On July 4th, the Boston Globe covered the casting controversy surrounding The Last Airbender.    Visit The Boston Globe: ‘Airbender’ reopens race debate for full coverage.

‘Airbender’ reopens race debate

Critics decry casting whites in Asian roles

By Don Aucoin

July 4th, 2010

All in all, it was a week that M. Night Shyamalan would probably just as soon forget.

Movie critics delivered a withering verdict on his new film, “The Last Airbender,’’ heaping words like “laughable,’’ “flat,’’ and “fiasco’’ on the director’s latest effort to deliver on the promise he showed with 1999’s “The Sixth Sense.’’ But even before the reviews came in, Shyamalan was on the defensive, caught in the crossfire of a debate over ethnicity and authenticity that has implications beyond the fate of any individual movie.

At issue was Shyamalan’s decision to cast three of the four principal roles in “The Last Airbender’’ with Caucasian actors, even though the anime-style TV series that inspired the film featured lead characters who appeared to be East Asian or Native American. Furious at what they saw as the latest entry in an ignoble Hollywood tradition of “whitewashing,’’ or casting white performers in roles that cried out for minority actors, Asian-American activists launched a boycott of “The Last Airbender,’’ staged demonstrations, and mobilized opposition on Facebook.

“This was a great opportunity to create new Asian-American stars,’’ fumed Guy Aoki, founding president of the Los Angeles-based Media Action Network for Asian-Americans, which urged a movie boycott for the first time in the organization’s 18-year existence. “When you have ready-made material that has Asian or Asian-American people in it, and they still cast white people in it, that’s the last straw.’’

The movie industry has a checkered history, to say the least, on the issue of ethnic sensitivity, from the infamous practice of blackface, in which black characters were played by whites in dark makeup, to such dubious recent decisions as the casting of Jake Gyllenhaal to play the heir to the throne of Persia (now Iran) in this summer’s “Prince of Persia.’’

Asian-American moviegoers have long had to absorb slights, oversights, and worse at the hands of Hollywood. The Charlie Chan movies of the 1930s and ’40s starred white actors as the Chinese-American detective with great powers of deduction but faulty powers of enunciation. In a cringe-inducing portrayal in 1961’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’’ Mickey Rooney donned buck teeth and thick-rimmed glasses to portray Mr. Yunioshi, Audrey Hepburn’s excitable Japanese neighbor. In 2008’s “21,’’ based on a controversial book about MIT students who outwitted Las Vegas casinos, most of the students in the movie were white, even though in real life they were mostly Asian-American. And in one of the most nuanced cases of tone deafness, 2005’s big-screen adaptation of “Memoirs of a Geisha’’ cast Chinese actresses as the Japanese leads.

Now comes “The Last Airbender,’’ which raises a number of questions, including a simple, heartfelt one posed by Tak Toyoshima, the Japanese-American creator and illustrator of “Secret Asian Man’’ comics and the creative director of the Weekly Dig. “The hero that saves the day, why couldn’t he be an Asian kid?’’ said Toyoshima, 39, of Dorchester. “There are plenty of Asian actors out there who could do the same thing.’’

“I’m disappointed,’’ he added. “Again. It happened again. I lump it in with all the other movies that have done the exact same thing.’’

Neither Paramount nor Shyamalan responded to Globe requests for comment about “The Last Airbender.’’

“The Last Airbender’’ is a live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,’’ an animated series that attracted a devoted following when it aired on the Nickelodeon cable channel from 2005 to 2008. Shyamalan’s film was originally slated to be a trilogy, though Paramount will doubtless count the box office returns before committing to two more movies.

In “The Last Airbender,’’ whose script was written by Shyamalan, the world encompasses four nations: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Within each nation are “benders,’’ who can manipulate the elements. When the Fire Nation launches a war whose goal is the enslavement of the Earth, Water, and Air nations, an “Airbender’’ named Aang learns that he is the only “avatar’’ who possesses the power to manipulate all four elements. Consequently, the onus is on Aang to prevent worldwide catastrophe.

The character of Aang is played by Noah Ringer; the character of Katara, a “Waterbender’’ who becomes his ally, is played by Nicola Peltz; and her brother, Sokka, is played by Jackson Rathbone, who also appears in “Twilight.’’ All three actors are non-Asian. Leading the charge for the Fire Nation is a “Firebender’’ named Zuko. The pop singer Jesse McCartney, who is white, was originally cast as Zuko. When he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, he was replaced by Dev Patel, a British actor of Indian descent who starred in the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.’’

The controversy started to build a year ago when fans learned that all four lead roles had been cast with non-Asian actors. The addition of Patel to the cast did not mollify critics.

Initially at least, Shyamalan seemed unruffled and even oblivious to the uproar. “Ultimately, this movie, and then the three movies, will be the most culturally diverse tent-pole movies ever released, period,’’ he told the Los Angeles Times last summer.

As the controversy continued to build in recent weeks, however, Paramount extended an olive branch to critics, inviting Aoki and other activists to a screening last week and releasing a statement to the LA Times noting that the film “has 23 credited speaking roles — more than half of which feature Asian and Pan Asian actors of Korean, Japanese, and Indian descent. . . . We believe fans of the original and new audiences alike will respond positively once they see it.’’

