This Matters: Avatar the Last Airbender’s Friky Diky Cast (Link Roundup Constantly Being Updated)
[Edit] Two more selective round up of links I made can be found in the following links. For a round up of those links I believe are the most useful, inspiring, or eloquent regarding this issue, go here. To see a roundup of the media coverage the whitewashing of the cast has garnered, go here. For a directory of all the posts I have written, look at the top of the page and click “On The Avatar Casting Fracas”, or if you are lazy, click here.
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You might be aware, if you follow this blog, that I am an EPIC fan of the Nickelodeon Show Avatar the Last Airbender. I have my own dvd box set for the first season, and am planning on buying the other two (YES. Buying.). While AtLA is aimed at children, I have found the story, the characters and the world very well developed and a joy to watch. The animation style also helped, but the final clinch where the lovely GAang. I am not the only not-a-pre-teen-fan out there; if you go the deviantArt community, you can find yourself drowned by the adults that confess to love the show. (Check out Isaia, she does amazing art, by the way).
So you might understand why I felt apprehensive about the announcement about a live action movie.
Now, part of the Avatar world, and what is so special about the show, is its multiculuralism. The world is based off the Inuit and Asian cultures, and I’m under the impression that they did a pretty good job for gringos at their research and respecting the people. The Fire Nation seems to be based off China, the Air Nomads off Tibet (I am actually told they are more based off the Shaolin monks in China), the Water Tribes off the Inuit, and the Earth Kingdom seems to be composed of parts and more similar to Korea. I am NOT too sure about the details. The calligraphy in the show is Chinese, the characters are not caucasian, and the kids had a wonderful not-white protagonist, which is quite hard to find in today’s Media.
So, I erroneously assumed that the cast for the live action movie would have a diverse cast. I simply assumed. I didn’t even question it. How could I? It makes incredible sense, matches the story and characters, and would give talented young actors a huge break. If I think about it, it would be a great opportunity to introduce diversity into the entirely too race-normative world of acting (Wait, is race-normative a word?).
Look at all those shiny, attractive, media-friendly faces!!! Guess what they all have in common that the Avatar character’s don’t?!
They’re all caucasian. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.
*breathes*
Now that I have avoided destroying my keyboard like that famous kid on youtube, or damaging anything in my vicinities (except my blood pressure is spiking…), let’s consider this.
This is made of FAIL. EPIC FAIL. Inserting white characters, which you can see in nearly all of the shows in the important and admirable roles in all media, into a series that had a diverse cast that was incredibly admirable, and would provide a GREAT way of having minority kids in the states identify with them, is made of PHAIL. Paramount Pictures, you need to kick yourself. M. Shyamalan, please tell me, what. the. fuck? I’ll admit to knowing next to nothing of when I fuck up race-wise, (which is probably often) but I do my best to apologize and own up when it comes around. But even I would NEVER think of your mess up. I mean. Seriously.
They’re probably going to use some “it’s not about race, it’s about TALENT!” line. I’d really like to believe that, as I am pretty sure that there are great numbers of really talented Asian Americans who probably auditioned for the role, perhaps people of Inuit descent for the Water Tribe (somebody suggested latinos too). But if a film that is based on a show with a multicultural influence, background, story, and CHARACTERS, casts all of them as caucasians, in an industry ruled by Caucasians, where most shows, most media, show caucasians, you have to start wondering about that phrase “institutional racism”. It’s hard to believe it’s about talent and not bringing in the fandom from Twilight with Jackson Rathbone and Jesse McCartney. I’m sure it’s about the talent. Not about bringing popular white media friendly faces! >_<
Especially since I hold next-to-none expectations for Jesse McCartney’s acting skills. I remember this guy from my pre-teen days, when I ABSOLUTELY LOVED his face (not much his songs, though, I’m glad to say), and his whole boy-band, Dream Street. I grew out of it within half a year.
(Dream Street is also how I first accidentally stumbled into a p0rn page. I can now not think of that band without wanting to shield my 12 year old self’s eyes from the link I pressed at that time. But I’m digressing.) I cannot see McCartney pulling off Zuko’s drive without turning it into the worst stereotype of emo there is.
