Since we now know what the actors will look like playing the characters, a new comparison image has been created.
Yes, Zuko is seen and portrayed as the enemy in Book 1 – which we assume will be covered in this first movie. Yes, we know he is eventually redeemed and he’s conflicted and we love him for it.
However, Paramount Pictures doesn’t give a damn what fans know about Zuko, because us fans won’t provide them with the main revenue. Their concern is hooking movie-goers who haven’t even heard about Avatar: The Last Airbender to see a movie about brave white-skinned heroes battling the angry dark-skinned enemies.
Casey, the “reverse racism” card is never appropriate, because the discrimination white people face has never been in any way equivalent to that faced by people of color in the U.S. When white actors have endured the following for, oh, let’s say a century, I’ll worry for them a little more:
–Having to put on “whiteface” to perform even though they’re white, as African-American actor Bert Williams had to wear blackface to perform for white audiences.
–Being shut out of Hollywood altogether so that they had to form their own studios to make what were called “race movies,” as African-Americans had to do in early Hollywood if they didn’t want to play servants.
–Seeing Asians with tape on the corners of their eyes get all the “white guy parts” as Mr. Moto was played by Peter Lorre, and Charlie Chan was played by three white men.
–Seeing most of the white parts go to Native Americans painted white. Johnny Depp has recently been cast as Tonto.
My ex-husband is an actor. He was passed over for roles because he wasn’t tall enough, didn’t have a classically “handsome” enough face, and for other such “unfair” reasons that had nothing to do with his talent. Never was he passed over for a role because his whiteness was a burden in the industry.
Our overriding perception is that white people can play any race. But if an African-America woman were to play Queen Elizabeth, for example, her color would be not be seen as irrelevant or neutral, would it?
@ Laurel: I couldn’t agree more with everything you stated. The very idea that whites face racial discrimination at least at a very significant scale the way people of color have historically and even today is the most absurd LIE! I would probably laugh if the situation in reality wasn’t as bad as it really is! I mean this movie alone is just one of countless examples of how whites usurp roles for people of color as if they aren’t satisfied with the 95% roles made specifically for whites!! I mean think about it. 95% of all movie and TV roles are specifically made for white characters. It’s understandable considering whites make up the majority of the populace, however when you have 3% of roles open to characters of ‘any ethnicity’, 8 times out of 10 those roles still go to whites. So all you’re left with is the 2% left to non-whites which is relegated to the usual racial stereotypes! Oh and I can’t tell you how SICK I am of hearing that STUPID illogical claim that discrimination “works both ways” and that to give a role to a person of color would mean automatic discrimination to whites as stated by the likes of Casey!! That is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard!! That’s like saying picking a man to play the role of a MALE character would be sex discrimination against women!! It’s simple as that! All the movies made about the legendary king of Briton, King Arthur, had white men play the part. No people of color or women complained.Why? Because King Arthur was a white man. If someone were to make a movie about the equally legendary King of Mali West Africa, Sundiata, wouldn’t it make sense to choose a black man?? Or if someone were to make a movie about the legendary Japanese queen Pimiko, wouldn’t it make sense to choose an east Asian woman?? Of course these are all historical figures, but the same practice should be applied with fantasy. I mean Gandalf the Gray, Aragon, and Frodo Baggins from Lord of Rings were played by white people considering that the fantasy world is based on Nordic setting. Why the hell is it that now that we have a non-European fantasy world that is Asian that all of the characters STILL get to be played by whites?! It is nonsensical, and it is nothing more than whites maintaining supremacy on all things in Hollywood, even if it is originally non-white!
And for all you “color-blind” people who are blinded by ignorance and cling to the fantasy of choosing actors by talent and not by race, I suggest you read this article here: http://chatter.plotstorm.com/2008/12/11/airbending-racism/
Well, you would think in this global society when the world is getting smaller and smaller, hollywood would “brighten” up and seize the opportunities abroad. Paramount has missed so many opportunities with this one.
