There is no anger like righteous anger. I'm currently researching a topic for my speech class, and the topic I have chosen is racism against Asians in Hollywood film. Saw a documentary a while back, called "The Slanted Screen" (if you have the chance, I recommend seeing it, its fantastic), discussing the struggles Asian/Asian-American actors have in Hollywood. Unfortunately, it has since been removed by youtube. But that's not what I'm pissed off about. As part of my speech, I plan on discussing the upcoming movie "Avatar: The Last Airbender", which is under a lot of controversy about its casting calls.

I know I'm a little late to the rant-wagon, but I never really looked into the issue...until now.

Here's a quick synopsis of the issue:

Avatar: The Last Airbender is/was an animated show aired on Nick. The setting of the show is primarily Asian-based, with the air benders being very similar to Tibetan monks and the Fire Nation looking decidedly Japanese. The water tribes are clearly based off of Inuits. The show itself was advertised as a "fantastical Asian world". Yet, when casting, Paramount requested, quote: "Caucasian or any other ethnicity"

If this wasn't bad enough, Paramount then proceeded to request specifically Asian/Middle Eastern people for the extras- that's right folks, the white people are the stars, but we'll put the Asians in the background to make it authentic!

But wait! That's not all! To follow up, we have the casting director Deedee Rickets saying wonderfully ignorant lines such as "We want you to dress in traditional cultural ethnic attire," and, "If you're Korean, wear a kimono. If you're from Belgium, wear lederhosen"

If you don't get it, Kimono's are Japanese, and Lederhosen are German.

Also,

"One middle-aged black woman, clad in a denim jacket and black slacks, raised her hand. “Are you at a disadvantage if you didn’t wear a costume?” she asked, evidently concerned about her “non-ethnic” outfit.

“Absolutely not!” Ricketts reassured her. “It doesn’t mean you’re at a disadvantage if you didn’t come in a big African thing. But guys, even if you came with a scarf today, put it over your head so you’ll look like a Ukrainian villager or whatever.”


More information at [link]

Needless to say, I will not be seeing this movie.