Anyways, how can THIS turn into THIS?
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Are you teling me that there seriously was no better talent in Asian-americans, biracials, Native Americans, anybody? Shyamalan said in the bonus disc for the Season 2 Box Set that he wanted to bring in new and unknown talent, although some people say that you can’t have a big movie with people that are very little know. Ah-hem. Think of Harry Potter? I seriously was expecting they would choose their cast that way. It would have been amazing. Seriously!
I don’t know enough about the others (not even the Twilight Jasper as I have not seen all of the movie yet, although I have made my distaste of Twilight clear to my friends) to start judging their talent, and perhaps they can do it well. Perhaps they could pull of part of the warmness and aspects that makes Katara so amazing or Sokka so lovable, but I know that if I choose to watch this movie, I’ll be constantly distracted by the fact that fantastically talented people of a different ethnicity than our default “white” lost their chance to make it big, unfairly, because the media likes to keep it at white.
Give me people of colour. Give them a chance, because I trust they more than have the talent there. Especially in a movie that is based on THEIR cultures (Asians and Inuits, for Avatar). Don’t just take advantage of all the richness their cultures have, and shove the actual people in the background; that’s called cultural appropiation.
In the meantime, we can end this awkwardly constructed blog post with a link to the Saving the World with Postage to see if we can make a difference. Write a letter people, a snail mail letter.
I’ve done my best to curb my tone in this post. Hope it worked.
[Edit]
I’m going to compile a directory or roundup of other places commenting on this subject. I’ll try to keep them organized and pretty for you guys to see well : D If you think I’m missing a link please link me so I can add it. Thanks!
DeviantArt
————>Journals
- Avatar Live Action Cast update!!!1one – Isaia
- Avatar… Live Action… Speechless – Ethereal-Glutton
- “The Last Airbender” Casting Revealed – alternatecoppa
- ATLA Movie Casting FAIL – zimmay
- I’m seriously offended. (Avatar movie cast) – jbramx2
- Avatar Casting Scandal -fierymonk (HEY THIS GUY HELPED IN THE PRODUCTION OF AVATAR! : D)
- Avatar: Awesome and Crappy News – Isaia
————>Pictures
- Avatar: Diversity – WIP
- ATLA: Fire Lord Jesse – bidrohi
- ATLA – WHY DON’T U KISS HEEER – DS-Hina
- Presenting… – RoseMuse
- Avatar: The Movie – davidcruz (What Aang should look like… Adorable!)
- AtLA – Color-Safe – tobuishi
- Live-Action Made of Fail? – yukina-chun
- Avatar Casting Call – Razmere
- PRETTYBOY ZUKO – DannyPhantomFreek
- ATLAB- Horrible casting Joke… – Izumitheinsomaniac
- Jesse McCartney Zuzu – dzsora
- Zutara – Zucatney Parody – setoangel01
- Avatar Live Action Unveiling – syonanto
- The Avatar movie casting – Tao-mell
- Zuko’s Beautiful Soul – eevachu
- Zuko McCartney – kibixinsanity
Blogs
- M. Night, say it isn’t so! – The Angry Black Woman
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – glockgal
- Angry Asian Man: A Break-up, of Sorts – vagabond_sal
- Who do I have to blow to get some representation around here? – vejicakes
- Fear of a Black (Fantasy) Planet – tablewsaw
- Dammit Bryke and Shyamalan, SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO AT WORK. – misora (Contains a list of matchups between the characters and actors that could have taken the part. Look at it! LOOK AT IT!)
