On the Avatar Movie Mess
I wanted to wait until after I was done with Yuletide to post about the fallout of the announced cast of "The Last Airbender." Because I've been trying (and mostly failing) to keep a level head about this, and I really want to avoid getting overemotional and dragging my own racial experiences into it.
Now sure how successful I'm going to be on that front, but I want to try.
The gist - Nickelodeon created an amazing fantasy-action cartoon called "Avatar: The Last Airbender," which took place in a fantasy world based on a variety of Asian and Inuit cultures. The creators did a very good job of putting that world together and being as authentic and sensitive to the referenced cultures as possible. And they created characters to inhabit that world that were well-rounded, non-stereotypical, and yet still recognizably Asian.
"Avatar" proved popular enough that Paramount decided to turn it into a live-action children's film - possibly a trilogy - and got M. Night Shyamalan signed up to direct. Last week the core cast was announced by Entertainment Weekly, and apparently all four of the film's leads are going to be white.
Let that sink in for a second.
Now, I didn't expect we'd have a whole Asian cast. But not to have any of the four leads a minority at all? Really?
There has been plenty of discussion going on about why this is not acceptable. Aang Aint White is spearheading a letter writing campaign and has lots of links to various reactions. My favorites include Glockgal's FAQ, Ciderpress, The Angry Black Woman, Vejiicakes, GanXingb's Youtube Appeal, and our own Veleda K.
As for my thoughts on the matter, I'm going to try and look at the larger picture here. Because the impact of this decision goes a lot farther than just one movie.
Deep breath...
Asian Americans are grossly underrepresented in mainstream Hollywood films. In 2008, according to Wikipedia, they comprise about 5% of the US population. That's one in twenty. Onscreen, though they've been a growing presence in supporting roles, you hardly ever see them as the leads.
Ah, you say, but what about Jackie Chan and Jet Li?
This is where an important distinction should be made. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Young Fat, Sammo Hung, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Stephen Chow, Tony Jaa, and Bai Ling - are not *American.* These are foreign actors from overseas who made their names in their own countries before breaking into Hollywood. For most of them English is a second language, and they usually play foreigners in Western films.
The list of Asian-American film stars that people can actually name these days is pretty short: Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, John Cho and Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar), and possibly Keanu Reeves, though most people can't tell he's part-Chinese. And you could make a case for George Takei, Ming Na, and Margaret Cho, though the bulk of their work has been on television.
Why make the distinction? Because the bulk of Asian roles in Hollywood films are for non-American characters, for recent immigrants, and people who are coded as Other, as non-integrated, exotic, alien, foreign, unfamiliar, remote, and of a different culture separate and apart from the American norm. This isn't to say Asian-Americans can't play non-American and vice versa - it happens a lot, actually - but it does give you an idea of how Hollywood views Asians, and how limited the opportunities are for these actors. The films that get made overseas like "Crouching Tiger" and "Hero" don't count as Hollywood.
Which brings us back to "The Last Airbender."
What bothers me most about the whitewashed casting is the tremendous opportunity missed.
I've always loved kids' fantasy films, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore the racial disparity. Every year there's a new "Harry Potter" or "Narnia" movie with Caucasian kid heroes saving the day. Smaller recent productions like "City of Ember," "Bridge to Terabithia," "The Seeker," "Zathura," "Spiderwick Chronicles, "The Last Mimzy" and "Eragon" are all conspicuously lacking in minority characters.
To compare, do you want to know how many Asian leads I found in American fantasy films when you take out Keanu Reeves?
"Around the World in 80 Days" (2004) - Jackie Chan
"The Medallion" (2003) - Jackie Chan
"The Tuxedo" (2002) - Jackie Chan
"The One" (2001) - Jet Li
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" movies (1995, 1997) - Johnny Yong Bosch
"Mortal Combat" movies (1995, 1997) - Robin Shou
"The Crow" (1994) - Brandon Lee
"The Jungle Book" (1994) - Jason Scott Lee
"Double Dragon" (1994) - Mark Dacascos
EDIT: "Surf Ninjas" (1993) - Ernie Reyes Sr and Ernie Reyes Jr. (Thanks Abuhin!)
That's it. That's eleven twelve films in the last twenty years, mostly B-grade martial arts pictures and really stretching the definition of a fantasy film. Nothing since 2004. If you want to count animated films, you can add "Mulan" (1998), "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" (2001), "Lilo and Stitch" (2002), and "The Jungle Book 2" (2003). If I've missed any, please let me know. I went through every list of Asian films I could find, Googled, scoured Wikipedia and the IMDB, and wracked my brains all day, and that's all I could come up with. In every other fantasy movie, Asians are the sidekick, the old master stereotype, the throwaway love interest, or the villain. And sometimes all of them in the same movie with a conspicuous white guy as the lead.
Now, do you want to know how many Asian child actors have had the leading role in a major American film. Not just in fantasy films, but in all American films period?