Michael Le didn’t. Le, 26, an engineer in Los Angeles, was a fan of the TV show and has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the series. He serves as spokesman for an online community called Racebending.com, which was founded by fans of the TV show and acts as a watchdog on diversity issues in Hollywood. After attending the Paramount screening last week, Le described the film to the Globe as “absolutely atrocious,’’ adding: “Even ignoring the whitewashing, the film was a complete disaster.’’

He is not impressed by Paramount’s statement about the number of speaking roles that went to actors of Asian descent. “It speaks to a glass ceiling,’’ said Le. “Paramount can boast about a lot of background actors, a lot of secondary characters, but the top three roles are all given to white actors. That’s stunning, when the original source material was clearly rooted in Asian and Native American culture.’’

“ ‘Airbender’ is not an isolated case,’’ he added. “This kind of whitewashing goes on all the time. As an Asian-American growing up, it was very hard for me to find heroes I could look up to. That experience of seeing my face removed from entertainment, it definitely has an impact on you growing up.’’

Racebending.com and Asian Americans took to the streets in a public demonstration against The Last Airbender on July 1st in front of the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.  Channel 7’s 6 o’ clock news reporter Leanne Suter was there, interviewing protesters and moviegoers about the casting controversy. – Protests against ‘Last Airbender’ casting

Racebending.com volunteer Ashton Davis transcribed the video, which you can read below.

Protests against ‘Last Airbender’ casting
Activists protest ‘The Last Airbender,’ calling the film racist for casting white actors to play Asian parts.

Mark: New at six—an action-adventure movie is out this weekend and it’s already triggering protests among asian-american activists and fans. This issue isn’t the story, but how the actors roles have changed on the big screen. Eyewitness news reporter Leanne Suter is live at Hollywood with reaction from protestors and moviegoers. Leanne?

Leanne: Mark, protestors want moviegoers to boycott the film—The Last Airbender, you see live behind me here, about 100 people have gathered in front of the Arclight, and they’re hoping to hit Hollywood where it hurts.

[cut to protestors, pre-recorded]

Leanne, continued: Voicing their frustrations, protestors rally outside of the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood, angry over the movie The Last Airbender and it’s lack of minority actors.

Jason Kang, protestor: I find it offensive that they would purposely pass over actors of color, like, specifically, Asian actors for Caucasian actors.

[cut to footage from the film, showing the Caucasian actors ]

Leanne, voiceover:  The movie, by M. Night Shyamlan, is based on a cartoon show in which most of the characters are Asian or Inuit. But in the film, most of are Caucasian. The Media Action Network for Asian Americans says that is discrimination.

[cut to fan-made sign saying, ‘Aang can stay Asian, and still save the World’, pan shot of protestors]

Guy Aoki, from MANAA: Unfortunately, there is this growing trend of white washing that is taking a project that is written for Asian Americans, and when you make a movie version, just casting white people in it.

[more footage, focusing on Dev Patel as Zuko and another shot of the protestors]

Leanne, voiceover: Adding fuel to the fire, the only main Asian character is a villain. Protestors say it’s time Asians are allowed to be the hero, MANAA is calling for a boycott of the movie, hoping to send Hollywood a clear message. But, many moviegoers say they are divided on the issue.

Carlos Taura, moviegoer: I can sympathize with them because you see that a lot in today’s movies, you know, where the characters that should be portrayed by the actual people are portrayed by different people.

Trudy Cooper, moviegoer: The only time I notice is when it’s a handicapped situation and is supposed to have missing limbs or something, and I always think why don’t they use someone that really doesn’t have limbs? [laugh] But with the race, the nationality—I don’t personally notice it.

Leanne Suter, on screen: Now protestors say that the only way to get Hollywood to change is to affect the bottom line, and that is why they’re hoping they can do this weekend. Live in Hollywood, Leanne Suter, Eyewitness news.

Reporter Daina Beth Solomon of Los Angeles Times’ Calendar section covers the July 1st protest against The Last Airbender in Hollywood.  For complete coverage, visit the Hero Complex blog: In protest against ‘The Last Airbender,’ fans find empowerment.

In protest against ‘The Last Airbender,’ fans find empowerment
Dania Beth Solomon

July 2, 2010

As protesters paraded outside the ArcLight Hollywood theater Thursday evening, signs filled the air with hand-written phrases such as "Support fair casting!" and "Hollywood is racist and too ignorant to know it!"  The chant of "Get it right, M. Night!" rose above the noise of Sunset Boulevard rush-hour traffic. Meanwhile, just inside the ArcLight’s doors, an usher busied herself preparing rows of 3-D glasses for the next showing of "The Last Airbender."

Released Thursday, the M. Night Shyamalan film has been criticized for casting Caucasian actors as Asian characters.  Based on the anime-inspired Nickelodeon cartoon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," the movie’s story has many connections to Asian and Inuit culture. While the movie is mostly faithful to the story, protesters say, it does not accurately represent the Asian ethnicities of the main characters. While irritating to fans, the issue is particularly upsetting to parents who see the movie as depriving kids of Asian role models.  

Since the "Airbender" casting became known in December 2008, Asian-American activists as well as the TV show’s fans have called for a boycott of the film. They harnessed the Web to promote their cause, particularly through the site Racebending.com. On Thursday, protesters took to the streets. The crowd, which included over 100 at its peak and otherwise numbered 50 or 60, was drawn from supporters of three L.A.-based organizations — Racebending.com, the Korean Resource Center and Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA). According to Marissa Lee, a founder of Racebending.com, the turnout at the protest was exactly what its organizers hoped for.

