The critically acclaimed television series Avatar: the Last Airbender follows the story of Aang, the last surviving member of his nation and Avatar; a kind of spiritual guide destined to keep the four elemental nations of the world balanced. He along with his traveling companions, Katara and Sokka, are on a quest to defeat the imperialist Fire nation and restore peace once again. The show's characters, themes and fantastical backdrop are based off of a variety of Asian and Inuit cultures, philosophies and mythologies. Sadly The Last Airbender movie does not follow suit.
The controversy began last summer when the actors offered the film's leading roles were announced; and they were all white. Paramount pictures wanted Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jesse McCartney as the film's leads but only used Asian actors in the roles of side characters and extras. The announcement brought about a huge backlash from not only the fans of the show but also the Asian-American community as a whole. The controversy took a turn for the worse when Jesse McCartney backed out and Dev Patel was then cast as the films main villain, Zuko. People were even more outraged to see that the only role given to a minority actor was that of a villain and that the rest of the leads remained white.
Demanding answers MANAA, the media action network for Asian Americans, sent a letter to paramount requesting a meeting to discuss the studios casting choices. A month and a half later Paramount sent a letter back stating that while the show had Asian undertones the studio wanted to expand the Airbender universe to be more "ethnically diverse", and pointed out that many of the actors had lived in Asia as well as other parts of the world. Nobody bought it. The letter is nothing more than poorly crafted media spin, designed to make it sound like the studio is trying to be racially conscious. MANAA sent another letter further pressing their displeasure with the casting decisions and what they represent, but sadly it was too late. