On December 9th 2008, the lead roles were cast for M Night Shyamalan's upcoming film The Last Airbender and all of them were originally cast as white actors.
The Nickelodeon show "Avatar: The Last Airbender," on which this film is based, featured Asian characters in a fantasy setting inspired and informed by a variety of Asian cultures. The characters fight with East Asian martial arts, have Asian features, dress in clothing from Asian cultures, and write with Chinese characters. The cast and setting were a refreshing departure from predominantly white American media, and were a large part of the show's appeal as well as an inspiration to many Asian American children.
Fans have been up in arms. Not just Avatar fans, but also folks who generally don't like to see racist nonsense perpetuated in the movies. And let's face it, that's what this is.
Up to now, Paramount hasn't done a hell of a lot of the calm the ran rebellion, posting all sorts of ridiculous casting calls and basically ignoring East West Players and MANAA's calls for a more diverse and inclusive cast. Then, of course, there's cast member Jackson Rathbone's idiotic comments about cutting his hair and getting a tan.
The folks at Racebending have set up a YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/racebending) where fans who object to the whitewashed casting of The Last Airbender can post video messages telling producers (and America) why they won't be going to see this movie. They're taking it to the streets! With real, actual people speaking out.
Meanwhile, Viacom (parent company of Paramount), has decided to exercise its supreme authority over the internet universe by shutting down the Racebending.com protest effort's Zazzle store, claiming all but one of the products "contained content in violation of Viacom's intellectual property rights" -- not just images, but words.
So, please do something, voice out your concern and sign the petition at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/racebend/petition.html
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