Racebending.com » Supporter Spotlight

Racebending.com Supporters: Why We Oppose the Casting of The Last Airbender

Marissa — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:01:37 +0000

When we collected demographic information in our supporter survey in Spring 2009, we also asked people to tell us–in three sentences or less–why they loved the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series and why they are protesting the discriminatory casting decisions of the film adaptation, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.

Over a thousand supporters from fifty different countries wrote in with their thoughts. We’ve shared some of them below grouped by theme, interspersed with some pictures from the series and photos of our supporters from WonderCon 2010. (Please note that some comments were edited for length and clarity. The quotes are cited using supporters’ self-reported age, gender ethnicity, and hometown.)

For people familiar with our cause and for our partners in advocacy, we hope these supporter statements will affirm your feelings and strengthen your resolve to fight discriminatory practices in Hollywood. For people unfamiliar with Racebending.com, we hope these statements will help you understand where we are coming from, and why we are protesting films like The Last Airbender.

Jump To Statements by Theme:

Diversity Played a Huge Part in the Animated Series’ Appeal
People of Color Were Positively Affected by Representation in the Animated Series
Praise for Avatar’s Respect for its Cultural Roots
Skepticism Regarding the Film Adaptation’s Handling of Diversity
People of Color were Adversely Impacted by The Last Airbender’s Casting Decisions
The Production’s Handling of and Defense of the Casting of the Film
Impact on Actors of Color and their Communities
Offended by the Casting Decisions
Concerns from Parents About the Casting’s Message to Children
Thoughts from People Unfamiliar with the Franchise
Supporters’ Thoughts on Hollywood Responsibility and Making Change
Closing thoughts and Supporter Comment Text Cloud

Diversity Played a Huge Part in the Animated Series’ Appeal

Fans who wrote us shared that one of the major reasons they enjoyed the series was because of its diverse depiction of Pacific Rim characters and cultures.

The animated series was one of the very few American children’s television shows featuring heroes of color.

“I watched the original series and loved the characters because I could relate to them without them being from my background at all. I think that is a big point of the Avatar series, to introduce new cultures and worlds to people–kids especially– who knew nothing about them.”
a 17 year old Mexican and Caucasian young woman from California.

“I remember originally watching the show back in 2005. The school was in an Avatar craze. One of the reasons why we liked the show so much was the fact the characters were Asian and Inuit. Usually main characters are white, which made Avatar that much more special. ”

a 16 year old white fan from Dallas, TX

“I always loved just how empowering the show was to all kinds of people and found it to be one of the few shows that set a good example for kids, from the way it depicted girls as equals to its use of non-white characters as heroes.”

a 21 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Michigan

“One of the most breathtaking elements of the original series was its respectful, holistic, whole-hearted investigation of other cultures and of the consequences of prejudice.”

a 22 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Kansas

“What I loved most about the characters were that they were witty, complex, and showed a whole range of human emotion… It proved that Asians were people, not caricatures.”

an 18 year old Eurasian woman from Los Angeles, CA

People of Color Were Positively Affected by Representation in the Animated Series

Many of the people who wrote in were people of color who had been positively affected by the representation of characters of color in the animated series. For many viewers in the audience, Avatar: The Last Airbender was the first time they had ever seen people who shared their ethnicity on TV, in a lead role and portrayed in a non-stereotyped manner.

“Katara was one of my favorite characters because she was culturally dark-skinned, and just awesome. Once I saw the [film] casting for her, I lost that self esteem.”

a 13 year old Filipina American from Baldwin Park, CA

“It was fantastic being able to spot things from my own ethnic background on the show, which is something that I hardly ever get to see.”

an 18 year old, who identifies as Korean, from Honolulu, HI

“Avatar really shows the beauty of Eastern Asian culture. It made me proud of my Asian heritage.”

a 17 year old half Chinese, half Caucasian young man from Calgary, Canada.

“I loved Avatar–the first thing I said when I saw it was ‘Look, there’s brown people on TV!’ I loved the cultural diversity of the show, and what it stood for.”

a 17 year old Native Maldivian young man from London, UK

“My kids and I were so amazed to see people who looked like us in this amazing show!”

a 39 year old Japanese American man from Oakland, CA

“Avatar was a show minorities could get excited about because, for once, we had minority leads!”

A 23 year old Guyanese American woman from Maryland

Praise for Avatar‘s Respect for its Cultural Roots

Many of our supporters shared that they loved the animated series for its deep respect for its cultural roots, and that they were astounded that the production of the film adaptation seemed to lack that same understanding and respect.

Throughout the animated series, characters visited dozens of different locales inspired by real world cultures rarely depicted in American children’s television programming.

“What drew me in more than anything, was the attention to detail Mike and Bryan [the creators] put into the creation of the world…The best part was seeing the clothes and knowing I have them in my closet, and recognizing the martial arts as parts of forms I’ve learned myself.”

a 20 year old woman of Chinese descent from Vancouver, Canada

“I just fell in love with the creativity, attention to detail, and beauty put into the show along with the great respect the creators put into representing the Asian cultures well– rather then as some kind of kung-fu gimmick.”

a 23 year old Korean American woman from New York

“Avatar is one of the few shows that is very respectful of the cultures it represents, and when you take away the people that make up those cultures, you’re also taking away a huge part of the story. ”

26 year old Chinese American from San Francisco

“Paramount and those involved in the live-action movie blatantly ignored the effort and research put into the series. If they can’t respect it’s source material and what it gave to viewers, I can’t respect their choices for the direction the film is going.”

an 18 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Massachusetts

Skepticism Regarding the Film Adaptation’s Handling of Diversity

Two months after the initial cast of The Last Airbender was announced and after considerable fan outcry, the role of Prince Zuko, the film’s primary antagonist, was recast from a white actor to Indian-British actor Dev Patel. Subsequently, several actors of “Latino, Middle Eastern” descent were cast to play villains and conquering Fire Nation soldiers that are the antagonists in the film. The production also began casting “Asian and African” actors to play citizens of a country that has fallen victim to the Fire Nation. Because of these castings, M. Night Shyamalan has declared The Last Airbender “the most culturally diverse tent-pole movie ever made.”