- Avatar Racefail Bingo and Discussion Roundup – yeloson
- AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDERBe Pro-Active – glockgal
- A Follow-up – rawles
- Dammit, Kirk Lazarus was supposed to be SATIRE – cereta
- Why Avatar Characters don’t always look Asian – ryosato (READ READ READ IMPORTANT READ)
- On Avatar: – kalinara
- All the world’s white, the rest of us merely live in it – Willow
- White Privilege: You’re soaking in it! – Conni
- Just fix that white-washing with some brown paint! That’ll work! – veleda_k
- Racist casting strikes again – aesmael
- M. Night must be stopped – crazycuban
- Still Standing – Mark Gibson
- Get back to white-washin’ that fence, Tom! – ryosato
- What we talk about when we talk about – ciderpress
- AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER – glockgal
- Publicity – glockgal
- I am furious (yellow) – bossymarmalade
- Sad, Racist, or Firebendingly Hilarious? – jedifreac
- It’s like a Christmas miracle! – artemis_rain (Aaah… gotta love sarcasm)
- You don’t look Asian or have an Asian accent – jedifreac (On the subject of the Avatar characters having to “look” or “sound” Asian… Gee, I wonder if there is a stereotype regarding that?)
- Beyond Rage: The Whitewashing of Avatar – Woerlan
- Some progress – glockgal
- More on Avatar. Is this legit? – delux_vivens (@ deadbrowalking)
- Whoa, is this for real? Bryke comments on Avatar Casting… – jedifreac (@ avatar_fans)
- Avatar: The White Airbender – Skulls and Spectacles
- Strangely my eyes are not perfect circles – shati (Again, on why Avatar does not always look Asian, due to the nature of cartooning and anime)
- Racism, Racism, Go Away – nervermore999
- Avatar the Last Airbender… Casting – batcookies (@ scans_daily)
- Things You Need To Understand #10: The Dictionary is Not A Perfect Rhetorical Tool – The Angry Black Woman
- On the Avatar Movie Mess – ravenbell
- Avatar: The White Airbender – Synergy
- AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDERThere’s a discu – glockgal
- AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDERWikipedia’s Ent – glockgal
- Some things make me so angry… – dytabytes
- Avatar Movie is making me DDDDDD: – rhythmia
- Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? – jbramx2
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Or Turning Colored People White: The Movie – D.C. Girl @ The Movies
- More Airbender Tomfoolery – delux_vivens @ deadbrowalking
- HNY 2009 (Avatar Update) – glockgal
- AVATARaang_aint_white has a new post Rou – glockgal
- Remyth Project: These are the Ghosts of the Heroes I Never Had – yeloson (I would like to ask everybody who goes to this link and does not know of or understand the Remyth Project to please lurk and keep a tight hold of your manners, and if you don’t get it, don’t comment. I link to this post because it seems to me that it shows the importance of representation and diversity in the Media, how prevalent white washing and other problems are, and the impact we are having on people.)
- I kinda want to cry. WITH ANGER – glockgal
- AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER – PHIDALELPHIA!! – glockgal
- Round Two: FIGHT! – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage (IMPORTANT READ THIS… Wait, how do I add a star in here or something so it’s really noticeable?)
- Casting Call in Philadelphia: What You Should and Should Not Do – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage (IMPORTANT PLEASE)
- New Day in politics, same old racist world on the silver screen – derekkirkkim
- Comparing Cultures in Avatar; Avatar: The Last Airbender Culture Comparison – Rob Schmidt @ Newspaper Rock
- Racist Casting in Avatar – Rob Schmidt @ Newspaper Rock
- M. Night, Say It Isn’t So! – Crossposted from The Angry Black Woman @ Alas, a blog
- Avatar movie: the legend of sheer retardation – Rain @ sunshine vs. Rain
- Casting the Last Airbender – Lisa @ Sociological Images
- Let’s all play “Ignore the Background!” – Eris Discordia @ sappari, zenzen
- Avatar Anger Mounts: Asians Ain’t Having White Aang – mustgofaster @ Ohnotheydidnt
- The Whitewashing of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” – typefiend
- Whitewashing Avatar – Yes, it’s possible – Mayka Mei (@ theMaykazine)
- But… The characters are Asian! D: – darkwitchling
- Well, Fuck You Too, Hollywood – fantasyecho
- Since Hollywood Sucks … – Renegade Evolution
- Better Casting Choices for the Avatar Movie – Eris Discordia @ sappari, zenzen
- AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER – THRILLING U – glockgal
- A HISTORY ON YELLOWFACEY – glockgal
- The Last Airbender Casting Controversy – The Blog of Gene Luen Yang
- The Language of Casting – vejicakes (Really good!)
