But things are changing.
On Monday, Variety published an article announcing that Jesse McCartney, previously slated to play Prince Zuko, has withdrawn from "The Last Airbender." The role will now be played by Dev Patel, an Indian actor who recently starred in the film "Slumdog Millionaire."
From the article:
Patel, meanwhile, steps into a role that Jesse McCartney had all but locked up until the actor's second career as a musician got in the way.
"Jesse had tour dates that conflicted with a boot camp I always hold on my films, and where the actors here have to train for martial arts," Shyamalan said.
We have a lot to say about this.
First of all, we want to stress that we're very happy for Dev Patel. He's an excellent young actor and well-qualified for the role -- in addition to his recent film, he's a Taekwondo champion, and we're glad to see an Asian actor join the cast.
However, we are in no way satisfied with the current state of this production or its cast. This isn't the time to stop fighting. If anything, it's a sign that we should fight harder than ever.
• The reasons given for the casting change are dubious at best. As recently as January 30th, McCartney was giving interviews about his intensive Kung Fu training and his excitement about the project. His abrupt departure and immediate replacement with an Asian actor is an obvious reaction to the public outcry regarding the casting. Paramount is trying to pretend that they aren't reacting to your letters, your protests and your criticisms.
• This move reeks of tokenism. Paramount thinks that by including one Asian actor, they'll derail our efforts to push for appropriate casting and to protest their whitewashing of the other three main characters.
• Their choice of Patel specifically -- the only young, male, Asian actor currently in the public spotlight -- displays a "one size fits all" approach to casting. Patel is Indian, whereas Zuko's culture puts him much closer to Chinese. This is not unlike equating Britain with Italy, and has angered and insulted many of our supporters.
• Assuming the rest of the Fire Nation is cast in kind, we're now presented with a world in which a race of dark-skinned South Asians are the villains. While Prince Zuko is later redeemed, in this first film Zuko is still very much the "bad guy," who will be chasing and threatening three white heroes.
• We still have two white actors playing Inuit teenagers. And changing the appearance of those actors so that they more closely resemble their characters, which actor Jackson Rathbone has already suggested, would be offensive and completely unacceptable.
• While no confirmed photos of Noah Ringer have yet surfaced, we also appear to also have a film in which the world is saved by a white boy dressed up as a Tibetan monk. It's worth noting, as well, that we suspect that if Ringer were Asian then Paramount would have said as much by now.
- Staff associated with this production, including casting director Deedee Rickets, have made offensive and ignorant statements regarding this film and their casting policies for it. The lack of any apology whatsoever, for those statements and for those policies existing to begin with, is also unacceptable.
In short: White actors are still playing Asian and Inuit characters. Excuses and token casting are being used to try to avoid controversy without making an official statement or apology. The fact that Zuko has been recast in this way makes it crystal clear that Paramount knows there's a problem, that the cast is not as final as they would have us believe, that they are worried about the negative attention this issue is attracting, and that they want us to sit down and be quiet.
It's more important than ever that we keep talking, keep pushing, keep protesting. Now is not the time to back down. We've already pushed them to recast one of the four main characters. We have Paramount Pictures in a corner. Let's keep them there until they aknowledge what's going on, apologize for their actions and take steps in good faith to set things right.
If you're in the Philadelphia area and are free this Saturday, we encourage you to join the protest taking place that day. If you can't make it, we have some suggestions for other ways to broadcast your support for this cause.
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Comments
I'm planning on taking some postcards to a convention in a very white area of my home state, so we'll see how that goes. Utah has to have more than just one Avatar fan, after all.
I agree that replacing McCartney with Dev Patel as Zuko in no way solves things, but it's great to know that we're making an impact.
Just have to see what happens next..
Good Luck to everyone on Saturday may God be with you all for fighting this fight. I back you 100 percent!
