Comments on: Casting The Last Airbender

By: crissy

crissy — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 02:24:04 +0000

hi,nicola i like your picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: lyssa

lyssa — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:32:30 +0000

Jesse McCartney wasn’t in it, he got recasted with Dev Patel.

It was a horrible movie. They did a horrible injustice to the cartoon.

By: rainingcrow

rainingcrow — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:39:56 +0000

has no one noticed that the “white” sokka and katara in the movie appear more native american than anything else? and that the entire fire nation is eastern indian… or that the earth nation all seem to be asian. The only “white” character in there so far is ang… and since he is “the last airbender” I doubt there will be many other whit people in there.

By: Antiracebender

Antiracebender — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:42:47 +0000

Agnes, you’re an idiot. Aang is based on Tibetan and Shaolin monks. NOT WHITE! And the Water Tribes are INUIT. Just because someone has dark skins, doesn’t make them black! I really hope you’re trolling, because a person can’t be THIS stupid!

The cartoon was not racist.

By: Agnes

Agnes — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:01:09 +0000

In the show, the main characters aren’t even all Asian. Aang is white, Katara and Sokka are both black, and most of the side characters are white as well. The casting of this movie is not racist at all, since it nearly parallels the characters of the show. And in the show, the characters could have been what ever race the creators wanted, since it was completely animated. Therefore, if one argues that the casting of this movie is racist, then they must argue that the original show is as well. Besides, each nation did not have a set race. There were people of different races in every episode, no matter what element they could bend. I think that the creators simply wanted to make this show accessible to everyone and bring a sense of unity while still informing its viewers about traditional asian cultures.

By: Casting White Actors In Asian Roles: 1957 to Today | Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:45:08 +0000

[...] over the casting of white actors for the film version of The Last Airbender, a show filled with Asian characters, and the producers’ sketchy decision to re-cast one evil [...]

By: Karole

Karole — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:17:59 +0000

I love Avatar the TV show, and it makes me really sad that the casting is so disappointing. I have no opinions at all on the people currently cast on their acting ability, but as many other people have commented, this show HEAVILY portrays and uses “Asian” (drawing from various cultures) themes. I think the show has done a pretty good job of being well-researched and respectful (with some silly caricatures), and I am disappointed that the movie is not following that lead. Honestly I wish they’d just do an animated movie. I supposed they’ll do live-action to appeal to a wider audience, but if they’re going to mess up the casting so badly they’d be better of just animating all the characters like the TV show.

By: Casting White Actors In Asian Roles: 1957 to Today » Sociological Images

Casting White Actors In Asian Roles: 1957 to Today » Sociological Images — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:35:08 +0000

[...] over the casting of white actors for the film version of The Last Airbender, a show filled with Asian characters, and the producers’ sketchy decision to re-cast one evil [...]

By: Guest Post: Can Ming the Merciless Be Redeemed? » Sociological Images

Guest Post: Can Ming the Merciless Be Redeemed? » Sociological Images — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:03:50 +0000

[...] light of the recent scandals about the casting for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (see here and a follow up here), we thought you’d enjoy this thoughtful discussion of the Flash Gordon [...]

By: Hollywood Discomfort with Asian Lead Characters » Sociological Images

Hollywood Discomfort with Asian Lead Characters » Sociological Images — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:43:08 +0000

[...] of the series protested when it became clear that the cast for the movie was overwhelmingly Caucasian. The “bad” character, Zuko, was originally played by Jesse McCartney, a White [...]

By: gl

gl — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:08:06 +0000

don’t be surprised holywood has been doing this for years, the last samurai staring tom cruise last of the mohecans with a white lead karati kid white lead, thats just how it works wether its a good movie or not i wont forgive hollywood for giving 99.9% of the good leads to whites. i gues they dont think other races cam make good leads in movies involving there own cultures.

By: elisabet

elisabet — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:03:56 +0000

estan lindo jackson rathbone igual que jesse perono pero no caxo a la cola que aparese al ultimo

By: oscar

oscar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:04:07 +0000

dude its based on asian culture but each nation is a diffrent race.
fire nation-caucasion
water tribes-Inuit
earth kingdom-people of color
air nomads-asians

By: Whedon and orientalism « fuzzytheory

Whedon and orientalism « fuzzytheory — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:52:29 +0000

[...] is one of power. The latest stink about the movie version of Last Airbender is a good example. See here for an analysis. Thea Lim at Racialicious argues that Joss Whedon suffers from a similar problem in [...]

By: chico do junior

chico do junior — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:03:08 +0000

http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile.aspx?rl=bgp&uid=3927820282197363176

It is completely outside of the spirit of the show that the cast is all-white. The only possible excuse that I’ve heard is eye color, because eye color is coordinated with the elements: blue (water), green (earth), hazel (air), and yellow (fire). However, this is a problem that is easily solved by having the actors wear contacts.

This is definitely a case of whitewashing.”

Let me tweek this a bit…

The Southern and Northern water tribes: Based on Inuit culture

The Air Nomads: Based on Tibetan culture

The Fire Nation: Based on Chinese culture

The Earth Nation: Based on Korean culture.

Island of Kiyoshi: Based on Japanese culture

I’m sorry, I have to be anal about it.