Characters from the animated series and their depictions in the film adaptation.
Lead protagonists (played by white actors) are on the left; lead antagonists (played by actors of color) on the right.

The readers who wrote in expressed skepticism and outright disdain for the production’s claims of diversity. They argued that casting white actors to play characters of color was more reminiscent of traditional Hollywood discrimination than diversity, and that people of color had been placed in secondary and negative roles compared to the now-whitewashed main characters.

“Casting people of color for minor roles merely serves to reinforce their mindset that minority actors and actresses will never be good enough for leading roles. The Avatar movie was a great opportunity for non-white actors to advance that was snatched away.”

a 19 year old Asian American woman from the northeastern United States

“I think the best actor should get the part, but after looking at who would play who, it just seems too coincidental that the best actors that tried out for the villains are people of color and the best for the heroes are white.”

a 22 year old man who identifies as white

“I hate how putting people of color in the background is used as an excuse for ‘diversity’ in the movie when the show already showed diversity stemming from many different Asian cultures.”

a 24 year old Black, African American, Cherokee and French Canadian woman from San Diego, CA

“The casting of white heroes saving an Asian community portrays us as helpless victims who depend upon white people.”

a 25 year old man of Chinese and Portuguese descent from Oakland, CA

“Throwing minorities a bone by sticking them in supporting roles–or the roles of villains–only emphasizes that the casting folks did not trust them with being able to carry a movie on their own.”

a 23 year old woman, who identifies as black, from California

“Using Indian culture as that of the aggressive, oppressive Fire Nation is greatly offensive. White actors freeing anybody from brown people is a throwback to the days of the “White Man’s Burden”–not to mention disrespectful to my people and my culture. I support Dev Patel and M. Night Shyamalan as talented Indian entertainers, but I personally take offense at the representations portrayed in the film.”

a 17 year old Indian American young man from Cincinnati, OH

People of Color were Adversely Impacted by The Last Airbender‘s Casting Decisions

Many of our supporters are people of color. They shared how they, their families, and their communities were negatively impacted by the poor portrayal of people of color in Hollywood, and how the casting of The Last Airbender helped reinforce that hurt.

“The only strong Inuit-based characters I’ve ever found in animation or live action movies have been cast in the movie adaptation as Caucasian.”

an 18 year fan old of Inuit descent from Vancouver, Iqaluit, Canada

“We have very few movies with Asian characters as main characters–if there are Asian characters at all. White actors play in all movies, can’t they just let us star in the spotlight just once?”

a 13 year old Vietnamese American from Washington D.C.

“Growing up, I saw mostly Caucasian actors and actresses. I thought there was something wrong with me and wished to be Caucasian myself. I don’t want children today growing up thinking like I did.”

an 18 year old Japanese American woman from Torrance, CA

“Anyone who thinks this isn’t a big deal should think about the lack of minority heroes in children’s shows and be mailed a photo of my little cousin’s face when she saw a blue-eyed, fair-skinned, light-haired actress cast as Katara.”

an 18 year old Black American woman from Washington D.C.

“I have an adorable seven-year-old cousin, adopted from China at age two, who’s already starting to think to be a hero or a princess you have to be white.”

a 20 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Cincinnati, OH

Blue-eyed blondes are the minority in reality, but due to whitewashing I used to pray as a child that God would lighten my hair, skin and eyes until I realised there were more people in the world like me than in the media. I am appalled that the world’s diversity is constantly treated as the token minority.

a 35 year old woman who identifies as Aboriginal Australian and Italian Australian from rural Australia

“Asian children only ever see people like them relegated to the sidelines…To have this movie, taking place in an Asian setting, reinforcing the idea that only those who look white are the heroes, is simply cruel.”

a 21 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Massachusetts

“The creation of shows like Avatar give kids like my 10-year-old brother the role models I wasn’t able to have. What kind of message will it send to him that these characters are okay being Asian in a cartoon, but that they can’t be played by Asian actors in film?”

a 23 year old Asian American woman from Honolulu, HI

“I’m the proud elder cousin to two little half-Algonkin half-Inuit girls who never saw anyone who remotely resembled them doing anything more than “Being Indian on TV” before I introduced them to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Seeing the most recent publicity photos made me cry with the message it sent: white people can be anything – brown people are interchangeable.”

a 24 year old woman of French, Ashkenazi and Algonkin descent from Ontario, Canada

The Production’s Handling of and Defense of the Casting of the Film

Many of the people who wrote us cited the way the production has handled and defended the casting of the film as their primary cause for outrage. Jackson Rathbone, the actor cast to play an ethnically Inuit hero, Sokka, said: “I think it’s one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It’s one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit.” Casting director Dee Dee Ricketts made repeated cultural gaffes throughout the extras casting process, telling the press she was casting “authentic Asians” for background extras and that auditionees should come “dressed in some sort of ethnic traditional way” (ie: “if you’re Korean, wear a Kimono.”)

