Making ourselves clear
First, we've set up another way you can help us make our voices heard! An online petition has been created, which will soon be delivered by hand to Paramount Pictures and the Kennedy/Marshall company. This is a great opportunity to let them know the scale of this movement, and we would strongly encourage you not only to sign it, but also to pass it along to friends and family you think may be interested.
We've also created a website, Racebending.com, with more information and resources about this movement, including a press release. Discussion of the issues surrounding The Last Airbender and its cast also continues at racebending.
There has been some confusion regarding the motivations and goals of this movement. As such we'd like to take a moment to make ourselves and our intentions absolutely clear.
We all very dearly love the original Avatar: The Last Airbender show. We want the live action adaptation of it to be successful, and for it to be a project we can wholeheartedly support. It has deeply saddened all of us to watch events unfold as they have. None of us want this project to fail.
However. We cannot support The Last Airbender if the production continues on its current path.
We believe the roles of Sokka, Katara and Aang -- the three heroes of this story -- should be recast to reflect the races and cultures of those characters. The current situation, in which three white heroes will be saving the world from a race of dark-skinned Firebenders, is one we cannot in good conscience support or endorse. On a related note, we would also urge Paramount to cast the remainder of the Water Tribe and Air Nomad characters with actors of Inuit or East Asian decent.
Ultimately, we would encourage Paramount Pictures to work closely with the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and the East West Players to find ways to make The Last Airbender a film we can all stand behind.
We've also created a website, Racebending.com, with more information and resources about this movement, including a press release. Discussion of the issues surrounding The Last Airbender and its cast also continues at racebending.
There has been some confusion regarding the motivations and goals of this movement. As such we'd like to take a moment to make ourselves and our intentions absolutely clear.
We all very dearly love the original Avatar: The Last Airbender show. We want the live action adaptation of it to be successful, and for it to be a project we can wholeheartedly support. It has deeply saddened all of us to watch events unfold as they have. None of us want this project to fail.
However. We cannot support The Last Airbender if the production continues on its current path.
We believe the roles of Sokka, Katara and Aang -- the three heroes of this story -- should be recast to reflect the races and cultures of those characters. The current situation, in which three white heroes will be saving the world from a race of dark-skinned Firebenders, is one we cannot in good conscience support or endorse. On a related note, we would also urge Paramount to cast the remainder of the Water Tribe and Air Nomad characters with actors of Inuit or East Asian decent.
Ultimately, we would encourage Paramount Pictures to work closely with the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and the East West Players to find ways to make The Last Airbender a film we can all stand behind.