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Avatar: The Legend of Korra – 2011

Mike — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:33:11 +0000

Cutting it close, the promised “Korra announcement before Comic-Con” popped up this morning.

Nickelodeon sets `Last Airbender’ sequel for 2011
(AP)

LOS ANGELES — A sequel to Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is in the works.
The channel said Wednesday the new animated TV series will premiere in 2011. It has the working title, “The Legend of Korra.”

Nickelodeon says the series will build on the “mythology” of the original “The Last Airbender” series, which inspired this summer’s live-action movie from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (SHAH-muh-lahn).

The “Legend of Korra” is from the creator-producers of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

Nickelodeon executive Brown Johnson says the new series will focus on a teenage girl avatar named Korra. Brown describes her as hotheaded, independent and “ready to take on the world.”

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” has ranked among the highest-rate series on the Nickelodeon and Nicktoons channels.

An “independent” female lead? Perhaps not unlike a waterbender already familiar to us? “Water” follows “Air” in the Avatar cycle.

Tom Huang, Independent Filmmaker, Writer, and Actor

Marissa — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:11:14 +0000

Tom Huang is an Asian American director, writer, and actor. Why Am I Doing This? is his second independent feature film. It chronicles the lives of two performers of color as they struggle to break into the industry. Tony (Tom Huang) and Lester (Anthony Montgomery) must grapple with industry stereotypes, family drama, girlfriend issues, and the crap jobs aspiring actors have to take on the side in order to cover rent.

As an independent movie, Why Am I Doing This? offers an bitingly funny and honest look at the entertainment industry and what it’s like to live in Los Angeles, one of the most diverse cities in the world. Why Am I Doing This? was released on DVD on July 13th, 2010.

Trailer for “Why Am I Doing This?”

Racebending.com co-founder Marissa Lee attended a screening of Why Am I Doing This? in Beverly Hills and followed up with director, writer, and actor Tom Huang via email.

RACEBENDING.COM: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do!

TOM HUANG: Well, I’m Tom Huang, indie filmmaker (cue: hero trumpet blare). I work on writing, producing, and editing my own indie film projects (that’s the indie filmmaker part of me) as well as doing various jobs in Hollywood as a producer, editor, director and writer to pay the bills. I wrote for network TV for a few seasons before making Why Am I Doing This?, which is my second feature.

RACEBENDING.COM:What inspired you to make Why Am I Doing This?l

TOM HUANG: After my first indie feature, freshmen, I started working in TV, and eventually was lucky enough to get a few jobs writing for network TV sitcoms. Getting a TV writing gig was great, but it’s still very much about sticking to formulaic stories and characters (most of which are, of course, Caucasian). I still very much wanted to make my own films, so in my off-time from writing for the shows I decided to start writing a feature that I could shoot as my second feature.

I always feel like the most real writing comes from personal experience, so I decided to write about something I’m very familiar with: failing in Hollywood… but from a more diverse perspective. I also wanted to do something different than what I had to do for TV, something that dealt with multi-ethnic relationships and families, and with living in a multi-cultural stew like Los Angeles. So that become the foundation for what I wanted to start with…

“I always feel like the most real writing comes from personal experience, so I decided to write about something I’m very familiar with: failing in Hollywood… but from a more diverse perspective. “

I then just let the characters guide me through their stories as I wrote the film. I wanted to write something funny, but also real, so I tried making as real characters as possible and allow the humor to just come from their struggles in life, as well as trying to say something about chasing your dream job, family, and understanding what’s important to you. After the Hollywood writer’s strike, I couldn’t find a TV writing job, so I decided it was good time to try to put the film together, and things just worked out so that I could do it.

RACEBENDING.COM: Your film is set and filmed in Los Angeles and reflects the true diversity of the city. Was this something you tried to be conscious of during the writing and casting process?

TOM HUANG: I absolutely was trying to reflect the diversity of the city and how it affects your relationships in life. There’s actually a scene that I had to cut–it’s in the DVD extras–that addresses this very thought… Tony argues that even though Los Angeles is diverse, everyone still sticks with their own kind: there’s the “Korean” part of town, the “Chinese” part of town, the “kinda weird Orthodox Jewish” part of town, etc. Lester finds this pessimistic, but I always think it’s an interesting argument.

Koreatown, Los Angeles

In both of my feature films, I really made an effort to make the film as diverse as possible that still felt real to me, because that’s the kind of world I live in, and because that’s partially why I got into filmmaking in the first place.

Thus, I don’t really explain it in the film, but you see some uniquely Los Angeles ethnic hang-outs, like karaoke in Koreatown, or street racing lowered Civics on the outskirts of L.A., etc. Places like these really show how the mix of cultures have manifested itself; Koreans gathering to sing American pop songs in English, Asian-American hip-hop kids gathering to listen to rap and embrace African-American culture, but never hang out with an actual African-American. It’s a great background that you never get to see in Hollywood.

I actually started out wanting to be an actor while at UCLA, but going through the audition process in the theater department, even at UCLA, I couldn’t find any parts for me, especially parts where I can just play an interesting character who happened to be Asian. It was then I realized if I wanted to do anything interesting, I’d have to write it myself, so I turned around and became a Creative Writing major.

“I actually started out wanting to be an actor…I couldn’t find any parts for me, especially parts where I can just play an interesting character who happened to be Asian. I realized if I wanted to do anything interesting, I’d have to write it myself…”

RACEBENDING.COM: Were the character’s cultural backgrounds factored into the story, or were these elements added in after casting, or both?

TOM HUANG: With “Why Am I Doing This?” the diverse characters started straight from the beginning.I imagined these characters as Chinese-American, African-American, East Indian-American, Latino-American, etc., from the start and wrote their stories with that in mind.

Anthony Montgomery plays Lester– parking meter cop by day, stand up comedian by night.

RACEBENDING.COM: The two main characters in the movie, Asian American actor Tony and African American comedian Lester, both do not seem to fit Hollywood’s preconcieved notions of who they are based on their respective ethnicities. Would you say that this kind of type-casting is common in Hollywood?

