is this real life?
putri_nih asked me to share with you all this cute comic which was created by gene yang and posted by derek kirk kim right around TLA's initial theater release. what i found more shocking, however, were some of the comments on derek's blog post about the casting from back when obama was being inaugurated and zuko was going to be played by jesse mccartney. derek went to an incredible amount of effort to introduce his readers to the ATLAverse and explain why the casting decisions were wrong and how he personally was impacted by them. there is the expected outpouring of support from other asian-americans in the industry and racebending folks at large, and then:
Chelsea said...
Ugh. GET OVER IT.
Seriously, people. Do you REALLY think the people in charge of casting went out of their way to cast all white people?
Do I think they could have made better casting decisions? Yes.
Do I want to sit here and listen to people throw fits because they cast Americans? NO.
that's right, GET OVER IT. just GET OVER your race being misrepresented or flat-out ignored, GET OVER your culture being appropriated. just because the casting call says "CAUCASIAN or any other ethnicity" doesn't mean they deliberately sought out CAUCASIANS! oh, wait...
other posters accuse derek of "a load of asian american (why can't I be white) whineing" and daring him to name a popular asian-american actor that they can cast instead since the movie has to be profitable (a phrase here which apparently means "filled with whites" - nevermind the fact that 2/3 of the lead white actors were unknowns, much less how an asian-american actor is supposed to BECOME popular if they're never given the chance to play any lead roles in the first place). then, of course, there is the suggestion that maybe they're simply the best actors for the job regardless of race, which we all now know is laughably wrong.
i just... cannot FATHOM a person being so blatantly disrespectful towards someone like that. and the really sad thing is, ultimately, hollywood won. TLA might not make enough money to warrant a sequel, but it didn't bomb. sure, they're well aware of the racebending movement, but if that movement doesn't impact their bottom line in any noticeable way, why should they believe it's anything but a small vocal faction? for as much noise as we've made over the course of this production and even after its release, what have we accomplished?
Chelsea said...
Ugh. GET OVER IT.
Seriously, people. Do you REALLY think the people in charge of casting went out of their way to cast all white people?
Do I think they could have made better casting decisions? Yes.
Do I want to sit here and listen to people throw fits because they cast Americans? NO.
that's right, GET OVER IT. just GET OVER your race being misrepresented or flat-out ignored, GET OVER your culture being appropriated. just because the casting call says "CAUCASIAN or any other ethnicity" doesn't mean they deliberately sought out CAUCASIANS! oh, wait...
other posters accuse derek of "a load of asian american (why can't I be white) whineing" and daring him to name a popular asian-american actor that they can cast instead since the movie has to be profitable (a phrase here which apparently means "filled with whites" - nevermind the fact that 2/3 of the lead white actors were unknowns, much less how an asian-american actor is supposed to BECOME popular if they're never given the chance to play any lead roles in the first place). then, of course, there is the suggestion that maybe they're simply the best actors for the job regardless of race, which we all now know is laughably wrong.
i just... cannot FATHOM a person being so blatantly disrespectful towards someone like that. and the really sad thing is, ultimately, hollywood won. TLA might not make enough money to warrant a sequel, but it didn't bomb. sure, they're well aware of the racebending movement, but if that movement doesn't impact their bottom line in any noticeable way, why should they believe it's anything but a small vocal faction? for as much noise as we've made over the course of this production and even after its release, what have we accomplished?