Darth Kuya Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Fans of the animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" were ecstatic to hear/read that a mega-budget live action movie is coming soon. (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) When news of the actors cast to play the major roles in the film came out, there were questions that arose... (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) What do you think? Is there really an issue here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Rider Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 No. It's a pathetic attempt by racists to not look racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGH ON PIE 14 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I have an issue with it but not for the reasons some might think. Firstly, I know a lot of people have been pulling the race card on this one. Some in particular have singled the U.S. out as said racists even though avatar is an AMERICAN cartoon. (nobody on here just telling what I have seen going on else where.) I highly doubt the casting supervisor or casting director or whoever ultimately decided which actors to choose were racist in the process (if only because it would be bad publicity for the movie. Secondly, as the vids posted by Darth Kuya show there is a heavy influence asian cultures in the show (zen beliefs of meditating, chi, yin and yang; the clothing and often the hairstyles, the architecture, and the writen language to name a few.) Most of the characters are obviously look asian as well. To me its not about race but staying true to the original show. The main characters in the show are mostly asian in appearance (yes I know their race is never actually specified) with the possible exceptions of Sokka and Katara (in the screen of the last vid: Sokka is the guy in blue with the boomerang and Katara the smiling girl at the top) who in truth looked white to me due to their bright blue eyes they but could be Inuit as it seems that is what their culture reflects. To me it should be about staying true to the show on which it is based. For those of you who have never seen the show or don’t know much about it, I’ll make an analogy: It would be like making a Phantom Menace prequil and making Mace Windu white. ~HOP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsquid Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Saw the preview in a theater- Looks sucky. And for newbies to Avatar, the 9 characters in the last box are (l-r) May Katara Monk Kiatzo Sokka Zuko Iroh Jongjong Longshot Long Feng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawathehutt Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 The only thing I know about the show was that one summer the advertised it nonstop one summer and its existence took away from the hours and hours of spongbob that I required back then. And for that I shall never forgive it and watch anything related to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Kuya Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 No. It's a pathetic attempt by racists to not look racist. Sorry, I'm confused. When you say "No," do you mean that you don't think there is an issue to complain about? And, which side did you think are racists? Just trying to clarify. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Rider Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Sorry, I'm confused. It happens. :-p When you say "No," do you mean that you don't think there is an issue to complain about? Correct. I do not believe that this is a legitimate issue. Hollywood ruins all kinds of things. When Avatar fans heard Hollywood was making a live-action movie, they should of done what I did. Facepalmed and sighed. And, which side did you think are racists? The ones complaining about the casting. Avatar is a fantasy cartoon based on Asian martial arts and various Asian mythological themes. They are not direct interpretations nor are they specific to any one culture. Avatar fans who do not understand the deep divides between China, Japan, Korea, and much of the "Asian" world and lump them all into "Asia" are morons. Their ignorance being a mild form of racism. Any number of the individual characters in the Avatar series could come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from European to Polynesian to Hispanic or Asian. They are not ALL "Asian" and even if they were, it would be stupid to think they are all Chinese or Japanese as many of these idiotic weeboos do. While I agree that the casting choices could have been much better, this is not because I think they should case "Asians", they should cast people who at least bear some resemblance(as many do not), but should not be restricted to any one particular race(which "Asian" is sure as heck not). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igyman Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I tend to agree with Web Rider here. It really doesn't matter which race is predominant in the cast, what matters is that the people cast for the roles bear some resemblance to the cartoon characters and, more importantly, that they can do a good job of playing those characters. As for those who are complaining and trying to make this into an issue of crucial importance and whatnot, I have only one thing to say to them: "Who cares, it's just a movie. Get a life, you idiots!" (Signed: Avatar Fan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Avlectus Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Coming full circle, this is an example of using one stereotype to attack another. Or I guess one could say it is political correctness all the way around, and now we see the dark side of such things. I'm with HOP 14 (good counter argument, BTW), Web, and igy on this one. While, yes, I'll agree on one hand it is just plain abominable, and ignorant as hell (kinda like that recent chun li street fighter movie not being played by an asian woman), on the other, I'm not all that surprised as this happens all the time. It would be better if the movie stayed true to the series in this regard, but I don't see there being enough of an uproar because of it for anything to be done. Blackmail and BS... That's showbiz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedak Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't know why this is in Kavar's, but the movie looks decent enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Rider Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't know why this is in Kavar's, but the movie looks decent enough. Because we're discussing the accusations of racism that are being thrown around over the casting of "white" actors in a movie based off a TV show that seems to have majoritarily non-white characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedak Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 My bad, didn't see the text between the videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Kuya Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 My apologies, I'll edit the post to enlarge the text font. Thanks for explaining, Web Rider! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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