TOM HUANG: I’d say, yes, type-casting like this is still pretty common; you can see it in roles on TV and in film. (Like, what is up with those metro PCS commercials with the wacky Indian guys? Holy crap.)

But it’s getting a little better as we kind of evolve as a more diverse society in America, and as we get more diverse people behind the camera as writers and executives.

Having written for network TV, I think there is definitely a conscious effort to diversify guest roles and supporting cast, but when it comes to casting main roles, it’s still very much a white world. And more specifically, it’s even tougher to find an Asian-American cast in a main role where they aren’t speaking with some sort of accent.

“I think there is definitely a conscious effort to diversify guest roles and supporting cast, but when it comes to casting main roles, it’s still very much a white world.”

I think there are actually a number of roles that producers bring in different ethnicities to audition for the main parts, but it almost always ends up just getting cast as Caucasian.

I think African-Americans have it a little better as far as number of parts as studios recognize they have to service a huge audience, but there still is an expectation that an African-American character has to talk “Black” and is some sort of wise-cracking, tell-it-as-it-is kind of person, as seen with the recurrent female “Black Best Friend” character we see so much.

RACEBENDING.COM: Are actors encouraged to act more “ethnic” to get jobs?

TOM HUANG: I don’t know if most people are encouraged to act more “ethnic” to get jobs… the amount of ethnicity is kind of written in the part from the beginning, so it’s more a problem of trying to get people to write interesting characters, who just happen to be of color, from the start.

“It’s more a problem of trying to get people to write interesting characters, who just happen to be of color, from the start..”

It does happen, though… A pretty big Asian-American actor friend of mine went to an audition for a network TV pilot and told the producers specifically, “Hey, if you want me to do the wacky accent thing, I don’t want to audition.” They told him, no no, that’s fine. So he auditioned, and got the part as one of the main roles.

During the first rehearsal, they came back to him and said, “uh… You think you can do the accent thing? We think it’d be funnier.” So he left the show. I don’t know if I’d have the balls to do that.

The opening scene of Why Am I Doing This?

RACEBENDING.COM:In the first scene of the movie, a studio exec asks Tony to use an Asian accent during his audition. Is this scene based on a true incident?

TOM HUANG: The scene is actually based on a number of stories I’ve heard from my Asian-American acting friends, where they’re asked to do a part in an “Asian” or “Oriental” accent, and when the actor asks “What kind of Asian accent?” they just get blank looks.

RACEBENDING.COM:What sort of standard–in terms of acting roles–does this set for Asian American actors in Hollywood?

TOM HUANG: I don’t know if this necessarily sets a standard, but yes, I do feel that it seems like when a role is written specifically for an Asian in Hollywood, they usually have some sort of foreign slant–if you can excuse the term–to it, where the role is for an Asian foreigner or an Asian-American who is there because he/she speaks Korean or whatever.

LOST’s Korean characters, Sun and Jin (played by Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim)

Of course, it’s not always a bad thing… In the show “Lost” the Korean couple, Jin and Sun, are wonderfully constructed characters with depth and life. For me, it’s just that there aren’t enough interesting roles where I can see someone like me, a normal American guy, who happens to be Asian–like the role of Miles on “Lost.”

In contrast, Ken Leung plays Miles Straume, a sardonic Asian American, on LOST.

And as Clyde Kusatsu says in the film, it’s kind of just the reality of the situation right now… Studios look at the demographics, and at last count, Asian Americans only account for 6% of the population, so they’d rather play the numbers and go with the majority on the screen.

RACEBENDING.COM: The movie takes some pot shots at how the biz works and how it treats actors of color. Was it risky for you, as an independent filmmaker, to call out some of these practices?

TOM HUANG: Actually, it’s because I’m an independent filmmaker that it’s not as risky to take pot shots at the business.

For the most part, when you get lots of money to make a big film or TV show, it also comes with the restrictions of having to work with people paying for you and your production, which is often a big studio or network. Since they’re looking so desperately to get a return, they don’t like taking risks, so they go with the ‘safe’ route that’s made money before and appeals to the biggest; thus you get formulaic films, non-diverse casting and stories about the majority race in America.

The single biggest thing you get as an indie filmmaker–since you don’t get any money–is creative control, so you get a chance to make something that you want to see–in my case, a multi-cultural cast and story. Unfortunately, I think the only place at the moment to see multi-ethnic stories is in independent film, because it’s only place it can be made.

“Unfortunately, I think the only place at the moment to see multi-ethnic stories is in independent film, because it’s only place it can be made.”

I don’t think anyone in Hollywood really cares I’m taking shots at how they do business… They’ve heard all before and are still making money, not to mention my film is pretty small. I do hope that someone at a studio or network will look at the film and see how my very talented actors can play normal American roles–while bringing something new to the table in a positive way–and then consider them for roles that may have been originally written for someone white.

” I do hope that someone at a studio or network will look at the film and see how my very talented actors can play normal American roles–while bringing something new to the table in a positive way–and then consider them for roles that may have been originally written for someone white.”

RACEBENDING.COM: In the movie, Tony discovers a mentor in older Asian American actor Clyde Kusatsu (playing himself!) and performs in an all-Asian production of Death of a Salesman–a role he would likely not have access to, as an actor of color, outside of Asian American theater. In real life, what sort of resources are there for Asian Americans who aspire to get into film?

TOM HUANG: There are lots of resources for Asian-Americans to get into film, whether it be film school, or various diversity training programs put on by the studios and networks, to all-Asian theater troupes like East-West Players or OPM, to groups that put on the various Asian-American film festivals like Center for Asian-American Media in San Francisco, or the Coalition of Asian-Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), just to name a few.

RACEBENDING.COM: Is there a large support system out there?

