If you thought the recasting of characters from the film “21” from Asian to white was an insult to the Asian community, you’ve only scratched the surface of the injustices they’ve faced through mass media. The latest atrocity comes from the casting for the “The Last Airbender,” the Avatar live action movie.
For those of you who may not be familiar, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was a very successful, Emmy Award-winning, American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon set in a world based entirely on Asian (primarily East, South Asia, and Inuit) cultures, values, and not just martial arts. Avatar features the clothing, food, and philosophies among many other aspects of Asian culture and the Inuit, as well as strong themes of multiculturalism and diversity among the Asian continent.
The actions of the production team and the studio perpetuate the concept that Asian Americans don't matter in American society and reinforce concepts of white privilege, cultural appropriation, and white washing. To cast white actors and deny Asian Americans (or any minorities for that matter) a chance at major roles in a big movie is a crime against the art, the creators, and not just Asian Americans but any minority that's ever been denied a role to a white person in fear of a production not appealing to the "mass audience."
Many will be quick to blame the director for this decision. However, I am not holding M. Night Shyamalan completely responsible for this, because I understand there are many influences in the creative process when it comes to mass media. Yes, he is one of three producers on this project, but the producer still has to answer to the studio, and in this case, his fellow producers, but casting is typically done by a casting director, which a director should have say over. Unfortunately, the processes and conflicts in making a movie are quite complex with all these chains of command to answer to: above the director, you have the producer, the production company, and if applicable, the studio, in ascending order. The studio in turn, has to answer to the parent company, if it is a subsidiary, and the parent company has to answer to the shareholders, if a public company, so things can get messy real quick in this business.
Sure, he could have chosen to walk off the project, but it would probably still get made. He could even fight them over this, but I have little reason to believe he did and fought valiantly. Perhaps what disappoints me most is that Shyamalan is a member of the Asian community. He is Indian.
Some opponents will say, "but the story doesn't even take place in our world, why should it matter if the cast isn't Asian?"
Even so, this has kept most non-white minorities from being cast into “white” fantasy worlds. Can you imagine the uproar there would have been if Peter Jackson cast non-whites in all the major roles of Lord of the Rings? The most recent exception to this I can think of is “Black Knight,” released in 2001, which stars Martin Lawrence, a black man, sent back in time to medieval England. Asians have such few opportunities in media (especially in entertainment) that any chance to be in the spotlight that is taken away from them or any minority for that matter is a serious blow to the community. A white person will most likely be able to find another job quite easily compared to a minority in this business, and a film adaptation of Avatar has potential for great success, which could propel an Asian talent to unknown heights and recognition that has been long deserved but denied by Hollywood.
Others will argue, "but the characters don't even look Asian in the series. Aren't you being racist for saying whites shouldn't be cast in the lead roles?"
No, affirmative action was put into place to level the playing field for minorities. White people have unfair advantages in life socially, politically, and economically. This phenomenon is known as white privilege. Affirmative action gives other people a chance that would not otherwise even be considered most likely. It encourages diversity, because society has proven that it does not want to do it voluntarily in many more instances than the contrary.
Also, the animation style is strongly influenced by the anime (Japanese animation) style of animation. Now tell me that most of the characters featured in anime are not Asian. Though there are non-Asians featured in anime, you will find they are in the minority. Unless the creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko come out themselves and say that the characters are indeed white, I have no reason to believe that they are.
Advocates of the casting proclaim, “I only care about the most talented actors playing the roles. Are you saying you'd put race over talent?”
Let's take a look at who has been cast into the lead roles:
Noah Ringer – Aang
Jackson Rathbone – Sokka
Nicola Peltz – Katara
Jesse McCartney – Zuko
Judging from this, they're all relatively no-names who were probably only hired due to their perceived "resemblance" to the characters. Jesse McCartney is a teen pop star, so he has some recognition but limited to a very small niche. Peltz and Rathborne have also starred in a few films, but they are not established in the industry. An example of the kind of effort that usually goes into casting is Daniel Radcliffe, who was cast as Harry Potter in the films based on the books due to his resemblance to the title character. I'm sure they could've found a much better actor than him. He was discovered in the theatre by the producer, whom his father, a talent agent, was friends with. Although he did have to audition, this encounter probably helped greatly in getting the part, and auditions like this are sometimes just simple formalities. It is not so much about your skills and abilities in this business, but who you know and chance encounters such as this one. I personally favor truly open casting calls because you never know who you will find in those, and because I think they should be Asian, I'm actually concerned with resemblance to the characters in the show to a certain degree. There are approximately 15 million Asian Americans and 4.1 million registered Native Americans in the United States. There must be at least a handful of people out of all of them that would be perfect for these roles.
It was recently announced that McCartney backed out of the role, citing “scheduling conflicts,” and Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire will now take on the part of Zuko. However, this still raises the issues of tokenism and the stereotype of the Asian villain. It is a minor step forward though just to have an Asian American on the cast and more needs to be done.
Still, I can be countered that there was an open casting call. However, open casting call does not and almost never means truly open, as one prospective actress writes about her experience trying to get an audition for the film. Talent needs agents to find out about and be able to apply for these auditions in most cases. One cannot just walk off the street and audition. Not everyone has access to representation in the entertainment industry, and therefore, people that could put on an amazing performance and do the characters justice get snuffed. Open casting also does not mean that the crew is casting with an open mind.
