On the bright side: Haley Joel Osmond isn't playing Aang.
I'm rather relieved, actually, that everyone's talking about the cast for the upcoming movie of Avatar: the Last Airbender, and talking about my greatest concern above all: The cast is all white.
For those not familiar with the source material, Avatar is a superior quality children's cartoon based around four separate nations with very distinct personalities, based separately on Tibet, China, Japan and Inuit cultures. The disparity is obvious in the art and character of the architectural styles; the behaviour and culture of the people, and the design of the characters. Although written by white Americans, and voiced by a largely white cast, the story takes place in a culture almost devoid of Western trappings (let's just say I couldn't see any) and while there are some pale-skinned characters, none of them are Caucasian in any way.
So, casting an all white, largely blond collective in the movie adaptation is a big deal. It's been mentioned by Avatar fans I know, and I even checked the fan communities that I'm not a member of, because active fandom's not my thing. There's a stink being made.
Which is, yes, a huge fucking relief, because when the Colour of Magic was cast and I was put out by the Discworld's only significant non-white character being cast as a white man, the fandom as a whole (or at least, the part I'm exposed to) dismissed my comments as mad rantings.
So more than anything else, I'm just happy people are being vocal. And I don't plan to see the movie.
ETA: a letter writing campaign.
Still not king an aunt.
For those not familiar with the source material, Avatar is a superior quality children's cartoon based around four separate nations with very distinct personalities, based separately on Tibet, China, Japan and Inuit cultures. The disparity is obvious in the art and character of the architectural styles; the behaviour and culture of the people, and the design of the characters. Although written by white Americans, and voiced by a largely white cast, the story takes place in a culture almost devoid of Western trappings (let's just say I couldn't see any) and while there are some pale-skinned characters, none of them are Caucasian in any way.
So, casting an all white, largely blond collective in the movie adaptation is a big deal. It's been mentioned by Avatar fans I know, and I even checked the fan communities that I'm not a member of, because active fandom's not my thing. There's a stink being made.
Which is, yes, a huge fucking relief, because when the Colour of Magic was cast and I was put out by the Discworld's only significant non-white character being cast as a white man, the fandom as a whole (or at least, the part I'm exposed to) dismissed my comments as mad rantings.
So more than anything else, I'm just happy people are being vocal. And I don't plan to see the movie.
ETA: a letter writing campaign.
Still not king an aunt.