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hillary
cambryn
20 March 2009 @ 10:46 pm
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I'm really excited about the cast, actually. I guess I'm just about the only fan of the show who isn't upset. :/
Whatever! I just don't give a frick that they didn't get genuinely inuit people cast as Katara and Sokka. They aren't even really inuit ethnically- their coloring is sort of a made up race where everyone has blue eyes, brown hair and tan skin... So that makes them asian??? Like, what race are they?

We have no idea if Noah, the kid cast as Aang, is white black asian or whatever- we only know his name and that he's a talented fighter.

Lord knows, no one is caring that we have some great actors of Middle Eastern, Indian and Maori decent... >:(


So, on to casting i'm super excited about! :D
Dev Patel! :D I LOVED him in Slumdog millionaire, and am CERTAIN he will kick ass as Zuko! :D
We know he can act- and omg! If this is really him, he used to practice Tae Kwon Do!

Cliff Curtis is going to play Ozai. He had a great performance 'Three Kings' I loved, so I'm stoked about him as Ozai. He was also very good in Blow.

Shaun Taub is rumored as Uncle Iroh. :D
In everything I have seen him in, his performance is stellar. Ironman (the scientist in the cave named Yensin), Crash (Farhad), The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's war. He is able to get across so much emotion, and portray true dignity. :)

Aasif Mandvi is rumoured as Zhao. In his little parts in movies and shows he's always been good, and he certainly has the stature for such a role. I'm glad to see him given something other than 'terrorist number two' and 'random Indian kabob seller' and other bit parts. :)

This chick is cast as Suki supposedly: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm134254848/nm2599071
She looks like she isn't all white- but i can't tell- like i said, I don't much care what the races are, as long as they are faithful to the characters' personality, and get the general look of them right.
 
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masakochan: FF9 - Vivi - Not amused or happy[info]masakochan on March 21st, 2009 05:34 am (UTC)
The reason some of us are pissed about the casting choices is that the main heroes and the places they come from are being casted as white- while those who are either enemies or on the side aren't white. Even one of the casting calls was pretty much 'white or those of other ethnicities'. It just reeks of racism.
hillary[info]cambryn on March 21st, 2009 07:16 pm (UTC)
I think they went with people on the enemy side as darker, because the director (who is indian) wanted more people of his own racial heritage in the film. We have no idea if Aang is white black mexican or whatever- I'm guessing, though, that they are going with white for the water tribe, eastern asian for the earth (given the supposed casting of Keong Sim as an earthbenderm, and the girl playing Suki looks half and half), Middle eastern, Indian and Maori looking people for fire nation, and who knows for Air- probably asian as well.

I dunno- maybe I'm naive- but why would an Indian man (the director Shamylan) be racist against Indians for casting Indians in some of the best roles?

Zuko is one of the strongest parts in the show, in my opinion, with the most dynamic character moments. I just don't see the logic.

I sort of feel like people are just looking for a fight, as, like i said, Sokka and Katara's race is madeup... It's not genuinely Inuit, it's not any sort of Asian heritage I'm aware of.
So I don't see the racism- as which race is being treated unfairly?
masakochan[info]masakochan on March 21st, 2009 08:28 pm (UTC)
People aren't just looking for a fight though. How can it not smell even a tad bit fishy that people who are darker-skinned or those of other races are being chosen to play the enemy while white people are being chosen to play the heroes?

I know Gossymer and furiosity did entries with pictures to illustrate points.
hillary[info]cambryn on March 22nd, 2009 05:06 am (UTC)
We only know that two of the many heroes are white-
We have no confirmation about the air kingdom, or the earth kingdom.
smileysweetie: DO NOT WANT[info]smileysweetie on March 21st, 2009 08:43 pm (UTC)
M. Night Shamylan is a dumbass, first off.

Anyway, I think the point is that Asian and Inuit people don't solely look like the way the western world imagines Asian and Inuit people to look like. There are people of those heritages who have tan skin, blue eyes, and brown or fair hair, too.

But the big problem is that the creators of the show went through the trouble to create and develop a fantasty world that wasn't based on Eurocentric culture, and painstakingly researched Inuit and Asian cultures in order to do so. To then turn around and cast all white actors, of probably European descent, as the main characters is a slap in the face to the people who created the series in the first place and negates a lot of what they set out to do. They're not of a real race, no, but they're not supposed to be of a European-based race, either.