M. Night Shyamalan has declared The Last Airbender “the most culturally diverse tent-pole movie ever made” and claims that the characters in the animated series were racially “ambiguous.” At the same time, the production never acknowledged or responded to fans or community advocacy organizations when they expressed their concerns about the casting.

“Paramount professes that the characters in Avatar don’t have an ethnicity. We say that the character’s ethnicity and background is obvious and that Paramount should NOT ignorantly assume that all characters are white by default.”

a 21 year old Taiwanese American from Los Angeles, CA

“When I read the casting call and the ‘Caucasian or other’ bit, my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe they actually phrased it like that.

a 30 year old woman from Calgary, Alberta

“I’m offended by whitewashing, racist casting decisions and the profoundly inappropriate statements by the film company and actors about the aforementioned racist casting decisions.”

a 20 year old woman from Vancouver, BC Canada

“Diversifying” by making Asian characters white is not diversity at all.”

a 27 year old Chinese American from Hsichu, Taiwan

“The people involved in the production who defend the casting can try to convince us all they want but as long as the problems and the racial bias are still there, there will never be equality.”

a 20 year old Chinese Canadian man from Toronto, Canada

“What truly angers me the most is the studio’s attempt to placate the community that is their supposed fanbase. They ignored the majority of our concerns and failed to make any effort to consult with groups or agencies that could assist them in not creating a doomed movie.

a 21 year old Black Caribbean American woman from Pittsburgh, PA

“Whether the discrimination against Asian actors was deliberate or inadvertent, the disingenuous excuses employed by the movie’s representatives showed that they did not plan to acknowledge or remedy the miscasting–a position that should be unacceptable.”

a 23 year African-American woman from Connecticut

Impact on Actors of Color and their Communities

Some of the people who wrote into the survey were aspiring performers or had family and friends who were interested in performing arts. To them, the discriminatory casting practices employed by the production of The Last Airbender reflected a widespread problem in Hollywood.

“The ironic thing is that I’m adopted. My parents are Irish and German and my first language is English. Yet, I will continuously have to fight to be recognized in theatre and casting just because I don’t look white?”

a 21 year old Korean American actress from Bainbridge Island, WA

“I have a cousin trying to make in the acting business and while I believe he’s a great actor, he’s been turned down many times for being “too ethnic.” Is this truly the world we should live in, a world where being in the “wrong” ethnic group means that you can’t get a job? A world where children have to get used to the thought that people who look like them are villains?”

an 18 year old woman who identifies as Native and Caribbean American from Staten Island, NY

“My stepsister’s trying to make it in the music industry. She’s an American citizen, she’s lived here since she was nine, she hasn’t got a shred of an accent, but she has to fight her ‘ethnic’ name and appearance with every promotional shoot and appearance. I don’t want the people I love to be treated as an Other.”

an 18 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Pismo, CA

“The casting is giving out the message that Asians are not good enough for Hollywood, and as a result a lot of audiences are going to start believing it too. It’s difficult to believe the multitude of Asian actors that do exist were considered inadequate next to the actors chosen. It’s downright absurd.”

a 22 year old British Indian woman from London, UK

“There are so few Asian American roles in entertainment to begin with. How can it be okay to take some of the few very obviously Asian roles and give them to white actors?”

a 23 year old Chinese American from Boston, MA

Offended by the Casting Decisions

Nearly all of the survey respondents wrote that they were offended by the casting decisions, to the point where they no longer had any interest in seeing the film adaptation. Many of the people who expressed offense identified as white or Caucasian; they explained that they felt pandered to by casting changes based on the assumption that white audiences are racist.

“I am not protesting because the main characters are white, but because fair means of casting were not used, and not enough effort went into looking for cast members of Asian descent.”

a 19 year old woman of Chinese descent from San Jose, CA

“I wasn’t expecting this film to top the show, but I didn’t expect to be offended by it, either.”

a 22 year old man of Iroquois and Caucasian descent from Novi, MI

“The racism shown in erasing people of color from a world where they were the norm, in service of making more white people the main characters, is disgusting.”

a 25 year old White and Jewish woman from San Francisco, CA

“The tone of a character’s skin is not about division or segregation- it represents origin, history, ancestry, cultural integrity and, ultimately, an indelible human identity. To misrepresent the culture of the characters in Avatar is to disrespect their story.”

a 26 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Salt Lake City, UT

“As a woman of color, I’ve been told–and I know other people from various ethnicities who’ve been told–that heroes need to be White or American audiences won’t accept them. Avatar: The Last Airbender put the lie to that, and casting all the protagonists with White actors reinforces that disgusting and untrue notion.”

a 33 year old woman, who identifies as black, from Boston, MA

I am surrounded–in my hometown of Hollywood, California– by Asians of every nationality. To ignore the hundreds of excellent Asian actors in this town is just incredibly insulting.

a 53 year old Polish Irish American woman from Hollywood, CA

“I find it offensive that Hollywood thinks I’m too stupid or xenophobic to enjoy a movie that stars actors who don’t have the same skin tone as I do.”

a 20 year old Caucasian man from Massachusetts

“Even if I wasn’t offended personally or on principle , I would be offended as an audience member that these casting decisions were made in an effort to make the film more profitable and “relatable” by banking on my presumed racism and ethnocentrism.”

a 19 year old woman of mixed ethnicity from Florida

“I find the casting decisions reprehensible, because there is no excuse for excluding PoC actors from lead roles in the film when the show is undeniably grounded in Asian and Inuit cultures.”

