"The Last Airbender is an upcoming 2010 live action fantasy film based on the first season of the Emmy-winning animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The movie is the first film in the planned The Last Airbender trilogy.
In a world where the four elements can be controlled by people known as "Benders", the Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war to control the other great nations. The only hope for stopping the brutal war led by the Firebenders rests on the shoulders of a reluctant young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer). The last known survivor of the peaceful Air Nomads, also known as Airbenders, Aang is also the world's "Avatar". The "Avatar" is the physical re-incarnation of the world itself, with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), Aang begins a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world." - wiki
Jackson Rathbone one of the white actors, also the guy who plays a vamp in Twilight dismissed the complaints, saying "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." wiki
what is this shit about?google'd it and it's some anime on nickelodeon
no I'm the last airbender
*farts at an angle
we're just getting asians back for this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w-AvnaOFyA), it's only fair
Thats f*cked up and kinda funny.
girlfriend says: the two white characters there are from the ice nation which is a northern nation so it makes sense that they are white. i would cast them as eastern europeans or something. the other guy is from the fire nation, so it'd make sense if he were darker because it was close to the equator and very hot there.Actually, the the movie's white characters resemble Inuit tribes in the cartoon. Your girlfriend doesn't seem to understand melatonin or simple genetics. The fire nation is a strict and militaristic society that resembles Japan, the Earth nation resembles China, and the air nation once resembled Tibet. The culture of these nations is a big part of the series, so it is understandable that hardcore fans are upset.
What no one has mentioned so far is that they made one of the main characters - a blind tomboy, a butch, and the greatest Earth-bender of all time - a male in the movie.
But yeah with M. Night shamababoo at the helm did anybody actually think he wasn't going to fuck it up :fogetshrug:
Actually, the the movie's white characters resemble Inuit tribes in the cartoon. Your girlfriend doesn't seem to understand melatonin or simple genetics. The fire nation is a strict and militaristic society that resembles Japan, the Earth nation resembles China, and the air nation once resembled Tibet. The culture of these nations is a big part of the series, so it is understandable that hardcore fans are upset.
Yeah, all this stuff you guys are bringing up makes it sound more racist. Ok.For her sake and yours I hope she never speaks that way about anime again.
I did realize this afterwards actually while mowin the lawn.
but hey bro what you doin talkin bout my girl that way
anime fact: those jfk women are what inspired sparkly eyes in anime
explain
all I can think of is you mean Jackie Onassis
the takarazuka women in the jfk video i posted earlier in this thread
their makeup is what inspired tezuka osamu to do that sparkly eye shit and it grew from there
haha phoenix wright the musical
I'm guessing that's why you happened to find out about obscure all-female japanese theatre troupe
but yeah if it's cool for a japanese woman to play jfk i don't see why there needs to be a fuss about a nickelodeon-based movie (ugh harriet the spy why can't we have you again instead of this????)Japan is not exactly an ethically diverse nation.
Japan is not exactly an ethically diverse nation.
America is.
Maybe this is a racist issue for ya know, real movies, but since this is a nickelodeon movie i don't think there is a huge problem using masses of a single ethnicity to represent exactly that. extras are just extras right, nothing about them matters in the least save for what they look like?Exactly.
Japan is not exactly an ethically diverse nation.
America is.
Ye I'm sure they don't have many men.
I get where these people are coming from, but it's over a gay live action adaptation of a anime so whoooooo fuckkin cares
I don't understand how it isn't racist how they cast all these white people as leads, and then do a shitload of casting calls all over the States for "authentic Asian" people to walk around the background with this white kid throws fireballs and shit. Then they casted Dev Patel to kinda balance shit out but damn idk. That's like saying Kung Fu isn't racist and it's stupid to make a big deal out of casting David Carradine instead of Bruce Lee, even though it very much is clearly racist. Or how about "The Good Earth" movie where they stuck a bunch of white man and taped their eyes and shit.You know, the only reason why I came into this topic was because I figured you might have posted.
i think it's a sales thing. asians are "TOO FOREIGN" for a lot of non-asian people to identify with comfortably so there's kinda a push to keep them in the periphery.Yeah this is it basically.
No Dada, don't ask psyburn about the film industry.In retrospect, I don't know what I was thinking.
You know, the only reason why I came into this topic was because I figured you might have posted.So that makes it ok? For a man so learnèd on fallacies you sure do love to use them.
It kind of surprises me. In some way this is an extremely typical Psyburn post but I thought you'd side with the film industry's "right to be racist" (because there IS a race bias in film; that's the way it's always been, not just in Hollywood, and nobody seems to be interested in ideology in this regard).
By the way, if this is about an anime, isn't everybody in the original show white anyhow?Because he's the Avatar. The arrows symbolize the four corners of the world and their unity in peace, or alternatively the four elements of Bending and their unity in the Avatar.
