December 20, 2008
Your Thoughts on "Avatar: the last Airbender" and race
Up until this week, I have never even heard of “Avatar: the last Airbender.” I have since heard wonderful things about the show. According to some of it’s fans the show features “Asian and Inuit characters in a fantasy setting inspired and informed by a variety of Asian and Inuit cultures. The characters fight with East Asian martial arts, have Asian or Inuit features, dress in Asian or Inuit clothing, and write with Chinese characters. The cast and setting were a refreshing departure from predominantly white American media, and were a large part of the show’s appeal as well as an inspiration to many Asian American children.”
These same fans express their disappointment that the preliminary casting for the movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan gives the four main parts to white actors. “While the casting is not final, the statement has already been made: this film will take a culturally Asian and Inuit world and populate it with white actors. Orientalism this obvious and this dramatic is inexcusable, and I would urge Shyamalan and Paramount Pictures to reconsider their casting choices. Asian characters in a world built from Asian cultures should be played by Asian actors.”
JK Rowling made it very clear that she wanted British actors to star in Harry Potter. A show that is very much based on East Asian themes to the degree that Avatar sounds to be….it seems odd that all four actors are white. Does it not? What are your thoughts?
Some people have said, “Well it’s Hollywood, right? They want to make money and they’ll make more money with white actors than with Asian actors.” Perhaps this is true. If it is, I’d like to hear those behind these casting decisions to admit that. Because frankly, our culture has some very racist tendencies and I think that if we have any intention on changing that, on changing the notion that white skin is “normal” and other skin is not than we need to be conscious when we make decisions that are based on the idea that white is normal. We need to be conscious of these decisions.
So here’s my question to those of you who know Avatar and to those of you who don’t: what do you think of this? Are these fans and myself getting this wrong or are these fans on to something here? And if they are, should the HP Alliance be backing and promoting their efforts to ask that the preliminary casting be changed to include Asian actors or to engage with the movie studio in some other kind of dialogue? Please let me know what you think!!!
Sam
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ANDREW!!! I cannot believe you brought this up! I have been an Avatar fan for years, and I was originally excited that M. Night Shyamalan was directing (this was, of course, before his disaster The Happening came out). I recently found out about the casting though, and was really confused. Some of the characters are OBVIOUSLY Asian. I was really looking forward to great multi-racial casting to show the diversity of the Avatar world, but every single person cast so far has been white. I have no idea why the studios made this decision, but I have to say that I am disappointed for so many reasons.
Sam
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In addition, as you mentioned before, the show has very clear influences from many aspects of Asian culture, including art, language, martial arts, and Asian religions such as Buddhism. It just seems strange that they chose white actors. It isn’t really a huge deal, but… it’s just… odd.
Sarah
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I have absolutely no idea what “Avatar the Last Airbender” is, but if the characters are supposed to be Asian, then the actors playing them should be Asian too. It’s kinda weird to have white people play Asian people.
Jalen
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So far, I’ve seen pictures of the casting choices for Sokka, Katara, and Zuko, and I’ll be honest – when I first saw them, my first thought was that they genuinely looked like their characters. (I saw pics on this page: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/10/first-look-the-cast-of-the-last-airbender/ ). I do think it would have made more sense to look for Asian actors, but I’m hesitant to agree that the casting choices were “racist”… simply because I think Jackson Rathborne will make an awesome Sokka. You know?
Jalen
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So far, I’ve seen pics of the casting choices for Sokka, Katara, and Zuko. I’ll be honest – the first thought I had when I saw them was that they all really looked like their characters. I can just see Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, you know? But I agree – it would have made MUCH more sense to seek out Asian actors.
(Jesse McCartney? REALLY?)
Libby O
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OMG I LOVE AVATAR! Its so awesome! I love all the Asian and Innuit cultural themes, and the comical battle scenes, and the awkward 12 year old kissing scenes.
They really do need to have proper actors. They’re asian! I can’t imagine Prince Zhuko as anything else!
Laura
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I’ve seen the show a few times. It is really centered on the Asian and Inuit cultures. Even if the actors may look like the characters, as Jalen said, I think the it’s pretty important to the show’s Asian theme to nail the proper ethnicity. I feel like this will make a difference to the fans.
Let’s do it.
Annie
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I would definitely like to see more characters cast with the proper ethnicity, though I do not believe that having *some* people of other races/ethnicity would hurt. As a fan of the show, I want it to be as close to the real thing as possible, and that means getting the proper ethnicity down.
Molly
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The characters in Avatar are so obviously not white or from Western cultures, so I was a bit surprised when the rumored cast was released. I wish they would use a cast that fits with the show. Not that I don’t think the rumored actors couldn’t play their parts, but Jesse McCartney as Prince Zuko? Zuko just wouldn’t be the same. The story will lose some of it’s appeal, I think, if they still intend to use the Asian cultures with caucasian actors.
lathaya
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Although I haven’t seen the show enough to understand it all that well, I do know that Avatars are part of the Hindu faith and it was incorporated into other faiths and cultures (such as Buddhism), which might be where the TV show comes from. And I also think that if the characters are Asian, then the actors/actresses should be Asian as well, it just makes sense. The show wouldn’t be any less prominent because it appeals to little children, mostly, who just like it because it’s a cartoon.
