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TobuIshi — AtLA - Color-Safe
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Published: 2008-12-13 17:12:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 21526; Favourites: 204; Downloads: 115
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Because 'tis better to laugh, than to weep.
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My first reaction to the casting list was mild annoyance.
Then I read the reactions of my fellow Avatards, the minority fans who found a touchstone in this series.
I am not the black girl who rejoiced to find--for the first time--a relatable animated heroine of a race similar to her own. I am not the minority parent who will have to explain to his children why their heroes don't look like them anymore.
But I can still be frustrated, disgusted, and infuriated on their behalf--and on my own behalf, at the realization that this choice was made "for" me and people like me, white fans who love this show for its diversity and yet are expected to avoid the movie if it displays the same quality.
(I'm leaving Shyamalan off the hook for now--directors often don't have much say in casting, and his brown daughters' love for Katara was what got him interested in the first place. I assume he's as crushed as we are by this.)
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For the record, yes, there is something you can do. The casting call ain't over till the Cabbage Man sings.
To folks with something to say--let's keep the comments on this as mature and sensible as you awesome people always do in this little gallery of mine. Peace, y'all.
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Comments: 246
I can't say I'm a fan of adaptions either, but I usually never hound the directors for taking on the role, since they have huge shoes to fill. Trying to fulfill the individual expectations of thousands of fans is tough! And that's interesting you said that about Twilight; I've been hearing so many different reactions to the movie, I'm not sure if I should go see what the hubub is about.
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I can almost be okay with this cast. Almost. While it's disappointing that the casting directors don't seem to be looking for ethnic accuracy, I don't think it will be too bad so long as these actors can embody the spirits of the characters they're supposed to be playing.
That being said Jesse McCartney as Zuko is just way too out of left field to even be understandable lol.
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McCartney as Zuko? God help us all.
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They need to recast for the love of god!I mean it's better than haveing Zack Effron play Zuko,but McCartney's just as bad if not worse to a degree I'm white and I am tired of retarted WHITE actor's getting these role's who's going to play Toph Ashley Tisdale I sware that happens there is going be blood.
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I just see it this way McCartney=fag. I hated the guy when he first came out and now he's ruining my fav character. I think there's going to be blood anyway. oh no, I think they're going to cast Paris Hillton as toph using the same logic they did casting the rest of the group. They've stuffed this up so badly they should just not do the movie.
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Ya if they were going to use that many white people they might as well make a Metroid,or a Halo movie.
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Actually a halo movie (made with cg) wouldn't be to bad. ^_^ Lol
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it would be awesome.
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I know right.[link]
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oh absolutely! That looked so cool. Wow. *is struck by awesomeness*
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I made a few of those.
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TT_TT you're too awesome.
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They need to recast for the love of god!I mean it's better than haveing Zack Effron play him,but McCartney's just as bad to a degree I'm white and I am tired of retarted WHITE actor's getting these role's who's going to play Toph Ashley Tisdale I sware that happens there is going be blood.
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*sigh* It frustrates me that this decision was probably made because the studio believed that the white consumer majority would prefer it that way. Reminds me a little bit of the Democratic primaries, when folks were assuming all of us white women would be voting for Clinton because she was "like us". Hard as it may be for higher-ups to believe, it is possible for a pretty substantial chunk of the white demographic to not be total asshats from time to time. Look who some of us just helped elect.
Have you considered writing a letter to Paramount? There's a website getting a campaign going. Peaceful protest works better than pitchforks in this day and age.
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Ya.I did but I'm not good at writeing like that I can only do fiction.
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*nods* Well, they've got a great example letter at the website ( [link] ), so you can just copy it out and change it a little (or a lot!) to put it in your own words, if you want to try.
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I might,but there is no way to email it is there.
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Nope--it's better to mail a real letter (it costs less than fifty cents, I believe). A real piece of paper they can tally up and hold in their hands, carries a lot more weight than an ethereal email that could--for all they know--have been sent by a spambot. XD
The mailing address is on the website! Very easy and convenient.
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Well no it's because I have no printer and my real hand writing kinda sucks.
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Katara's actress looks like Katara and she has some talent because they picked her. So what if she looks white?
Katara isn't even 'Asian', she's an Eskimo my dears. Even then, she doesn't look like an Eskimo.
Zuko's porposed actor looks like Zuko and can actually act very well, does it matter that he's a popstar?
Even Zuko doesn't look Asian.
Sokka's actor looks like Sokka and is a decvent actor from what I've seen before.
So what if he's a little pasty, he just played a vampire. Sokka also doesn't look Eskimo or Asian.
Really, what's the big deal? Theater has been bending the truth for thousands of years.
