(Notice how the casting called is aimed at "Caucasian and any other ethnicity.")
I have been an avid fan of the television show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. since 2005. My preteen days would be incomplete without this TV series. Something inside me triggered my immediate bond with this television show. Although being a cartoon series, there were finally characters on television that looked like me: brown characters of Eastern descent. (I refer to Sokka and Katara).
Fast forward five years in the future to the live-action interpretation of the series. Or should I refer to it as a parody? The acting was terrible and several aspects of the movie are changed completely.
Exhibit A:
M. Night Shyamalan, a director of color himself, should be ashamed. He white-washed the cast. The above casting call was issued by him. How can an Eastern Asian-inspired world be portrayed almost completely by Caucasians as the main characters, while ancillary and villain roles are issued to actors of color? Shyamalan claims that "only the best actors were casted." His statement implies that only the Caucasian actors were fit to play these roles, while all the Asian-Americans that auditioned for the roles were just not good enough. There is plenty of talent out there, in all ethnicities.
Asian-Americans have gradually started finding their way into the media. They have started to shoot up to fame on Youtube and win America's Best Dance Crew. Despite being held down by "nerdy" stereotypes, they have gained success by using these nondiscriminatory mediums to fame. Seeing The Last Airbender cast Asian roles to Caucasians is YELLOWFACE.
Definition of Yellowface from Wikipedia- "Yellowface is the practice in American cinema, American theatre, and American television where East Asian characters are portrayed by predominantly white actors, often while artificially changing their looks with makeup in order to approximate East Asia facial characteristics; it also describes situations in which non-Asian people control what it means to be Asian on stage and screen." That movie is a slap in the face to all Asian-Americans who are looking to equality on the big screen.
Anticipating these remarks, Paramount Pictures replaced the role of Prince Zuko (who was casted as Jesse McCartney) and gave it to Dev Patel... and while Shyamalan was at it, he made the entire Fire Nation South Asian! In the series, the Fire Nation was a depiction of Industrial Japan. This was a drastic change from the series. This only shows Shyamalan's bias toward Caucasian and South Asian actors. He completely neglected the show's Eastern Asian and Inuit roots and failed to cast them past "extra" roles, as well.
Here is the casting call for EXTRAS:
Near Eastern, Middle Eastern, Far Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean & Latino Ethnic Groups….
Where is the call for Caucasians as extras?!
For those of you who say, "Race shouldn't matter," let me give you an example. Pretend there is a mystical world in which everyone speaks an African language, eat traditional African foods, wear African clothes, and write in African writing... yet everyone is Hispanic. Is this not ridiculous? Would you not question WHY the producers didn't cast Black actors? The day that anyone steps out of their home without being judged by their appearance is the day that race shouldn't matter. Unfortunately, that day is still to come. So now i ask... WHY cast Asian roles to Caucasians in the ALREADY underrepresented Asian-American community? Does Hollywood believe that nobody will watch a film that has Asian leads?
Towards the end of chapter five in Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman states that the world that we perceive through the television is natural and no longer bizarre. The "media-world" we are perceiving is predominately Caucasian. 82% of Hollywood roles are casted to Caucasians. It's so common, that we don't even realize the lack of minorities in Hollywood. Honestly, it's sad how producers of films such as The Last Airbender and Prince of Persia think they can get away with ignorant casting. It takes something so drastic to cast Caucasians as Asians in The Last Airbender for us to realize this. Well for me, at least.
Well, Mark, I can see where you are going with your post and I agree. I personally have no desire to watch the movie or the show (never have, probably never will). However, I have pretty much the same concerns toward the role casting for the movie as you do. I still don't understand why they put "Caucasian or any other ethnicity", instead of "Asian or any other ethnicity", when the movie is focused directly on an Asian as the leading role. I don't exactly see how this makes sense, and I think that the studio could've made more money if they would've portrayed the characters from the show better.