TOM HUANG: The support is definitely there, not to mention the support of the Asian-American Hollywood community in general. For my film, I was overwhelmed and cheered by the response of the Asian-American actors who were more than happy to be in my film, no matter how big the part and how little they got paid, because they wanted to support a fellow Asian-American artist. I know many of the Asian-American actors, filmmakers, and execs around town because it is a small, tight-knit community.

Making it in Hollywood is pretty tough for anybody of any race, so it really is a matter of hanging in there long enough to get your break or your next job.

I believe that you can’t worry about the Asian-American part of being a performer or writer or director or whatever because you can’t really control that. What you can control is being the best actor, writer or director you can and let your talent and hard work eventually show people they should hire you.

It doesn’t always work out (I’m livin’ that, yo,) but in the end, I believe that’s what will get you in or give you a chance, because true talent will always get recognized. But man, it can be rough.

RACEBENDING.COM: In Why Am I Doing This, there is a commentary on popular Asian American actors. Every role for an Asian American guy in the biz, Tony laments, seems to either go to real-life Korean American actor John Cho, or to his nemesis, (the fictional) Tim Chung. Where did the idea for this joke come about?

TOM HUANG: Well, the joke actually comes a large part from the truth, in my mind. As I said, Hollywood is a business, and they want to make sure they sell tickets, so just by the numbers game, they prefer having recognizable faces on the screen. So who is the most recognizable male Asian-American actor who also happens to have talent? That’s right, that “Harold and Kumar American Pie” guy.

John Cho and Kal Penn, Hollywood’s go-to Asian American actors of the moment

RACEBENDING.COM: Why does Hollywood always seem to go for the same Asian actors?

TOM HUANG: That’s just how Hollywood works, regardless of the race… For a part for any studio film, who do they want? The most recognizable guy, or the guy that’s “hot” at the moment. It just so happens that there aren’t a whole lot of big Asian-American roles –Jackie Chan and Jet Li are getting all the karate ones– so the list isn’t that big of recognizable names that’s done a lot of stuff…

Right now, it’s John Cho and maybe now funny doctor guy Ken Jeong, or Kal Penn if you want to go Indian. Now there’s plenty of other great, talented Asian-American actors, but they just haven’t been lucky enough to get that big role that somehow puts them in the minds of the middle-American audience, so until they do… John Cho will still be on top of the studio list.

Dion Basco plays Danny, Tony’s brother and polar opposite.

RACEBENDING.COM: Dion Basco (brother of Dante Basco of Avatar: The Last Airbender) plays Tony’s brother and a Chinese American character, even though he is Filipino American. What are your thoughts on Asian Americans playing different ethnicities?

TOM HUANG: Although I kind of make light of it in the film, I think it’s fine, especially if it’s Asian-Americans playing Asian-Americans, since the American part of it is more the big part of the characters’ voice.

I generally can sort of tell different Asians apart, but there is plenty of overlap, as far as looks, with all Asians (or Indians and Pakistanis and such). I certainly have been mistaken for Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, etc., by people of those backgrounds (that made for awkward conversation let me tell you).

I think it can get a little wacky when an Asian plays an Asian-Asian of different ethnicity with a completely different accent, like in the film version of Memoirs of a Geisha, where they had Chinese nationals, who spoke poor English, playing Japanese people, speaking English in some British-Japanese accent. Holy crap that was terrible.

RACEBENDING.COM: In advertisements like the movie poster, Amber (played by Emma Caulfield), is placed in the center and appears to be the central focus of the film. Yet, the main characters in the film are Tony and Lester. Why wasn’t more focus placed on Lester and Tony in advertisements?

TOM HUANG: For my distributor, it was more of a recognizable actor thing than an ethnic thing. When selling DVDs, for distributors and retailers, what sells the DVDs is the box cover, not the actual content of the movie…

My movie could be an hour and a half of me crapping on the toilet, but if there are recognizable, sellable faces on the cover (a genre like horror), then the DVD will sell.

Tony hangs out with the gregarious Amber (Emma Caulfield)

My distributor felt that Emma Caulfield (who was a series regular as “Anya” on the popular “Buffy the Vampire” TV series) was the most recognizable actor that had an audience they could sell to, so she went on the front of the cover.

I think if they had their druthers, they probably would have wanted to take me off the cover as well, since I don’t really have any ‘name’ value, but I think the bear suit I’m wearing saved me.

RACEBENDING.COM: Often stories told by people of color are considered ‘niche’ films that only succeed in specific cultural communities. What sorts of ways do you think the general audience might become more interested in hearing about real people’s stories, histories and Point of Views, even if they might not coincide with their own?

TOM HUANG:I think people are definitely interested in hearing about real people’s stories of any ethnicity as long as it’s interesting enough and done well… It’s just that studios aren’t willing to take the risk.

You look at Slumdog Millionaire, a movie about an Indian boy in India trying to win back his love, no studio would touch that with a 10-foot pole. So some people took a chance, made it independently, and Fox Searchlight recognized it was simply a great film and gambled it would do well because of that, and it was blockbuster. It also benefited from a planned, slow rollout where word of mouth helped get people into the theaters, and of course the Oscars helped as well.

There are plenty of other examples, such as the Joy Luck Club (a good example of actual Asian-American stories) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc. People are wiling to watch it, I think, it’s just a matter of more studios wiling to release films based on quality rather than formulas, and also a matter of making sure films like that are made with low-budgets so it can turn a profit to help buy other films like it.

RACEBENDING.COM: What tangible things can fans and media consumers do to help push the entertainment industry into showing us a world or worlds where people of color exist?

TOM HUANG: It’s pretty simple… People just have to show support for those kinds of films and TV shows. They have to watch them on TV and buy their DVDs, that’s what speaks the industry, because, again, they are a business.

If you see a film or TV show you like, buy the DVD, or if you see a film that comes out that looks interesting with that kind of perspective, go see it… That’s the only thing that will truly speak to “the industry.”