This is why we have make-up and greasepaint. Gold thrones on stage aren't gold, they're either using leaf on cheap wood
or using different, similar looking metals. Aida was an Ethiopian princess, but her actors weren't Ethipopian and sometimes not even African, but they were talented actresses with make-up. Theater is an art, stop trying to make it politically correct.
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The Inuit people are descended from the same ancestors as East Asians, having crossed over the land bridge to Alaska in ancient times.
Blackface and yellowface stopped being acceptable decades ago. And there are thousands of talented minority actors out there--they may not be Inuit or Chinese, but they look like the characters and have talent, too.
Theater is an art, and art is a reflection and interpretation of the world around us. It is a potential mirror for the truth, and it has an incredible power to foster growth and understanding. It's about so much more than being "PC"...
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I expected Chinese actors. Or at the very least, Asian. I mean, there is just about no other race depicted, except for the Inuit.
White people? I don't know why they did that.
All white people? I can't see why they considered that.
And here I was, glad for a fantasy story that is inspired by Chinese martial arts and mythology, not Japanese for a change.
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*nods* Quite so. Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, even Japanese, any combination of the above or the dozens of other East Asian heritages out there...not to mention people of mixed race including blacks, Indians, Native North Americans, and Latino/as. There are so many beautiful young actors out there who could have contributed to a really diverse and visually accurate cast.
I expected that they might cast Aang white, because Hollywood is Hollywood. I never imagined an all-white main cast of characters. The heart halts at what it could not have braced for. -_-
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That reminds me, the Dragonball Z movie Fox is making has Goku portrayed by a white guy. :/
As you said Hollywood is Hollywood, and at least most of the other characters are played by Asians.
Then again, the trailer sucked, so hopefully it's just some cruel and late April Fool's joke.
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*nods* See, I was expecting them to cast Aang white, sad as it is, though I would have been very happy to be proven wrong. What pushed me from annoyance right into anger was that they cast everybody white...
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*is writing the letter RIGHT NOW*
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I question the casting choices actually. Especially Jesse McCartney. Okay, nothing's official about him yet but if he's official, he better not fuck up Zuko. Same with M. Night, he better not fuck up Avatar. After all, he's the same guy who made The Village.
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if M.night could do avatar as good as he did "the village" and cast latino/nativamerican/ or even inuit for sokka and katara and some (half-)asian for zuko (not that kid from "3d rock from the sun")
Aang does look pretty white: fair skin, grey-blue eyes
it COULD be an excellent movie
but.. it definitly WOULD still piss of some of the fanbase
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I still think i should get the role of zuko... or sokka... 
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*grins* You'd be a bang-up Sokka. Pity the casting call's in Texas!
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Yeah, McCartney as Zuko?
No.
Although, make up can do wonders for the appearance, don't'cha think?
I'm still open. I'll wait till I see the preveiws to cast my vote.
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People keep suggesting makeup, as if this is a cosplay contest. There's a word for making white actors wear makeup to look black, yellow, or brown on film, instead of just giving a minority actor a chance to showcase their talent, but it's not a pretty one. -_-
This more than a simple question of fangirl aesthetics and accuracy-quibbling.
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Very keen insight, I hope you don't mind if I quote you. :33
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:cowers: Please don't kill me.
I fully agree with you, and yeah, they should give minority actors a chance.
But, I'm doing my best to be mature about it, and at least give the actors a chance.
heh.
And, hey, it's not till 2010. Maybe the actors will change. And it's the show we love, not the movie, right? ^-^
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*nods* I'm doing my best to be mature about it, as well. But I do want to do something about it, so I've written a polite but firm letter to Paramount, explaining why this offends me and what would repair the situation in my eyes, while the casting process is still unfinalized. (Basically, anyone brown--it is a fantasy world.)
It is definitely the show we love--but the minority community deserves better than this. ^_^;
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Yes! What is going on with Avatar?
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I'm not sure what the exact politics of it are, but I don't like it. >.>
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I'm more interested in their acting ability.
I was hoping to see more unknowns, though.
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Acting ability is very important, but a brilliant white actor in an Asian leading role is still white...and that means one more talented young minority actor is losing his/her chance to play a character other than a busboy or the "sassy" sidekick of a white hero. -_-
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I've never thought of Zuko as Asian
or even Katara or Sokka
Am I just weird?
Almost no actors look how they do in the movies, that's what hair dye and makeup is for.
Obviously they wouldn't keep Jesse McCartney or any of the other actors blonde (but I think they all have darker hair besides Jesse)
I don't know why people won't give the cast a chance, they picked good actors but now it seems like people only want to watch it to see Asian people. =/
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*sigh* They write their names in Chinese characters, eat with chopsticks, and wear hanbok and kimono and anorak. You really never thought they might be Asian or Inuit?
There are already a thousand fantasy films out there starring white people. This one had the chance to be really diverse. Can you blame folks for being disappointed?
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