Megan
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If you’re unfamiliar with show, click on one of the links and on that page will be another link showing a good selection of images that really demonstrate just how strongly the show has been influence by Asian and Inuit cultures, as well as how most of the characters are from said cultures.
Jen
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I didn’t even know that they were making a movie, and I can’t really see it as anything other then the animated TV show. I find it weird that they would choose a white cast for characters that are clearly Asian in the cartoon.
Rachel
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I love Avatar, and I can’t believe they have all white cast members
The HPA should definitely promote the studio using Asian and Inuit actors.
Lori
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It’s not just the fans who claim it’s Asian-influenced, it’s what Nickelodeon themselves say:
“Avatar: The Last Airbender is a truly unique comic adventure with rich animation and incredible martial-arts choreography. Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino designed a fantastical Asian world with compelling characters and interesting creatures that will capture kids’ imaginations and spirit.” – Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon. (http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Television&newsitem_no=13156)
and
“Since its launch, Avatar has developed a fervent fan base, and not just with kids. The unique attributes of the show — epic storytelling, Asian influence and film quality graphics — have generated one of the most passionate fan bases in Nickelodeon’s history.” – Nickelodeon Avatar Related Press Releases (http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/nickpressrelease.php)
There is clear acknowledgment that the show is Asian-based; yet in the movie they intend to have have the clothing, the world, the food, the writing, the colours, the art, the music, EVERYTHING be Asian-based….except the characters. It’s pretty horrid.
Thanks for posting about this!
Vanessa
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I know absolutely nothing about avatar and I have mixed feelings on this issue.
First of all, if the culture is Asian and Inuit? (I’m not exactly sure) and the actors should be.
If they did not cast Asian and Inuit actors in these roles because they thought the movie wouldn’t sell as well then that’s wrong, however, there is something called ” colorblind casting” which is casting people in roles regardless of what race they are.
If they casts Caucasian people in these roles because there were no Asian people who they thought would fit the role……. I don’t see that they did anything wrong!
Laura
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Vanessa, I could understand how they might have done that for one or maybe two of the characters. But all four main roles?
Lori brought up a good point about the movie having four white characters, but keeping the Asian world with the Asian themes and Asian culture. It just doesn’t make sense to do that.
Inky
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I’m a huge fan of Avatar, and I’m disappointed about the casting choices. Race isn’t really an issue in the show, so I don’t think that they should cast *only* Asian actors in the movie – but the show DOES deal a lot with different nations and different cultures, and I think it’s very silly to ignore that and cast caucasian actors in the main parts. Two of the main characters, Katara and Sokka, come from a tribe obviously based off of Inuit culture. And the “fire nation” is in many ways basically… Japan. I can’t imagine a white Prince Zuko… I mean, maybe that makes me close-minded
but that’s my opinion.
Basically, Avatar takes place in a made up world, so I don’t think that the filmmakers need to overthink the race aspect or make a big deal out of it. But it does strike me as odd and a little upsetting that they would exclude Asian actors from a movie that is obviously set in civilizations based off of Asian culture…
Vanessa
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I definitely agree with you Laura! I just think it would be interesting to know why they decided to cast Caucasian actors in obviously Asian roles. Was it to get publicity for the movie? Was it because they thought it wouldn’t sell as well with a racially diverse cast? Was it because they couldn’t find Asian actors who they thought fit the characters?
I have been doing a little research on it and, I definitely think that it will be awkward and inaccurate with all Caucasian actors!!
In a movie thick with African culture they probably wouldn’t cast every single lead in the movie Japanese! So why would they do it with this? I’m sure they knew it would make Avatar fans angry.
Thanks for writing back
Erica
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Hmm…strange.
Do you know if they’re going to try to make them look Asian? haha.
Seriously though, I am quite confused as anyone else about this.
Personally, I think that they should just cast some Asians so that I can be in it. ha.
I mean, if they want to portray it more realistically, it would make sense to cast people who are similar in ethnicity, right?
icantbelievethestupidity
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for any moron who thinks this is ok… just take a look at this and tell me if this is ok with you…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minstrel_PosterBillyVanWare_edit.jpg
same thing… except they are using white people to depict asians…
they would not DARE do this to a story based on African culture
atelierboz
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Yes please do get incolved
Emma
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Please, We’d love your support!
This isn’t just a ‘little’ bit upsetting trust me. take a look at this link, please. They really do exlian everything…
http://www.racebending.com/v3/background/caucasian-or-any-other-ethnicity/
oh, I just realised that this was posted ages ago…am I too late”?
heh. >,<”
STONESUMMER19
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