Racebending: Suddenly, they're WHITE!
halcyonjazz neatly sums up everything that is wrong with the upcoming live-action Avatar movie:
The whitewashing in the upcoming live-action adaptation, The Last Airbender, is nothing but offensive. Period. It's pissing on everything Avatar was trying to change by introducing that oriental fantasy doesn't have to be subjected to orientalism for it to work for the American audience. The fact that they claimed they made the changes BECAUSE American audiences would better relate is offensive.
The fact that they can’t acknowledge that Aang is modeled to be Tibetan, not white, is offensive.
The fact that they made all three heroes white--including characters Sokka and Katara who were anything but--is offensive.
The fact that in response to this criticism, Jackson Rathbone (who is slated to play Sokka) said that all he needs to do to play the part is get a tan is offensive.
The fact that they made the Fire Nation--the ENEMY nation--as the lone nation to have dark-skinned people by making it a faux-India is offensive.
The fact the casting director said "If you're Korean, bring a kimono" for auditioning extras is offensive.
The fact that they’re progressively uprooting any Pacific-Asian influence that makes Avatar--going so far as to get rid of the Chinese writings--is offensive.
It is offensive. It is offensive. There is no defence for this.
It shows that Asians are still considered less than other ethnic minorities in Hollywood. It shows that Asians aren't allowed to play Asians in a show made FOR Asians in America. It shows that the only way for Asians to play the lead characters is to make movies outside of America.
That is offensive.
There is no difference between a white man wearing bootblack for Othello and a white man getting a tan to play an Inuit. I don't even know how someone can think there is, but there isn't. No amount of special effects, high-budgeted art-direction and cool kung-fu moves The Last Airbender will undoubtedly have will mask the fact it's racist bullshit and an abortion of the original show.
The strangest thing to me is that Hollywood is pulling their typical "if it ain't white, white people won't watch it" bullshit even when they have the proof right there in front of them that white people will, in fact, watch it. This movie is being made because Avatar was such a wildly successful cartoon - and it was a cartoon populated by Asian characters.
If you're not angry about this, you should be. It's irrelevant whether you're an Avatar fan or not; the implications and repercussions of this joke of a movie go far past the boundaries of fandom. If you somehow hadn't seen the links yet, you can get news and info from aang_aint_white and racebending.