"We can’t change the movie, so it’s a symbolic demonstration," she said. "We want to send the message to Hollywood that its casting practices are no longer accepted by the public." 

Paramount has responded to the criticisms by announcing in a statement that the cast includes "Asian and pan-Asian actors of Korean, Japanese and Indian decent." Shyamalan has defended "Airbender" as "the most culturally diverse movie series of all time," referring to "The Last Airbender" as well as two sequels he plans to make.
As protesters chanted, waved signs and marched in a circular pattern in front of the entrance to the ArcLight’s Cinerama Dome, passersby had mixed reactions. Some stopped to find out what was going on. Others simply took photos. And there were some who just kept walking. But it can be difficult to attract attention in Hollywood. No one took a second glance at the svelte, tanned man who sauntered through the crowd wearing nothing but tight white jockey shorts. 

Though the protesters were passionate and enthusiastic, the atmosphere was peaceful. The only near-violent moment came when Tzi Ma, a Chinese actor known for his role on "24," spoke so vehemently that spittle flew at the NBC reporter who was interviewing him.

"It’s on the verge of a hate crime, and I’m sick of it," he said of the movie.  

Other protesters appeared equally frustrated.

"I’m tired of the glass ceiling, I’m tired of the biases, I’m tired of the unequal playing field," said Yun-Sook Kim Navarre, a poet and activist who instructed her 6-year-old daughter to spell "Asian Actors Now" in red marker on a sheet of poster board.  

Emiliano Celi, an actor of Latino, Chinese and Filipino descent, presented a more matter-of-fact view.

"We just want fairness and balance in America," he said. "There’s nothing simpler than that."  

Guy Aoki, a board member for MANAA, thinks the campaign against "The Last Airbender" has contributed to the prediction of lackluster ticket sales. Then again, it could also be the reviews.   

Roger Ebert gave the movie half a star.  For Scott Mendelson of Salon.com, "The Last Airbender" is a "tragedy, pure and simple," earning a grade of D-plus.  Kenneth Turan of The Times labeled it as "undoubtedly a disappointment." And teenagers — the movie industry’s key viewing demographic — aren’t too pleased either.

Lorenzo Torres, 19, attended a midnight showing Thursday with friends. Half the people in the theater, which was full, requested a ticket refund after the show, he said.  Viewers cited the 3-D effects, storyline and lack of Asian actors as reasons.  Amazingly, the Edwards Alhambra Renaissance Stadium 14 complied, according to Torres. 

While many protesters have seen the movie (some attended a Paramount-sponsored screening in order to better support their claims), others such as Europa Henriquez, 18, are sticking to the boycott. Even so, Henriquez is familiar with the audience response.  She heard that one 9-year-old girl wanted to throw chairs at Shyamalan after seeing the movie. In addition to disagreeing with the casting, Henriquez is also upset that the movie grossly feminized one of the tough-girl characters. 

Lee noted that the "Airbender" controversy has motivated TV fans to ditch the stereotypical couch potato slouch and campaign for fairness.

"I think it’s been really empowering," she said. "It’s an opportunity for fans to channel their love and energy for the animated series into activism."

But Lee is aware that a surge in interest doesn’t mean overnight change.

"We’re going to continue to keep an eye on Hollywood," she said. "It doesn’t stop with ‘Airbender,’ unfortunately." 

On July 1st, reporter Amanda Tran was on the scene when Racebending.com and other organizations held a demonstration against The Last Airbender in front of the Arclight Cinerama Dome. L.A. Residents Protest to End ‘Racebending’. Neon Tommy is a web-only, Los Angeles-based news source sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

Visit NeonTommy’s article to view a video and slideshow of the protest and full coverage.

L.A. Residents Protest to End ‘Racebending’
Amanda Tran | July 2, 2010

Thursday, July 1 marked the opening day for filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s latest venture, “The Last Airbender,” a live-action film based on the popular Nickelodeon animated series.

A large crowd of original “Airbender” fans gathered in Hollywood in front of the ArcLight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard late Thursday afternoon, not to form a line for the movie, but to protest against it.

Since announcement of the film’s casting in 2008, there has been growing controversy over Paramount’s decision to cast predominantly white actors in the lead roles.

Paramount’s official casting call for the principal roles solicited applicants who were “Caucasian or any other ethnicity.”

Many fans of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” were upset because the original show was set in a fantastical Asian world, which featured heroes of color and was modeled after traditional Asian/Inuit culture.

Mike Le, one of the lead organizers of Thursday’s protest, expressed his anger over the casting.

“[‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’] showcased Asian culture and a marginalized group of people that had never had a place on TV,” Le said. “It spoke to people of different backgrounds as well…This was a robbed opportunity and was a huge blow to morale to everyone.”

The protest was organized by activist site Racebending.com, a grassroots movement dedicated to advocating fair and non-discriminatory hiring practices in the entertainment industry.

Racebending.com started as an online community of fans of the original show. The community grew larger, and as the movement gained momentum there was a push to make a formal site.

Marissa Lee, co-founder of Racebending.com, spearheaded the project.

Her involvement stemmed not only from her passion for the show, but also from her desire to see better Asian American representation in the media.

“Growing up there were not many Asians on television,” Lee said. “I remember whenever my dad saw an Asian person on TV he’d call the whole family over. It was like spotting an endangered species on a hike.”

Racebending.com supporters advocate through direct protest, contacting studios that ‘racebend’ or otherwise discriminate against actors of color.