And there has to be more support for independent films, as well. These are usually the only places where stories about people of color can be made, because they’re not constrained by having to cater to the masses. Indie filmmakers like me cannot survive very long making small films like that unless people buy the films or they get hired by a studio, it’s simply too hard to get by. So please, if you like what a filmmaker has done and want to see more, buy their product so they can continue to do just that.

“There has to be more support for independent films…These are usually the only places where stories about people of color can be made, because they’re not constrained by having to cater to the masses.”

And, of course, support awareness movements like this site…it’s only when studios see the great number of people that want to see more diverse casts and stories of different cultures that they’re willing to give something new a try. I think the publicity and awareness generated by this site and the people who read it was pretty tremendous.

In a scene from Why Am I Doing This? Tony (Tom Huang) meets a mysterious girl (Lynn Chen) while on the job as a birthday party Spider-man.

RACEBENDING.COM: In the film, the audience and Lester and Tony themselves come to learn exactly why they are “doing this”–throwing everything they have into breaking into the entertainment industry, while representing themselves in an honest way and without selling out. It’s hard, especially when there are so many barriers in Hollywood. So, Tom, why are you doing “this”?

TOM HUANG: First of all, making this film has been a complete pain-in-the-ass for everyone involved: my family and friends, the tireless cinematographer and crew, the actors, the producers, the people who let us use their bar, my next door neighbors who kind of reluctantly let me use their living room to shoot in… the list goes on. I’ve had to borrow money to make this film, I still have to work a day job to pay the bills, a lot of things I have to end up doing myself because all the skilled people who have been working for free or little money for me have to move on and actually do things that pay them. I literally am working probably 10-12 hours a day with all the stuff I have to do as well as my other projects I’m working on to pay the bills. So really, why am I doing this godforsaken movie that maybe nobody will see?

Well, quite simply, it’s because making movies is what I want to do in life, and I always feel that if you want to do something, you should do it (if you can). Yes, it’s been quite difficult getting it done, and it’s stressful to have this loan out I’m not sure how I’m going to pay back… but I’m also fortunate to know many talented people who can help me out, and I know I have the skills and resources to make a film that people can watch without thinking “am I watching a really long home movie?” So why not? I can.

“Because making movies is what I want to do in life, and I always feel that if you want to do something, you should do it.”

The other reason is that I feel I have something to say and can affect people in a positive way through my filmmaking, whether it be by laughter or tears, by creating a character people care about and learn from, or just creating a story than can inspire and make people think about their lives.

Finally, probably the main reason is that the filmmaking side of it is incredibly enjoyable and engaging for me. The other logistical stuff I’m dealing with now, i.e., doing contracts, getting rights, marketing, etc… Huge pain-in-the-ass. But it’s all for being able to do the other stuff. Working with actors and crew on a scene, sitting in a dark editing room cutting together scenes, sitting in a theater with an audience who’s never heard of the film before laugh their asses off or shed a little tear during the film, talking with someone who’s seen the film tell me it’s inspired them in some way… all that makes the pain-in-ass stuff more than worth it. That is, as long as I’m not pissing off my friends and family for too long that they don’t want to be around me anymore.

I always believe that you have to define yourself by what you do. If you claim to be a good person, you should be doing good things. If you say you want to get healthy, you should take actions to be healthy. And if you want to call yourself a filmmaker, you have to make films. And that’s why I have to do it. I just wish someone will let me make a living doing it sometime. Oh man, sometime soon, please…

Racebending.com would like to thank Mr. Tom Huang for this interview!

For more information on Why Am I Doing This? visit the website! www.whyamidoingthis.net
The DVD is available on Amazon.com: Why Am I Doing This, Walmart.com, and Target.com.

Journalists and Critics Tackle the Casting Controversy in ‘The Last Airbender’

Marissa — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:44:29 +0000

The Last Airbender took a critical drubbing and is currently ranked 8% at RottenTomatoes.com. In part due to the awareness Racebending.com readers and other supporters were able to bring to the casting issue through our mid-June letter writing campaign, nearly every single article on or review of The Last Airbender that came out around July 1st, 2010 mentioned the casting controversy and/or even Racebending.com. Below are some of the numerous articles that mention the casting controversy.

Acknowledgement of Fan Outcry Stemming from Racebending.com

In an interview with M. Night Shyamalan, Washington Post reporter Jen Charney commented directly on the number of emails sent to journalists by Racebending.com readers concerned about discrimination in the movie.

“I’m sure other members of the press have told you this, too – I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from the members of the Racebending group, especially in the days leading up to the release of this film. And again, they’re expressing their concerns about the lack of Asian or Asian-American actors cast in the film.”

In part due to the public outcry over the movie, CNN explored the casting controversy in it’s article: Did the ‘Airbender’ adaptation ever have a chance?

“Some fans of the show said they boycotted the movie because the three lead actors are Caucasian. Blogs like “Angry Asian Man” and sites like Racebending.net [sic] attacked Shyamalan and the film’s parent company, Paramount, for white-washing a franchise that was overtly Asian in appearance and sensitivity.”

NPR mentions the fan outcry via Racebending.com through it’s coverage of the casting controversy on Tell Me More: National Public Radio: Tell Me More – The Whitewashing of a Nickelodeon Hit.

“At Racebending.com, a network of disappointed fans has organized a campaign to boycott the film, and call for more opportunities for Asian-American performers in Hollywood.”

Fan’s grievances were also tackled by Public Radio International and the Boston Globe, and ABC, Fox, the Los Angeles Times, and USC all covered the Hollywood protest.

Film Critics Validate Concerns About Casting

Public outcry was also reflected in film reviews of the movie itself. Many film critics reviewing the film noted that public concerns about the casting of the film were “deserved” and “valid.”

“This fiasco has deservedly generated advance criticism for hiring Caucasian actors to play leads that were portrayed as Asians in the TV show and pitting them against darker-skinned bad guys.” [New York Post]

“The Nickelodeon series, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is wholly and inarguably centered on Asian (and Inuit) culture. But Shyamalan, a South Indian, for whatever reason — you supply the motive — chose to cast mostly white actors. Two fellow Indians, “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Dev Patel and veteran Indian-American Aasif Mandvi, play different kinds of villains, but otherwise this fantasy world is pretty white until you get to the extras.” [Hollywood Reporter]

“After the miscalculation of making the movie as live action, there remained the challenge of casting it. Shyamalan has failed. His first inexplicable mistake was to change the races of the leading characters; on television Aang was clearly Asian, and so were Katara and Sokka, with perhaps Mongolian and Inuit genes. Here they’re all whites. This casting makes no sense.” [Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times]

“The four elemental nations represent centuries of culture, with unique garments, architecture and fighting styles to distinguish them (there also seems to be some sort of impenetrable logic about their ethnicities, with people of color filling nearly all the secondary roles).” [Variety]

“The casting is peculiar: Already the subject of some Asian-American protests, the movie has made the good-guy Water Nation folks largely (and dully) Anglo, with Mediterranean and Indian and other swarthy-type performers portraying the bad-guy Fire Folk.” [Chicago Tribune]

One argument that was constantly brought up in defense of racebending allegations was that the leads were chosen for their talent — but we see little of that from Ringer, Peltz, and Rathbone. Meanwhile, in scenes featuring the Fire Nation army, it’s hard not to notice that all of the villains in the film are distinctly darker in skin tone than our heroes. [Slashfilm]

“The producers have been widely criticized for failing to cast the Asian characters of the original with Asian actors, and the criticism is valid, notwithstanding the presence of Asians in minor roles. Like the hero, Aang, the lead characters of the brave sister and brother, Katara and Sokka, are played by young and conspicuously Caucasian American actors.” [Wall Street Journal]

“The movie arrives chased by controversy — protests by fans that the story has been figuratively whitewashed. Although several characters like Katara and Sokka were dark-skinned in the cartoon, here they’re played by Caucasians…Race is a factor here. Caucasian actors in the movie tend to get lines; non-Caucasian actors tend to be used as background. The movie’s Fire Nation tribe has Indian and Maori stars — but they’re the swarthy villains. For a director who is himself Indian-American, it’s a pretty thoughtless approach at best.”[New Jersey Star Ledger]

“Considering all of the (understandable) outrage that came from casting four Caucasians in lead roles that were Asian in the original animated series, it is almost offensive that the lead actors are blank slates from beginning to end. This is clearly not a case of Shyamalan sacrificing the racial balance of his story for the sake of casting an irreplaceable young actor (there is no Haley Joel Osment-like discovery in the mix here). Frankly, the casting has an accidental (?) racial undertone, as the good guys of the Water Nation are all white and/or British while the villainous Fire Nation people generally all portrayed by Indian or Middle Eastern actors.” [Huffington Post]

Reviews Take Notice of Casting Controversy

Even film critics who had bigger issues with the film’s other flaws paid notice to the casting controversy…

“The film has come under fire from some Asian-American groups for not using more Asian stars. Ringer is white, while the cartoon characters were Asian. Airbender’s problem, though, is not in race. It’s in the script, written by Shyamalan…” [USA Today]

“Based on a Asian-ish cartoon series called “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” the movie has been criticized for racially inappropriate casting, but that’s the least of its problems.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

“I’ve been getting e-mails for weeks complaining about the casting of ‘The Last Airbender,’ director M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’ The writers are upset that most of the actors, with the exception of British-born Indian actor Dev Patel, who plays bad guy Zuko, are white. They should be upset with the casting, but not for the reason they think.” [Washington Post]

“The movie’s casting of mostly Anglo actors to play the Asian airbending kids has stirred up controversy, but that’s the least of this short, disastrous film’s problems.” [Orlando Sentinel]

“The Last Airbender’’ has had more bad karma than almost any movie deserves…The core fan base has been up in arms over the casting of white actors to play characters that on the show are anime-Asian.” [Boston Globe]

“The dearth of racially appropriate casting in the U.S. simply means that fewer Asians were humiliated by appearing in what is surely the worst botch of a fantasy epic since Ralph Bakshi’s animated desecration of The Lord of the Rings back in 1978. The actors who didn’t get to be in The Last Airbender are like the passengers who arrived too late to catch the final flight of the Hindenburg.” [TIME Magazine]

“I think everybody who has criticized Shyamalan for casting white actors as Asian characters in this film should admit they were wrong. Clearly, Shyamalan tried to cast Asians, but he just couldn’t find any whose performances were lifeless enough.“[io9]

A big thank you to all of our supporters who took the time to write and spread the word!

Racebending.com Staffers meet Avatar: The Last Airbender Creators at book signing!

Marissa — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 04:46:36 +0000

Racebending.com staffers Marissa Lee and Mike Le had a great time at the Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series signing at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles on June 19th, 2010. Racebending.com volunteers Corey B., Ken A. and a couple hundred other A:TLA fans were also in attendance.

The line in front of the store. Photo by Corey B.

We quickly handed out our last bag of 50 Racebending.com wristbands in the line. People in the line recognized our shirts and knew about the controversy. The line ran from outside and then wound around the interior displays of the Golden Apple Comics store. It took about an hour for us to make it to the front of the line because creators Mike DiMartino and Brian Konietzko were very generous with their time with the fans. They each painstakingly drew a sketch in the fan’s artbook before signing with their names. They also paused with fans to take photos. Halfway through the signing, they had already burned though five Sharpie markers!

While the Racebending.com staffers are fans as well as advocates, the signing was really a day for us to let our geek flag fly–we are huge fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko immediately recognized our faces from past San Diego Comic Con meet ups. (If you didn’t get to attend the book signing in Los Angeles, they should be at Comic Con 2010 later this summer, too!)

Marissa: Mike, Ken, and I presented the creators with excerpts from emails Racebending.com has received from fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender, praising them for the way they handled culture in the animated series. We told them that Racebending.com literally has gotten thousands of emails and so many are about how much the show meant to people, especially people who saw aspects of their cultures represented–some for the first time. (Click here to read emails from people who were positively affected by representation in the animated series.)