a 22 year old man, who identifies as white, from Brisbane, QLD, Australia

“I hate it when Hollywood assumes that viewers won’t come to see movies that star people of color, and gladly panders to the racists who won’t.”

a 19 year old woman, of European American descent, from Los Angeles, CA

It’s offensive to me, as a person of color, that a character who is written to be ethnic is being played by a White actor. It was even more offensive when they said that they didn’t want to prevent white actors from being in the movie to justify casting them in the lead roles, leaving the Asian people in the background. If the studio is worried about making money and using white actors to achieve that goal, then that is wrong.”

a 17 year old man, who identifies as African-Caucasian American, from Church Hill, MD

Concerns from Parents About the Casting’s Message to Children

We received several responses from parents concerned about what messages the “whitewashed” casting of Avatar: The Last Airbender would send to their children. The fact that casting discrimination had occurred in an adaptation of a children’s franchise was a matter of great concern to these parents.

“As a parent of a five year old half-Asian girl, I have to sit next to her while she watches Avatar and explain every little detail about Asian culture that she would question. How am I going to explain to her Aang, Katara or Sokka turning white for the movie?”

a 31 year old Russian and Asian woman from Los Angeles, CA

“My son loves this series and I find it a betrayal and a shameful, lousy, perverse idiocy that if he were to go watch it on the big screen–which, by the way, he won’t be doing unless it is recast–he would not be able to see his Asian heroes.”

a 33 year old woman of White Russian and Jewish descent from Munich, Germany

“I discovered Avatar with my 8-year old son. I was horrified to learn that the show was going to be whitewashed. I am using this as a cautionary tale with my son, but I know he will be upset to miss the movie when it comes out.”

a 38 year old Anglo man from Amherst, MA

“I’m the mom of two kids who love Avatar, and we own all the DVD sets and various other tie-in merchandise. My kids and I have together decided that we will neither see the movie nor buy any more products for this whitewashed version of an otherwise really great series!”

a 41 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Mobile, AL

“It would be irresponsible of me, as a parent, to let my son see this movie as it is being cast. Yes it is for children, and no, they may not notice or care now, but they will look back with disappointment that we–the adults–couldn’t do it right when it would have been so simple to do so.”

a 29 year old Caucasian woman from Washington, D.C

“My seven year old daughter and I were originally looking forward to this movie. But the whitewashing of the cast sickens me, and as a parent, I have no desire to expose my daughter to such a blatant example of Hollywood’s racial prejudice.”

a 25 year old White American woman from Springfield, MO

“Avatar is a show I have used to point out to my son that not all heroes and good guys are white or always guys for that matter, and I won’t take him to see a movie that doesn’t illustrate that, too.”

a 42 year old Caucasian woman, from Akron, OH

Thoughts from People Unfamiliar with the Franchise

Although the majority of people who contacted us for the survey were huge fans of the animated series, we also received thoughts from people unfamiliar with the franchise. Some readers had never heard of Avatar: The Last Airbender until they learned about the casting discrimination in the film adaptation, but they still wanted to show their support. Concern about the casting decisions has transcended fandom; it is a concern of the greater international community.

“I’ve never watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I’ve seen hundreds of pictures and read what people had to say about it, and I wish something like this existed for my culture. To see it get whitewashed like that is very sad and scary to me.”

a 20 year old Egyptian woman from Cairo, Egypt

“I was unaware of Avatar: The Last Airbender before I heard about the casting issues. When I read about the casting, saw the animation-actor picture comparisons, and watched some of the show I was horrified.”

a 22 year old white New Zealander from Auckland, New Zealand

“I have never watched this show or knew it existed, but after reading about the cause I felt I had to send in a letter and sign the petition. As a Latina woman I know what’s it’s like growing up thinking that there are certain things you can and can not do because of your race. Discrimination against one of us, makes it easier to discriminate against all of us.”

a 23 year old Dominican and Jewish woman from East Brunswick, NJ

Supporters’ Thoughts on Hollywood Responsibility and Making Change

Although Racebending.com supporters are disappointed by the casting decisions made by The Last Airbender, we hope that our efforts to speak out against these casting practices will help Hollywood recognize that they are in a position to prevent the discriminatory impact their casting decisions have perpetrated. Our readers expressed hope that public outcry will will result in meaningful change.

“The saddest part is that the ones creating this movie have the resources and money to support movements in diversity. The Last Airbender is a such a great opportunity for this. Yet these producers are abusing this opportunity to support diversity, and are turning it into something quite the opposite.”

a 21 year old woman, who identifies as white, from Atlanta, GA

“I sincerely hope that, even if they don’t change their minds on the casting of this film, it’ll at least set a precedent once they realize the public won’t put up with these things.”

a 21 year old woman of Jamaican descent from Miami, FL

“This isn’t an issue about pitting one ‘race’ against others, and it isn’t about complaining for the sake of stirring up conflict. It is a reaction to the long-held tradition of marginalizing people in American popular culture, and it’s about time that positive change be made.”

a 21 year old Southeast Asian and Chinese American woman from Los Angeles, CA

“The only way we can ever have racial equality is if we make racism in all its forms visible and confront it when we see it, every time we see it. ”

23 year old Nigerian Canadian woman from Ontario, Canada

Closing Thoughts

Racebending.com would like to thank the hundreds of supporters who sent us their reason for why they are protesting the movie. Although we could not share every single comment we received here on the site, we took everyone’s comments and placed them into a tag cloud at wordle.net to calculate word frequency.

