Taking it to Twitter

[aang_aint_white]

We have been told that Frank Marshall, one of the producers of The Last Airbender, has an account on Twitter. We've also been told that many of our supporters have been sending him harassing messages.

While we understand that this is a rare opportunity to communicate more directly with the producers, rude behavior reflects badly on all of us. It

Comments

Campfire! ^_^

[star_bolt08]

Hey guys! Update on the Campfire discussion: we had a nice turn out today, and while we may have gotten just a little off-topic at times, there was actually a lot good discussion going on. I copy & pasted the comments Mr. Marshall made about their vision for the movie and its cast, and we talked about that for a bit. Basically, no one's really liking it, but it's nice to get an explanation from someone working on this project. Also, I brought this up:

"This is just a random thought that's crossed my mind several times when I've heard people try to defend the cast and it being "multicultural," but if the world of Avatar isn't all Asian like people have said, then can we least agree that the characters weren't by default, white? I mean, if they were, we've seen some blonds, and redheads or something, right? And I'm thinking that the creators chose not to give some of people from the Fire Nation red hair, and instead gave them gold eyes and blue eyes for the Water Tribesman, and green and brown for the Earth Kingdom people was to avoid any confusion about their race if the topic ever came up. I can concede that maybe they weren't all Asian and Inuit (even though I still think they are), but I never once considered them to be white."

What do you guys think? We also discussed the facial features of the characters as a whole, and it was brought up that certain features, like their noses weren't something you'd expect to see on a white character. For the most part, white characters are given smaller, thinner noses (there are exceptions though). Not sure if this is the entry to start a discussion on this, but let's see what we can do with it. :D (And please correct me if I said something wrong. I'm always open to constructive criticism!) But this was a really good idea, we should do it again sometime!

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[erikonil]

I think it's a valid point. I wouldn't mind having white actors in the cast, but I don't like taking obviously dark skinned people and casting them as white people. I think most people's problem with the "multicultural" argument is that "multicultural" apparently means "replace dark skined heroes with white."

Actaully, I think they could have gotten away with a white Aang so long as Katara and Sokka had been cast as darker skinned people.

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[star_bolt08]

Exactly! I had a feeling it would be unrealistic for them to have an all Asian/Inuit cast, but I think most people, myself included, would've been perfectly okay as long as Katara, Sokka and the other people of the Water Tribe cast as people with darker complexions like in the show itself. We're want actors who look like the characters they're portraying. Like I've said before, acting ability is great and all, but resembling the character is important too.

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[pretty_angel]

What I also find crucial is that they totally mixing up everything and actually contradicting themselves with the "multicultural world" concept. The people are from all kinds of different cultures, no question. But the cultures itself which we'll see in the movie are (as far as we know) the same as in the TV series. Multicoloured? Yes. Multicultural? Not so much. I mean seriously, we'll have Indians dressed up as Japanese, Whites dressed up as Inuit and whatever-Noah-Ringer-is as Tibetan monks? O_o

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[erikonil]

Totally, but just saying either "We can't find any talented Asian/Native actors" or "We're making it multicultural" just reeks of white washing. It makes even less sense when we know that Nickelodeon worked with groups like MANAA and the East West Players who make it their business to help media organizations find and help promote Asian and Native actors.

I would love to see a live action Avatar, but this just has all the warning signs of being a committee written, bland, studio project. Kinda like Eragon.

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[jedifreac]

I resent the implication that the original Avatar world was not "multicultural." It's so ignorant to say that just because something is an "Asian fantasy world" it isn't multicultural. Asia is incredibly diverse. Over 75 countries and literally hundreds of different cultures.

Avatar was ALREADY multicultural. They didn't need to discriminate actors of color and make the heroes white, in the name of diversity, to make it "more diverse." Think of all the different, underrepresented cultures Avatar featured! Ranging from Qing Dynasty China to Siberian Erineki to Gobi Bedouin...

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[singingsun199]

Exactly. I don't mind seeing whites in this movie as background, but this a story of Asians. Just like HP and LotR are European.

This is a story where Inuits and East Asians get the spotlight. They have enough unique cultures to seem like a world, like Jedifreac said.

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[erikonil]

My issue is more that Hollywood "multicultural" seems to be an excuse to bring in primarily white actors. Pan-Asian is actually the word that always popped into my head to describe Avatar for me.

But you are right. Asia is definitely multicultural.

Re: Campfire! ^_^

[caterfree10]

THIS. That is exactly why they're calling it multicultural, just to get their precious white heroes. It's sickening, I swear. DX