Although the movement’s supporters wrote unanswered letters to Paramount asking to change casting in “The Last Airbender,” Thursday’s protest transcended the film.

“Today’s protest isn’t about [the letters.] It’s about showing Hollywood that unnoticed audiences are ready for fair, representative casting,” Lee said. “We are raising awareness to let Hollywood know that when they don’t offer fair opportunities people will speak out. Consumers expect better. They want something to better reflect the American landscape.”

The diverse protest grew close to 100 people within the first two hours, with several activist organizations in attendance, such as Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA).

Heather Glover, 25, discovered the Facebook event for the protest hours earlier.

“I really like the whole feel,” she said, glancing back at the chanting crowd behind her. “I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout, and I’m going to see if I can throw [a protest] together myself.”

Sixteen-year-old Taylor Cross flew in from San Francisco with her mother for Thursday’s protest. A long-time fan of the series, she discovered the Racebending movement early on and jumped at the opportunity to protest.

“I’ve been mad about this for a long time, and [my mom] knew flying me down here would have meant the world to me,” Cross said. “A lot of people think that protesting won’t change things, but I can’t stand by and pretend that nothing’s going on. I know in the back of my mind that this is wrong.”

Lee acknowledged that her activism stemmed from being a fan first.

“We’re all new to this,” Lee said, pointing to herself and Mike. “We’re channeling this passion as fans into activism. We’re using all this energy and focusing it on changing the world.”

On July 2nd, 2010, Racebending.com was featured on The Takeaway, a show by Public Radio International with half a million listeners: Race and Identity in ‘The Last Airbender’. Racebending.com spokesperson Michael Le interviewed with PRI at 3:30am in the morning, only 5 hours after getting home from the Los Angeles protest.

The audio recording of the interview is available on PRI’s website.

A transcript of the interview is included below for people who are listening impaired or do not have audio capability. Thank you to racebending.com volunteer opal_skies fr the transcript!

Race and Identity in ‘The Last Airbender’
Friday, July 02, 2010

“The Last Airbender” is the live-action feature film based on the highly successful animated series on Nickelodeon. It’s also the center of a growing controversy about casting and race. The series features Asian settings, costumes, architecture, and character and location names that incorporate Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian phonemes — such as “Aang,” “Fong” and “Sing.” And yet, when casting the motion picture, the studio chose four white actors to play the leads. When one of the actors dropped out, he was replaced by Dev Patel of “Slumdog Millionaire” fame, but it’s still the case that three of the four leading actors are white.

Mike Le, whose organization, racebending.com has been leading a boycott of the film since 2008, explains why race is not incidental in the film. And Jeff Yang, who’s been writing about “Airbender” for several months for the San Francisco Chronicle, explains the complications of race in a movie whose characters were originally animated and created by two white men.

Is casting white actors for non-white rolesoffensive or just colorblind casting?

Comments from Facebook:

“It would arguably be color blind if an ethnic actor was hired to play a role that traditionally goes to a white actor. I think casting white actors in ‘Prince of Persia’ and ‘The Last Airbender’ may be an attempt to pander to the presumed mainsteam audience that will see it, which is strange considering how much negative attention a fanbase can generate nowadays and how succesful movies like ‘Lord of the Rings’ or various comic book movies have been when they placate fans.” —Mark Hershberger

“I find it annoying on one hand as you have black and ethnic actors/actresses who are worthy of the role, fit the part (in terms of genuine looks) and DESERVE the opportunity. On the other hand, a good test of an actor’s/actresses ability to morph into character and act any part (a la ‘Soul Man’ and ‘Tropic Thunder’). So I’m a bit conflicted on the issue.” —Tyrone Thorpe

“I wonder why this even matters. As long as one can play the part well it really does not bother me who is in the role.” —Carrie Perez

“I think when it really come down to it, if we are going to get upset about a white actor playing a non-white role, we need to get upset about a Japanese actor playing Chinese, or an Arab actor playing Persian, or a Mexican actor playing Colombian. As hokey as it sounds, true art transcends ethnicity, and if a white actor can portray a non-white character, getting upset about it is myopic. I agree that Downey Jr.’s role in Tropic Thunder actually went pretty far in bringing this topic to a mainstream conversation. Which we’re obviously still having.” —David Ring

CELESTE
We tackled movies on Friday and today we’re talking about a movie that has some people outraged.

[Airbender audio clip]
“You are the only one who can control all the elements and bring peace to our world.”
“I will stop them.”
“It may already be too late.”

CELESTE
That is from The Last Airbender and it hits theaters today, originally called Avatar, but obviously they had to change the title of it. Many people are angry and in fact they’ve been calling for a boycott of the movie since last year. They’re angry because of the casting and we’re gonna discuss why.

With us is Jeff Yang, who’ve been following this issue with the San Francisco Chronicle, and Mike Le, spokesperson for Racebending.com, he’s been leading the boycott of the film since 2008 actually.

Jeff, let me start with you, and tell us really quickly what this controversy is about.

JEFF
Yeah thanks Celeste, so Airbender is this live feature adaptation of this tremendously successful animated series from Nickelodeon. Nineteen million people saw the series two-hour finale, which made it the #1 telecast of any kind the week it aired. Now to put that in context, the finale of Lost only got about 14 million viewers –

JOHN
Wow.

