If it's crap... We'll tell you

The Last Airbender

This upcoming movie release will suck huge. Caucasian heroes + Middle Eastern Villains = Epic Fail.

Oh well...
I guess that gives us a year until the franchise dies.

This Washington Post article should have killed production.

As if the MANAA blog and the East West Player Letter was not enough.

But, then again,
I could have sworn that Jackon Rathbone's comment would have stopped production...

"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," Rathbone told MTV.com, presumably just before his publicist sat him down for a chat about political correctness. "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

Washington Post replies,
"But the only thing some fans will suspend are their plans to see the movie when it opens in summer 2010"

HAHA!
more articles and blogs here.

Update:
Protesters from the New York Casting Call in February
reported that the casting director are casting around the race of the lead roles chosen,
so this is how the tribes will break down:
Water Tribe = White People
Fire Nation = Middle Eastern People
Earth Nation = "Asian" People
Air Nation = White People

Tags: airbender, last, post, the, washington

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TheLilBeast on July 25, 2009 at 5:26am: ahahahahahaahhaaa...this shit is funny....hey....made me laugh..; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by rokrok on July 25, 2009 at 3:13pm: Another 2005 interview with the creators.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071217111256/http://www.nicksplat.com/...

1. How did you come up with the Avatar?

We came up for the concept for "Avatar" 3 years ago. Nickelodeon wanted to make a "legends & lore" type of show with a kid hero. That’s a genre we are very interested in, but we wanted to create a mythology that was based on Eastern culture, rather than Western culture. Although "Avatar" isn’t based on a specific Asian myth, we were inspired by Asian mythology, as well as Kung Fu, Yoga, and Eastern Philosophy. We were also inspired by Anime in general. We wanted to create a story that inspired people’s imaginations and that had elements of comedy, drama, and action.

2. You guys are not Asian so how did you come up with such an Asian cartoon?

We read a lot about Buddhism, Daoism, and Chinese history. We also have several consultants who work for the show - a cultural consultant that reviews all the scripts; a Kung Fu consultant who helps choreograph all the bending moves so that they are accurate to the style on which they are based; and a Chinese calligrapher who does all the signs and posters in the show. We don’t use any written English words in the show.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by rokrok on July 27, 2009 at 3:24pm: At SDCC, this kid met the creators, Mike and Bryan
and the martial arts consultant (for the tv series not the movie), Sifu Kisu,
wearing a shirt that quoted the casting call sheet for the lead roles of the movie...

Here is a poster/print that the creators made for signing...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chig Champa on July 27, 2009 at 3:44pm: See.... they.... they clearly support the film's casting decisions...

.... Right?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Iron Man on July 27, 2009 at 4:32pm: ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kamikaze222 on July 29, 2009 at 9:21pm: There are some things you really can't make good movies from. The Last Airbender is one of those things that should just stay a cartoon.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kamikaze222 on July 29, 2009 at 9:24pm: Middle Eastern villains period= EPIC FAIL.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kamikaze222 on July 29, 2009 at 9:25pm: And that kid thats going to play Aang looks like one of the stoner kids from Children of the Corn and the Faculty.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by rokrok on July 31, 2009 at 3:54am: Chinese calligraphy has been cut from The Last Airbender and will be replaced with a gibberish language.

"I just received words from the movie producers. They are not going to use Chinese calligraphy at all, replacing it with unreadable symbols. I won't be participating in the movie.

It is not only a disappointment on the cast. They are removing all the successful elements of the original TV series. I think that would keep a lot of Asian audience away.

I am disappointed to learn that the Avatar movie has removed the successful cultural elements of the original Avatar TV series. Whether this is a right decision will be seen in the box office."

-- Professor Siu-Leung Lee, cultural consultant, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Fans familiar with the series know that traditional Chinese calligraphy was an important part of not only the show's aesthetic, but also it's plot development and world building.

Lee also said:

"Chinese calligraphy is not only appreciated by Chinese, it is also a language understood by many East Asian countries. Quite a few of them are intensifying an effort to learn the language. Its aesthetics have influenced many western artists, including Picasso and Matisse."; ▶ Reply to This