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005) - Suzuka Ohgo (played Chiyo/Sayuri for the first part of the movie)
"The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo" (1997) - Jamie Williams (IMDB says he's part Indian)
"The Jungle Book" (1994) - Sean Naegeli (played Mowgli for the first part of the movie)
"The Joy Luck Club" (1993) - Melanie Chang, Yi Ding, Irene Ng, Mai Vu, Ying Wu, Emmy Yu, Feihong Yu (played younger versions of the main characters)
EDIT: "Surf Ninjas" (1993) - Ernie Reyes Jr.
Again, if you can think of any others, let me know. And before you ask, "Bend it Like Beckham" was a British film. "Better Luck Tomorrow," "The Motel," and "Ping Pong Playa" were independent films with very limited distribution. The Miyazaki movies were made in Japan. And no, Short Round and Rufio don't count. They were essentially exotic sidekicks.
Other minority representation isn't much better. The last fantasy films with young African American leads I could find were "Fat Albert" in 2004 and "Like Mike" in 2002. Latino kids got the "Spy Kids" series (2001-2003) thanks to Robert Rodriguez, but not much else. Native American? Middle Eastern? I really didn't have the heart to look.
So when "The Last Airbender," that was based on a show with 100% minority leads, where they wouldn't have had to rewrite the material or resort to tokenism to get a minority kid in the cast, where they could have cast the darker-skinned Katara and Sokka any ethnicity they wanted because nobody ever specified exactly what ethnicity they were -
To get that turned and used against us to cast four white kids as the leads...
It hurts. So damn much.
I don't blame M. Night Shyamalan. Just like I don't blame Justin Lin for "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," who went on record saying he tried to get an Asian lead cast. Or James Wong for the new "Dragonball" movie, or Robert Luketic for "21." I'm sure they all had good intentions. But dear God, so did Irving Thalberg in 1936 when he wanted to make "The Good Earth" with an all-Chinese cast, and the leads ended up going to Paul Muni and Luise Ranier.
And you know what *really* scares me?
From IMDB:
"Ghost In The Shell" (2010) - based on the manga by Masamune Shirow, optioned by Dreamworks.
"Old Boy" (2010) - Based on the manga series by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, Will Smith rumored to star, Spielberg rumored to direct.
"Robotech" (2010) - Based on the 1985 anime (originally an amalgamation of three other series), optioned by Warner Brothers, Toby Maguire rumored to star.
"Akira" (2011) - Based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, in development with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way
"Battle Angel" (aka "Battle Angel Alita," 2011) - Based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro, in development with James Cameron
"Cowboy Bebop" (2011) - Based on the 1998 anime series, Keanu Reeves rumored to star.
"Ninja Scroll" (2011) - Based on the 1993 anime, in development with Appian way
Now sure how successful I'm going to be on that front, but I want to try.
The gist - Nickelodeon created an amazing fantasy-action cartoon called "Avatar: The Last Airbender," which took place in a fantasy world based on a variety of Asian and Inuit cultures. The creators did a very good job of putting that world together and being as authentic and sensitive to the referenced cultures as possible. And they created characters to inhabit that world that were well-rounded, non-stereotypical, and yet still recognizably Asian.
"Avatar" proved popular enough that Paramount decided to turn it into a live-action children's film - possibly a trilogy - and got M. Night Shyamalan signed up to direct. Last week the core cast was announced by Entertainment Weekly, and apparently all four of the film's leads are going to be white.
Let that sink in for a second.
Now, I didn't expect we'd have a whole Asian cast. But not to have any of the four leads a minority at all? Really?
There has been plenty of discussion going on about why this is not acceptable. Aang Aint White is spearheading a letter writing campaign and has lots of links to various reactions. My favorites include Glockgal's FAQ, Ciderpress, The Angry Black Woman, Vejiicakes, GanXingb's Youtube Appeal, and our own Veleda K.
As for my thoughts on the matter, I'm going to try and look at the larger picture here. Because the impact of this decision goes a lot farther than just one movie.
Deep breath...
Asian Americans are grossly underrepresented in mainstream Hollywood films. In 2008, according to Wikipedia, they comprise about 5% of the US population. That's one in twenty. Onscreen, though they've been a growing presence in supporting roles, you hardly ever see them as the leads.
Ah, you say, but what about Jackie Chan and Jet Li?
This is where an important distinction should be made. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Young Fat, Sammo Hung, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Stephen Chow, Tony Jaa, and Bai Ling - are not *American.* These are foreign actors from overseas who made their names in their own countries before breaking into Hollywood. For most of them English is a second language, and they usually play foreigners in Western films.
The list of Asian-American film stars that people can actually name these days is pretty short: Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, John Cho and Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar), and possibly Keanu Reeves, though most people can't tell he's part-Chinese. And you could make a case for George Takei, Ming Na, and Margaret Cho, though the bulk of their work has been on television.