JEFF
– so the success of this led Nickelodeon to refer to Airbender as their Harry Potter, so to speak, and that’s a pretty good metaphor because Harry Potter and Airbender both draw their appeal from these immersive incredibly well-realized fantasy worlds, except that the Harry Potter world is shaped by British influences and ideas, and the Airbender world is really largely drawn from Asian influences, from the costumes to the belief systems to the architecture to the names.

And as a result it was kind of weird that in casting this $150 million live action adaptation that the film’s director, M. Night Shyamalan – who is, of course, himself Indian American – chose to cast white actors for all the major roles.

And he only recast one, the film’s antagonist villain Zuko, with British Indian Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire, aftger the original actor, Jesse McCartney, dropped out.

So you can kind of imagine if you’d cast Harry Potter with Miley Cyrus and two Jonas brothers that’s the kind of horror that fans of the original series felt when they saw about this announcement.

CELESTE
Or perhaps even more fitting if they had cast it with a couple African actors instead. Mike Le, you started this boycott in 2008, you know we got a response from one of our listeners, Katie Perez:

“I wonder why this really matters, as long as the actor can play the part well, it doesn’t bother me who’s in the role.”

And that’s the argument M. Night Shymalan is making—

JOHN
It’s acting.

CELESTE
– he simply cast the people who were best for the role. Do you buy that?

MIKE
No, I don’t, and I think it’s a little disingenuous to say that – even in 2010 – as far as we’ve come with a biracial African American president, with a Muslim Miss USA to think that we’re postracial it’s a little bit naïve.

When you look at, for example, or even to say, well it’s all about talent – well, I think any time soon we’ll be seeing an actress portray Superman on screen. So clearly there’s a limit to what audiences will accept, to this suspension of disbelief.

And especially when roles have been so rigged against Asian American actors, to the point where we can’t even represent ourselves, such as in 21, as in Dragonball, as all these dozens of dozens of other examples in the last hundred years of Hollywood discrimination, I think it’s really disingenuous to say “well, it’s all about talent” – and that there’s no bias against Asian American actors, against minority actors.”

JOHN
Although this movie itself is helping with your boycott, it’s got the worst notices I think I’ve seen in decades—

MIKE
Absolutely and I don’t think those things are disconnected. People seem to think that the race issue is completely separate from the fidelity of the film to the source material, which as Jeff Yang said, is– was incredibly successful.

So if you’d imagine a director walking into Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and saying, “Well, I’m a huge fan of the series, but I always envisioned Harry as black, or I always envisioned Frodo as being Latino. So I’m going to recast and make all the hobbits Latino.

And I can just imagine the fan uproar from this, and it would be incredibly obvious that the director had no respect for the source material or the fans, and the film would flop. And I think that’s what we’re seeing here—

JOHN
Well, Romeo and Juliet was recast with Latinos in West Side Story.

MIKE
That’s true and I think that those are the kind of thing that are exceptions that prove the rule. Where you look at and say “Well, everything’s okay,” but when you look at overall statistics, such as Paramount statistics, where 83% of their planned films feature a white male lead, 94% feature a male lead, despite the fact that 55% of American ticket-buyers are women—

CELESTE
Yeah.

MIKE
–so I think it shows how far behind the film industry in catching up to 2010 demographics.

CELESTE
Okay, but Jeff, how do we know for sure that these main characters in Airbender were supposed to be Asian?

JEFF
You know it’s a good point because obviously it’s a fantasy world—

CELESTE
Right, it’s not a country that exists.

JEFF
At the same time, when you actually look at the original source material, and even talk to the creators of the original animated series – and it was created by two white Americans, you know, Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino—

CELESTE
The people who voiced the characters on the Nickelodeon series were white.

JEFF
Yeah well you know they’ve actually publicly said that they’ve intended for the series to be kind of this celebration of an Asia that never was, so you kind of have to think that they at least thought of these characters as being Asian, I mean they’ve said as much, essentially.

And I do think that there is a sense in which the original program would not have been the success that it was, in this generation, in this era, if it had not drawn from such an Asian-centered point of view. And you know, I totally agree with Mike there. We’re growing into a generation that’s, you know, all about Pokemon and Nintendo and manga. And they’re very comfortable with Asian ideas and Asian people.

CELESTE
Okay, but Mike, let me just ask you, this is a movie that as John mentioned, this is a movie that’s gotten really abysmal reviews, I would imagine that a lot of people who are boycotting the film with your boycott, wouldn’t see the film anyway. Is this the most effective way to protest this kind of casting?

MIKE
I think that number one you want to boycott, number two you want to raise awareness, you want to go out and talk, that’s why we’ve been speaking on public campuses – MIT, UCLA, USC – that’s why we’ve been posting our information on the internet, so people will hear about this issue.

And despite the fact that the film is tanking, it’s still a big news item, obviously, and so people hear about the casting controversy, they might read a review that might offhandedly mention the racism, and they’ll go out and they’ll learn more about it.

And we have the information out there so that people understand, it’s not an isolated issue, it’s not something that’s reverse racism, quote/unquote, and there are legitimate concerns here.

CELESTE
Right, okay that is Mike Le, Los Angeles organizer for Racebending.com, that’s organizing the boycott of The Last Airbender. And Jeff Yang, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.

We’re interested in what you think about this, give us a call at 877-8MY-TAKE or post a comment to TheTakeaway.org.

On July 2nd, Racialicious.com published “An Open Letter to Racebending.com Detractors, written by Racebending.com organizer and spokesperson Mike Le.