Finally, Avatar was very successful in its original form, and they made no sacrifices regarding content of the show for the sake of audience appeal. Animation in the US is still relatively regarded as a children’s medium, primarily aimed at males. Avatar went against the rules of its format featuring a complex, serialized story, strong female lead roles, and a diverse range of characters from a variety of backgrounds and ethnic origins. If the series has proven it can turn a huge profit, why change it for the movie?
In conclusion, if you still think nothing wrong is being done, I suggest taking a look at this photo essay of the world of Avatar, which clearly demonstrates just how much it was influenced by Asian and Inuit culture and values. I expect opposing views will come from all communities, not just the white community, even the Asian community itself to a certain degree.
A concerned citizen in their Livejournal proposes that we do a physical letter writing campaign to the studio. While I appreciate the effort, we all know protests only work one way: numbers...big, massive numbers. I'm talking tens if not hundreds of thousands of people voicing their opinions (in a non-violent fashion of course) even a million. The kind of crowds that make the police send out the people in riot gear just to make the protesters appear violent when they aren't, the kinds of actions that make the press salivate at the thought of an "interesting" lead story. The communists didn't leave Czechoslovakia because people wrote letters. No, they had to gather in huge masses in the capital and coordinate a massive nationwide strike to make them give up their power.
I know traditional Asian cultural values are all about "don't rock the boat," "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down," and “take everything in stride and wait for the opportunity to strike,” but I could be long dead by the time that time comes, and I don't want my children or any more people to be subject to the same kind of treatment and injustices that I and my ancestors have been. I sincerely hope that something (if not this but hopefully this) will galvanize the community and anyone outraged by this ignorance to take action finally against the majority. That is the only way progress will be made: by playing their game. This great country was founded on protesting against social injustice.
I recently discovered a movement has started against this and is growing on Facebook. They are planning to protest the next casting call which will be held in Philadelphia on February 7. The time to strike is now! I wish them success in their task.
I call for more active forms of protest (non-violent forms of course). I also call for the Asian community to be more proactive in situations like this to prevent similar scenarios from even getting this far in the future.
I certainly hope this message is not falling on deaf ears.
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written by Denise, November 12, 2009
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written by Maricko t , November 12, 2009
One of my graduate classes required me to look into "Asian Issues", so I bought a few books at barnes and nobles as well as amazon and this one really captured my attention. It was easy to read, it gave great examples/real life experiences, I could hardly put it down. It is also a great length if you are a busy person who wants to read a book that just gets to the point. I definitely recommend this book for all people. We should all strive to learn more about the issues people face, especially the often ignored/looked over Asian issues.
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written by Angie , November 12, 2009
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written by Jun Lee, November 12, 2009
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written by O'Brian , November 13, 2009
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written by Abby Lowes, November 13, 2009
Q - Takeru how come you think the Asian industry won't be big in movies here?
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written by Malina, November 13, 2009
Oh, you poor white people. You had to go through all the trouble of conquering, dividing and stealing land and resources, putting shackles around the necks of my ancestors and dragging them across an ocean raping the women and beating the men along the way, you had to start the crusades (show those Muslims who was boss), had to divide up Africa and get them to kill one another.
You also had to go through the trouble of subjugating, enslaving and wiping out populations, burning down Kyoto, putting the Native Americans on reservations, making the Hmong fight your quiet war in Laos, making signs that said "Colored Drinking Fountain" "Death to all Jews" "Chinese and Dogs not allowed" "Arabs need not apply". All this and so much more you did and still you get no thanks.
Now People of Color want to be equal and have the same opportunities. Geez, can't we just appreciate that you don't violate us as much? {end sarcasm}
If you couldn’t get it from the above: Maybe the reason why all peoples of color blame white people is because of what your people have done and continue to do to people of color.
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written by Chameleon, November 13, 2009
Kudos, again, mate!
Takeru
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written by Cory Wilson , November 13, 2009
I don't particularly agree with every single thing here but I'll tell you it' definitely bad ass. This was definitely one of the hottest articles I've come across on here. Shoot I just commented just to basically so that lol.
Cory from Cali4ni@
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written by QV, November 14, 2009
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written by Asian Pride, November 14, 2009
http://img84.exs.cx/img84/515/aznpride.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnuDc6sFdqk
They want to be like us
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written by Kore, November 14, 2009
I know you werent talking about racism per say but discrimination has just as much clout so that's why I'm linking the two.
One other good movie you should have put up was Memoir' of a Geisha. Remember how the main character had blue eyes? Lol, how many blue eyed japanese people do you know..come on seriously. Again another example of white washing.
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written by Kore again , November 16, 2009
http://koreanpower999.wordpress.com/category/racism-against-asian-americans/
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written by Slanteyedmama, November 16, 2009
I gasped so hard I couldn't believe it. I told her I really doubt that and that most of it has to do with the audience they are marketing to.
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written by Jenn, November 17, 2009
I found this quote from the author interesting
I didn't see why everybody in science fiction had to be a honky named Bob or Joe or Bill. I didn't see why everybody in heroic fantasy had to be white (and why all the leading women had "violet eyes"). It didn't even make sense. Whites are a minority on Earth now—why wouldn't they still be either a minority, or just swallowed up in the larger colored gene pool, in the future?
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Yeah lot's of things stand out like. The "oh so you-sa want fee-fff-ttee spring rolls" Chinese restaurant owner.
Some might call it a rant but being a part asian and part black person I say this is truth. Plain and simple, speak up brothaz!