- Lone Brown Face – Seeking Avalon
- Casting Aside – socchan
- Various Rantings – girlquinn
- Jesse McCartney – Total Idiot? – Conni @ Obligated to Exagerate
- Jesse McCartney Answers ‘The Last Airbender’ Casting Criticism – monkeybananayum @ avatar_fans
- Aang Aint White T-shirts – yeloson @ deadbrowalking
- *nearly has a conniption fit* – jbramx2
- Avatar “action items” – Mayka Mei (@ theMaykazine)
- Diggin’ – derekkirkkim
- The unending cycle – derekkirkkim
- Casting Aside – socchan
- I haven’t touched this issue yet, but here goes… – candy_chan
- More on Avatar move racefail! – rawles
- We got a new Zuko. And here’s Suki! – easytodistract@ avatar_fans
- “The Last Airbender” — Now with 25% Less Yellowface! – jedifreac
- ‘Oh, M. Night’ does not even begin to cover it – meredyd
- And the Yellow Facing begins – gwailowrite
- Derek Kirk Kim on Casting – gwailowrite
- But White kids can’t identifyyyyyyyyyyy! – karenhealey
- Avatar: The Last Airbender -karenhealey
- Clearly, I’m angry because of fan entitlement – karenhealey
- Afterthought, Anyone? – gwailowrite
- At least he’s not Jesse McCartney – bijoux
- FAIL! – thewaterbandit
- Well jeez louise, Jesse McCartney is out – glockgal
- A first step in the right direction… but we have a long way to go! – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage
- AVATAR: PROTEST IN PHILLY! – glockgal
- Victuals: food, esp. for humans – rotae
- random thought of the day – djinnj
- Pre-weekend update – jedifreac (Scroll all the way down till you reach the header “‘Avatar’ Racefail Casting Update”)
- Avatar: Advocacy – glockgal
- Avatar: Support – glockgal
- Avatar: azn or pasty? – glockgal
- Avatar: Protest In New York and Virginia – glockgal
- The East West Players – IXNAY – glockgal
- AVATAR: It’s a white, white hero’s world – glockgal
- Twilight [greater than] Avatar – glockgal
Movements or Projects
- Saving the World with Postage
- Casting Call in Philadelphia: What You Should and Should Not Do – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage (IMPORTANT PLEASE)
- Another Update on Addresses – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage
- February 7th Casting Call in Philadelphia: Can You Make It? – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage
- So many ways to speak out – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage
- Avatar: Publicity Wanted! – glockgal
- Petition for Professionals in the Art and Entertainment Industry to Protest the Avatar Cast – Derek Kirk Kim (Scroll down to the bottom…. PLEASE sign if you are a professional!)
- The Avatar Project – Channing
- Protest at The Last Airbender Auditions - FACEBOOK GROUP that organizes the protest at Philadelphia on February 7, 2009 during the casting for extras
- The Aang Aint White STORE (All products sold at-cost!! This is not intended for profit, only to spread awareness)
- A first step in the right direction… but we have a long way to go! – aang_aint_white @ Saving The World With Postage
Youtube
- Aang Aint White – GanXingba
- Aang Audition – Martial arts only – janeaquino
- The Last Airbender (Aan Auditions, Casting Info) – RedHotPop123
- Asian Culture in the Avatar World – Chaobunny12
- Rant about The Last Airbender Casting – Chaobunny12
- Why the Cast of The Last Airbender is Offensive – boredcollegenerd
- Fighting casting racism for the Airbender world – daibhidh646
- Razmere Rant: Avatar Casting Call – TheRazmereShow
- WTF!=: Avatar – “The Last Airbender” – thebigfatlamp
Other
- The White Cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender – Angry Asian Man
- Facebook Group for supporters!
- Avatar Isn’t White! – fickle_goddess (Protest Icons for all your needs!)
