, and “Earthbending Father.” Earthbending Father is reputed to be played by a Korean man (yay!)
Suki, on the other hand, is being played by
Jessica Jade Andres. I believe she is Filipino, but really? They needed to get a white-looking girl to play Suki. I guess she's what they consider "authentic" Asian-- the tannish kind that ~*~weave baskets~*~ or something.
Someone: But they weren’t Asians anyway![/b]
Their world is steeped in Asian culture. They eat with chopsticks, some wear hanbok, the fire nation is famous for their topknots… as for Inuit culture, the Water Tribe is rich with it, as well. Also, if you hadn’t realized, everything in The Last Airbender cartoon depicts a writing style that is similar to Chinese, probably because it
is Chinese.
If you don’t believe that white people can’t live in a world like this, think about what would happen if we had cast Morgan Freeman to play Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. It just doesn’t make any sense. Lord of the Rings was never explicitly labeled a European-based fantasy, but it was implicitly depicted as thus in the text. Likewise, the creators of the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe went to great lengths to study Asian and Inuit culture to breathe life into it in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Before you go on to say that Aang didn’t even look Asian, let me ask you how “Asian” he has to look to look Asian.
Please refer here for that argument.
Someone: American Audiences can’t relate to an Asian cast!That is the kind of thinking we did thirty years ago. Before the 80s, blacks were also racially discriminated against in popular media. People didn’t think that an audience could relate to an audience of black people—after all, how could they?
I guess I should mention here that, although it’s been a long time coming, Will Smith is now the highest-paid male actor in Hollywood today. Halle Berry took home her Oscar in 2001, and Jennifer Hudson took hers home in 2008. So, can Americans relate to a movie with black people? Yes, we can.
Can Americans relate to a movie with Asians? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Memoirs of a Geisha. Slumdog Millionaire. Can we?
Someone: But… it’s just a movie!Yes, and it says a lot about our society. Something this small, such as a movie, shouldn’t have to be a problem. But… it is! And before you say that it doesn’t affect Asians, let me ask you: would you want to be discriminated against to get a job based on your race? What about your disabilities, your medical record, your age, your gender? They claimed to pick the best actors for the job, but if you’ll notice in the trailers, their acting is as wooden as their characters have become.
And speaking of which… why couldn’t Asians be the best actors? Why couldn’t they find
one east Asian actor who was better at martial arts than Noah Ringer? They couldn’t because they weren’t
looking. They were turning a blind eye to east Asian actors, and in
writing discriminated against them.
If they wanted to get the best actors for the job, they would have cast Meryl Streep. Just saying.
Someone: Is whitewashing such a big problem?[/b]
Yes, it is. It’s a huge problem in Hollywood today. Perhaps you have heard of the movie 21, which is about a group of MIT students who go gambling and beat the system and make a lot of money. Sounds awesome, right? That guy from Across the Universe is even the lead character, and he’s cute!
Did you know that the actual students who did this were mostly Asian? Yet, in this movie, they were pushed to the side. There was, perhaps, one token Asian guy. So yes, even when stories are supposed to be about
real-life Asians, we can’t even play ourselves.
Did you know that this occurs a lot? In fact, very recently, the movie “Extraordinary Measures,” starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraiser is guilty of this. The doctor depicted in the movie was Asian. Is Asian. And yet, people will see this movie and see Harrison Ford in his place. Whitewashing
is a problem.
Someone: I didn’t even notice the race of the actors; why is this such a big issue?You may not have noticed that the actors were white, and you may think that it isn’t a big problem, but let me say that ignoring race and seeing people for people, while it may sound good, is ignoring heritage as well. America is not a mixing pot and should not be; we are a salad bowl. I enjoy authentic Chinese food, and I enjoy my language, and to ignore it, to me, is a big issue. Looking beyond race and ethnicity to
avoid being prejudiced
against them is a good thing, but looking beyond race and ethnicity in a way that it hurts or insults one’s race and ethnicity, or someone else’s,
is not.
Think about it like this. You have a friend, and she’s Latina. You don’t treat her differently, because she’s Latina. Much like this, we are not supposed to treat the actors differently, just because they are white. But just know that, regardless of how you treat her, she may have had to suffer people asking if she speaks Spanish, asking her where from Mexico she is from, telling her to go back to her own country. Even if she was born and raised in Kansas. Just because you don’t treat her differently, doesn’t mean she has never been a victim of racism. It doesn’t mean America is over racism, and it certainly doesn’t mean that racism doesn’t exist.
Someone: There are so many other issues in the world; why get your panties in a knot over this?This issue is particularly easy to argue and because the issue here is a boycott, the way to get people involved is to ask people to keep their money in their pocket and
not waste two hours to go see a crappy movie. Therefore, this is the easiest way, in my opinion, to let people know about different kinds of racism and also that they can take a stand against it by
not sacrificing time and money. It would probably be a lot more meaningful to argue some other cases… but someone has to do this one. And what a place to start.
Someone: Ok, well, what do the creators have to say?By contract, they are not able to say anything. However, after the casting was announced, please notice that one of them drew this:
Someone: Look, even if everyone you know doesn’t go see it, it will still make money.That’s the kind of attitude that lets Hollywood get away with this kind of thing continually. It is a boycott, and it’s bigger than you think.
Someone: Well lots of adaptations are different! Not everything has to be the same![/b]
Those adaptations are probably also not racist. I don't like the serious tone of The Last Airbender but that's not what this is about.
Someone: Yeah, well… I really love Avatar the cartoon, so I want to see this![/b]
Have you seen the trailer? It’s very serious. Aang never smiles. The colors are muted. Sokka is no longer the meat and funny guy—just the meat guy. Think about how that would make him look—misogynistic, right? With all his jokes.
Additionally, because of bad writing, Katara has become a murderer by negligence. Zuko’s backstory is gutted, which means no, we will probably never find where Ursa is.
Not to mention, Hollywood loves romance, so be prepared for an onslaught of that.
If you don’t go see this movie because it’s racist, please don’t go see this movie just because the only thing decent about it is the effects. Seriously.