Racebending.com

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… (more...)

Ebert: "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." (more...)

BBC World Update interviews Racebending.com spokesperson Michael Le. "You might think the world has moved on [from yellowface], but apparently not," BBC's Dan Damon says. "The new adaptation of the cartoon series Avatar: the Last Airbender has a white actor playing a lead character that is obviously meant to be Asian." (more...)

Michael Le, who runs a fan website calling for a boycott of the film, said: "It becomes very clear that it’s part of the historical pattern of Hollywood. It’s because this is the standard procedure for Hollywood films, and it really shouldn’t be. It’s 2010." Paramount, which made the film, said more than half of the credited speaking roles were filled by actors representing cultures from around the world. But critics said even today Hollywood often only promotes ethnic minority actors when casting secondary characters and background extras. (more...)

Associated Press covers the 'racebending' of The Last Airbender and Prince of Persia, including an interview with Racebending.com! Over 50 media outlets pick up the article, including MSNBC, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes Magazine, Businessweek, the New Jersey Star Ledger, and the Huffington Post! (more...)

Airbender’s creators, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, have said they purposely chose to base their cartoon in an Asian-inspired setting as opposed to a European one, incorporating different kinds of martial arts, as well as other cultural elements like Chinese calligraphy. At least some of the main characters were drawn as people of colour. That the initial casting had four white actors in the main roles, and that the three heroes are still all played by whites, is an outrage, said Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans. "It speaks volumes when the initial casting decision was to cast four white leads," he said. "For them to be comfortable with that … it’s embarrassing, it says a lot about their attitudes." (more...)

"The movie’s detractors have spoken against the film at six college campuses, including MIT.,New York University and UCLA, also setting up booths at events such as San Francisco’s WonderCon pop culture expo to publicize their discontent. At last count, the group’s Facebook group had 7,125 supporters and attracted petitioners against the movie’s casting in 55 countries. The stated goal: to prevent “Airbender” from blooming into a lucrative three-part franchise via negative word of mouth..." (more...)

Did The Last Airbender Discriminate? SciFiWire publishes two dueling editorials from Racebending.com co-founder Marissa Lee and freelance entertainment writer Ian Spelling. "Hollywood continues to privilege actors who are male and white with more work opportunities," Lee writes. "As a result, equally talented women and actors of color are denied voice and the opportunity to represent their communities." (more...)