We hope that as supporters of our website and of fair and equal casting in Hollywood, you will continue to make your voices be heard! Thanks again for all of your encouragement and comments.

Supporter Spotlight: Jeremy Porath

electricolor — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:29:16 +0000

This week’s spotlight is on Racebending.com supporter Jeremy Porath (skemono on livejournal).

1. Who are you?
My name is Jeremy Porath. I’m a 25-year old white male currently working at tech support and computer programming.

2. What’s your story?
It’s about this resentful fallen angel who’s trying to — wait, what? Oh, I guess you meant “tell us about yourself”? Well, I was born, went to school, then college, then work. My mother is part Native American, and a few years back mentioned her surprise at discovering that anti-miscegenation laws applied to Native American-white marriages. At that point, I had never heard of miscegenation laws, so I started reading up on them. So for the past couple years I’ve been reading about (mostly historical) racism as a hobby.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?
Several months ago I read a blog post mentioning the casting controversy, and I followed links until I found the aang_aint_white and Racebending LiveJournal pages. It’s been long enough that I don’t remember what the original post was that eventually led me here.

When I first read about the controversy, my thoughts were the same as many people who support the casting: “They look white”, etc. Mike and Bryan did such a good job normalizing Asian culture in the series that, I confess, I didn’t even notice it when I first watched the series. Nor did I notice that Sokka and Katara had darker skin than the other characters. Once these plain facts were pointed out, it was so obvious I wonder how I missed it the first time around.

As for why I support Racebending.com, it’s the same reasons many others do. Because casting white people to play Asian and Native American characters is an embarrassment and a disgrace. Because making white people the leads in movies deprive other races of role models that are like themselves. Because it’s an insult to the amount of research into the culture that the creators of Avatar did. Because Hollywood’s habit of whitewashing characters and sidelining characters of color has gone on far too long and needs to stop. Because it robs actors of color roles and money.

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?
The practice of getting white actors to play people of color is reminiscent of blackface minstrel shows (even more so in the case of [Gérard] Depardieu putting on dark make-up to play Alexandre Dumas). It’s a practice that should have gone by the wayside decades ago, but there’s no indication it will stop anytime soon. Really, there’s simply no reason not to cast actors that are the same race as the character.

5. What other issues interest you?
A lot of things. The effort to get creationism taught in schools and evolution watered down or omitted entirely; gay rights; racism; feminism; politics.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?
I can’t say I’ve thought of that much. Obviously I hope they stop whitewashing characters, and give women and minorities more prominent, more varied, and less stereotyped roles.

Supporter Spotlight: Lee Le

Mike — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:00:30 +0000

Welcome to this week’s supporter spotlight!

Every Wednesday, we’ll be spotlighting a different member of the community. We all believe in working to cure ignorance and celebrate the many faces of America – and the world. Now each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other people in our network of supporters, who hail from all over the United States and across over fifty countries of the world.

This week, we’re featuring supporter Lee Le, a passionate follower of Asian American issues with awesome taste in shirts.

1. Who are you?

My name is Lee Le. I am a second-generation Vietnamese-American woman born and raised in Orange County, CA. My age? Nice try. I’m not telling.

2. What’s your story?

I am currently attending the California State University of Long Beach majoring in Asian Studies, Chinese Studies, and Linguistics with a minor in Anthropology. As you can see, I have a hard time choosing just one of something; I try not to go near Baskin Robbins. As a soon-to-be graduate walking into the world, my future is uncertain, but I think everyone’s is to some degree.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?

After learning about the casting for The Last Airbender last year, I was outraged. However, there’s only so long you can discuss an issue within your circle of friends before the conversation dies. I was wondering if there was a larger discourse out there on the issue that I can participate in. That’s when I found Racebending.com on Facebook.

I’m not sure how much of a tangible difference we can make, but it is important to keep the conversation going. I’ve heard so many young Asian-Americans say that racism is no longer a relevant topic for us. I tell them to go look up what year Asian-Americans got the vote; it’s more recent than you think. I tell them to go look up Vincent Chin; it’s more heartbreaking than you can imagine. Keep the conversation alive. Social change begins with discourse; it begins with the conversation you and I are having right now.

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?

I am a fan of the animated series, and I think it is a good show from all of the technical aspects such as characters, plot, animation etc. However, it is also very personal to me. When I was growing up, there were almost no Asian actors on TV. I remember when The Power Rangers first came on, everyone I knew, including my adult relatives, was so excited because the Yellow Ranger was Asian. The rest of the time, I wondered why I looked so different from everyone on TV and in the movies, why I was so short and so dark compared to those people, why I could never be Cinderella.

The media is powerful in that it can shape our perception of what normality is; children need to see their image and culture reflected to feel that they belong. That is why Avatar felt like such a victory to me. However, when a live-action movie was made, when the stakes got higher, Hollywood still felt that Asian Americans are not good enough to carry a movie. In 1937, two white actors were cast as the leads in the movie adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth while Asian actors were relegated to supporting roles. In 1990, a white Jonathan Pryce with yellow makeup and taped up eyelids pranced around as a half-Asian character on the stage production of Miss Saigon.

Now, it is 2010. We have come so far in so many ways, and yet…

5. What other issues interest you?

I am passionate about ending any sort of social injustice. The rights of same-sex couples to get married, the right for everyone to have healthcare… in general, the right for everyone to be respected and valued as human beings. There is so much social injustice out there. If you’re not angry about at least one thing, you just haven’t seen enough.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?