EDIT: oh wait, they're not. Why does the lead character have blue arrows on his head and arms?
The arrows symbolize the four corners of the world and their unity in peace, or alternatively the four elements of Bending and their unity in the Avatar.
I think its completely up to the director to decide if he wants a white lead or not, its his movie after all and if he decides to put a few robots in there and maybe some hookers too that’s his prerogative.. at the end of the day its up to the individual to decide if they want to go see the movie or not.Not in the Hollywood studio. The producers ultimately control everything. I mean, how many times have you heard stories about directors fighting producers over certain creative decisions? It's not like how it works in Asia, where everything is completely up to the director anyway.
Avatar guy, antagonist dude(and his family), and blind chick are whiteNo, they're Asian. The Avatar's race is debatable, but the Fire nation is Japanese and the Earth nation is Chinese.
No, they're Asian. The Avatar's race is debatable, but the Fire nation is Japanese and the Earth nation is Chinese.Googling for images of Avatar: The Last Airbender I am now inclined to agree that people look a lot less white than I remembered.
I get where these people are coming from, but it's over a gay live action adaptation of a anime so whoooooo fuckkin cares
Psyburn I really have a serious question do you think asian people are discriminated against in the US? Does little shit like this really eat away at you or is this part of your internet persona because really its a fucking cartoon and its fucking asians who in the hell would even bother discriminating against asians anymore I thought that shit was over.
I really think you make yourself oversensitive to this retarded bullshit like everyone is out to get the asians when really who the fuck would even bother.
"Due in theaters in summer 2010, "Airbender" has already begun to face a bit of controversy over the casting of white actors like Rathbone, Ringer and McCartney to play Asian characters — a concern the actor was quick to dismiss. "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," he said of the transformation he'll go through to look more like Sokka. "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." "
even though the only people i've seen watching it are men over 20 it's still a childrens show on nicolodeon, a childrens network.
after this comes out the rajihid in every class is going to be pelted with dirt clods until the poor kid finally sees it and it's not cool anymore.
Because he's the Avatar. The arrows symbolize the four corners of the world and their unity in peace, or alternatively the four elements of Bending and their unity in the Avatar.
i cannot tell if you are joking earloh earl loves children's shows. they also filmed part of it in our city so there's kind of an avatar: the last airbender fever sweeping the area. i don't blame him for catching it.
do you really like this stuff? i mean im sure it's as good as any anime or whatever but it's on nickelodeon right? do you actually watch nickelodeon?
i cannot tell if you are joking earlI download the videos or watch them on Veoh.
do you really like this stuff? i mean im sure it's as good as any anime or whatever but it's on nickelodeon right? do you actually watch nickelodeon?
This is just like when Jake was cast as the Prince for PoP.. only there are more Asians to be vocal about the perceived racism than Persians.1) yah and Persians were not angry about 300. I definitely agree people aren't as vocal
I don't mean to sound insensitive, but these kind of things happen all the time. You can be angry about the casting choice, but until the movie is out and you can critique that actor's performance I don't think its fair to be so judgmental.2) And yes, these things DO happen all the time, and that makes it acceptable how??? That's like saying, okay, black people in America can't get married. That's been going on for a long time. It happens all the time, who cares? This isn't about the actor's performance, it's about the fact that they're white. (Except Dev Patel who was later casted and he's a villain) Seriously, what does their acting ability have to do with the argument?
Granted, I don't know a lot about Avatar and how important racial lines are, so I'll be watching this film from a fresh perspective with no preconceived notions. Maybe diehard fans are by and large upset, but I think this film is going to be marketed to an older adult audience. The preview certainly didn't look like a tween affair. I can see this appealing to the sort of crowd that enjoys the adventure film genre.3) They're important, and blah blah more. And no, diehard fans are not the only ones upset. There are much more people than just "diehard fans" that are very upset.
Hey, come to think of it, the white community should be pissed because robert neville was cast as a black man, and all the villains were white.The Last Airbender was a clear cut opportunity for a Hollywood film to have positive Asian heroes, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but myself and many other minorities in the States do/did not have heroes just like them on television in our youths, and we all know how much influence television has on children. And not Jackie Chan.
Racism.
All I'm saying is that there's a BET, but if we made a WET (White Entertainment Television) it'd be considered racism.Ya'll got TBS, CBS, Fox News, you got all dat shit so don't play me. Plus UPN got shut down.
What the heck is up with that!?
The Last Airbender was a clear cut opportunity for a Hollywood film to have positive Asian heroes, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but myself and many other minorities in the States do/did not have heroes just like them on television in our youths, and we all know how much influence television has on children. And not Jackie Chan.
what baut jet libruce lee jet li jackie chan they're all stereotypes now
Okay, what about the mortal kombat movie?
