The Last Airbender - M. Night's latest

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You know, from a neutral perspective, insisting that a given character MUST retain the same ethnic identity no matter what is precisely as 'racist' as deciding that said character's ethnicity MUST be changed.

Example, when you're casting for Japanese characters, you get many different Asians ethnicities that apply. Fine. I understand things like that. And I don't think every person has to always be of the same ethnicity, but do you really think it's okay for whites to play Asians? Seriously. Or whites to play black. I know a black actress who was asked for by name from a production company, and her agency sent them over a book of white actresses to choose from. Do you understand? I don't know how to make it clearer to people who don't walk in the shoes.

Do you think it's alright make the heroes white and leave everyone else alone. Do you think it's okay to make a video game where a white man shoots up a black zombies in Africa, and under pressure a throw away black female is added as a hero. Do you get it? Am I being to harsh? You do understand black females are cast less than anyone in Hollywood so when roles for characters based on strong black women (Cleopatra aside) come up why give them to white women. Is that fair? It's like talking to a wall sometimes. People don't get it! Could no black actress play Fox? Really? Really? No Gabriel Union? No Vivica Fox? NO ONE? The comic writer wanted Halle Berry and made the character look like her. Action films typically make money if their good, but I guess a black woman can't curve a bullet.

I'm kind of with Max on this one. If the movie is good I don't think the general audience will care. Hardcore geeks maybe, but hardcore geeks can't give you a massive box office gross. The studios are playing it safe with their dollars and that's not the same as being racist. Being racist is saying, "I won't let a black/asian/hispanic play the lead in my film because I don't like those people and I think whites are superior." The studios are saying, "Why chance making less money on my film because of the racist a-holes out there." I'm not defending this but I don't think their decision comes out of any overt racist intent. And while there are several "ethnic" leads that can carry a film to a respectable gross, really there is only one right now who can reliably make a film a worldwide blockbuster -- Will Smith.

Not true. That's a lie Hollywood tells. Wesley Snipes talks about how he was treated when he went around the world promoting Blade. The people treated him no less than the star he was. His movie made money. The hard racist that are out there will not make a movie tank. It simply doesn't happen. Hollywood simply lies about these things and these are lies they've told for years.

By the way, general audiences do care. You'd be shocked at how many people know Catwoman is white or that Nick Fury used to be white in the comics (now he's black). These are not hardcore geeks, they're normal people who in their childhood used to read comics. I bet most of us here read comics at some point in time. These little paper magazines are sold for close to $5.00 now, and their market have suffered least in the recession. Believe me, people do care. Maybe not about movies like "Wanted" (with characters who are pretty new) but I don't want to see "Blade" as a white guy or Will Smith as Captain America (a Stan Lee suggestion), unless he's playing the one before Steve Rogers who was indeed black. Why does everything have to be white? It goes way beyond money. Marvel could've introduced a black Cap Am after Steve Rogers was supposed to have been killed. The only people who had stable super solider serum in their bodies were two black men, one lead the Young Avengers, but nope, they created a new white guy. So no I don't want to see Smith as Capt. Don't do me any favors. I don't need you to throw me a bone, simply create more good black characters. Airbender had great Ethinic characters. They were so good, they made them white. LOL.

The whole issue is difficult for me because I despise 'race' as a stupid, silly, obsolete concept that ignores everything we know about biology and genetics, which are disciplines rooted in the real world. There's one 'race,' and it's called the human race. All the obsessing over mere phenotypes is just childish.

You're right but if you knew how deep it goes in this the world alone, it would shock you and most of it is being pushed by the West via entertainment. Almost anything black or minorities do that gets popular is co-opted by white people and a corrupted version is sold to other all around the world. I just finished teaching a socialogy of Hip Hop class, this is why hip hop is dead and rap is what's left. I could tell you stories that would piss you off so bad in relation to how race and color are thought of. I know an Indian actress who told a friend of mine not to hire another Indian actress because she was "too dark". The woman in question had the skin tone of a tanned white person. This is not something I'm making up. I too hate the concept of race, but I also know it's used in a very specific way and it's used to hurt people, that's why I'm always on top of these things because America is using the media to indoctrinate people into a way of thinking. Airbender is just one example.

-Nate
 
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Not true. That's a lie Hollywood tells. Wesley Snipes talks about how he was treated when he went around the world promoting Blade. The people treated him no less than the star he was. His movie made money. The hard racist that are out there will not make a movie tank. It simply doesn't happen. Hollywood simply lies about these things and these are lies they've told for years.

It doesn't matter how "true" it is. Hollywood just has no courage. All their decisions are made out of fear. If they think there is even a chance a movie will make more money because white actors are in it and not "ethnic" actors, they'll take the less risky bet. That's not racism. And Hollywood will "always" try to cast the biggest star, regardless of ethnicity.
 
You're right but I have no sympathy for them because of this. And "Blade" went south when they added Biel and Reynolds. Fans wanted more Blade, less "Trinity". This wasn't black folk saying this, this was white fans. We all like Biel because she's hot, but overall many people thought the so called "Night Stalkers" were throwaway characters. And Wesley informed them it was a bad idea. To this day many people think "Blade Trinity" was a bad idea. They wanted to spin white franchise off a franchise that was lead by a black actor and was profitable. Hollywood's racism and fear is killing it. I think I'd like to see Hollywood crash and burn sometimes.

