We only wish the base prices were cheaper! Though at least you get a nice shirt for what you're paying!

And yes, glockgal did an absolutely fantastic job. <3

I LOVE that idea!

Mako died unexpectedly while the show was still in production and had to be replaced on very short notice.

We have previously responded to comments regarding the ethnicity of voice actors, but will restate those comments here for your benefit.

You're lending importance to the voice actor that isn't warranted. An animated character is formed by many people -- the voice actor is just one part of what creates their identity, working in collaboration with storyboard artists, designers and animators. Women, for example, play preteen male characters all of the time.

However, in live action films like this one, the actor has to be the character to a much greater degree, and essentially becomes that character to the audience. Daniel Radcliffe IS Harry Potter in a way that Dante Basco will never be Zuko and Zach Tyler Eisen will never be Aang. Bart Simpson is played by a middle-aged woman named Nancy Cartwright, but her face is certainly not what comes to mind when people think of that character.

In regards to the Asian American acting community, a few specific points:

- The television voice acting community is incredibly small, and mostly separate from the larger acting community. There are actually a disproportionate number of actors and actresses of color in that community, many of which are extremely prolific.

- Consider that Prince Zuko, arguably the second-most important character in the show next to Aang, was voiced by Dante Basco -- a Filipino American actor. He's had a very busy voice acting career, including the title character in "Jake Long: American Dragon." Our issue is that Asian American actors aren't allowed to have the spotlight in live action films like this one. Actors like Dante Basco can only be the "star" when we can't see their faces.

Oh yes. Yes we have seen. We particularly enjoy the implication that only "hardcore fans" would object to the idea of a white actor in yellowface and the overall issue of Hollywood whitewashing. It trivializes the issue in a way that's quite frankly insulting.

It's sad -- we really do want to leave the actors out of this as much as possible, as they aren't responsible for the casting policy and shouldn't be punished for Paramount's bad decisions. But it's incredibly unfortunate 1) that they continue to make ridiculous and borderline offensive statements in interviews and 2) that Paramount is leaving them hanging out to dry in this way in the first place. Two actors and a casting director are the closest we've gotten to an official statement -- WHY, when things are deteriorating in this way?

Time will tell, perhaps.

Edited at 2009-01-31 07:20 am (UTC)

If this is true, I will be happy, even though I don't think Zuko (or the Fire Nation in general) is India-based. I am a bit worried though that he will be the designated token Asian character, and people will then point to Dev and say, "Okay, you got your Asian, can you please shut up now?"

But still...at least the cast won't be whitey mcwhite anymore. :) I'll take my kicks where I can get 'em.

I loathe Twilight the series, but I still think it's another huge mess up on part of the casting directors for those movies.

I think it's more interesting that he's cast a man of Indian descent of Zuko if the rumors of his wanting to play Iroh are true. :-/

on the same page with u there.

i think he wanted to play his uncle

I don't know. For the first time in weeks, we've actually received good news about the movie, so I'm going to try and feel optimistic for at least a little while. If one actor was changed, who's to say the rest won't be? I think we've got some sort of a change here, after all.

I don't think M. Night got Patel over McCartney because he's being racially sensitive. Slumdog is one of the most buzzed about movies out right now, and he's most likely being pragmatic in choosing an actor whose star is very much on the rise over one who--inside the acting sphere--hasn't even gotten his off the launch pad yet.

Sorry for the double post.

But I just really got to thinking. Many more movies depict the main white hero getting the Asian girl.

James Bond (kinda whatever because no girl is safe from James)
The Last Samurai (the wife of the samurai he kills falls in love with him)
The Forbidden Kingdom(sparrow and jason.. kinda)

Besides that, I started thinking more on the bulls eye. I don't know if these were brought up yet, but I know that you guys somehow realize these things in your mind. Some of which are fairly obvious.

Here it is, Mike and Bryan went to Asia to study everything for the show. ATLA has a lot of turning points that come from history itself.

The Earth king Being so divine that he could not speak to commoners was an example of the Japanese Government in which the voice of the emperor was so pure he could not speak to a commoner. The Emperor under Meiji Constitution did not deal with anything related to government issues, but he did appoint the Prime Minister to handle such things. Just as Long Feng was to the Earth King.

Long Feng kept secrets from The Earth King. Aha a connection indeed. Watch The Last Samurai for the history that it is based on (not for Tom Cruise) and you will see what I mean. (read the summary if you want to speed it up a bit.)

The Great Wall of Ba Sing Se of course is referring to the The Great Wall of China. So it could be assumed the Earth Kingdom is like China. China has been renowned for the wall and its defense. Sounds like Ba Sing Se being a famous defense against invaders. Even Iroh the Dragon of the West had problems with the wall.

Now Japan off the coast of China had tried to conquer China as well. During the events of World War II they began a full invasion. Eventually they conquered the capital Nanjing.

>.> The Fire Nation eventually conquers Ba Sing Se, the CAPITAL of the Earth Kingdom. Hmm.. (B.T.W. the Earth Kingdom emblem looks like a Chinese coin)

Another thing to add, the fighting between the nations and division reminds me of China. Especially how before all the different languages and writing and culture was split up. At the end the whole country united under one ruler and became one.

I was especially reminded of this during the scene Aang is talking to either Gyatso or The Guru. How they showed the different nations in their respective colors but talked about a united world where the nations colors all turned to the same color.

But WAIT! There's still more. The story is heavily based on the fire nation taking over the world. The world based on mainly Asian cultures. This happened in history when Communism began to rise to power. The Vietnam War took place and Vietnam lost. Eventually this would continue to push down toward Cambodia. It began shortly after the fall of Saigon, the capital of Vietnam. This began another battle against the Khmer Rouge.

A symbol of Cambodia is of course Angkor Wat. A temple/monastery of Cambodia. Now look at a picture of a Cambodian monk and Aang. Note the strong orange color, that majority of Asian monks use, but is it a coincidence that the name Aang is similar to ANGkor Wat?

So is the world of avatar really "made up?" This shows how important it is to have the right cast. In extremes this film could represent the Asian country as a whole because of its deep cultural roots. It definitely should be thought about every time someone says that the characters have no race because the world of Avatar doesn't exist, unless you want to deny my culture and forefathers considering I am living flesh and example of my country.

sorry, Didn't know where else to post this but I wanted those that are protesting to get a good feel of the history. =] I hope it helps.

That is absolutely wonderful to hear about! It is great to know you were able to spread the word as much as you did, especially hitting people who could spread the word even farther! And I can't wait to see the video about the Avatar casting. I'm sure that's going to be very interesting. *nod nod*

Though I didn't hear anything about an Avatar panel of any kind. I watch a number of people on dA who are at NYCC, so I would've thought I'd have heard. Not to mention nothing on ASN. Then again, they've yet to have said anything on the casting, even from a neutral perspective on their news, so I don't know.

WHOO~! More success~! 8D It's so great that you were able to do so much at NYCC! I think everyone here is really appreciative of your effort. Here's hoping we can have people get to other Comicons as Comicon makes its way to San Diego!