Racebending.com meeting the creators. Photo by Corey B.

At the signing, rumors swirled about a new animated series in the works, Avatar: The Legend of Korra. The creators told us that they couldn’t say anything at the signing, but to expect an announcement, soon.

Mike: I asked “Comic Con?” and they said “Sooner than that, hopefully.”

Corey: I actually wanted to ask about Korra but forgot. You get up to the front of the line and all you can think is, “Yeah, a football. I’d like a football.”

Racebending.com did not ask the creators about the movie or the casting. The event was very strongly focused on the animated series. This did not stop others from asking the creators about the casting, though. Secret Identities comic artists Anson and Benton Jew shared their experience meeting the creators with us.

Anson: Benton spoke with Mike and Bryan briefly. He commended them for the accuracy and diligent research that obviously went into the cartoon and asked about how they felt about the controversy surrounding the feature. If I recall correctly, Bryan responded that if it had been his film, things might have been done differently, but that since it was not his movie, he didn’t have any control or say in how the movie got made. Benton further pressed to find out if the casting decision was that of Shayamalan or of someone else, to which they responded that they did not know.

Giant Momo meets his makers

Marissa: Our supporters have been awesome, so when we went to the signing we wanted to make sure to get a book signed for one of them. I explained to the creators that we planned to give this book away to one of our readers, and that while we would like them to dedicate the book to “Racebending.com Supporter,” they could sign the book without the dedication if they did not feel comfortable doing so because of the controversy.

Bryan Konietzko draws in the copy of the book dedicated to Racebending.com supporters

Mike DiMartino wrote the dedication–”To Racebending.com supporter!”–and drew the sketch of Aang; Bryan Konietzko drew the sketch of Katara.

We plan to give this copy of the artbook to one of the fans who shows up at our fan gathering/protest on July 1st in Hollywood. Email mike@racebending.com for details. We hope you’ll join us!

If you were at the signing and you’d like to share your story, please email mlee@racebending.com

Take Action: Write Film Critics About Discrimination in “The Last Airbender”

Marissa — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:26:10 +0000

With The Last Airbender set for release on July 1st, we want to ensure that film critics are aware of how the film discriminated against actors of color.

This is especially important since very few 2010 summer movies will star any actors of color. We’re asking you – our supporters – to write your local film critics, journalists, and newspapers. A short email with a few sentences can make all the difference.

Movie critics may not be aware of the cultural background of the characters in the animated series. They also may not be aware that their readers are upset seeing actors of color restricted to background and villainous roles. This is your chance to encourage people who will review the film to recognize that in the animated series, the characters were people of color, and that actors of color are continually discriminated against in Hollywood.

Support the cause in three easy steps!

Step One: Draft an Email

This shouldn’t be very long. You can do this in a matter of minutes! A few sentences will do.

Please respect the film critic’s time–short emails are more effective. Keep your email under 150 to 200 words.

Suggested formatting might be:

Salutation: Dear Mr./Ms. ______,

Sentence One: A sentence describing yourself, your relationship with the newspaper, and your background. My name is Jane Doe, I am an Asian American business woman and mother from northern California and a subscriber / reader of the San Francisco Times.)

Sentence Two: Explain why you’re writing the email as related to Airbender. I’m concerned about the film The Last Airbender and representation of people of color in Hollywood. Even though the characters in the original series were depicted as from an Asian background, the film cast white actors to play the heroes and only cast actors of color in background and bad guy roles.

Sentence Three: Explain why this upsets you and you are protesting. I can’t think of a single movie featuring an Asian American or Native American actor that has come out recently/this reminds me of yellowface // It sends the message to kids that only people who are white can be heroes and main characters // Paramount has a really bad diversity track record, etc.

Sentence Four: Your call to action for the person you are writing. Please consider mentioning the casting discrimination in your review of the movie // I wanted you to know about his before going into the movie // please encourage your readers to learn more about this issue, etc.

The letter should encourage the journalist to explore the issues surrounding the film. Most journalists and critics want to be balanced and inclusive of different viewpoints and sources in their reviews. Be friendly and share your opinion in a clear and helpful manner.

Step Two: Figure Out Who You Want to Write

We recommend that you visit the website of your local newspaper. If you don’t know your local newspapers, you can try this database. Read some of the entertainment and film review articles from the newspaper and determine the name of the person you would like to contact.

Racebending.com supporters have compiled a list of potential journalist contacts. (see below!)

Most websites for your newspaper will have a “contact us” form. Others will provide an email for each journalist. (eg: the format for the Los Angeles Times is firstname.lastname@latimes.com) If you can’t find the right person to contact or you have to submit through a generic form, you can always write a general letter to the editor or “ATTN: Entertainment Editor”

Step Three: Send the Email!

Fire off that email! That’s it!

If you’d like, you can BCC (blind-carbon-copy) mike@racebending.com. This is optional, but will help us track what critics are being contacted!

Thanks so much for writing journalists and critics, and be sure to update us if a film critic you wrote to gets in touch with you or talks about the issues surrounding the casting.

