WARNING: dcmoviegirl wrath-induced profanity ahead.
Okay, I had to blog a little bit more today, because of this shit right here:
That's Jackson Rathbone as Sokka and Nicola Peltz as Katara. Jesse McCartney is negotiating for the role of the evil Prince Zuko.
WHAT.
THE SHIT.
IS THIS?
A cartoon full of multi-ethnic Asian/Inuit tribes magically becomes lily-white on the big screen, because of M. Knight Mustassimalan and business as usual, in Hollywierd.
It's just annoying and beyond fucked up, because well, we all know white = default, even when that makes no fucking sense. In fact, it's part of the reason why fandom gets pissy any time anyone who rationally COULD BE another color gets cast that way. Witness, what happened when Mos Def became Ford Prefect for Hitchhicker's Guide.
"OMGZican'tpictureablackguyinthatrole!!1!!11!"
NEWSFLASH: One race being default? ...IS FUCKED UP.
Heck, even when colored people are cannon and are portrayed as such, a good chunk of fandom loses it's shit. Look no further than the "Cho Chang looks too Asian and is therefore ugly" casting wankery or when fandom's collected heads exploded because it was revealed that a minor cult character (Blaise Zabini) was actually *gasp!* black. Shoot, just do an image search on the character. Fandom is so screwed in the head they've still made him white (and a girl!), regardless of J.K. Rowling's word.
STOP. You, GREEDY RACIST MUTHAFUCCAS.
You even have crayon colors and bandaid versions of "flesh", a peachy-pink color that AIN'T even close to my gotdamn "flesh" color. You can afford to be semi-gracious about making the colored people in canon, COLORED PEOPLE IN THE MOVIE, GOTDAMMIT.
Neil Gaiman fans, are you wondering why it's taking so long to see Anansi Boys up on screen? It's because he doesn't want an Earthsea retread, where African gods are made white
BTW, she was rightfully pissed when that happened to her work.
I don't care what color you are, you should be insulted. Basically, Hollywood is saying you're all a bunch of racists who wouldn't spend money on colored folks, even when they make sense.
It's the reason why I'll likely never see my Octavia Butler movies (fucking Twilight, before Fledgling or Parable of the Sower?! *GARRAGHH!!*)
And this despite that fact that you've already proven them wrong. Will Smith has a vinegary aroma, but the man will always get my love for his hardwon "crossover" success.
So, folks, when M. Knight's website is up and running, I suggest you politely let that confused, self-hating, derivative, bad-twistmaking, filmmaker know, that this shit, ain't cool. Don't let the vocal stupid, drown the rational out.
Oh, and before you even come up in my blog with that 'race doesn't matter, it's just a movie' BULLSHIT:
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23 comments:
I'm assuming you had a similar rant during the casting stage of the Dragonball movie?
I am a fan of Avatar (huge fan, actually)... and I do find it perplexing as to why the races were changed. Now, I can see Zuko being played by a white guy (though please, for the love of God, not Jesse McCartney) because he at least looks non-descript. But a white Sokka and Katara? That's just... weird.
Is that actually the final casting, or is that just a random fan casting? Because I can see some random Twilighter making this wishlist cast after Jackson was in Twilight, and obviously wanting the 'cute' Jesse McCartney (if they're shallow enough to love Twilight, they're shallow enough to cast Jesse as Zuko).
@nick
It's real. Click on the link beneath the picture.
Even Entertainment Weekly has confirmed it.
Nick, the guy's name is ZUKO. Look at his hair, what he's wearing.
It would be like casting Kate Bosworth as a girl named LaTanya with cornrows and door-knocker earrings.
Nope. There's no rational reason why ANY white actor should be playing him.
There have been plenty of all-white casts in Hollywood and no one's blinked. There should be NO PROBLEM with an all-Asian one, with no tokens.
ha... I can see where you're coming from. But lemme rephrase what I meant.
In comparison to characters like Sokka, Katara, and even Uncle Iroh... I can see Zuko getting away with being played by a white guy a lot more easily than the others... because the others are all distinctively non-white. Besides the hair (which only lasts one season, anyway), Zuko could be white, even with his name.
I'm not saying it's a GOOD change. I'm just saying it's more plausible than changing the others.
@nick
*pointstothebingoboard*
@nick
I deleted your last comment, because one can only take so much blissfully well-meaning, but still offensive bullshit.
Just to make it abundantly clear:
BINGO BOARD = not getting posted
In a word, THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
which also equates to: WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?
After reading this, I had to walk away and cool off for a minute because I nearly put my fist through the monitor of my laptop.
I had a bad feeling about M. Knight Mustassimalan (good one) doing Avatar. Now I know why.
You know I didn't think I could get any more pissed off about the blatant whitewashing in the media after 21, but leave it to M. Knight Mustassimalan (good one) to sink to a new low of WTF?
I can honestly say that there was always something about him that I could not stand it wasn't just his movies. There was always something about him. Now I get what it is.
And thank you for setting the record straight about Ursula K. LeGuin. I watched the Earthsea series when they premiered on Sci-Fi. I wasn't really familiar with the series but heard a lot about them. I remember reading on Sci-Fi's website, they reported how outraged she was about the films. But they spun it like it was only about the plot directions and like it most people I wrote it off it was a difference of opinion about adapting books to movies which we know changes happen. What's the general rule, movie adaptations generally suck. Now I know the truth as to why she was so pissed off and rightfully so.
As a writer, I often worry about this because I heavily feature a multi-ethnic cast in my writings. Sometimes I think I'm paranoid fretting over this. This reminds me I'm right to worry.