- M. Night Shyamalan Paints “The Last Airbender” White – Adam Sweeney of Film School Rejects
- Shyamalan’s Live-Action “Avatar” Abortion Gets a Cast – Phillip Stephens (@ Pajiba)
- Live Action ‘Avatar’ NOT Asian – Hyphen Blog
- Avatar Casting – Kirsten Anderson (@ Snakerati)
- Avatar Casting Makes Fans See… White – Graeme McMillan (@ io9. Strung out on science fiction)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Review – Phillip Stephens (@ Pajiba)
- Avatarded the Last Eurocentric Casting Protest Icons - jedifreac
- Avatar Casting Rumours Cause Fandom Tremors – Mara Greengrass (@ Firefox News)
- White-Washing Avatar: The Last Airbender? – Moye (@ 8Asians)
- Wikipedia Page on the Feature Film
- Actor Casting In M. Night Shyamalan’s Upcoming New Film Raises Racist Concerns – All Headline News (AHN)
- Actor Casting In M. Night Shyamalan’s Upcoming New Film Raises Racist Concerns – iCelebz (Posted via AHN above)
- The real problem with casting white actors - Abuhin
- Avatar, The Last White bender? – Jami (@ Angry Zen Master)
- More Suckage From Hollywood: Another Adaptation Erases POC – Tigtog (@ Hoyden About Town)
- Avatar: Get a Tan, become Asian – Angry Asian Man
- ‘Twilight’ Star Jackson Rathbone Hopes To ‘Show His Range’ In ‘Last Airbender’ Editora- Larry Carrol @ MTV Movie News
- Editorial – Sequential Tart
- M. Night Shyamalan’s Non-Asian Casting For ‘Airbender’ Pisses Off Fans – Seth Valentine @ The Playlist
- Avatar: Get a tan, become asian – Angry Asian Man @ Racialicious
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Culture Comparison – Racialicious
- Kim condemns Hollywood racism – The Beat
- The Whitewashing of Avatar: The Last Airbender – Amid @ Cartoon Brew
- Airbending Racism in The Last Airbender – Sadie ko @ A Chatterbox
- The Avatar Movie Is Racist (And Doomed) – Patrick @ Geek-tastic.com
- Casting Decisions for Shyamalan’s ‘The Last Airbender’ – Carissa Smith @ Christ and Pop Culture
- Derek Kirk Kim rails against The Last Airbender live-action casting – ComicsGirl
- Racist Movie Being Made By Paramount Studios – mazuzu @ Ireport
- Avatar Anger Mounts: Asians Ain’t Having White Aang – Jerry Portwood @ The New York Pres (YES WE ARE ON THE NEWS I AM SERIOUS : D)
- Phone Interview with JesseMcCartney – I have no idea who, but listen to the damn thing and laugh at JM. Or cry in despair at the idea that he is acting for Zuko. I did both.
- “whitewashed” casting for Avatar – the Last Airbender? – Media Action Network for Asian Americans (: D)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Controversy Continues – AWN (Animation World Network)
- Protest the avatar extras casting in philadelphia – Angry Asian Man
- More Anger about Avatar - Amid @ Cartoon Brew
- Ben Out of Shape – Jeff Yang @ San Francisco Chronicle (Excellent article, you should give it a good look)
- A ‘last’ straw for ignorance (The culturally ignorant casting call for “The Last Airbender” is more than just patronizing – Lisa Zhu @ The Daily Pennsylvanian
- Jesse McCartney Answers ‘The Last Airbender’ Casting Criticism – AceShowBiz
- Hollywood Whitewash in the Era of Change – Karah Boodt @ The Kosmopolitan
Outside of the Fandom, but still valid and with insight
- Shame by Pam Noles – Tells of the similar whitewashing of the Earthsea books when they were adapted to film, and the importance of making changes in the industry so as to represent PoCs
- The Face of the Other – Matt Thorn (“But, they all look white!” in Anime and Manga)
- Casting and Caste-Ing: Reconciling Artistic Freedom and Antidiscrimination Norms – Russel K. Robinson
- The Art of Defending Racism – yeloson (@ sex_and_race)
- Cultural Appropiation Bingo – delux_vivens, via elusis, @ deadbrowalking
- Fund Animators, Not Adaptations – Madeline Ashby @ Frames Per Second
- Yellow (and brown)-face: A History in Pictures – vejicakes
- Hollywood’s Racial Catch-22 – Frank Mastropolo @ ABC News
Other Roundups
- Round up Round up – tablesaw
- Avatar Racefail Bingo and Discussion Roundup – yeloson (@ deadbrowalking)
- Delivering Justice on Heaven’s Behalf – Avatar Roundup – yeloson
- Avatar live-action movie: Post round-up – vejicakes
- Looks like I’m not the only one pissed off about this… – jbramx2
