avatar: advocacy
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER - ADVOCACY!
I'm not even sure where I should begin. It's been a while!
Really the main things to do at the moment is to read aang_aint_white's latest updates, specifically news on the East West Players and MANAA making contact with Paramount Pictures.
We have organizations on our side, people who can't be ignored by Paramount. This is...incredible. THANK YOU to all of the AAW group for making this happen, especially Teh_Boulder. XD ♥
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THE TIME IS NOW!
However, even though we have some big guns on our side, the issue is not yet closed. We can't leave it in the hands of the few. Hollywood only listens to the many. Filming is supposed to start in mid-March. This means that once filming begins, it will be too late to try and force changes. We must increase our efforts right now!
We need your help desperately to make this final push. You do not have to be Asian or a PoC to help. Anyone who believes that white-washing is wrong can rally and help us! So, what can you do?
One: Letter-writing
SEND MORE LETTERS to Paramount Pictures.
Two: Media
Contact anyone you know in your local media or in general media to alert them to this story. You can inform them of MANAA and EWP's efforts and letters to Paramount. MANAA's letter to Paramount is on their website and their blog. With the permission of EWP, their letter has been published online in a PDF file. Highlights:...how can the casting of homogeneously Caucasian actors as three out of the top four leads possibly be consistent with a story whose overarching message is diversity and harmony between different cultures?
...Even if the filmmakers are blind to these concerns, they ought to be responsive to marketplace realities. There are millions of fans of Nickelodeon's AVATAR and they are drawn to the series' Asian themes. They are not likely to accept either a "whitewashing" of the story or an unrealistic portrayal of white actors trying to look ethnic and/or leading distinctly ethnic civilizations.
Three: Media Again
Did I mention contacting the media? It's worth mentioning it again. Online newssites and popular blogs like SciFi Wire, io9, Entertainment Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, Angry Asian Man etc need to know about the latest news! For a list of people we can update check out the left-hand links bar on aang_aint_white. The more people write in, the more likely they will be to write an article on the issue.
There's also been suggestions of contacting well-known You Tube vidders/vloggers as well. If anyone can help out with that, it would be awesome! I'm not too familiar with the world of vlog.
Four: Word of Mouth!
TELL YOUR FRIENDS. I can't stress this one enough. Word of Mouth is so incredibly important - so if you can, I am begging you to make an LJ post about this, or bring up discussion on a fan forum, or mention it to some pals over a dinner. Anything that'll get people curious and possibly supportive.
Five: Racebending
If you are looking for constant (and fun!) updates on Avatar, please join racebending because it is awesome and energetic and has a lot of good info. It's an off-shoot of Aang-Aint-White, and therefore concentrates more on what's happening in the news rather than the letter-writing campaign.
---------------
More detailed news tomorrow!
I'm not even sure where I should begin. It's been a while!
Really the main things to do at the moment is to read aang_aint_white's latest updates, specifically news on the East West Players and MANAA making contact with Paramount Pictures.
We have organizations on our side, people who can't be ignored by Paramount. This is...incredible. THANK YOU to all of the AAW group for making this happen, especially Teh_Boulder. XD ♥
------------------------------
THE TIME IS NOW!
However, even though we have some big guns on our side, the issue is not yet closed. We can't leave it in the hands of the few. Hollywood only listens to the many. Filming is supposed to start in mid-March. This means that once filming begins, it will be too late to try and force changes. We must increase our efforts right now!
We need your help desperately to make this final push. You do not have to be Asian or a PoC to help. Anyone who believes that white-washing is wrong can rally and help us! So, what can you do?
One: Letter-writing
SEND MORE LETTERS to Paramount Pictures.
Two: Media
Contact anyone you know in your local media or in general media to alert them to this story. You can inform them of MANAA and EWP's efforts and letters to Paramount. MANAA's letter to Paramount is on their website and their blog. With the permission of EWP, their letter has been published online in a PDF file. Highlights:...how can the casting of homogeneously Caucasian actors as three out of the top four leads possibly be consistent with a story whose overarching message is diversity and harmony between different cultures?
...Even if the filmmakers are blind to these concerns, they ought to be responsive to marketplace realities. There are millions of fans of Nickelodeon's AVATAR and they are drawn to the series' Asian themes. They are not likely to accept either a "whitewashing" of the story or an unrealistic portrayal of white actors trying to look ethnic and/or leading distinctly ethnic civilizations.
Three: Media Again
Did I mention contacting the media? It's worth mentioning it again. Online newssites and popular blogs like SciFi Wire, io9, Entertainment Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, Angry Asian Man etc need to know about the latest news! For a list of people we can update check out the left-hand links bar on aang_aint_white. The more people write in, the more likely they will be to write an article on the issue.
There's also been suggestions of contacting well-known You Tube vidders/vloggers as well. If anyone can help out with that, it would be awesome! I'm not too familiar with the world of vlog.
Four: Word of Mouth!
TELL YOUR FRIENDS. I can't stress this one enough. Word of Mouth is so incredibly important - so if you can, I am begging you to make an LJ post about this, or bring up discussion on a fan forum, or mention it to some pals over a dinner. Anything that'll get people curious and possibly supportive.
Five: Racebending
If you are looking for constant (and fun!) updates on Avatar, please join racebending because it is awesome and energetic and has a lot of good info. It's an off-shoot of Aang-Aint-White, and therefore concentrates more on what's happening in the news rather than the letter-writing campaign.
---------------
More detailed news tomorrow!