AN OPEN LETTER TO RACEBENDING.COM DETRACTORS
by Michael Le

I’d like the chance to explain what Racebending.com is about. Why are we boycotting Paramount’s The Last Airbender? Why are we angry about the production’s casting practices?

I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding here and my hope is that if you have the time to read my piece, you’ll find that we’re reasonable folks with valid concerns. We’re not just whistle-blowing PC police or crazy “reverse racists.”

Even if I don’t convince you to go out and buy a Racebending shirt, I hope that by the end, you respect our position more, and can understand where we’re coming from even if you don’t agree.

If you’re pressed for time and the length of this piece annoys you, we have a five-minute video series explaining our position, though it won’t address everything in this piece: http://www.racebending.com/v3/featured/the-last-airbender-film-how-to-talk-about-it-video-series/”>Why Are People Upset About Airbender?

WHY THIS ISSUE MATTERS
Sometimes it’s hard to see why something as trivial as a film matters. Why video games are important or how comic books can shape our lives.

In a given week, the average American child spends less than forty minutes in meaningful conversation with their parents. In the same week, he or she will also spend sixteen hundred and eighty minutes watching television.

In a given year, an American child will spend 900 hours in school – and 1500 hours watching television.
(source: http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html by Norman Herr, PhD Professor of Science and Education)

Clearly, children spend a great deal of time consuming media. It helps shape how they view the world and themselves. In the states, we find it very easy to fight the gender stereotypes they may be exposed to. We tell our daughters that they can grow up to be doctors or lawyers or presidents, and that they are just as capable as any boy.

But in America, we’re very skittish about the subject of race. We like to stick to vague statements like “Everybody is equal” – a lofty and admirable statement, to be sure, but abstract and tough for a child to grasp.

When we don’t talk to our children about race, they draw their own conclusions, and one of their main sources of information about the world is media.

The kind of concepts children internalize about themselves is demonstrated in a study known as the doll test, initially conducted to help end segregation in the states, and performed again in more recent years:

http://www.racebending.com/v3/background/do-children-see-race/

AREN’T WE ALL EQUAL NOW?
About once a month, someone asks me some variant of this question: “Where are you from?”

“San Diego,” I’ll say.

“No,” comes the response. “Where are you REALLY from?”

There are more folks of Asian descent living in the United States than there are people in the entire country of Holland. My English is flawless (insofar as I’m a Californian with zealous overuse of the word “like”). Many of the folks who ask me this question I consider friends. And I’m not saying “Oh, look how racist everyone is.”

What I am saying is that Asian Americans aren’t really thought of as American. One of my close friends has a straight-up Brooklyn accent. He was telling a coworker that he used to serve in the army.

The response?

“Oh, cool. The Chinese army?”

It’s easy to draw comparisons between the Airbender casting and an English actor playing an Irish one, or a Spanish actor playing an Italian actor. But it’s not really the same, and the reason is that Hollywood and media don’t consider whether an actor is Irish or Spanish or English. They think of that actor as “white.” The same is not true of actors who are Asian or Latino, who have to fight over the few roles specifically written for those ethnicities. And a lot of times, even when a role is steeped in Asian culture, even when a role is based on real-life individuals of Asian descent, those roles still go to white actors.

Does it happen the other way, where a “white” role is given to a person of color? Sometimes. But I think this is a case where the exceptions prove the rule:

Over the last ten years, 86% of Paramount’s lead actors have been white. In fact, of the 54 films released or announced for 2010 and on, 83% of Paramount’s leads are white males. From 2000 to 2009, Paramount didn’t produce a single movie starring a Latino, Asian American, or Native American actor. There’s a phrase for numbers like these: glass ceiling.

http://www.racebending.com/v3/featured/paramount-pictures-diversity-in-the-21st-century/

Pretty messed up… but Hollywood’s a business, after all. They want to appeal to their main demographic: white males. Right?

MARKETABILITY
Hollywood is a business and we don’t dispute that. What we dispute is the idea that somehow, people of color are not as marketable as Caucasian actors. Will Smith, for example, is the number one box office draw in America, and has been for the better part of a decade.

The Last Airbender is a great example, because the most well-known actor of the top four roles is Dev Patel – an actor of Indian descent. In contrast, the lead roles of Aang and Katara went to unknown Caucasian actors. Noah Ringer was, in fact, chosen for his martial arts ability – not his acting ability. He was sent to an “acting bootcamp” before filming started.

When a casting call is released that says “Caucasian or any other ethnicity” wanted – as Airbender’s casting call read – it biases the entire process.

http://www.racebending.com/v3/background/caucasian-or-any-other-ethnicity/

Imagine you are a casting agent and you see a casting call that reads “AFRICAN or any other ethnicity” wanted. You have a vast pool of actors to choose from to send to this audition. You don’t want to waste anyone’s time and you want to give the production what they’re seeking. How likely are you to send this call sheet to your black actors? To your Asian actors? To your white actors?

So Americans of Asian descent don’t have a chance to prove themselves, even when the role in question is steeped in Asian culture and context. Asian actors have proven successful in countless other martial arts films, both in America and abroad.

Hollywood is a business, but it is still run by people who have certain worldviews. Most Hollywood films are marketed toward men. But the American movie-going audience is 55% female. Only 45% of people buying tickets are men, but Hollywood is clinging to a marketing mindset from the 1930s, and they’re losing out on a lot of business.