- Writing Gives You Power: AtLA’s Cast, And What You Can Do « Lemon Water pingbacked on 4 years, 5 months ago
- Re: AtLA’s Friky Diky Cast « Lemon Water pingbacked on 4 years, 5 months ago
- AtLA’s Friky Diky Cast Media Coverage Roundup! (Under Work) « Lemon Water pingbacked on 4 years, 3 months ago
- AtLA’s Friky Diky Cast: The Best Links Roundup (Under Work) « Lemon Water pingbacked on 4 years, 3 months ago
- Writing Gives You Power: AtLA’s Cast, And What You Can Do « Lemon Water pingbacked on 4 years, 3 months ago
- Lemon Water – December 2008 :: Racebending.com pingbacked on 3 years, 7 months ago
- click through the following website trackbacked on 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Thank you for taking the time to blog about this, and thanks especially for the link! We really appreciate it! We’ve had a few dozen people share their letters with us already, but it’ll take hundreds to get Paramount’s attention, so it’s awesome of you to help spread the word!
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoJesse mccartney is hott! I love him! He makes awesome songs!
I LOVE YOU JESSE MCCARTNEY! !!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoSaving the World With Postage – My pleasure. Anything to help with the idea, I loved hearing about it. Thank you for putting it up in the first place!!!
jesse mccartney lover – I don’t care if JM is hot or makes “awesome songs!” – those aren’t reasons to cast him as Zuko. I respect if you like him, but don’t try to foist him on the rest of the world, or the fandom of AtLA. Which the movie is doing.
What should be considered in casting Zuko? Talent, a good interpretation of Zuko, determination, dedication to all the hours that will be spent bringing Zuko to life, if he fits the character (and in this case, I would INCLUDE ethnicity).
Not if he sings or is popular.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoIf I may, here’s a link to my post on the topic. (Blatant self-promotion.)
Thanks for the round-up! I’ll link to this, and spread the … love?
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoConni – I’ve added you. Thanks for adding to the list!! And yes, do spread the links as much as you can XD
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoDespite your hatred for white people, what exactly do we get from this post? Is the point, that this movie is not harry potter? Or are you just upset because things are not going your way? Every movie that is being produced from another medium, wether it be a book, or a child’s tv show, has people like you. People who detract and villify the movie before even seeing it.
The problem here, is you hate the cast and director. But you have no reason to. You are completely in the dark. You don’t know what the movie is about, you have no idea about storylines, or scripts or what has been added or subtracted.
Instead you sit from your invulnerable internet tower and hurl out racial insults and accusations. It reminds me of just last year. When people got upset over finding out Ledger’s role in the batman movie.
And lo and behold, the movie was fantastic, the acting great. And all of their insults and tripe meant nothing.
In the end, one loses an open mind, when they open their mouth.
[Edit by Raire] – My response can be found here: http://agualimon.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/when-trolls-attack-atlas-friky-diky-cast/
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoIf you don’t get anything from it…see that x at the top right corner? Click. Et voila. Saves your time, saves our time.
While your point that every movie comes with “people who detract and villify the movie before even seeing it,” is a valid one, Raire has the right to express her feelings about the casting. There is no need for you to point out “the problem here”? Although I’m sure Raire will take it into stride.
Where are the racial insults btw?
| Posted 4 years, 5 months ago“In the end, one loses an open mind, when they open their mouth”: right back atcha.
Thank you SO MUCH: for writing this excellent post (which I will be linking to), for compiling such a well-organized list of links and resources (which I will be eagerly exploring) and for helping to get the word out on this issue.
