Rage Against the Hollywood Machine?

[jedifreac]

Last month, I presented on Avatar: The Last Airbender--yes, a kid's animated TV series--to the Media Action Network for Asian Americans in downtown Chinatown. Before you start laughing at the absurdity of a 22 year old woman presenting to the ADL of APAs on a kid's cartoon, I guess I want to note that people have started to take any hint of racism

Comments

[yeloson]

Avatar IS American, and Americans who look like me should get to play in it.

That defense is not about "America", that defense is about whiteness taking over everything. After all, these same people don't step up when America remakes movies like City on Fire, the Grudge, the Eye, El Mariachi, etc. by saying, "Oh, it's a Hong Kong movie, it should have chinese people in it!" etc.

[caterfree10]

Don't forget the Ring which was remade from the original Japanese movies! Not only remade, but nearly everything changed. I fear for if/when the Battle Royale movie is remade for the US. *shudders*

[jedifreac]

The Ring is easier to whitewash than Avatar, though. I mean, there are televisions in the United States. But in Avatar?

A powerful Avatar = Asian concept
Four Elements = Asian concept
Using Four Elements to Fight = Asian Concept
Volcanic Island Nation Wages War on Other Countries = Asian Concept

You can't really remove the Asian parts of Avatar without destroying the premise. So to say that it's easy to substitute white people in or even make the series more "multicultural" is kind of disingenuous when they are exclusively using Asian concepts. These concepts should be enough, and Asian Americans should be enough, for the film to stand on its own.

[caterfree10]

Point taken. but still, it will always bother me. Much like the whitewashing of 21 bothered me, ya know?

But yeah, taking the Asia out of Avatar is just plain disastrous. If only the fools at Paramount would understand this. -_-;

[matt_doyle]

Signing the petition and checking out the website now - let me know if there's something else I can do besides not letting the subject drop and bringing it up with everyone I know, and I'll do it if possible.

[jedifreac]

Hmm. If you'd like to do more, you could take the Press Release and share it with media outlets?

[matt_doyle]

That I can definitely do.

[caterfree10]

GAWD, how often I've heard that argument. Let's not forget the "people are most comfortable seeing others of their own skin color" bullshit. I've gotten that SO MUCH on Twilight Sucks and the blockheads continue to use that damn argument. So I can't sympathize with any of the characters in Battle Royale simply because they're Japanese and I'm not? Other people can't sympathize with the characters in Slumdog Millionaire simply because they're Indian? I just- ARGH!! *Pulls hair in frustration*

....I so did not mean to go TL;DR like that. Heh. ^^;

[jedifreac]

I think some people ARE more comfortable seeing others of their own skin color. Young minority children certainly feel more affinity towards, say, Dora the Explorer if she looks like them--but blonde hair blue eyed kids love her, too.

The people who will only see a movie if others of their own skin color is in it? Those are the people Paramount wants money from, at the cost of losing "P-C" people like us?

[caterfree10]

Point taken. But still, people already loved Avatar when it had a multicultural cast. I could understand if this business model was being brought up in the 50s, but damn, surely we've evolved past this already. *headdesk*

That's what I don't get. They want to make money, but they won't stick to the formula that made Avatar money in the first place? Nick wants Avatar to be their Harry Potter yet they ignore the concerns of the fans? I do not understand the logic of Paramount. Really, I don't.

[aaronjv]

Here's my lame honky-ass attempt to explain Paramount's logic:

1. Most people see movies based on recognizable actors.

2. Ergo, get the most recognizable actors possible.

3. The most recognizable actors to the widest audience are not, alas, usually of Asian heritage. Past Jackie Chan, Michele Yeoh, and Lucy Liu, are there others? I wish there were.

FYI, I don't think Paramount is intentionally being racist (they are, but they aren't seeing it that way), I think they are being stupid, like most Hollywood studios are stupid. Warner Bros. decided to cast brunette American Keanu Reaves as blonde Brit Constantine, who was created based on Sting.

Some other advice for resistance: see if there is going to be ANY Avatar panels at Comic-Con this year or next. Be sure to stage a protest at it. Record it, email it to Paramount and the production/casting offices. Daily.

Finally, our "enlightened" LJ crowd is really a rarity. The majority of America is full of greedy racist, sexist homophobes who believe God is on their sideBut as the