If 55% of movie tickets are being bought by women now, even when films are hardly marketed to them, how much money could Hollywood make if they started focusing more on this demographic?

And just as Hollywood holds onto this bias toward male movie-goers, so too are they stuck on this notion that actors of color can’t carry film. The television industry is catching up: look at the big-hitters recently. You have successful programs like Lost, Glee, and Community with very diverse casts. You have children’s programming like Ni Hao Kai Lan and Dora the Explorer.

And when audiences have a choice of who they want to watch? You only have to look at the success of Asian American performers in reality television like America’s Best Dance Crew. On YouTube, the single most successful star is Japanese American. When audiences have a choice and a vote and a say in what they want to watch – they’re just as happy to choose Asian American as white American.

So the message to Hollywood is: we know that you’ve always used Caucasian actors for almost every big role. You’re used to it. But the Western world is changing. We have a biracial African American president and a Muslim Miss USA.

To production companies out there: tap into the audiences that your competitors are ignoring! Americans care about seeing media that reflects the world we truly live in. Half of Racebending.com supporters are Caucasian – because audiences can relate to transforming robots, giant blue aliens, kung fu pandas. And yes, even to Asian faces.

I hope you were at least able to skim it for the big points. And I hope you have a better understanding of where we’re coming from.

Either way, thanks a lot for reading.

Fox 11 News (Southern California – Channel 11) was on scene to report on the protest against The Last Airbender held in front of the Arclight Theater.  Reporter Hal Eisner interviewed protest organizers and protesters present at the demonstration for a report that aired on the 10 o’clock news.

<i>Hollywood – Movie critics aren’t the only ones taking issue with M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie "The Last Airbender."

Protestors demonstrated outside the Arclight Cinerama Dome, saying the movie discriminates based on race.

They say the production of the "Airbender" film adaptation discriminated by selecting white lead actors to play characters widely acknowledged by the creators to be Asian or Inuit in the original animated series.

M. Night Shyamalan, meantime, has gone on record saying that the movie is the most ethnically diverse movie ever. </i>

To view Fox 11’s  complete video coverage of the protest, visit myFoxLA- Last Airbender Draws Race Protests

Racebending.com volunteer schweinsty transcribed the video below for Racebending.com readers who may be hearing impaired, learning English as a second language or otherwise could benefit from subtitles.

Last Airbender Draws Race Protests
Protesters say the casting was "whitewashed."

Reporter: Hal Eisner
By myFOXla.com Web Staff

Aired: July 1st, 2010 on the 10 o’clock news.

Carlos Amezcua: A new movie hailed by its director as ‘culturally diverse’ is being called racially insensitive by protesters. Tonight they’ve picketed in front of a theater showing The Last Airbender. Hal Eisner’s live in Hollywood with more on the protest. Hal.

Hal Eisner, standing across street from theater: Well, that’s right, Carlos, actually, M. Night Shyamalan, who made this movie, the Last Airbender, which is actually called Avatar: The Last Airbender, and this is a quote: “This is the most culturally diverse movie series of all time.”

But to dozens of protesters who were outside that theater just a couple of hours ago, the casting was a travesty.

Footage of protesters chanting “Boycott Airbender!”

Eisner: That’s the message from some of these fans of the animated T.V. show on Nickelodeon, who aren’t happy with the new movie version. The T.V. show – here’s some video from Nickelodeon’s web site – has mostly Asian and Inuit characters, Alaskan natives.

A clip of Aang and Katara talking plays in the background.

Protester (young woman): I’ve watched every single episode.

Eisner (to fan): Really?

Protester: Yes.

Protester Two (young girl): It’s, like, about people who can bend stuff.

Eisner: Four elements: Fire, water, earth, and air. But because of casting decisions by filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, these people are bent out of shape.

One of the organizing groups of this demonstration, racebending.com, points to the casting of the movie being opposite of the T.V. show.

Footage of racebending.com video: The initial four actors chosen were all white, until the actor playing the antagonist was replaced by Dev Patel.

Eisner: Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire, was on Good Day L.A. On the controversy, he said this:

Clip of Patel: It’s quite nonsensical, to be honest, because it’s – well, for me, it’s the most diverse set I’ve ever been on, as an actor.

Eisner: But not to actor Tzi Ma.

Tzi Ma: All of the multicultural people were background actors. None of the leading roles, particularly the heroic roles, were Asian or Asian-American.

Eisner: Tzi Ma, who’s been in movies like Dante’s Peak, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 3, tried out for Airbender, didn’t get a role.

Eisner (to Tzi Ma): You’re not upset because you didn’t get the role?

Tzi Ma: Oh, please. No, not at all.

Eisner: He’s upset because of what he and others here call a whitewash. They all hope The Last Airbender is the last film in this franchise.

Clip of fans chanting “Boycott, Boycott”

Eisner: Boycott, boycott. That’s what those protesters are calling for, but M. Night Shyamalan–who’s been criticizing those who have been criticizing him–hopes his movie and, actually, this series of movies are a big success. Reporting live from Hollywood, Hal Eisner, Fox 11 news.

Ross Reynolds of KUOW 94.9FM interviewed Racebending.com editor Catherine Bugayong on his show, The Conversation, a day before her July 1st protest against The Last Airbender in Seattle.  You can listen to their conversation on KUOW’s website: In Conversation – Postponed Energy Requirements, Opting Out On Phone Books, And Fan Protests.