Psyburn did you even bother to check to see if maybe asian actors actually tried out for the part or contacted about it? But then again I might not know how finding actors work. Do you?
Last I checked a fair bit of the main cast was asian.Okay. I don't think that film would be considered um, positive portrayal of Asian Americans but okay.
bruce lee jet li jackie chan they're all stereotypes now
But if they did cast an Asian person to play the lead, it would have been the same thing with the Asian person meditating and performing martial arts, which really is a stereotype because that’s pretty much what the role of the airbender involves so really they prevented another Asian person being portrayed as some kind of monk who spends all day meditating and is amazing at martial arts.Boyz in the Hood is a racist movie because it portrays black people as gangbangers and stereotypes so we should have had Shia LeBouf play Ice Cube's part instead.
Nobody should be looking at this movie as racist but every other movie which has an Asian person who does all that shit.
Boyz in the Hood is a racist movie because it portrays black people as gangbangers and stereotypes so we should have had Shia LeBouf play Ice Cube's part instead.
haha what a joke dude. it's okay to change a white character but not an asian one because white people control hollywood. give me a break. regardless of whether the latter's true, that is a total bullshit, racist argument.Jesus man, do I really need to respond to this? I never said anything about being okay to change a white character to an Asian one (in Hollywood), and really, this is not even a subject of debate. Can you name any "white movie characters" in the American film industry that have been replaced by a person of color? Very few. Denzel Washington in Taking of Pelham 123 remake don't count... maybe the fact that David Jaffe wants Djimon Hounsou to be Kratos? It's barely an issue so why does it matter if it's okay to change a white character but not an Asian character.
he was making fun of massy2k's postYes, I thought this was obvious from the get-go.
The Last Airbender was a clear cut opportunity for a Hollywood film to have positive Asian heroes, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but myself and many other minorities in the States do/did not have heroes just like them on television in our youths, and we all know how much influence television has on children. And not Jackie Chan.
So don't try to talk about how the white community should be pissed because they get all the attention in Western media.
dude here is what you said maybe 10 posts up in responce to ROBERT NEVILLE (white-black).I don't give a fuck bro I suck at English.
I don't think he cares about the movie I think hes got some modern asian persecution complex and this is the best thing he could find.
What do you think about Will Smith playing Oh Daesu in the US remake of Old Boy?It's not a remake, the "remake" is based directly off the comic book and not Park Chan Wook's adaption.
i like that you said AMERICAN CELEBRITIES like they can't possibly be asian (let's separate race and nationality here bub)Can you stop acting like we're wrong when we're clearly right.
I don't think he cares about the movie I think hes got some modern asian persecution complex and this is the best thing he could find.
I don't think he cares about the movie I think hes got some modern asian persecution complex and this is the best thing he could find.Charlie Chan
i didn't even separate them really. it's just that about 99% of the american celebrities people know are, well, not asian. or asian-american. and if they are, they're just tanned white people.
Original ending of Romeo Must Die in which Jet Li kisses the "black girl" being changed because the "urban test audience" it was tested to got angry that Jet Li kissed the "black girl".
yeah psyburn i don't get what your deal is it's a childrens show and we don't want the kiddies thinking chink eyes are normal.
This makes sense but nobody understands that more than half of the US is white, meaning target audiences are mostly white, and most of the tiny percentage of the people in hollywood are white. I'm not saying there isn't discrimination, but ignoring factors like location and actual numbers...Jesus, I hear this argument all the time and it's stupid as fuck dude. This is just "generic I don't know what I'm talking about argument" that many many people use to talk about the lack of minorities in lead roles in Hollywood movies in general. If that is the case, than why are more than half of the players in the NBA black? Granted, yes a lot of the audience that watches the NBA IS black, but the fact that it wasn't in the past should be a trend that continues due to the fact that 74% of Americans ARE white. If that can change, why can't Hollywood? Wait, NBA is about skill and athleticism, Hollywood is about money and power.
This is America, a multicultural ethnic nation, race should not matter at all.
end of topicBut the problem is race DOES matter in Hollywood.
Who gives a shit? It's hollywood okay! They're stupid as shit we know that. they've always been stupid how the fuck are you blowing this one thing way out of proportion and being like boo hollywood racism when they're churning out the dumbest shit all the time. why do you even give a shit about what they do? it's like furiously screaming at a murderer for stealing.Because it controls and reflects the outlook of the people?
Original ending of Romeo Must Die in which Jet Li kisses the "black girl" being changed because the "urban test audience" it was tested to got angry that Jet Li kissed the "black girl".