ReplyDeleteEven though I'm not a big "Avatar" fan, I am a fan of "The Chronicles of Narnia". I've read all seven books and seen both movies in theatres at the midnight premiere. I was a little disappointed at the second movie (as Mark is upset with Avatar). Not because of ethnicity, but because of the age of the leading character, Prince Caspian. In the original book by C.S. Lewis, the prince was about fourteen to sixteen years old. In the movie, he looked like he was maybe twenty-five to thirty! That isn't accurate. I also just saw the trailer for the new "Narnia" film, coming out December 10, 2010 (yes, I memorized the date), and I can't wait to see it. However, it would appear that they changed that movie around too. The White Witch, who died in the first "Narnia" film, makes an appearance in the third movie. Weird, right? So I understand how you feel, Mark, about "The Last Airbender" movie; especially considering how much you like the television show.
The main point that I am trying to make with all my "Narnia" jabber is that movie producers and directors will go to extreme lengths to change around a movie from the T.V. show or book it is based on. On an earlier post, someone had mentioned the fact that T.V. producers are running out of ideas, so you see the same plot on different shows over and over again. This is happening to movies too. I was on imdb.com yesterday (I'm a HUGE movie fan), and I saw that they are making another "Final Destination" installment. Last summer, they made a movie called "The Final Destination". Why was it titled "THE Final Destination", if they are making another movie, that one called "5nal destination"? How do you even pronounce that? They are also making another "Saw" film, and they are in development for "Halloween 3". When will they stop, at "Halloween 58"? I personally am not a fan of classic T.V. shows or animated films being turned into live-action movies (like "The Last Airbender"). I don't like the fact that Tim Burton made a live action "Alice in Wonderland". It wasn't even like the Disney version (there was a Jabberwocky in the Tim Burton remake). Tim Burton is also going to make a movie called "Maleficent", based on the Disney classic "Sleeping Beauty", with the villain (Maleficent) as the leading character. Before we know it, there will be a live-action "The Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid". When is it going to stop?
One of the themes covered in "Amusing Ourselves to Death" is how much of an impact 'good looks' have made on the media and in the world today. M. Night Shyamalan must have thought that having Asian characters in the movie wouldn't attract moviegoers into seeing "The Last Airbender". Well, he was wrong! On imdb.com, "The Last Airbender" received 4.3/10 stars. That's' horrible! I believe that the movie probably would've done better if the characters had been portrayed more accurately. So Mark, it's wrong that M. Night Shyamalan discriminated Asians when making this movie, which could've been so much more than it is.
I fixed Mark's centered text, which was hard to read.
ReplyDeleteYou guys, you know there's 1325 words here? With two thin & tenuous connections to Postman? Postman does not concern himself with entertainment as entertainment, and he has very little to say about movies. So although I encourage passionate response, this is mostly a diatribe. Is that a vocabulary word this summer? I believe it is.
Racism in Hollywood is prevalent and persistent, and is as old as the movies themselves. Hollywood even mocked itself when Robert Downey Jr. played a black solider in that stupid movie with the word Thunder in the title...what was that called? From Hollywood's earliest days, white actors were routinely cast and spray painted so they could play Latinos and Native Americans. I agree that it is disturbing that this should persist into the 21st century.
Mark's main concern is racism and anti-Eastern Asian bias in film and television. Joey's response makes a nod toward Mark, but goes on to bemoan the lack of creativity in Hollywood and its tendency to corrupt ideas through endless sequels.
("Back when I was your age, we complained when Hollywood ruined our books. Your generation complains when Hollywood ruins your cartoons.")
The post looks fancy because there are big embedded Hollywood visuals, but there's very little here to work with in terms of our themes. Can you understand what I'm talking about? It's important that you do. There's so much going on here, and very little of it has anything to do with Postman. Postman doesn't care about entertainment for entertainment's sake. Postman worries when important cultural discourse -- politics, news, religion -- takes on the trappings of entertainment culture.
