The Asian American community, and the movie-going public at large, is used to seeing Asian men depicted as villains and rarely get the opportunity to see Asian heroes they can get behind and cheer for. This is also an historic opportunity to give Asian American actors a chance to shine in a big-budget film franchise which would bolster their careers for future projects. You will get deserved credit for launching those careers and can break down barriers by understanding that the audience that loved the television series is ready (and expects) to see Asian Americans playing those characters on the big screen.
You can read the letter in full here, and their ongoing blog on this and other issues can be read here. We're thrilled that the MANAA has decided to become involved in this issue, and we look forward to seeing where that involvement may lead.
And of course, the support of all of you continues to be an incredible thing to watch! By all reports, the February 7th protest in Philadelphia went very well! Ten people were able to make it and maintained a presence all day, distributing fliers and answering questions about the controversy. We're very thankful to all of them and incredibly proud -- they got up early on a cold Saturday, spent all afternoon talking to strangers about a controversial topic, and conducted themselves with professionalism and poise. They also quite clearly got the attention of those running the casting call -- a production assistant was sent out with a video camera to film the protesters.
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djinnj did a very nice writeup which you can read here, along with replies by other supporters who were able to attend. Thank you so much to everyone who was able to make it! However, we would like to take a moment to mention that as fantastic as it is that ten people were able to come, nearly one hundred had previously RSVPd via Facebook or on this journal. This highlights how every single person is important and every individual makes a difference. Please don't assume that someone else will act for you -- we all have to work together and stay involved!
Finally, we want to remind all of you that as things stand, The Last Airbender is scheduled to begin filming in mid-March. Your support and your involvement are therefore more important than ever! We'll be updating this journal again early next week with more suggestions for what you can do, but in the meantime -- keep writing, keep talking, keep the conversation going.
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Comments
From the bottom of my heart though, I hope the producers take MANAA up on their generous offer and utilize their help to get the movie back on the right track. Do you think that there's still a chance they might recast and rethink with the filming beginning so soon?
Also, it seems MANAA sent the letters to Bryke :) I'm not expecting them to release any statement concerning the movie (they probably can't for legal reasons) but it's just good to know that this letter reached them!
If there is anything happening in L.A. I will try my best to make it. >.> Must brainstorm on how to get the word out some more.
Paramount might be able to ignore a bunch of people sending them letters, but they can't ignore MANNA. I'm interested to see how this plays out, because frankly we're running out of time.
Part of what many of us loved about the original Avatar series was how respectfully it incorporated different Asian and Native American cultures into its world and themes. It's also clear that the creators and staff put a huge amount of effort and care into creating the characters and setting, and deliberately chose to depart from the typical themes of European-style fantasy and do something different and groundbreaking.
Paramount's handling of this adaptation disrespects the show's themes in countless ways, and your decision not to support a film that goes against the spirit of the original makes you the very best kind of fan, in our opinion anyway. <3
And I've seen that occasionally as well. But that's why we're working to get more recognition for the why of the boycott, ya know?
There's a chance your video may be used in a lecture at Cal State Fullerton on Asian Americans in Cinema. I gave the DVD to someone at MANAA to bring to an interested professor. Hope that's okay with you. =P
I can't believe the casting is so ridiculous, it is now being used on college campuses as an example of modern day yellowface. I wonder what people will think of this movie a decade from now, and it pisses me off that the wonderful animated series will be associated with this casting drivel.
I hope they will take this issue seriously now and start recasting those roles into what they should have been in the first place.....ASIAN!
And I don't think we have anything to worry about when it comes to boycotting the movie. If Paramount doesn't continue with the sequels, all the movie franchise needs is a reboot ;)
I don't know how many people here also know about the casting of the live action Akira and Cowboy Beebop but these are also giving the lead roles to white actors in movies that actually are originally Japanese And I just feel if people are disgusted by the actions of the producers of The Last Airbender, they need to start acting against other movies where the same thing is happening. This movie can be our starting point but it can't be our only point.
As for casting white actors to play the main roles in something like Inuyasha, Bleach, and Naruto where they keep the environments of a Japanese setting, then that will cause a problem because all of the characters were established as Japanese and they live in an obvious Japanese environment and if they try to cast white actors to play these characters, we would have the same situation just like with Avatar and Earthsea.
By the way in case you didn't know, there is an upcoming live action adaptation of King of Fighters coming out later and it says in the casting list that they have Sean Faris (from Never Back Down) to play Kyo Kusanagi. Yes, you heard me right, they casted a white guy to play a character who is 100% Japanese in the games and you know what is the worst part? Unlike Avatar, KOF is set in our world and there are plenty of other caucasian characters in the games to choose from but casting a white guy to play a Japanese character? Where is the justification for that?
Here's the link if you want proof:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038685/
Anyway, from the beginning, this is the place where I can feel welcome knowing that Hollywood's racist casting pratises are unacceptable and I want to do something about it. You guys have my support and I am rooting that the MANAA will do something about this.
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And YAY for MANAA!!! I'm ecstatic.
Bummer that 100 people didn't show up to the protest though.
http://community.livejournal.com/racebe
This is definitely a huge step up! It could possibly the end of this war.
I think after last night's Oscars, especially with the awards going to a lot of asians (example, that japanese man winning for best foreign language film) or much more diversity (like Sean Penn and embracing the gay community) and now that Slumdog Millionaire won not only a vast amount of awards but was best picture AND that amazing song medley with the dancers, and along with the fact that Dev Patel is a part of all that, I think the whitewashing is going to be more apparent especially with all that news I'm hearing of M. Night trying to scope for the right "asian-like buildings". It seems like now that Hollywood and the Oscars are willing to accept a LOT more diversity if the story is extremely well done and moving and hopefully the studios will see that and try to change their minds. I HOPE.
That and along with these two letters, maybe there's still a chance?
(If this comment is out of place, it's ok for it to be deleted.)
Is there particular article about that location scouting you can link us to?