When the movie comes out, it will be a joke. You will see caucasian, south asian characters dressed in distinctively east asian (chinese, korean and japanese costumes)and fight martial arts. The audience around the world will look at it and go…huh?
Let’s not kid ourselves here. Everyone know Avatar is a fantasy story but all fantasy are grounded in some type of reality. After years of chinese martial arts movies most notable Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the world audience are quite informed and sophisticated. They already knows and have expectation what east asian fantasies world should look like.
Such a waste of film rolls.
BTW thanks for the link Lord Kai. The site is quite interesting and informative. Bravo for logic and common sense.
Bushimoka or Joshua?,
so it isn’t racism in lord of the rings if the whole cast is white. We can do both good deeds and attack Hollywood at the same time. We don’t have to be limited. I do not think that my race (Filipino) would be depicted in a faithful interpretation of the movie but I would still support it for its accuracy and because I am interested. Also, NON ASIANS and NON INUITS playing those roles would be laughable and is why the movie will be bad. IF lor can do it have a whole world with white people why can’t atla do it with asians. I watched Lor and i did not accuse them of racism because it was understandable that the world was based on medieval europe.
Lord-Kai, I suspect a lot of whitefolks(a la Casey)get upset when race comes up because we don’t want to think of ourselves as racists–heck, nobody does.
To me, “racism” signifies the continuation of the pervasive but subtle cultural favoritism that allows white people to benefit from our privilege without realizing such privilege exists. There’s a conception among a lot of Caucasian-Americans that even bringing up the subject of “racism” is the same thing as saying all white people are hateful, murderous, sheet-wearing jerks. That’s a defense mechanism, and I wish I knew how to work around it–how to convince people that examining unexamined beliefs is a worthy project, and that discovering a “bad thought” in one’s mind doesn’t necessarily make one a bad person.
I suspect we all resist change because it’s scary. How cool is it that Avatar, a show that provides us a place to examine such issues, exists?
^ Yes James, your welcome. What I find really pathetic, is the excuse from the producers that this movie wouldn’t do well in that it won’t attract many “mainstream” (white) children if the main characters were asian!! The producers are either lying to themselves or they are just plain DUMB, because how else did the cartoon series ‘Avatar the Last Aibender’ become such a successful hit in the first place if it wasn’t for “mainstream” children??!! Do they really think small children are racist enough to not go see a movie because it stars asians?!! Look at the Disney & Pixar movie ‘UP’! Notice the child character in that movie is asian. The idiotic producers had doubts that an asian character wouldn’t attract audiences, but apparently all the child fans didn’t care and the movie was a success anyway! This comes to show that the only ones who don’t want to see asians on the big screen are the Hollywack producers themselves!
And I hope this movie bombs only to get our point straight to their thick moronic skulls!
Poor Bushimoka…you are so misguided. Only if you knew the truth. Those people probably don’t know or don’t care. You sicken me with your racism and ignorance. People like you are the reason we have this problem. Guess what…
I”M A BIG FAN TOO!
And as soon as I realized the cast, I realized that Paramount made a bad desicion.
@ Laurel: As usual, you are correct! I think too the reason why some whites like Casey get upset when ‘race’ comes up is the whole “white guilt” issue– that since whites were responsible for racism and racial oppression, then somehow *all* whites must be guilty of it! Of course not all whites are racist and nobody is accusing all whites of being such! To do so would be equally as bad as a black person or any other person of color in America not doing well in his or her life and using the excuse of racial oppression for it! NO! What we and this website are doing is actually pointing out racism that REALLY is present in our society, specifically Hollywood! Again, ‘mainstream’ white society obviously isn’t racist if their votes made Barack Obama president and it were these same whites or their children that made the cartoon series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ the success that it was!! What is racist are the producers and other Hollywood powers that be that thinks having asians in starring roles means a not so good movie!