Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephan on June 9, 2010 at 1:31pm

I won't see it based on the fact it looks terrible. But the casting thing was bad too. I didn't have too much of a problem with Aang, because he could possibly be perceived as white to some, and the kid's martial arts talent made him a decent choice but Sokka and Katara were very obviously tanned Inuit-looking people. In the movie they're very visibly white. And then turning around and making ALL the villains and minor characters brown Asians was just a giant slap in the face to Asians everywhere.

And Dante Basco could have totally played Zuko. He's a good on-screen actor and he still looks young.

Permalink Reply by Cinema Dr. AJ on June 9, 2010 at 4:16pm

I dont know what to say other than I completely disagree with you in every single way possible?

If you'd read any single pre-release review of the film, and theres at least 5, each one says the best acting in the entire film comes out of Noah Ringer and Shaun Toub. So as for hiding the acting of the lead, I think you're completely missing the entire mark there.

As for the 3D, everything this fucking year is in 3D, and I hate it too but its just another way to pull money in so I dont think that lends anything to the film itself. It was shot in 2D, I would recommend bypassing 3-d all together. Fuck 3D, just go see it in 2, its not like you have to see it 3D. So nvm I guess I agree with you about that.

And I don't understand the racebending argument. HOnestly, its been hashed, rehashed, discussed by night and marshall, put down and debunked. As I said on the front page, each country has their own blend of ethnicity. If you're mad about casting, dont go see the movie and go talk about it on www.racebending.com for all the money that the boycotters are going to save in ticket sales, you might, might cost Shyamalan about $500.00 congratulations.

At least we're not getting fucked like DBZ fans. Shyamalan loves the source material, absolutely adores it, wrote this because he wanted to, not because a studio paid him to, and wouldn't do it unless Bryke was on board (which they are) so.. boycott it for all anyone cares.

Stephan- You aware that Toph with either be black or asian right? Because thats what the Earth Kingdom is cast as. Zuko is brown and he is arguably the most complex main character in the entire show, but I guess he counts as a brown minor character.

Permalink Reply by Stephan on June 9, 2010 at 4:28pm

Yes, but I hate how the studios are trying to sell this movie by making the three leads white. Why the hell would Asian people sell less than White people? And while Zuko will be a main character later on, in this movie he's a villain. There was no reason to change the race of any of these characters except the studios felt that audiences would identify more with white people, which is bullshit.

The biggest problem with the movie though is that it's being made. I don't understand why it had to be done except that studios wanted more money. There's no artistic reason for it and there's nothing they can do on film that they couldn't do in the animated medium. If anything the story will be hurt by transitioning it to film.

Permalink Reply by Cinema Dr. AJ on June 9, 2010 at 4:42pm

Zuko isn't even a villain in season 1. Before we even get halfway through the season, we get his backstory and understand that he isn't evil, he simply has a task to do from a different perspective. If you thought Zuko was a villain the entirety of season one, you missed a huge huge point. In "The Storm" you were supposed to understand Zuko wasn't the bad guy anymore. Zhao is the only character in season one that is a villain through and through (besides the silhouette of Ozai lol) so I don't agree with you there. How can you say studois wanted to make this for more money when it was Shyamalan's idea to make this while sitting on his couch halfway through season two saying "hey this is an incredible story!"

Permalink Reply by Shinigami64 on June 9, 2010 at 6:34pm

Zuko isn't a villain? That's semantics, but he is most definitely an antagonist and poses a threat to Aang and anyone else that's not Fire Nation.

And it's obvious that Paramount just wants a profit. The addition of 3-D, greenlighting the project in the first place, letting Shymalan slap his name on it for recognition. There is no artistic merit to be found here, so let's not pretend that this all happened because M. Night was home on a Friday night goin' "This is some good shit..." They see dollar signs. Plain and simple.

Permalink Reply by Stephan on June 9, 2010 at 6:43pm

Mr. Shinigami made my points for me.

Permalink Reply by Sumilidon on June 25, 2010 at 11:39am

Well Atcually. This wasnt made for just profit. I dont want to argue but factually, the reason this movie was made was because of M. Nights 9 year old Daughter. She wanted to play as Katara for Halloween and he decided to watch the show to see if she was a good influence. He ended up watching the whole first season and with a passion, decided to make a movie from it.