In Helen Zia’s book Asian American Dreams, she talks about an incident in the 1990’s where a 4th generation Chinese-American politician, Matt Fong, while running for senator, was asked “If the United States and China became engaged in a conflict, where would your loyalties lie?” A couple months ago, I was at the grocery store, and a middle-aged white lady asked if I knew English. Asian-Americans are always seen as “outsiders”, as “foreign”, no matter how long we’ve been here, but the truth is we are just as American as anyone else. I think the media can really make a difference in this.

Right now, we are usually cast in roles in which “Asian” is written into the storyline specifically. With The Last Airbender, we didn’t even get those roles. With more exposure in movies and TV, our presence will begin to seem more normal. We can be the friends, the neighbors, the doctors, the superheroes, or (gasp) even the romantic leads. Compared to when I was a kid, I think we have made so much progress. I can think of at least 5 different TV shows on major networks that have at least one Asian-American character, and that makes me happy, but we still have so much further to go. I hope that one day the American media will reflect the fact that we are as relevant as those of any other skin color.

Demographics of Racebending.com Supporters

Marissa — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:56:33 +0000

In April 2009 through August 2009, Racebending.com surveyed our supporters on our livejournal community and via facebook. In just three days we received more than 400 responses. Here are the results taken from over 1,200 responses.

We’ve put the statistical data from the survey below. To read some of the most memorable survey responses, please click here!

Age of Racebending.com Supporters

Age ranges of the survey respondents ranged from 6 years old to 59 years old, spanning five decades.

Children under age 13 are not allowed to provide identifying information on the internet. As the survey was conducted on social networking sites, Racebending.com was unable to legally survey people under 13 unless their survey information was provided by parents or older siblings. Children under age 13 are underrepresented in this survey.

The survey asked for the ages of our supporters.

7.14

Gender of Racebending.com Supporters

We asked our supporters to self-identify their gender, as they felt comfortable. Responses to this question were emphasized as optional.

Ethnicity of Racebending.com Supporters

We asked our supporters to self-identify their ethnicity, as they felt comfortable. Responses to this question were emphasized as optional.

This pie chart illustrates the ethnicities of our supporters with no overlap, categorizing everyone who reported a mixed ethnicity in one group (as is common in demographic surveys.)

We found that 15.3% of Racebending.com supporters from the United States and around the world are of mixed ethnicity. This number is particularly striking given the United States Census found that in 2000 only 2.4% of the American population was of mixed ethnicity.

The “mixed ethnicity” grouping in that graph is very vague, though, and does not reflect the true diversity of the respondents. We took all respondents’ reported single, dual, triple, ethnicities and ran the numbers again by partial or whole descent. These percentages do not add up to 100% because they include mixed ethnicity overlap.

Amerindian
5.3% of our supporters had Amerindian heritage. Many supporters wrote that they were of Native American, Cherokee, First Nations, or Inuit, descent.

Asian
29.26% of our supporters said they were of some or all Asian descent.
23% of the supporters were of East Asian (ie: Chinese Australian, Korean, Japanese American, Taiwanese, etc.)
2.15% were of South Asian descent, (ie: South Asian, Indian, Pakistani American, Sri Lankan, etc.)
9.61% were of Southeast Asian descent -(ie: Vietnamese American, Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese Australian, Javanese, Malay, etc.)
0.45% identified as ethnically Pacific Islander.

Black
We categorized people of African, African American, and Afro-Carribean descent into this category and found that 11.76% of our supporters identified from groups such as Black American, African American, African, Congolese, Nigerian, Black British, Jamaican, Sudanese, Black Guyanese, and Afro-Carribean.

Latino
We grouped the 6.55% of respondents who identified as ethnically or part South American, Hispanic, Latino/a, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Brazilian and similar ethnic heritages as Latino.

Middle Eastern
1.08% of our supporters were of Middle Eastern descent, including identities such as Palestinian American, Egyptian, Iranian American, Israeli, and Arab American.

White
60% of our supporters identified as all or partially white or Caucasian.

It is very interesting and important to note that Asian Americans (and Asians internationally) were not the only people offended by the casting of The Last Airbender! 7 out of 10 Racebending.com supporters are NOT of Asian descent. People from many different ethnic groups felt strongly opposed to the film’s casting decisions.

Racebending.com Supporters by Country

75% of Racebending.com supporters live in the United States, but this also means that 1 out of 4 people concerned by the casting are not from the United States.

We received survey responses from over 50 countries around the world:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Denmark
Egypt
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary

India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Jamaica
Japan
Lithuania
Malaysia
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zeland
Nigeria
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Poland

Portugal
Puerto Rico
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tobago & Trinidad
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Vietnam
Zimbabwe

Here is a map of the States and Countries where Racebending.com supporters live, based on our survey respondents and also fans of our Facebook page. Don’t see your country or state on the map? Email us to be included!

Map generated on TravBuddy.com

American Racebending.com Supporters by State

We heard from supporters from 47 States and Washington D.C. (If you’re from South Dakota, Wyoming, or Arkansas, drop us a line!)

Cities with the highest number of survey respondents included: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Diego, San Jose, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Portland, Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Salt Lake City.

Closing Thoughts

As recommended by the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, this survey would be important for us to prove to the world that this issue concerns everyone–not simply a cause taken by Asian Americans, young people, Avatar fans or any other single minority group. As much as statistics ‘pigeonhole’ us, it can also help show how diverse we are.