Catherine’s segment on the show is transcribed below by Racebending.com staff writer Freya.

Postponed Energy Requirements, Opting Out On Phone Books, And Fan Protests

Ross Reynolds: Up ahead, the flap over casting the live action of the popular cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

[cut to clip]

Some believe he is the chosen one, who will bring balance to a world at war … and some will stop at nothing to destroy him.

[end clip]

RR: A 3-D blockbuster movie coming out this week has drawn controversy for what some fans and critics call whitewashing. The Last Airbender, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan is based on the TV cartoon about a young martial arts hero who must save the world. Some are upset because Shymalan cast white actors in the roles that were portrayed as Asian and Inuit characters in the original cartoon. Critic Roger Ebert said "its fans take it for granted its heroes are Asian, why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans… there are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts." Thursday the movie opens in Seattle and elsewhere, and some fans plan to protest this, including Catharine Bugayong, she is a recent graduate of the University of Washington, she studied International Studies and Economics and she’s organizing a protest over at The Last Airbender in Seattle. Catherine, thanks for speaking to us today.

Catherine Bugayong: Thank you.

RR: Why are you protesting this movie?

CB: I’m protesting this movie, personally, for me, because I was and I am a fan of the original cartoon series… It was something that I watched with my family and that we all enjoyed because of its very compelling story line and its respect for the Asian and Inuit cultures that it chose to portray. And seeing this movie, with the white leads in it, it just feels like a such a betrayal of that respect. It doesn’t feel like it’s respecting Asian and Inuit cultures and Asian and Native American people.

RR: When you were watching the series, were these characters heroes to you?

CB: Definitely. And the nice thing about the series [as well] is that they were fully fleshed out characters. Katara and Sokka, who are the Water Tribe siblings, were originally brown skinned in the cartoon, and that’s something that’s so rare to see. To see brown skinned heroes, like… I can’t even name ten characters with brown skin that are portrayed as positively as heroes.

RR: So part of it was that here were some heroes who look like you.

CB: Yeah.

RR: Well, as you probably have read, M. Night Shyamalan, the director who is Asian, is kind of rejecting these complaints he says that "they don’t look past the principal characters to note that the entire cast consists of actors from many different cultures and racial backgrounds". He thinks there’s been too much focus on the lead characters, here. What do you say to that?

CB: We appreciate that there’s diversity introduced to the movie and we are glad that there are Asian actors in the background and in some of the villanous roles, but we feel that the way that he structured it with the white actors as the leads… it taps into the history of Hollywood in which, that kind of structure, where you have where you have white leads and people of color as villains and background… it taps into that history. Recently we’ve seen movies such 21, which was based on Asian-American students at MIT and they were whitewashed for the movie version and they only had two token Asian characters.

RR: Catherine, we’re just about out of time, but I want to find out from you where it is that you’re going to be having the protest for The Last Airbender and what it is you’re going to do at that protest.

CB: We’re planning to protest The Last Airbender at the Real Thorton Place in IMAX. We’re planning to pass out literature and just inform people about the issues and the importance of people–

RR: [background noise] Okay, we gotta go. Hey, Catherine, thank you so much for saving the time, we really appreciate you talking to us today. Catherine Bugayong is one of the people who’s going to be working on this protest here in Seattle. They’re taking place all over the country around the film The Last Airbender, M. Night Shymalan’s film, of a cartoon, but in the live action film that he’s made, he’s taken the Asian and Inuit characters and cast white actors in the lead.  From KOUW, this is Ross Reynolds.

Update: On June 30th, Ebert issued his most damning missive against The Last Airbender yet on twitter.com, flat out calling the film’s casting practices “racist.”

ebertchicago: The best writing I’ve seen on the racist casting of “The Last Airbender.” Devastating. http://j.mp/bz5zbI

Ebert linked an article written by Vietnamese American blogger Q. Le, “Facepainting”, to his 170,000 followers. This message was retweeted by over 100 people and became the top search result on twitter when people searched for Last Airbender.

In his June 9th, 2010 Answer Man Column, American film critic Roger Ebert answered another fan question about the casting of The Last Airbender and the practice of “racebending” and “whitewashing” in general.

Ebert had previously answered a question about The Last Airbender in December 2009, where he called the casting decisions “wrong.”

From the June 9th column:

Q. A friend and I got in a discussion over whether it is racist to have race be a criteria while casting a role. My friend was of the opinion that the best actor should get the role. I felt that if the part was written for, say, a young African-American male, the audition pool should be limited to young African-American males. This discussion specifically focused on the movie “The Last Airbender,” which is based on an American-made animated show called “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

Two of the characters in the show were not white, yet their movie counterparts will be white. I felt that the movie casting choice was not true to the source material while my friend thought the casting choice (from a racial perspective) was irrelevant. Is casting white actors into non-white roles a form of racism/whitewashing? Would the opposite also be racist? Or should the best actor, regardless of race or any other physical consideration, be chosen?
Colleen Stone, Woodbury, Minn.

A. It was racist in the days when minority actors just plain couldn’t get work in anything but stereotyped roles. The situation has improved. If I’d been making “The Last Airbender,” I would probably have decided the story was so well- known to my core audience that it would be a distraction to cast those roles with white actors. I’m guessing, but I suspect the American group most under-represented in modern Hollywood is young Asian-American males.

Characters from the animated series and their depictions in the film adaptation. The lead protagonists are played by white actors while the lead antagonists are played by actors of color.