Permalink Reply by Shinigami64 on June 25, 2010 at 2:29pm

I brought that up in the blog I wrote, but that has nothing to do with why Paramount went along with it. The studio saw an opportunity to profit off of this property. That holds a lot more sway than Shymalan digging the show...

Permalink Reply by Sumilidon on June 25, 2010 at 11:48am

Shinigami64. I hope you dont mind if I say that Aang is white. He is (pigmentaly) the whitest character in the show. Im sure that was to insinuate that he is white. Yea, you are absolutly right about Katara and Sokka not being white, but I think Aang is. The chinese and asian culture shown throughout the show was mostly shown throughout the Earth Kingdom. I think you got it confused. If anybody asian in the show its the Earth kingdom resisidents. They have a little bit darker pigmantation than Aang and the Asian culture matches with them. Thats my thoughts. I would like to hear your response of what you think of my explanation please. :)

Permalink Reply by Shinigami64 on June 25, 2010 at 1:32pm

How about now?

And exactly what skin pigment do you think Asian people have? Truth is that the complexion of an individual is no indication of their lineage. I've known more than a few black people that were lighter in skin tone than some of the white people I've known. Aside from that, this comes back to the Lord of the Rings analogy. If you can fathom a world based on British mythology being entirely inhabited by white people as in LOTR, why is the concept of an Asian world populated by Asian people so hard to grasp?

Aang is not white. No one in Avatar is, and it doesn't make ANY sense for anyone to assume that they are.

Permalink Reply by Sumilidon on June 27, 2010 at 1:21pm

I understand what your saying. Im just trying to get you to fill in some of my blanks. Well. With that argument, you might as well say that Katara and Sokka were asian, but just darker. Aang was whiter then those of the earth kingdom and those of the water tribe. Therefore, they were trying to determine race differences. If not, I dont think they would have made people with different skin pigments besides black and white. It made me believe that Aang was white, Not because of his skin, but because of its color compared to everyone else. (Which compared to normal cartoons, with white people, it is straight up White). No offense to you, but I think its dumb to think that this show would make people of this show, the same race, but colored a little bit differently. Thats pretty much asking for controversy on what Aang is. Everyone in the water tribe was the same color and everyone in the Earth Kingdom was the same color. They didnt have little changes between them at all. So y would they change the color of aang from a different tribe and expect us to believe hes the same race. Like I said, Katara and Sokka are absolutly not white, but Aang. (Im pretty sure he is.) Please respond. I totally understand where you are comming from. I felt the same way about Dragonball z. But this is different. This was made by americans for nickolodian. Just because they have similar styles of animation dosent mean they are asian. (Not saying, thats your reason). If you dont agree with what im saying, please give me another explanation. Id like to believe why hes asian. One of us has to be right. And I want to know if its you or me. I have an open mind, and I hope you do to. Ill be waiting. :)

Permalink Reply by Shinigami64 on June 27, 2010 at 8:07pm

Asian people come in a variety of complexions.

Your assumption that Aang is white, even by your logic, could only make sense if you dismissed EVERYTHING about the world these characters inhabit. That would require you to ignore the conception of the show and the goal that DiMartino and Konietzko was after.

"Well, Bryan had worked with Eric Coleman, the head of development at Nickelodeon, and we knew that Nickelodeon was looking for a [particular fantasy] kind of show, so we kind of took that directive and set about creating our own mythology. And we wanted to base it in Asian rather than European background, and use the elements; to use martial arts as kind of the basis for the magic in the show… even though we don't call it "magic," it is the supernatural element of the show."

They created this show with the intent of crafting a fantasy world WITHOUT connections to European culture as that is usually the case in American works of fantasy. That means that the characters can't possibly be of European descent because that would be a connection to European culture. And to make the central character of their Asian fantasy setting a white kid that is tasked with saving it would be the biggest imaginable insult to Asian culture and Asian people, which is precisely dead last in the things they hoped to accomplish with this show. Their nationality has nothing to do with the fact that neither Mike or Bryan had anything in mind other than to honor Asian culture. You can't do that for any culture by separating it from its people. So, there are NO white people in Avatar: The Last Airbender and that especially includes Aang. If those images (both of which are official, BTW) aren't enough to convince you, then I don't know what else will.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page