The other racebending shoe drops...
If you see the DVD of The Last Airbender -- which I don't recommend unless you've also downloaded the Rifftrax to go with it, the only reason I forced myself to watch it again -- do not for the love of everything bright and shiny in the world look at the deleted scenes. I will tell you that yes there are several sly knowing winks to the Kyoshi Warriors, but do not let that convince you to take a look. For I have seen it for you and I am disgusted.
You might remember during the actual movie a brief 2 or 3 second clip of the Ivory Trio flying off after presumably having just saved a village of festively dressed, dark skinned people from the armor clad slightly-less-dark soldiers. That in itself was pretty foul, but it passed quickly, just like a cat fart.
The extended scene it came from is worse. Much, much worse.
Ong saves village, along with Kuhtara and Soaka. Then the whole tribe comes out and you know what comes next. That's right. Festive Native Dancing. The whole tribe is out there doing the Native Tribal shuffle, and the Ivory Trio is amused at their quaint native doings, even condescending to join in...
After a few minutes of this, Ong sees a sign on a shop that is translated for us: "Speak to the Dead." If this is supposed to be Aunt Wu it is horrific because she is a charlatan, Miss Cleo combined with Aunt Jemima, and she is chewing the scenery like it's made of jerky. She says she's tuned into the spirits and then pulls the classic "His name starts with a J, right? S? R? Q?" WHAT THE HELL I KNOW YOU COULDN'T BE ASSED TO USE ACTUAL CHINESE WRITING BUT WHY IS SHE USING WESTERN ALPHABET IN HER SCAM??
And then suddenly (but not surprisingly if you know this trope) she is overcome by a real spirit, the Dragon Spirit, who says something to Ong and then she snaps out of it and does the "oh hey I zoned out there, now where was I?" routine. Sybil Trelawny in Harry Potter had a similar incident with having spirits speak through her (or at least prophesy) but this? This was just... AAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH AJSDHGJSHGJHSGAHGSH
I can only think Shyamalan threw this onto the back of the disk laughing, going "all you protesters were so wound up about the Asian thing I bet you never saw THIS twist coming!"
Shyamalan, I hate you. Before this I just hated your work as it descended into Uwe Boll territory, but after this? I hate you. You personally. I thought you were racially clueless and tone deaf and stubborn, but now I know you're out and out malicious.
I need something to hit. I would be willing to fly to Philadelphia to accomplish this. Seriously.
You might remember during the actual movie a brief 2 or 3 second clip of the Ivory Trio flying off after presumably having just saved a village of festively dressed, dark skinned people from the armor clad slightly-less-dark soldiers. That in itself was pretty foul, but it passed quickly, just like a cat fart.
The extended scene it came from is worse. Much, much worse.
Ong saves village, along with Kuhtara and Soaka. Then the whole tribe comes out and you know what comes next. That's right. Festive Native Dancing. The whole tribe is out there doing the Native Tribal shuffle, and the Ivory Trio is amused at their quaint native doings, even condescending to join in...
After a few minutes of this, Ong sees a sign on a shop that is translated for us: "Speak to the Dead." If this is supposed to be Aunt Wu it is horrific because she is a charlatan, Miss Cleo combined with Aunt Jemima, and she is chewing the scenery like it's made of jerky. She says she's tuned into the spirits and then pulls the classic "His name starts with a J, right? S? R? Q?" WHAT THE HELL I KNOW YOU COULDN'T BE ASSED TO USE ACTUAL CHINESE WRITING BUT WHY IS SHE USING WESTERN ALPHABET IN HER SCAM??
And then suddenly (but not surprisingly if you know this trope) she is overcome by a real spirit, the Dragon Spirit, who says something to Ong and then she snaps out of it and does the "oh hey I zoned out there, now where was I?" routine. Sybil Trelawny in Harry Potter had a similar incident with having spirits speak through her (or at least prophesy) but this? This was just... AAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH AJSDHGJSHGJHSGAHGSH
I can only think Shyamalan threw this onto the back of the disk laughing, going "all you protesters were so wound up about the Asian thing I bet you never saw THIS twist coming!"
Shyamalan, I hate you. Before this I just hated your work as it descended into Uwe Boll territory, but after this? I hate you. You personally. I thought you were racially clueless and tone deaf and stubborn, but now I know you're out and out malicious.
I need something to hit. I would be willing to fly to Philadelphia to accomplish this. Seriously.