List of Critics

National Public Radio, submit a story idea: http://www.npr.org/about/pitch/story.html
TIME Magazine

Submit a story idea: http://www.time.com/time/letters/email_letter.html
Richard Corliss, Film Writer: richard_corliss@timeinc.com

Southern California

The Los Angeles Times:
- Kenneth Turan: kenneth.turan@latimes.com
- Calendar Editor: calendar@latimes.com
Richard Roeper: http://www.richardroeper.com/service/contact.aspx
LA Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?to=28272
Brent Simon, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association: bsimon@anet.net

Northern California

Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee: Rbentley@fresnobee.com
The San Francisco Chronicle

Mick LaSalle, Senior Critic: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com
Peter Hartlaub, Pop Culture Critic: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com

Other West

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com
Rick Chatenever, Maui News: scene@mauinews.com

Midwest

Tom Long, Detroit News: tlong@detnews.com
Detroit Film Critics Society: http://detroitfilmcritics.com/Page_2.php
Howie Movshovitz, Colorado Public Radio & Denver Post: hmovshovitz@cs.com
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: mjphillips@tribune.com
Colin Convert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: ccovert@startribune.com

East Coast

The Washington Post

Ann Hornaday: hornadaya@washpost.com
Michael O’Sullivan: osullivanm@washpost.com
Rachel Saslow: saslowr@washpost.com
Jen Chaney: jen.chaney@wpost.com
Sarah Kaufman: kaufmans@washpost.com

Wall Street Journal

Javier Espinoza, Wall Street Journal: javier.espinoza@wsj.com
Joe Morgenstern: joe.morgenstern@wsj.com

Boston Globe

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: tburr@globe.com
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: wmorris@globe.com

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: rmoore@orlandosentinel.com
Mal Vincent, The Virginian Pilot: mal.vincent@pilotonline.com
Jeanette Krebs, Pennsylvania Patriot News: jkrebs@patriot-news.com

Harry Knowles, Ain’t It Cool News: harry@aintitcool.com

Let us know if you’d like us to add a critic to the list!

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.

Paramount Pictures – Diversity in the 21st Century?

Marissa — Sun, 23 May 2010 03:08:49 +0000

Paramount Pictures, the studio producing The Last Airbender, is America’s oldest running movie studio–founded in 1912. A previous Racebending.com article took a look at the studio’s early history of casting Asian American actors in lead roles: Paramount Pictures and Asian Americans: A Tarnished Legacy. This article will focus on Paramount Pictures’ diversity in terms of their most recent, top-billed lead actors from 2000 to present and beyond.

A UCLA study found that industry-wide, men are 3 times more likely than women to be the first billed lead, and that 4 out of 5 lead roles go to an actor who is white. We were curious about how Paramount would line up, particularly since Paramount promised the Asian American community diversity statistics in November 2009 but never delivered. Volunteers Sirajah Raheem, Renee Starling, and Marissa Lee took a close look at Paramount Pictures films distributed and/or produced by the company from 2000 to 2009 and also 2010 and beyond.

Why Look At First Billing?

Our count of lead actor diversity at Paramount is based on the idea that diversity isn’t just who is hired, but who is hired in what positions. Who gets the best roles? Who achieves prominence?

“Credit is often the most fought-over issue in a [Hollywood] negotiation, because credit represents a number of the juiciest points to win: Ego, power, and fame are all tied up in where your name appears on screen or in advertising. Because of the importance of credits…this section of a contract can take up pages and pages.

“Depending on your clout, you want to be the first credit, the largest credit, and the most often mentioned credit of anyone connected with the picture. In any advertising, it’s your name that gets mentioned and–if you’re an actor–your picture that gets shown, your voice that gets heard, and your film clip that gets played. source

Various types of Credit include Main Title Credit (before the movie starts), End Title Credit (after the movie is over), Paid Advertising Credit (mention during commercials and publicity), Above-the-Title Credit (name shows up on top of the movie name in promos and on screen), and Billing Block Credit (the block of text on posters and trailers.)

For our review, we simply looked at which actor is listed first on imdb.com. Even if several actors have received top billing or above the title billing, someone is always listed first.

For an example of top billing in action, check out Warner Bros Pictures’ Oceans Eleven (2001).

Although Oceans Eleven has an ensemble cast–including actors like Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Shaobo Qin–George Clooney (in the role of the titular Danny Ocean) was clearly given star billing for this movie. A dispute involving above-the-title billing is rumored to be the reason why Don Cheadle is not listed in any of the movie’s closing credits. Had Cheadle been given above-the-title billing, he would have alphabetically preceded Clooney.

Our review of actors in top billing was necessarily subjective, but the cultural ethnicity and gender of most of Paramount’s top-billed actors like John Travolta, Angelina Jolie, and Samuel L. Jackson are well established in the public sphere. For animated characters like Shrek the Ogre, Spongebob Squarepants, and Eliza Thornberry we looked to the gender and ethnicity of the voice actor. We simply tallied the first actor billed, (for example: Malin Ackerman in Watchmen, Chris Pine in Star Trek, Ben Affleck in The Sum of All Fears, Jamie Foxx in The Soloist, Noah Ringer in The Last Airbender.)

How Does Paramount Stack Up? – Gender

Paramount didn’t stack up all that well when we looked at gender.

In March 2010, the Motion Picture Association of American released statistics indicating that women go to movies more than men do. Women bought 55% of the movie tickets sold in 2009, but looking at the gender of Paramount’s first billed actors, you wouldn’t know it. Hollywood is a male dominated industry and the same appears to be true at Paramount.

Actresses of color fared the worst. Only one movie released in 10 years starred an actress of color–Queen Latifah in Last Holiday (2006). Out of 30 lead actresses, only one actress–Queen Latifah–was a person of color.

How Does Paramount Stack Up? – ETHNICITY

When it comes to first billing, Paramount clearly gives actors who are white more roles than actors of color. A whopping 86% of Paramount films distributed or produced in the last decade starred a white performer.

Out of 133 movies either produced or distributed, 17 had a black lead actor and only one had an Asian actor–Parry Shen in the film Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). However, Paramount did not produce Better Luck Tomorrow, the company distributed the film to theaters after the film made the independent film circuit.

Over a 10 year period from 2000 to 2009, we found that Paramount did not produce a SINGLE movie starring a Latino, Asian American, or Native American actor.

Had Paramount’s leads been anywhere near proportional with the actual United States population, twenty of their films would have had a Latino lead actor, six of their films would have had Asian American actors as lead, and at least one film would have starred a Native American actor.

Ironically, even though Paramount did not give any Latino or South Asian actors top billing from 2000 to 2009, Paramount did cast actors who are white to play Latino and South Asian lead characters.

Also in the past decade, two real-life heroes from 9/11, who are African American, were depicted with white actors in supporting roles in the Paramount film World Trade Center (2006).

