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Jan. 29th, 2009
The Last Airbender casting controversy
Jan. 29th, 2009 08:52 pmSo Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite TV series ever. It's an animated series that manages to be suitable for kids while not being suitable only for kids, based on Asian culture, themes, and mythology.
There's a live-action movie being made of it by M. Night Shyamalan. And Night (as he likes to be called) has, inadvertently or advertently, triggered a controversy with his decision to cast four actors of non-Asian descent in the lead roles. (One of those stars, Jackson Rathbone, made some remarks about playing an Asian character that might seem a trifle insensitive—"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan"—but as he's just a kid and probably being taken out of context anyway, I don't hold that against him.)
(Here's the most balanced article I've seen about the kerfuffle so far. Here's another article about further insensitivity in the casting of extras for the film.)
Given that the characters these actors are playing are "supposed" to be Asian, the reaction this casting choice has provoked has turned rather ugly. As can be seen on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aang_aint_white, many people consider this casting choice to be a throwback to the days of blackface and taped eyes, when actors of ethnic minorities were not considered good enough to play characters of their own ethnicities.
( I don't think there was any intentional racism in the casting, and personally would prefer the best possible actor regardless of ethnicity. )
But on the other hand, I'm not Asian-American. And I expect that if I were, I would probably feel differently about the whole thing. I certainly won't deny their right to be upset. It will be interesting to see if M. Night Shyamalan has any response to the upset Asian-American community.
At any rate, whether or not the controversy brings about any casting changes, it will probably end up selling more tickets—which is probably the opposite of the effect the protesters want to achieve, but that's the way these things tend to work.
There's a live-action movie being made of it by M. Night Shyamalan. And Night (as he likes to be called) has, inadvertently or advertently, triggered a controversy with his decision to cast four actors of non-Asian descent in the lead roles. (One of those stars, Jackson Rathbone, made some remarks about playing an Asian character that might seem a trifle insensitive—"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan"—but as he's just a kid and probably being taken out of context anyway, I don't hold that against him.)
(Here's the most balanced article I've seen about the kerfuffle so far. Here's another article about further insensitivity in the casting of extras for the film.)
Given that the characters these actors are playing are "supposed" to be Asian, the reaction this casting choice has provoked has turned rather ugly. As can be seen on
aang_aint_white, many people consider this casting choice to be a throwback to the days of blackface and taped eyes, when actors of ethnic minorities were not considered good enough to play characters of their own ethnicities.( I don't think there was any intentional racism in the casting, and personally would prefer the best possible actor regardless of ethnicity. )
But on the other hand, I'm not Asian-American. And I expect that if I were, I would probably feel differently about the whole thing. I certainly won't deny their right to be upset. It will be interesting to see if M. Night Shyamalan has any response to the upset Asian-American community.
At any rate, whether or not the controversy brings about any casting changes, it will probably end up selling more tickets—which is probably the opposite of the effect the protesters want to achieve, but that's the way these things tend to work.