I'll be cross-posting this everywhere and spreading the word. I refuse to abide this shit.
People need to know what's going on.
And how in the hell could they not know Blaise Zabini is black?
"You mean I'm not WHITE?!?!?" Richard Pryor, See No Evil/Hear No Evil
@pbrite
:)
Alas, no. Too many folks would love to change that, though.
@dennis
Gracias.
And on Blaise. They know, but they refuse to accept.
LOL, so true. Interesting article about Gaiman, too. I knew nothing about these phenomena (I don't follow these particular genres) until your posting on Twilight. Hopefully they don't get away with it for much longer.
I love my Octavia Butler, and I just... boggle at the thought that someone would try to do Anansi Boys with white kids. It's all about African myths... That's like making *all* the gods in American gods White, when it's perfectly clear they're coming from all over.
I'm lily white, and often oblivious or naive, but still, damn. If the author felt the need to write color, respect their wishes.
I agree with you completely about Sokka and Katara. However, I think that the facial structure of the kids match pretty damn well. I'd be upset if some sort of make-up wasn't used.
Don't really agree with you on Zuko if you're suggesting he should be black. I will agree though that he needs to not look like some American heartthrob
Man, if only Dante Brasco was a bit younger. How he looked as Rufio would have been fantastic, and his voice would have matched as an added bonus.
@daniel
I was going to avoid getting political, but it is the same mentality that contributes to the REAL AMERICA = Joe Plumber, bullshit.
Americans are black, red, yellow, beige, muslim, jewish, atheist, pagan, and gay too...among others.
It's not just white Christian good 'ole' boys and their values. In fact, U.S.A. would not exist, if it were.
So how's about our pop culture takes a few more steps towards reflecting that?
@fey
I read on another forum, that a woman's young white niece asked her "What happened to their skin?" upon seeing the photos.
Even, when parents don't teach biases, our media picks up the slack.
It's heartbreaking.
@bryan
Where does it say I want him black?
Oh, because I'M black, OBVIOUSLY that's what I mean...
Nevermind, actually READING what I wrote.
Also, NO.
Make-up is NOT a good suggestion. It's an offensive one.
Why? Because yellowface is obviously STILL an a'okay practice in 2008.
Remember that audience I said this shit is done for? You're a part of it.
Now, that you know, I really hope you do something about it.
GIRL.
I agree, 100%
I've said this once, and I'll say it again; I was expecting promo posters with a rainbow of skintones and ethnicities, then Hollywood spits out this cast. It has me pissed.
In a way I feel like I should have expected it, but at the same time; why should I have to expect the casts to be whitewashed? For Shame Hollywood.
It's like you took the words right out of my mouth. I only had a little blurb about this on my Blog, I need to update with a full fledge "WTF"
@jhenne
For me, it's the opposite. I would've been pleasantly surprised if they WEREN'T white-washed. That's saying something in our supposedly "post-racial" society.
When casting accurately for a diverse canon is going AGAINST the grain, something is seriously awry.
I've read so many articles from so-called reputable sources proclaiming the Obama presidency to mean we have gotten past this.
Oh, really?
Tell that to Hollywood producers. :-/
i guess barack obama hasn't really changed anything
Concerning the particular cast did you hear that Jackson, in a recent interview with MTV, dismissed the racial issue and commented: "I'll definitely need a tan" - So, basically, he's willing to don brownface/yellowface/blackface.
Here's the link:
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1602757/story.jhtml
Seriously, where do they get these people?
@Augusta
"...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."
Because I think image reversal is oh-so-helpful to hopelessly privileged/ignorant among us:
Imagine a Black actor saying this shit about trying to play Paul Bunyan.
"..."I think it's one of those things where I straighten my hair, dye it red, grow a beard wear blue contacts, and I definitely need to stay out of the sun" he said of the transformation... "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."
Yeah.
I cannot believe this! Some weird boy and girl playing Katara and Sokka. I was all happy that there was going to be an Avatar movie with either black or even Indian Katara and Sokka. I say Indian ] because in the third season with the fire nation outfits they look it a bit more.
And what, they think black girls and guys can't have brown hair or something? I do and I was born that way!
They could have just gotten them blue contacts and I would have been happy.
I cannot believe they did that! Oh and I don't think Jessie would be a good choice for Zuko. I 'm scared of who they'll post for Azula.
I really wish this casting mess was one big joke. If there really serious about the movie then they should at least make the characters LOOK like there supposed to. One thing I liked about the Avatar show was the diversity. Different cultures. I mean really, the water tribe actually reminded me of Native Americas or Eskimos for the first season. They could have been cast with that in mind, not with whatever they fluffed it up with. Weird white fluff that wasn't supposed to be there. I'm just appalled by this.
I'd post a name but I don't have any of these accounts.
Schrient
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@Schrient
This brings to mind another post which addressed this well over at Angry Black Woman.
Color does not = black, in this case. The polarizing nature of black vs. white in this country has not only left out every other POC, but has pitted us against them, when we're really in this together.
There are no black people in Airbender. Casting them, as they have in this case suggests that minorities are interchangeable, with no distinct cultures of their own.
It's gross.
They did it because despite being on the bottom we have that cache of "cool" Hollywood loves to sell so much.
There's no need to wonder why many people are so stupid that they can't conceptualize the idea of Asian diversity. There is no singular "type". They are a diverse range of many peoples, not one monolithic group.
If producers understood this they would see diversity as some fake-ass United Bennetton Ad, with white people as stand-ins for the "good main characters".
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Thanks. :)