One of the respondents to the open survey left these insights, which we also hope you will keep in mind:

“I don’t think you need to answer the people who are asking about the demographics of this group.This isn’t about just standing up for Asian Americans; it is a simple fact that this group consists of people who are mobilizing against a system that is unjust and unfair. There is no need for an answer to a question that brings no intelligent insight to a system with social bias. It’s a matter of right or wrong, and the demographics should not take away from the matter at hand.”

The survey was anonymous and asked for age, and hometown, with an optional request to also enter ethnicity, gender and reason for supporting the movement. Respondents opted to complete the survey and are representative of our supporters from our livejournal and facebook online communities. We were touched by the outpouring of support and the number of people willing to disclose information about themselves in order to prove that this is an issue that touches many different people from many different communities.

Thank you for supporting Racebending.com and our efforts to protest the discriminatory impact of The Last Airbender.

Wednesday Community Spotlight: Kerry O’Reilly-Dekker

Mike — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:01:08 +0000

Welcome to this week’s supporter spotlight!

Every Wednesday, we’ll be spotlighting a different member of the community. We all believe in working to cure ignorance and celebrate the many faces of America – and the world. Now each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other people in our network of supporters, who hail from all over the United States and across over fifty countries.

This week, we meet Kerry O’Reilly-Dekker – an American mother living in the Netherlands, with her husband and their adopted son, Minh.

1. Who are you?

Kerry O’Reilly-Dekker. American of Irish-Italian decent, Caucasian, married to Hans, Dutch, Caucasian, mother to Minh Sao, Vietnamese.

2. What’s your story?

Living in the Netherlands with my husband and our son. He was born in Viet Nam and we completed his adoption in 2008. I am a self employed artist working 2 days per week in my studio and a stay at home mother. That is by far the best job in the world.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?

I found racebending.com after seeing it cited in an article posted on another blog called, How I Became an Anime Fan- Not a Racebender, by Martha Nichols. It interested me because she is also a mother to a Vietnamese son.

Since becoming parents to a non-Caucasian child, we are trying to find our balance in terms of dealing with racism, stereotypes, and ensuring that our son has positive Asian role models (both live and media wise). I find racebending.com to be a fantastic resource for opinion by/from/about Asian actors, authors, etc.

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?

Honestly, I had never heard of the Last Airbender. However, once I got up to speed on what occurred with the casting of this film, I was pretty angry. We want our son to see that films and television have personalities who look like him. Not occasionally, but regularly.

We actively seek out films, books, music, etc. by Asian artists/authors. It’s disturbing when Hollywood casts Caucasian actors for roles that are clearly not suited for them. To me it says: ‘Yeah, we think this is a really cool story, but there’s no way we could find a decent (Asian) actor’. That is definitely not a message I want my son exposed to. Plus it reinforces the idea that being white is still ‘better’ & haven’t we had enough of that already?

5. What other issues interest you?

I actually do have a number of other interests, particularly American politics, but right now the biggest would be trying to figure out how to make vegetables more appealing to my son.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?

That what we see on television and in theaters is a true reflection of the diversity of our country. Living in Europe, I can say that this is true outside of the United States as well; including issues of racial stereotyping and racism in general.

Community Spotlight on Remodelminority.com

Mike — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:01:31 +0000

Welcome to this week’s supporter spotlight!

Every Wednesday, we’ll be spotlighting a different member of the community. We all believe in working to cure ignorance and celebrate the many faces of America – and the world. Now each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other people in our network of supporters, who hail from all over the United States and across over fifty countries of the world.

Today we’re learning about Racebending.com supporters Carolyn Lee and Jennifer Gutierrez – the women behind Remodelminority.com.

1. Who are you?

C: I’m Carolyn Lee.

J: I’m Jennifer Gutierrez.

2. What’s your story?

C: I come from a Chinese immigrant family. I’m a recent college graduate with a B.A. in English and a hopeful-graduate-prospective-student for now. On the side I run Remodelminority.com with Jen, a blog that focuses on issues of race, gender, mass media, etc. It’s a new blog so we’re hoping to gradually build a strong community-base around it.

J: I permanently emigrated from Mexico to the U.S., in the early 1990s. I recently graduated with a B.A. in Comparative Literature and a B.A. in Chicana/o Studies. I will begin my Comparative Literature Ph.D. work in the fall. For now I’m mostly unemployed and an organizing committee intern for an upcoming literary conference. I help Carolyn run Remodelminority.com.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?

C: I was a BIG fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender (still am) when it was running on Nick and was excited to hear that they were making a live-action version. Of course, after I found out about the casting I was so disappointed that I had to find out if others felt the same. Somehow I stumbled onto Racebending.com, probably via LiveJournal, and I’ve been keeping up with it ever since.

J: I was also a fan on Avatar: The Last Airbender when it was running on Nickelodeon, when I found out what the final casting choices were I could not help but be disappointed and, honestly, disgusted. Carolyn introduced me to Racebending.com which I support because it is a necessary, critical, vehicle for interrogating racism within and beyond the context of the The Last Airbender.

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?

C+J:
The Last Airbender was one of the rarer shows on television that focused on a multicultural multiethnic world that was heavily influenced by Asian cultures. In a society where Asians and other people of color are allocated to be the butt of the jokes in the media, The Last Airbender was a breath of fresh air and empowering to marginalized peoples.

Many people have been arguing that characters such as Aang do not look Asian, but we think the identity the creators intended for him to be is clear. Unfortunately, Paramount, Shyamalan and crew, chose to ignore that and instead decided to appropriate the story for profitability and marketability. For us, they have destroyed the Avatar (the Last Airbender) canon in their support of hegemonic traditions.

