Rec: "The Face of the Other," Matt Thorn.
One more and then silence, but this short essay is too good not to recommend: The Face of the Other, which goes into why a face "reads" a certain way. Specifically, it examines the assumptions a viewer or reader brings to the image being viewed (and helloooooo fellow semiotics fans!). Very interesting, and related to a few other issues cropping up in the general discussion of the Avatar casting decisions. A sample quote: Interestingly, in a manga in which Chinese or European characters are the majority, such as a story set in China or Europe, majority characters are generally drawn exactly as Japanese characters would be drawn in a manga set in Japan, without any racial stereotyping at all. In the context of such a story, the Chinese or European characters are not Other, and markings of Otherness would be superfluous.
For a less-theory-based, brief history-of-manga lesson on why They Don't Look Asian (To You/Me/Us), see the concise and only slightly shirty comment by ryosato here (or the reposted version, here): "The reason Aang and some of the characters look "white" is because Avatar is based on anime - Japanese animation. The creators are huge anime fans, and it is intentionally done in anime style."
While not news to anyone who reads or is even vaguely interested in manga, the comment still serves as a good reminder of how complex a form of visuality representation actually is, at all times.
For a less-theory-based, brief history-of-manga lesson on why They Don't Look Asian (To You/Me/Us), see the concise and only slightly shirty comment by ryosato here (or the reposted version, here): "The reason Aang and some of the characters look "white" is because Avatar is based on anime - Japanese animation. The creators are huge anime fans, and it is intentionally done in anime style."
While not news to anyone who reads or is even vaguely interested in manga, the comment still serves as a good reminder of how complex a form of visuality representation actually is, at all times.