Why make the distinction? Because the bulk of Asian roles in Hollywood films are for non-American characters, for recent immigrants, and people who are coded as Other, as non-integrated, exotic, alien, foreign, unfamiliar, remote, and of a different culture separate and apart from the American norm. This isn't to say Asian-Americans can't play non-American and vice versa - it happens a lot, actually - but it does give you an idea of how Hollywood views Asians, and how limited the opportunities are for these actors. The films that get made overseas like "Crouching Tiger" and "Hero" don't count as Hollywood.
Which brings us back to "The Last Airbender."
What bothers me most about the whitewashed casting is the tremendous opportunity missed.
I've always loved kids' fantasy films, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore the racial disparity. Every year there's a new "Harry Potter" or "Narnia" movie with Caucasian kid heroes saving the day. Smaller recent productions like "City of Ember," "Bridge to Terabithia," "The Seeker," "Zathura," "Spiderwick Chronicles, "The Last Mimzy" and "Eragon" are all conspicuously lacking in minority characters.
To compare, do you want to know how many Asian leads I found in American fantasy films when you take out Keanu Reeves?
"Around the World in 80 Days" (2004) - Jackie Chan
"The Medallion" (2003) - Jackie Chan
"The Tuxedo" (2002) - Jackie Chan
"The One" (2001) - Jet Li
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" movies (1995, 1997) - Johnny Yong Bosch
"Mortal Combat" movies (1995, 1997) - Robin Shou
"The Crow" (1994) - Brandon Lee
"The Jungle Book" (1994) - Jason Scott Lee
"Double Dragon" (1994) - Mark Dacascos
EDIT: "Surf Ninjas" (1993) - Ernie Reyes Sr and Ernie Reyes Jr. (Thanks Abuhin!)
That's it. That's eleven twelve films in the last twenty years, mostly B-grade martial arts pictures and really stretching the definition of a fantasy film. Nothing since 2004. If you want to count animated films, you can add "Mulan" (1998), "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" (2001), "Lilo and Stitch" (2002), and "The Jungle Book 2" (2003). If I've missed any, please let me know. I went through every list of Asian films I could find, Googled, scoured Wikipedia and the IMDB, and wracked my brains all day, and that's all I could come up with. In every other fantasy movie, Asians are the sidekick, the old master stereotype, the throwaway love interest, or the villain. And sometimes all of them in the same movie with a conspicuous white guy as the lead.
Now, do you want to know how many Asian child actors have had the leading role in a major American film. Not just in fantasy films, but in all American films period?
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005) - Suzuka Ohgo (played Chiyo/Sayuri for the first part of the movie)
"The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo" (1997) - Jamie Williams (IMDB says he's part Indian)
"The Jungle Book" (1994) - Sean Naegeli (played Mowgli for the first part of the movie)
"The Joy Luck Club" (1993) - Melanie Chang, Yi Ding, Irene Ng, Mai Vu, Ying Wu, Emmy Yu, Feihong Yu (played younger versions of the main characters)
EDIT: "Surf Ninjas" (1993) - Ernie Reyes Jr.
Again, if you can think of any others, let me know. And before you ask, "Bend it Like Beckham" was a British film. "Better Luck Tomorrow," "The Motel," and "Ping Pong Playa" were independent films with very limited distribution. The Miyazaki movies were made in Japan. And no, Short Round and Rufio don't count. They were essentially exotic sidekicks.
Other minority representation isn't much better. The last fantasy films with young African American leads I could find were "Fat Albert" in 2004 and "Like Mike" in 2002. Latino kids got the "Spy Kids" series (2001-2003) thanks to Robert Rodriguez, but not much else. Native American? Middle Eastern? I really didn't have the heart to look.
So when "The Last Airbender," that was based on a show with 100% minority leads, where they wouldn't have had to rewrite the material or resort to tokenism to get a minority kid in the cast, where they could have cast the darker-skinned Katara and Sokka any ethnicity they wanted because nobody ever specified exactly what ethnicity they were -
To get that turned and used against us to cast four white kids as the leads...
It hurts. So damn much.
I don't blame M. Night Shyamalan. Just like I don't blame Justin Lin for "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," who went on record saying he tried to get an Asian lead cast. Or James Wong for the new "Dragonball" movie, or Robert Luketic for "21." I'm sure they all had good intentions. But dear God, so did Irving Thalberg in 1936 when he wanted to make "The Good Earth" with an all-Chinese cast, and the leads ended up going to Paul Muni and Luise Ranier.
And you know what *really* scares me?
From IMDB:
"Ghost In The Shell" (2010) - based on the manga by Masamune Shirow, optioned by Dreamworks.
"Old Boy" (2010) - Based on the manga series by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, Will Smith rumored to star, Spielberg rumored to direct.
"Robotech" (2010) - Based on the 1985 anime (originally an amalgamation of three other series), optioned by Warner Brothers, Toby Maguire rumored to star.
"Akira" (2011) - Based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, in development with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way
"Battle Angel" (aka "Battle Angel Alita," 2011) - Based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro, in development with James Cameron
"Cowboy Bebop" (2011) - Based on the 1998 anime series, Keanu Reeves rumored to star.
"Ninja Scroll" (2011) - Based on the 1993 anime, in development with Appian way