Mrs. Fletcher, I believe the movie you are speaking of is "Tropic Thunder", a very lousy movie in my opinion. Movies and entertainment today have changed the face of Hollywood as it used to be. And actually, Mrs. Fletcher, I complain myself about the way movies deface the quality of classic books. I had mentioned "The Chronicles of Narnia", and how the movies were a real disappointment compared to the original C.S. Lewis novels. I did get carried off with movies, but the point I was making is how one factor (prejudice in role casting) leads to another(defacing the name of Hollywood).
ReplyDeleteBut Ms. Fletcher, aren't movies a part of our culture, as well? Everyone in America are seeing the same movies. Maybe Postman didn't emphasize movies as much because he they weren't as prominent back then. These days, everyone becomes enticed with their CGI effects and 3D glasses. And because it has happened; politics have taken on the "trappings of entertainment culture." These days, when appearance matters so much, a presidential candidate must not only play his political role, but also "look" the part. Americans will not care to watch a movie with an unattractive actor as its lead, nor will they care to vote for an unattractive candidate. Let's take how our last election was casted, Obama vs. McCain. McCain was a Caucasian war veteran who was now at an ailing age. Obama was an eloquent Black man in the prime of his life. I have not discussed any of their political views, yet most readers would have already made up their minds on who they would vote for. America's superficialities are reflected in how Hollywood roles are casted, and in how "we" select our political candidates.
ReplyDeleteJoey, I noted your discussion of Narnia. I was mostly referring to the Last Airbender discussion -- and the isolated and parenthetical nature of the comment was meant to indicate that I was teasing, even being a bit self-deprecating by pulling out the old saw, "When I was your age..." Actually, I hate it when people use that phrase...it's slightly demeaning, don't you think? It implies that your experience is somehow lesser because it is different. I don't agree with that premise, so please...I was teasing. Likewise, I would never think to defend Tropic Thunder. I used the film to make reference to a parody, which demonstrates that the phenomenon (racism in Hollywood) is well known and well established. Finally, the phrase "defacing the name of Hollywood" seems to cast Hollywood in some sort of sacred, "those were the days" light -- back when things were pure. Those days have NEVER EXISTED. I agree that content coming from Hollywood is thin these days. But Hollywood has always had a dark side.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that's true with everything. Thank you for engaging with me directly in an intelligent conversation. I enjoy talking to you and haggling over fine points. Keep thinking and pushing back. Students OFTEN change my mind, introduce a concept or a point of view I hadn't considered before.
I don't always have the time or opportunity to respond in depth, either. As soon as I respond to Mark, I'm logging off and going back to my gardening chores. It's a glorious day outside and the tomato plants are churning out fruit. Things need watering and pruning. The roses are getting raggedy. So thanks again, JT.
Mark, I completely agree -- of course I do -- that political life has adopted the tools of social/entertainment life. Think Brave New World. Is political life trivialized by its pandering to entertainment? Absolutely. The tools of media and social networks are powerful. People attend to them very closely -- people have their faces turned to the tiny screens in their hands, so political power wants a piece of that. What excellent access, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteAnd the connection between appearance and political success is undeniable. Do you know what I fear? That someone will come along who has the ideas, the insight, the energy and the juice to make meaningful change in our society, but he or she will be strange looking -- not cute, not fit -- not grotesque certainly, but not appealing either -- and maybe with a weird voice to top it off. Smart and everything we need -- but odd.
I'm just not sure that discussing movies and pop culture in THIS CONTEXT -- like they are somehow analogous to political life -- makes sense.
To me, it sounds like you have a pretty good research topic mulling around here. Take a few months to work on your thesis -- what it is, precisely -- that you want to demonstrate in your paper. Racism in Hollywood? Yellowface in Hollywood? Something more specific, perhaps?(Recommended).
I'm not denying that what you are talking about is worth talking about. It is. I just don't see the connection to Postman as clearly as you do, I guess.
Keep writing, Mark. Push back and think big. Thanks for your posting.
The garden is calling me. Really. I can hear a little plant right out the window gasping for water.