CONFUSION PLZ: Quotes from Mr. M on Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Boulder would like to share some quotes from M. Night Shyamalan about the Eastern influences of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
As you know, my little Boulders, many people seem to be laboring under the delusion that Avatar was set in a fantasy world and therefore could not possibly have influences from real-life Asian cultures (FYI Inuit culture is also Asian, as Inuits live both in Siberia and in northern North America.)
But NOT our Mr. M.! Hooray!
Um. Oh no. Wait.
In April 2008, Mr. M told Empire Magazine that the Avatars of the story are "are kind of a Buddha figure to some extent." He also said:
"Buddhist and Hindu philosophies run through the stuff. When I realised that is what it was, it really drew me as the template for putting storytelling on a new level. There is a kind of thread that connects Star Wars and The Matrix...that same thread is in this story, about a forgotten belief system, or the illusion of the world now." -- M Night. Shyamalan, April 2008
The Boulder would like to know if Mr. M thinks the forgotten belief system is Hollywood's history of racial discrimination, because that would explain a lot. Is the illusion of the world now that only white child actors are marketable and that yellowface is totes okay now? Because that kind of makes The Boulder sad.
He also told Entertainment Weekly in April 2008:
"I love martial arts and the Japanese culture. This particular piece has an intensely spiritual Buddhist substory that I really dug." -- M Night. Shyamalan, April 2008
The Boulder is confused as to why he did not extend the love to Japanese and other Asian American actors. Is this another case of 'love the culture' but not the people?
Rope of Silicon also interviewed Mr. M. in June 2008.
"We have been striving to find the right balance between a fantasy world, and anchoring it in a reality you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it’s real. It’s not like you go, 'Oh, that’s Asia,' but it would be anchored in that kind of thing."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
Caucasian actors pretending to be ethnically Asian heroes liberating a trundle of colored extras from the evil schemes of an ethnically Indian prince's royal family. Anchor it in that kind of thing, plz!
Yup. The Boulder thinks that is exactly what Asia is like, yay!
"I feel more confident that I can make the CGI something that when you see it, like when you see two years from now and you see the trailer for The Last Airbender you will go, “Wow,” because you instinctively know that there is depth and reality to that moment of CGI."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
You know, um, The Boulder--ah. Hem. Um. Would like to know why the production is more concerned about the depth and reality of the um, special effects than, you know, the shallowness and fakery of, erm, yellowface. (But The Boulder is looking forward to experiencing the depth and reality of Jackson Rathbone's tan, you know.)
"I’ve had enough movies now that I know that it’s really about the consistency and the integrity of the work. There will be some that have huge successes box-office wise and some lesser, but the consistency of being honest to myself as an artist, the integrity is felt by the audience. You can feel it when somebody is chasing the audience or sold out in some way when they did something they didn’t 100-percent believe in."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
The Boulder has struggled to feel the integrity of this production but for has failed to find it. Please help.
Mr. M. told Comingsoon.net in June 2008
"I loved the characters in the story and I felt like I could be me inside this larger canvas of this very long-form movie. I think it inherently had kind of family issues and serious larger topics--at the center, genocide--all kinds of stuff. Cultural differences at the center. It has Buddhism, Hinduism, things I'm interested in."---- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
Little did The Boulder know that the movie would attempt to display cultural differences in an egregious manner, um, reinforcing the historic discriminatory practices of 1950s Hollywood. Way to roll the choo-choo train of progress backwards, you guys. The Boulder is SAD NOW.
Shyamalan described Avatar to SCIFI WIRE in June 2008:
"It has martial arts and spirituality and the supernatural, and it has Buddhist philosophy and Hindu philosophy--really, everything I talk about--all in one movie."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
"I felt the same thing watching this show. I was like, 'This is the Eastern-philosophy Star Wars movie.' I started thinking about what it meant to me, if I could imbue it with the things that are important to me. And, lo and behold, here we are."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
The Boulder is saddened, because even Mr. M recognizes the Eastern influences of Avatar, so what gives?
Well, Mr. M said he will "imbue [Avatar] with the things that are important" to him.
The Boulder would like to know if imbuing Avatar with Caucasian lead actors while blocking off opportunities for underrepresented minority actors (unless you want to be a Belgian lederhosen wearing extra!) is really important to Mr. M or something, so much that he wants to imbue it in a movie for little kids.
So there you have it. Mr. M. blathering to the world about the various Asian cultural influences in Avatar.
The Boulder would like to know what you think. Did M. Night really intend to cast the main characters like this or did someone else make the call? He seemed to understand that the Four Nations were set in an Asian fantasy world. Between June 2008 and November 2008, was he replaced by some sort of evil yellowface-loving clone? How did he get from "Eastern Star Wars" to casting Jesse McCartney as part of his vision?