I think shit like this actually happens because they pick some random dumbasses or like with the MPAA system they pick some racist, white, conservative test audience and just keep using them over and over again. I do not think it is some huge hollywood conspiracy people are just dumb and racist and the producers or whatever edit shit out because they're assholes and they know they'll get more dumbasses to watch the shitty movies that way.Isn't that what I said?
iits not completely the film companies fault though because they're just catering to racism and ignorance that is already there in the general audience so I think you're mad at the wrong group of people.The general audience and the movie producers go hand in hand. The producers exploit the audience to gain money and power, while the general audience goes to watch their bullshit. If one of the variables does not change, than the other has no chance of changing.
because people are willing and actually want to watch it and no producer is going to make a film that a bunch of racists won't watch.People will gradually accept these changes, one step at a time. The Last Airbender was a perfect opportunity for this, considering that people WILL watch it regardless.
I wouldn't watch the Last Airbender if there was some asian kid doing flips n' shit. Wanna watch me a white boy do all that.
edit: Wait are there really people who look at a movie and say "Hey that looks good wait...wait a second...did I see a black man in that trailer? Fuckin' MOVIE!! Ain't seein' that shit."
How racist do you have to be?
i witnessed a mother and her child walk out of hairspray because they didn't realize it was "about black people"And in your case, exactly. So what? Asians? Who cares?
however even with that i do not know anyone at all that would do this over asians at all sorry psyburn
edit: Wait are there really people who look at a movie and say "Hey that looks good wait...wait a second...did I see a black man in that trailer? Fuckin' MOVIE!! Ain't seein' that shit."It's not about being blatantly racist. You're underestimating the power of images and how people perceive them, even subconsciously.
How racist do you have to be?
Maybe they couldn't find enough asian people who wanted to play all the parts, so instead of having the chick be asian and her brother a whitie, they decided to simplify and make everyone white?http://www.racebending.com/racebending.php#bestactors
And before you say "but all the extras are asian" well extras dont need to act as well as or be as pretty as the main characters now, do they?
so what that they worded it that bad? that doesn't mean at all that asians couldn't or didn't apply, or that they picked the white kid specifically for being white. what grounds do you have that say he really WASN'T the best option? you weren't there, you didn't watch all the auditions, it's not your call on this one! you're just assuming that they picked him for being white on no grounds, what if he really IS THE BEST THAT AUDITIONED????I met the people who manage the site. They're far from angsty teens.
it would help if you didn't use a site made by angsty teens for all of your sources
edit: jesus christ this website, it ends one of its faq arguments with "FAIL." what is wrong with you psyburn stop using this in your arguments i'd rather you have nothing to back yourself up than this shit
The characters don't look or sound asian(except for zuko), besides why aren't you complaining that goku was cast as a white guy? Thats because the movie sucked and this one will probably suck just as bad. Once it comes out you will stop caring.I did.
Alright then but no where in the cartoon does it say that anyone is suppose to be asian. It's a fantasy world so why can't white people live asian like worlds?You're so fucking stupid it's unbelievable.
Ringer keeps his head shaved and has a "blackbelt" in martial arts. When asked why he shaves his head, by a USA Today writer, he responded, "It keeps me cool when I'm doing tae kwon do." Dev Patel, set to play Zuko in The Last Airbender, has also earned his black belt in tae kwon do before he turned to acting. Even though he is seven years older and a foot taller, Patel states that in a martial arts match between the two, "Noah would knock me flat on my back."
No Dada, don't ask psyburn about the film industry. He's just going to tell you about how "the system" won't let anyone make a film with a leading asian, even though there are so many films made outside of hollywood. Any post related to this argument needs to have the response "put up or shut up" btw.I was reading through previous pages and this on page 2 really pissed me off. Because #1, it's true, and #2, I know a good amount about films made outside of Hollywood, and in this scenario was discussing Hollywood in general and all that shit. It's pretty much universally acknowledges in the world of film making all around the world, Japan, Italy, whatever, that Hollywood is a whole different game. But..I don't want to argue this, just wanted to get that off my chest because it upset me alot.
You're so fucking stupid it's unbelievable.
Your right how could my tiny brain compare to that of an asian.Oh no you didn't.
what's wrong with you guys. it's a stupid movie about an american anime directed by m. night where instead of having an entire mongoloid cast, they made all the good guys white and the bad guys brown. that's funny. it's racist no shit. but I am looking forward to seeing pictures of a bunch of white people named AANG and KATARA dressed up like buddhist monks and pretending to bend the elements while dancing around on a pagoda
I agree completely with Earl, my brain sucks at processing things and whatever so I was not able to defeat Vellfare's argument convincingly (and I do think there is something wrong with her for thinking it's not racist), but I still believe the movie is racist. :(
Alright then but no where in the cartoon does it say that anyone is suppose to be asian. It's a fantasy world so why can't white people live asian like worlds?With great power comes great super dickery
With great power comes great super dickery