5. What other issues interest you?

C+J:
We are interested in many things! To name a few: LGBTQ issues, representations of and objectification of Indigenous peoples, representations of Asia and Latin America in the media, distribution and influence of mass media, globalization and cultural imperialism, citizenship and rights discourse.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?

C+J:
Holistic diversity, not tokenism, in both the production and execution of various mass media. We would also really like to see less corporate and state influence on American media and the survival and proliferation of productive-proactive independent media.

Wednesday Community Spotlight: Siri Hana and Frank Randall

Mike — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:01:27 +0000

Welcome to this week’s supporter spotlight!

Today we’re learning about Racebending.com supporter Siri Hana, Airbender fan and aspiring actress.

1. Who are you?
Siri Hana and by proxy Frank Randall. We’re a couple, but it was easier for me to answer the questions. So, these are mostly my opinions and my story.

2. What’s your story?
I wanted to be an actor when I grew up. I knew the moment I learned those kids don’t really live on Sesame Street, getting paid to play pretend was the job for me. As I grew I realized a combination of things: 1.) The entertainment industry was not going to be as passionate about me as I was about it. 2.) Fortunately, I was also passionate about work that did not have anything to do with acting. I went to college and got a BA in English. (Which is worthless to all except for the holder, beware kids.) Then I realized I wanted to be a Health Educator. And still an actor. No, they don’t have anything to do with one another.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?
My boyfriend, Frank, and I have been super excited about the Avatar cartoon being made into a movie. We’ve been checking in on it periodically. When he looked it up on Wikipedia he saw that all of the main characters were Caucasian. It had never occurred to us that that would happen, because it doesn’t make sense. We were both really disappointed as fans and then disappointed again as artists. I figured there had to be some hullabaloo about it and I wanted to participate. I came across Racebending.com. Which is a great name. I really liked the work that you all do on the site.

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?
I was watching “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” as a teenager and saw Willem Dafoe playing Armando Barillo and all browned up. That was the first time I became aware that Hollywood still hires white actors to play other races, rather than give that opportunity to an actor of color. It’s creepy.

I understand that if an actor matches the character they are portraying exactly it takes the artistry out of it. But if every single thing about an actor has to change for them to be right for a part, it’s because they aren’t right for the part.

I love Avatar. Part of why I love it is that it’s not more of the same. The movie version definitely is more of the same. White people appropriating a culture and then vilifying darker people. Is it the 1940s still?

I’ve seen a resurgence lately in people getting a kick out of (insert face here)-face, like with paint and everything! It’s because it never really died. The entertainment industry perpetuates the idea of black face as entertainment. It’s disgusting. Skin is not a costume.

5. What other issues interest you?
Unfortunately, I care about absolutely everything. I take everything to heart. What is currently running through my mind is Health Education, Palestine, Education Reform, and Prison Reform.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?
I look forward to the American media being able to be honest in their portrayal of minorities with more frequency. Less sexualization of minority women, less demonizing of minority men, and no white washing. It’d also be nice if more actors took responsibility for their choices. Being an artist is no excuse.

Wednesday Community Spotlight: Desaree Ortiz

Mike — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:01:19 +0000

Welcome to this week’s supporter spotlight!

Every Wednesday, we’ll be spotlighting a different member of the community. We all believe in working to cure ignorance and celebrate the many faces of America – and the world. Now each week, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about other people in our network of supporters, who hail from all over the United States and across over fifty countries of the world.

Today we’re learning about Racebending.com’s very own Desaree Ortiz!

1. Who are you?
Desaree Ortiz. Mixed race: 1/2 Mexican Native, 1/2 White, mother of three.

2. What’s your story?
High School graduate of ’99, former Boise State student and currently enrolled at the Institute of Children’s Literature.

My educational goals have been put on hold since I became a mother, but I still have hope for our future. As long as we are together and happy I feel that we can overcome any obstacle.

3. Why do you support Racebending.com and how did you learn about us?
I support Racebending.com because there are so many people out there who don’t recognize that what Paramount did is discrimination. I want to help spread the word about what happened to The Last Airbender and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Like many of our supporters I’m a fanatic of Avatar: The Last Airbender. After the series finished I became a bit obsessed trying to find out whom would be cast for Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko. After Entertainment Weekly posted the original cast, I followed the comments and sent in letters demanding a recast. I started out through Live Journal and posted up letters I sent to Greenland during the filming. Now I’m a staff member and proud of it!

4. What makes you passionate about The Last Airbender film controversy and similar Hollywood choices?
While my original passion for the series led me to Racebending.com, as a mother I just can’t stand the fact that Caucasian actors where purposely chosen for characters clearly based off of Inuit and Asian cultures. I am neither but the effects swapping one race out and replacing it with another are damaging to children of all races.

I despise the fact that most leads in TV shows, books, and movies are purposely Caucasian. Everyone needs to understand that people of all races have different skin tones, and stereotyping based on skin color is wrong. For the sake of my children I choose to purchase products that include characters with darker skin tones. They need to see diversity.

5. What other issues interest you?
I worry about the earth and I recycle A LOT. I enjoy the landscape and love to sit outside and take it all in, especially at night. When I’m not working or protesting I like to draw and sometimes find myself writing poems.

6. What are your hopes for the future of American media?
I hope that together we can put a stop to discriminating casting practices. If we don’t continue fighting for it, the major media won’t stop construing how different ethnicities look by continually promoting Caucasian faces as acceptable replacements.

Interested in being next week’s spotlight? Let us know!