Racist casting strikes again

[aesmael]

Avatar, that's a show I have been wanting to watch for a while now. Just lately lost_angelwings has informed me a live action film is to be made from the series and, as appears to be something of a tradition, many of the characters have been cast as white in stark contrast to their original depiction.

So, um, yay? I have not even been paying attention or looking and I can name a few off-hand this has happened to, like Dragon Ball, Speed Racer and Earthsea, so it is not hard to see a trend. Because we all know white people need as many breaks as they can get in the film industry, right? If race does not matter there should have been no problem casting to match characters' original conception, surely not such a thorough problem unless we want to pretend white people are just plain better actors. And if it does matter, well, there's even less excuse then.


Icon (plus others) from here, thanks again to lost_angelwings for the link.

Comments

[floorcandy.livejournal.com]

But if they didn't use white actors then how would white audiences ever be expected to relate? [/snark]

There are just no words.

[pazi-ashfeather.livejournal.com]

Gaaah, no. This show isn't about white people!

[kales85.livejournal.com]

:o..

I rly shouldn't be surprised they did this >.>. I still cannot believe what they did with dbz tho xD

Like.. o.O. It is soo gonna feel like power rangers, I can just see it. xD

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

I am so f-ing tired of white being default and when pointed out about this attitude the response is basically "what? white IS default", even if they do not realize that is what their words are meaning! Like "oh it's not set on Earth, so there aren't actually Asians there!" but there ARE white ppl right?

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Weirdness. Sometimes odd casting works, like using Keenu Reeve as John Constantine - ok, he wasn't a cross between Spike and Sting, but he did a decent job of the role.

However, it may be still too early to be sure about casting choices in this film. I found an entry for The Last Airbender (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/) on the IMDB and I think the film's going to be totally ruined anyway, because it's going to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan. I like "some" of his films, but even the ones I like tend to be laborious to watch. And as far as suspense, forget it - I've guessed the punch line within 5 minutes of any of his films I've watched (and even without seeing it, I guessed the plot of THE VILLAGE from the poster).

Anyway, only two actors are listed, both with RUMOURED attached. The forums there refer to an Entertainment Weekly (http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/shyamalan-casts.html) article that mentions "karate star Noah Ringer" as Aang, Nicola Peltz as Katara, and Jesse McCartney as Zuko. But really, I think that's gossip.

So, rather than bemoan this, why not contact the director at http://www.mnightshyamalan.com/ and explain why the casting's wrong?