Lord knows, no one is caring that we have some great actors of Middle Eastern, Indian and Maori decent... >:(

And that's a problem. It's not a terribly positive thing when I noticed an Asian model in an Olay commercial recently and thought, "WOW they used an Asian girl in an advert?" Hollywood is, and always has been, whitewashed and they make it a habit of casting "the other" solely as the bad guy, instead of the other way around.
hillary[info]cambryn on March 22nd, 2009 05:12 am (UTC)
Maybe I've seen a limited amount of Eastern Asians- but I've only met people of mixed ancestry with the coloring of Katara and Sokka.
And there is a populatino of 150,000 inuits- a fair few- They could have tried to cast inuits, this is true. I guess I just don't care enough.

They didn't cast all white actors- they cast two. That Jessie McCarthy was only rumored to be cast, and was never confirmed,right?
And like I said, we have no idea if they have whites cast as the Air and Earth people.
Joie: Zuko dragon dance[info]hymnia on March 22nd, 2009 07:50 pm (UTC)
They *did* officially cast McCartney, but he had scheduling conflicts and the role was re-cast.
smileysweetie[info]smileysweetie on March 22nd, 2009 09:06 pm (UTC)
Right, well, I'm not so sure about the logistical ability of casting people of Inuit descent in the film, but, I mean. There's a whole range of other ethnicities (spell check tells me that's not a real word...hmm...) that could have fit as well.

I mean, I'm not a fan of the series, and I didn't see anything wrong with it and thought it was just a bunch of uproar over nothing until it was pointed out that the point of the series was to create a non-Eurocentric, non-white-centric fantasy culture and world. So. I haven't been staying up-to-date on who's actually been cast; I just remember somebody having made that point to me, which made the whole upset a whole lot clearer.
Joie: Aang-Zuko fire bending[info]hymnia on March 22nd, 2009 04:38 am (UTC)
No, I'm not "looking for a fight". I was excited about the movie and totally looking forward to it before the casting news started to come out. And I'm usually pretty laid-back when a story I love is adapted to film. I had minor complaints on the LOTR and HP films, but overall found them enjoyable. It genuinely angers me that Paramount has taken a refreshingly non-Eurocentric fantasy story and messed it up by casting white actors. And in a scramble to correct their mistake, they made the racial dynamics of the film even more questionable by casting/re-casting only the villains and minor roles as minority actors. (And I <333 Zuko as much as the next fangirl, but that doesn't change the fact that in the first third of the story, he's clearly the villain, despite a few sympathetic moments.)

I guess I'm just about the only fan of the show who isn't upset.

No, believe me, there are others. You all have a right to your opinion, but we have a right to ours, too.
hillary[info]cambryn on March 22nd, 2009 05:16 am (UTC)
I think that casting white actors for a madeup race (the water tribe) isn't an insult to the show or messing it all up. The kid playing sokka- he has the same voice, great comedic timing, and is a good actor.

I don't think of Zuko as a villain, personally- he always was a good guy on the wrong path in my eyes. He's a goodguy antagonist, if that makes sense. and Iroh- he's no villain.

I was never saying anyone didn't have a right to their opinion. If that was implied, sorry. I just am not mad about the casting.

Edited at 2009-03-22 05:17 am (UTC)
Joie: Avatar group hug[info]hymnia on March 22nd, 2009 08:00 pm (UTC)
The Fire Nation as a whole are an imperialistic, war-mongering nation. They provide most of the antagonists in the series, and it's clear that the filmmakers are planning on casting them with actors of South Asian descent, whereas the Water Tribe and probably the Air Nomads (seriously, if Ringer turns out to be non-white I'll eat my hat) will be white. That's just icky.

I was never saying anyone didn't have a right to their opinion. If that was implied, sorry.

Yeah, it was the "looking for a fight" bit that set me off. Apology accepted.

I just am not mad about the casting.

And you certainly don't have to be. *shrugs* Enjoy the movie. Let me know how it turns out, 'cause I'm sure not going to see it.
prongssr[info]prongssr on March 22nd, 2009 11:04 pm (UTC)
I loved Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire!!!! Zuko is a great character; he has a lot on his plate in terms of expectations, but I'm sure he can pull it off! Again, I posted on your other post regarding this, but I guess I don't see what the fuss is all; it's the quality of the acting that matters. I also want to wait until the film comes out before passing down judgment on it.