The Last Airbender is not the first time Paramount has bumbled in casting by giving roles that could have gone to actors of color (improving Paramount’s dismal diversity statistics for first-billed roles.)

Paramount Pictures in 2010 and Beyond

Paramount’s slate of executives was wiped in summer 2009. New Paramount Pictures President Adam Goodman met with Asian American advocacy groups in November 2009 and affirmed Paramount’s commitment to diversity. But does Paramount’s new slate of upcoming films from 2010 onward live up to this ideal?

Of the 54 already announced movies Paramount plans to produce and/or distribute this decade, about two-thirds have been cast with a lead actor. If these casting decisions are any indication, 89% of this decade’s Paramount films will star a white actor, and 94% will star a male actor.

Only two of the films so far, Warriors (2011) and Nick Fury (2012), will star black actors. One film, First Glance (2011) has Filipino American actor Dante Basco attached. And finally, a Latino single lead–if Antonio Banderas voicing Puss in Boots in a planned Shrek prequel counts. Native American actors–with not a single lead actor in the past decade–still haven’t been cast in a lead role at Paramount in this decade.

As for actresses of color? Barely given a chance to be the star in the past decade, there are currently no films in development at Paramount with an actress of color attached to star.

Actors of color and women continue to be underrepresented in Paramount’s plum roles. Placed in the context of first-billing diversity for all of Paramount’s recent films, it is disappointing that Asian and Inuit actors were not cast for the first billed role of Aang and supporting lead roles of Katara and Sokka. We hope that as Paramount continues to plan its slate of upcoming movies, the studio will create films that offer opportunities to a variety of different actors from communities currently underrepresented in Hollywood productions.

Racebending.com Calls Out Nickelodeon’s “Power Rangers” Casting Call

Marissa — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:41:44 +0000

Nickelodeon has restricted to lead role in Power Rangers to white actors only, despite the franchise’s past history of diversity and ‘colorblind’ casting. Racebending.com has written Nickelodeon’s CEO asking that he re-release the casting breakdown and give actors of color a fair and equal chance to audition for the lead role. Stay tuned for more information on how you can help!

The Power Rangers franchise is nearly two decades old and has run on children’s television in the United States for 17 seasons. Since the first season of Saban Entertainment’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, aired on FoxKids in 1993, Power Rangers has introduced two generations of American children to incredible growing monsters, interlocking robot suit zord-things, a floating disembodied blue head in a tube, and a diverse cast of heroes.

The first season cast of Power Rangers, circa 1993

Power Rangers was broadcast on Fox until the Walt Disney Company purchased the franchise and began airing the series on its own networks in 2002. In spring 2010, Saban re-acquired Power Rangers and made a new deal with Nickelodeon. In 2011, Nickelodeon will air the 18th season of Power Rangers on the Nickelodeon and Nicktoons channels.

In early May 2010, casting breakdowns for the roles were distributed throughout the industry, including a posting on Actor’s Access. Roles for the Green, Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Gold Ranger were listed as open to actors and actresses of “Any ethnicity”–matching the franchise’s tradition of casting actors of various ethnicities to play the show’s diverse ensembles of heroes. In stark contrast, the casting break down for the lead role, “Red Ranger-Reese” looked like this:

[ RED RANGER - REESE ]
Caucasian male, 18 – 23 to play 17-19 years.
Reese is an attractive young man with super hero looks and a slim athletic build, approx 5′10″. Natural leader, reserved quiet and mysterious. Martial arts a plus.

This casting notice raised the eyebrows of Racebending.com supporters not only because it recalls similarly worded casting calls used for The Last Airbender–another Nickelodeon property–but also because of Power Rangers’ past history of diversity. Power Rangers has an established precedent for considering and even hiring actors from underrepresented communities when casting for this lead role, which is not locked to any specific ethnicity. Because of the franchise’s past willingness to consider actors from underrepresented groups as well as actors who are white, several of the Red Rangers have been played by actors of color–including Selwyn Ward, Pua Magasiva, Brandon McLaren, and last season’s Eka Darville.

Selwyn Ward as TJ Johnson, a Red Ranger and leader of the Power Rangers

Yet, after only recently acquiring the franchise, Nickelodeon has restricted the lead role of this children’s series to only white actors in its casting process. While we applaud that Nickelodeon will audition actors and actresses of any ethnicity to play the other Power Rangers, restricting submissions for the leader of the Power Rangers–and main character of the series– to white actors still signifies a glass ceiling.

Racebending.com surveyed the diversity of human characters in shows aired on Nicktoons from 1991 to present, and found that only 25% of lead characters were people of color. This number hardly reflects the diversity of the American children in Nick’s audience, 45% of whom are people of color.

The concept behind Racebending.com’s protest of this casting breakdown is simple: Given the “Power Rangers” franchise’s rich history of diversity, Nickelodeon should not discriminate by excluding actors of color from auditioning for the lead role. We are not asking that actors of color be given special treatment or consideration for this role, but that they be given the same opportunity the white actors currently being sought have received. We are asking that Nickelodeon afford actors of color a fair and equal chance to audition for the main character and the lead hero, as previous Power Ranger seasons have done in the past.

We are simply asking that Nickelodeon at least consider actors of color for the lead role of Red Ranger.

On Friday, May 21st, Racebending.com sent a letter to Nickelodeon Global Network Ventures, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Dunn. The letter, which can be viewed here, urges Nickelodeon to immediately re-release the casting breakdown for the character of “Red Ranger – Reese,” reworded to allow actors of all ethnicities the chance to submit and be considered for this role. Racebending.com writes: “Re-releasing the casting breakdown and allowing actors of all ethnicities an equal chance to audition for the Red Ranger lead role will expand the pool of talent available for “Power Rangers,” and reaffirm Nickelodeon’s interest in diversity and commitment to a fair casting process.”

We hope Nickelodeon will respond to our concerns and make the role open to submissions from actors of all ethnicities.

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.