-Nate
 
The numbers are in, it did $3M last night at midnight shows and the studio is expecting $45M for the 5 day holiday weekend numbers. The $3M midnight gross was the largest midnight gross this summer for a non sequel. It's got a budget of $145M + $50M in P&A, that's a big nut to crack.
 
Thank you Chip. I'm on the verge of tears. Your news is so so sweet. Shyamalan's so bullsh!+.

Here's a great article:

Shyamalan's weak defense of "Airbender" racism


By the way, this "color blind" casting is also bullsh!+ too! It's a tool of racism masked as something to stop racism. He's something: Cast blacks as blacks, whites as whites and Asians as Asians. Shouldn't be too difficult.

-Nate
 
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No doubt it'll be FAR behind Eclipse but the studio seems to think it'll be #2 this weekend beating out Toy Story 3.
 
I think at this point only M Night's retirement from the film business will "assuage me and give me peace..."
 
I think at this point only M Night's retirement from the film business will "assuage me and give me peace..."

LOL. Honestly, I could care less about Night's retirement or lack thereof. He's made some good films. But I hope he learns a lesson from this. I hope ALL of Hollywood learns a lesson. WE'RE NOT TAKING YOU CRAP ANYMORE AND WE'LL VOTE WITH OUR POCKETBOOKS AND WALLETS @$$HOLES! NOW FAIL AS YOU SHOULD!

It's not really 'more info,' it's just more bitching...
God forbid anyone speak out when a wrong is done.

-Nate
 
Don't get me wrong: if people's sensibilities are offended of course they're entitled to say so, as loudly as they like. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is going to see the issue in the same way that they do, though. But an extra column of complaining is not 'more information' in that it doesn't add anything to what we already know: that there are people who disapprove of the casting and want to let the rest of us know why.

On the other hand anyone who believes that this is 'teaching Hollywood a lesson' is indulging in wishful thinking. The movie isn't tanking because of casting, the movie is tanking because it sucks. And if by some chance (or mis-chance) the film was a blockbuster, very, very few people indeed would suggest that the ethnic character of the cast was the cause.
 
Yes, if the movie fails at the box office, the last thing they will point the finger at is the non-ethnic casting, and the first thing will be the "ethnic" director.
 
I don't know. Can you provide an example of a director's ethnicity being brought up by a studio (or anyone else, really) as a reason for poor box-office performance?
 
I don't know. Can you provide an example of a director's ethnicity being brought up by a studio (or anyone else, really) as a reason for poor box-office performance?

Oh, I was just kind of joking...but he will get more of the blame than the cast.
 
Well, the fact that there's enough people noting the racism (article after article) which says people ARE paying attention. But I'm going now to work on my own project. I'll be back later. By the way, I'll be starring in Epitaph: Bread and Salt and I'll be playing a black guy. So when I cast I'm going to see if I can cast as many dark skinned/ethnic Jewish people to play Jews, an African American female to play Atraria and maybe zombie girl will be played by a real zombie. LOL. Okay maybe not but I'll try to cast a a white chick to play her with her character being white and all. Susan will be Hispanic. Ashen will be Asian, I'm going to even try to specifically get a Japanese girl. I just want to see how hard it will be to cast a truly racially diverse film without having to bullcrap my way around it. I'm willing to bet it won't be hard, but if I fail it won't be because I didn't try. But maybe Hollywood will give me some money so I can sell out. I do need some cash right now and hey, Tom Cruise as Locke? What do you guys think. He can be a black demon hunter, right? Riiiiight?

-Nate
 
Well...Jewish people come in every available skin/eye/hair color combo there is, epicanthic folds available as an option. So if all of your Jewish characters tend to darker complexions I would assume that you mean for them to be taken for Sephardic Jews, who usually have more that sort of 'look' than Ashkenazic Jews who tend to look more Northern European. Also if your Jewish characters are Falashi, then they would look pretty much like any black person from Africa might, because that's who they are...

Is it actually integral to the characters, what ethnicity they appear to be?
 
But maybe Hollywood will give me some money so I can sell out. I do need some cash right now and hey, Tom Cruise as Locke? What do you guys think. He can be a black demon hunter, right? Riiiiight?

-Nate

I think if Tom Cruise were interested in your movie, and the amount of money that would then be thrown your way, you'd think long and hard about wether that demon hunter needs to be black...Seriously though, obviously nobody would cast a white actor as Malcom X, that would be ridiculous. But in a role where it doesn't really matter much either way, I'd rather keep my options open as a filmmaker, as it's hard enough to get a movie off the ground. The bottom line is that Aang was never CLEARLY Asian. It's not stated in the series, and his looks are ambiguous at best. The only thing clearly Asian are the design influences in his costume, and that it's drawn in an animation style that comes from Asian culture.
 
In the comic Locke is clearly black. And no, I wouldn't think long hard. I'd take that money and make and promote tons of other films (especially action sci-fi films) with majority ethnic cast while keeping myself fed and housed. So Tom is welcome to take a crack the role. Hope he makes sequels too. And Aang Ain't White. (The argument apperently goes both ways). Although I do think a black Dr. Who or Bond could work because Dr. Who regenerates into different looks and it's been said "James Bond" is a code name.

-Nate
 
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