It’s been a pretty heartbreaking week, so far. Posts like this one and folks like you remind me that I’m not alone, and that I’ve got allies in the fight to do something about it. <3
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoStVwP – Hehe, thank you for the compliments -^^- I really am glad that this can actually do something, especially my OCD with the links (well, not so OCD). I’ll keep writing and trying to make a change with this – you can be sure of it. And at times like these, we have to band together to make a difference. If you need more support, do tell me if I can try in other ways, and I’ll be spreading the word.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoThe source (or at least, one source) of Shyamalan’s statement that he wanted to cast unknowns is an interview on the bonus disc for the season 2 box set.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoactually the airbenders are more based off chinese shaolin monks than tibetans. shaolin monks shave their heads and practice the art of kung fu in their temples.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agothe genocide of the airbenders is taken from the real life destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing Dynasty. on another note, they are also what lucas based the jedi off of (the jedi massacre). the force is essentially chi.
Hi there!
Thanks so much for your amazingly cohesive post about this issue. I’m still reacting strongly to it and I was really chuffed to see my posts make it into your link round-up.
I bring to your attention one other post of mine, which focuses on trying to bring this into a wider media and public light. I have linked to your blog in my emails to the major websites, because aside for your PoV, you provide such a large amount links regarding the casting of Avatar. You can find it here:
http://glockgal.livejournal.com/377745.html
Thanks again very much!
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agogg
hymnia – Thank you so much for clearing that for me. I already edited my post to specify the source!
azn103100 – Thank you for the detail, I edited my post with it. I was not aware that the genocide had real life basis… which is frightening, to say the least. I think I prefer Bryke’s treatment of the Shaolin to Lucas’, then. *prepares for Lucasfanflame*
glockgal – I’m glad you found this post of good use ^^ I was so angry I had to do something,and I figured that a BIG directory would work most efficiently, apart from my amateurish efforts at this type of blogging. I added your post already, and would like to thank you also for your post; it was one of the most clear posts I have read, cuts right to the bone. I’m glad I found it (them now). Also, thanks for quoting me, I was somewhat startled (Understatement. “Look people, I’m being quoted on the internet!” XD)
If you find more posts I can add, please tell me, and anything else I can do (my holidays just started). Thank you!!!
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoFWIW — I’m supposedly as white as Wonder Bread, and am more than a little bit ashamed at this culture’s ethno-stupidity — you’d think having just elected a Bi-Racial president, people would have no prob casting with actors that at least look a little like their cartoon versions…I find it as offensive as trying to cast Santa Claus as ‘Black’ or ‘Amerindian’… lets get the racial background set with their stories…its just so lame — isn’t Shyamalan mixed race as well? You’d think he’s have at least a bit of a clue with a name like Shyamalan. Maybe it weren’t his fault, but some dweeb casting director? Sigh.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoWonderbread — builds strong bodies, 12 stupid ways…
Thank you for this blog post. And thanks to all the others who took time to express their fury for this CRIME. I was worried my own reaction to this revelation was an overreaction, but now I feel totally justified. I seldom make purely emotional posts about topics, but it felt appropriate in this case.
Link to my blog is in the URL. Hope you don’t mind while I toss your blog in my read list.
| Posted 4 years, 5 months agoLinda W – Jajaja, yes, wonder bread XD I haven’t had that in… years… since I moved out of Boston. It just goes to show that we still have to keep fighting. By the way, there is some speculation regarding Shyamalan, and that his creative abilities have been tied and restricted by Paramount Pictures, so it’s probably that he was not as responsible for the cast as we think. We’ll just have to see the response of PP for that.
Woerlan – Thank you for the link Woerlan, every written post is a help. I’m really happy with the response so far, the fandom has reacted magnificently (and people outside too, already have two friends who will write letters even if they don’t follow Avatar : D). Hopefully, evidence of our thoughts will help make the difference.
About my blog – sure. I must warn you, it isn’t always full of posts like this, it’s full of end-of-highschool-omg-college, and will be for a while. It is both a personal and a commentary blog. Or whatever you want to call it XD
| Posted 4 years, 5 months ago