As you know, my little Boulders, many people seem to be laboring under the delusion that Avatar was set in a fantasy world and therefore could not possibly have influences from real-life Asian cultures (FYI Inuit culture is also Asian, as Inuits live both in Siberia and in northern North America.)
But NOT our Mr. M.! Hooray!
Um. Oh no. Wait.
In April 2008, Mr. M told Empire Magazine that the Avatars of the story are "are kind of a Buddha figure to some extent." He also said:
"Buddhist and Hindu philosophies run through the stuff. When I realised that is what it was, it really drew me as the template for putting storytelling on a new level. There is a kind of thread that connects Star Wars and The Matrix...that same thread is in this story, about a forgotten belief system, or the illusion of the world now." -- M Night. Shyamalan, April 2008
The Boulder would like to know if Mr. M thinks the forgotten belief system is Hollywood's history of racial discrimination, because that would explain a lot. Is the illusion of the world now that only white child actors are marketable and that yellowface is totes okay now? Because that kind of makes The Boulder sad.
He also told Entertainment Weekly in April 2008:
"I love martial arts and the Japanese culture. This particular piece has an intensely spiritual Buddhist substory that I really dug." -- M Night. Shyamalan, April 2008
The Boulder is confused as to why he did not extend the love to Japanese and other Asian American actors. Is this another case of 'love the culture' but not the people?
Rope of Silicon also interviewed Mr. M. in June 2008.
"We have been striving to find the right balance between a fantasy world, and anchoring it in a reality you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it’s real. It’s not like you go, 'Oh, that’s Asia,' but it would be anchored in that kind of thing."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
Caucasian actors pretending to be ethnically Asian heroes liberating a trundle of colored extras from the evil schemes of an ethnically Indian prince's royal family. Anchor it in that kind of thing, plz!
Yup. The Boulder thinks that is exactly what Asia is like, yay!
"I feel more confident that I can make the CGI something that when you see it, like when you see two years from now and you see the trailer for The Last Airbender you will go, “Wow,” because you instinctively know that there is depth and reality to that moment of CGI."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
You know, um, The Boulder--ah. Hem. Um. Would like to know why the production is more concerned about the depth and reality of the um, special effects than, you know, the shallowness and fakery of, erm, yellowface. (But The Boulder is looking forward to experiencing the depth and reality of Jackson Rathbone's tan, you know.)
"I’ve had enough movies now that I know that it’s really about the consistency and the integrity of the work. There will be some that have huge successes box-office wise and some lesser, but the consistency of being honest to myself as an artist, the integrity is felt by the audience. You can feel it when somebody is chasing the audience or sold out in some way when they did something they didn’t 100-percent believe in."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
The Boulder has struggled to feel the integrity of this production but for has failed to find it. Please help.
Mr. M. told Comingsoon.net in June 2008
"I loved the characters in the story and I felt like I could be me inside this larger canvas of this very long-form movie. I think it inherently had kind of family issues and serious larger topics--at the center, genocide--all kinds of stuff. Cultural differences at the center. It has Buddhism, Hinduism, things I'm interested in."---- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
Little did The Boulder know that the movie would attempt to display cultural differences in an egregious manner, um, reinforcing the historic discriminatory practices of 1950s Hollywood. Way to roll the choo-choo train of progress backwards, you guys. The Boulder is SAD NOW.
Shyamalan described Avatar to SCIFI WIRE in June 2008:
"It has martial arts and spirituality and the supernatural, and it has Buddhist philosophy and Hindu philosophy--really, everything I talk about--all in one movie."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
"I felt the same thing watching this show. I was like, 'This is the Eastern-philosophy Star Wars movie.' I started thinking about what it meant to me, if I could imbue it with the things that are important to me. And, lo and behold, here we are."-- M Night. Shyamalan, June 2008
The Boulder is saddened, because even Mr. M recognizes the Eastern influences of Avatar, so what gives?
Well, Mr. M said he will "imbue [Avatar] with the things that are important" to him.
The Boulder would like to know if imbuing Avatar with Caucasian lead actors while blocking off opportunities for underrepresented minority actors (unless you want to be a Belgian lederhosen wearing extra!) is really important to Mr. M or something, so much that he wants to imbue it in a movie for little kids.
So there you have it. Mr. M. blathering to the world about the various Asian cultural influences in Avatar.
The Boulder would like to know what you think. Did M. Night really intend to cast the main characters like this or did someone else make the call? He seemed to understand that the Four Nations were set in an Asian fantasy world. Between June 2008 and November 2008, was he replaced by some sort of evil yellowface-loving clone? How did he get from "Eastern Star Wars" to casting Jesse McCartney as part of his vision?