Yay
"'Slumdog' star coming here
Dev Patel, star of Slumdog Millionaire, has been cast in The Last Airbender, the M. Night Shyamalan action film that gets under way here in March. For Saturday's open casting call at the Independence Visitor Center at Sixth and Market Streets from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., producers are looking for hundreds of people in good shape, particularly for people of Asian Indian descent. Info: http://go.philly.com/airbendercall
... Looks like they'll be building their Fire Nation this weekend. Wonderful.
Also (I'm searching for this article) a friend of mine's dad was in Philly last week for some family business. One of the mornings when the family was watching the news there was a segment/report about the casting. I'm still looking around and trying to find it... but with no success. D: It has to exist... 'cause now all of her cousins are horrified beyond belief.
At some point Paramount/Viacom has to comment on this.... I'm afraid it'll be when every media outlet has some report about this (and it'll be some lame generic "we're doing the best we can" comment).
Great job guys!
Wow. Just...wow.
Crapitty crap crap crap.
Kudos for pointing out the "yeah, you recast one PoC, but surprise, it's the villain! Who didn't see THAT one coming?" aspect.
Rock on.
I'm happy that we have at least made a small difference, which I have to admit I doubted would happen. I may now see this movie if only for Patel's sake; the guy seems genuine, good hearted, and very, very skilled as an actor.
But I'm also not ready to give up. Now that we know they're aware of our anger, we have a better chance than ever for changing things further. One Asian actor who isn't even East Asian isn't going to satisfy us. Patel will make an awesome Zuko, but we still need to see some ethnic casting for the water tribe.
Er...you should probably rethink that phrase. With the word 'ethnic' you may be referring to people who aren't white, but ALL people have ethnicities, even white people. The term kind of feeds into the 'white = default and everyone else is different' mentality. Just a heads up.
I won't see the movie, even for Patel's sake. In fact, probably FOR Patel's sake, since he's obviously just being used here to quelsh cries of racism. Some changes have been made, but not the right changes and not for the right reasons. In fact things might now be potentially worse. I think for me, as long as they keep the same people for Katara, Sokka and Aang, I'm not going to see this movie no matter how bad I feel for the actors.
It bothered me when Patel was cast and how a lot of people that are completely against the casting actually supported him as Zuko.
No. It's still wrong. Sure, he isn't white, but he's South Asian. East Asians and South Asians are so completely different. You cannot accept one for the other. In fact, Europeans and South Asians are more closely related as opposed to East Asians and South Asians. South Asians and Europeans are Caucasoids while East Asians are Mongoloids. Even their languages are completely different. Hindi, for example, is part of the Indo-European/Indo-Aryan language group.
Just because South Asians and East Asians are both found on the same continent, that does not mean they are related. South Asians are CAUCASIANS, though they are not "white." It not only describes Europeans but North Africans, West Asians, and South Asians.
So it's a bit tougher for us as a whole since his casting as Zuko isn't agreed upon by everyone that is a part of this "movement."
Thank you so much for this. Really. :3
It's the same day as the NYCC. There isn't going to be an Avatar panel, but one regarding superheroes and Asians. I'm also part of the Facebook group and I know at least one person is going to the Comic Con.
It is so wrong, disturbing, and sad.
I can only wonder... how do you think Mako would feel about all this? The reason he helped create the East West Players is because so many doors in the entertainment industry were closed to Asian-Americans. How do you think he'd feel seeing roles that could have gone to any young, talented Asian-American, Inuit or Native American actors and actresses get handed to a bunch of white kids?
How much of a slap in the face would that be to a man who (very) likely endured supreme prejudice in Hollywood and elsewhere, devoted his time and energy to helping capable and talented Asian entertainers get their break into Hollywood and just when we've elected our first Black President and breaking down many racial barriers... only to be essentially told that Asian-Americans aren't 'marketable' enough to be cast into roles that were practically DESIGNED for POC?
Anyone who has an account on that site can pose that question; it would be interesting to hear the responses.
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1
It seems Dev knows more than Jesse knew about The Last Airbender. Except he doesn't know Aang's name as you can see the writer having to fix the quotes. Although he did describe Zuko pretty ok. Still I don't like him in Zuko's shoes. Zuko is too great to mess up. I can see Family Guy, Simpsons, SNL and various other shows already making fun of ATLA after this movie. =[ Imagine them redoing the animation of Zuko to make him look Indian and having an accent. The ridicule, the horror. =[
Push this last month guys!
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/arti
It seems Dev knows more than Jesse knew about The Last Airbender. Except he doesn't know Aang's name as you can see the writer having to fix the quotes. Although he did describe Zuko pretty ok. Still I don't like him in Zuko's shoes. Zuko is too great to mess up. I can see Family Guy, Simpsons, SNL and various other shows already making fun of ATLA after this movie. =[ Imagine them redoing the animation of Zuko to make him look Indian and having an accent. The ridicule, the horror. =[
Push this last month guys!
PICTURE OF NOAH RINGER ALERTNESS ---->
http://web.mac.com/avatar_ftw/iWeb/T
(although the website says it's an old photo ^^; )
What was done with Zuko was akin to announcing a Mean Streets remake, and then proceeding to fill the cast with people from Utah. Utah is a part of America, and Mean Streets is an American story, but the story in question focuses on a very specific, idiosyncratic part of American life, which Utah does not traditionally represent or associate itself with (perhaps to its credit). The Zuko character represents very specific, precisely researched and portrayed pieces of Asian culture and ethnicity, which the casting of Patel does not respect or reflect.
If anything, what the inclusion of Patel in the movie leads to is less of an example of this movement having a positive impact, and more of it being tossed aside as inconsequential. "Yes, there's an Asian here, now," M. Night, his casting department, and Paramount are saying, "but he's only here because the film he was in previously is the movie of the moment and has a very good chance of winning Best Picture, and maybe even gobbling up some of the other biggie Oscars (Director, Screenplay, Cinematography)." I think it's pretty clear; they're striking while the iron is hot with Patel, and finding him where he is in a position of trying to gain more mainstream blockbuster exposure to make more money for himself.
What's worst for me about this turn of events is it logically presents the Fire Nation as India (unless Patel is the dark-skinned anamoly of the Nation surrounded by inexplicable Whiteness, which would be hysterical). The most insulting part of this ill-fated transformation is the in-roads it gives Night to play Iroh. Sure, he gives himself an ego boost by putting himself in his movies, which he has carte blanche to do since they're his movies. Up until now, though, these have been bit parts. Iroh is not a bit part, and M. Night is not Iroh.
If M. Night as Iroh happens, the sheer hubris of it, and not the disrespect it shows to the T.V. show the movie springs from, or the cultural and ethnic lineage the show springs from, will make me detonate any association I have to any scrap of Avatar, be it future seasons after the movie lands ("where is my mother?"), the dvds, this movie, any successive movies, toys/games for my nephew, spin-offs. etc. M. Night as Iroh will destroy any affection I have for Avatar, and casting Patel as Zuko and India as the Fire Nation are crystalline sign posts pointing the direction M. Night is leading in.
Dev Patel looks more like Sokka than any other character. I mean, WTF?!
And that casting director really pisses me off. She needs to go back to school and take classes in the history of various cultures around the world. In fact, I think Hollywood should make it a requirement that all personnel in the casting department have a degree in cultural studies, because I'm getting sick and tired of seeing the repeated history of cultural/racial insensitivity.
And besides all of that...honestly speaking, besides both having dark hair and being male, does Dev Patel really bear ANY resemblence to Zuko appearance-wise? I agree with the others who have mentioned he looks like Sokka, but really, has anyone ever confused Sokka with Zuko in the show before?
But I still agree that this is a sign that we should all keep trying even more. To be honest, I never expected (call me cynical) a fully Asian cast, but I had figured that given the obvious Asian influence on the show, at least half of the main cast and would be non-white. At least Dev Patel's casting (as misdirected as I think it is) is a sign that it's not all completely in vain?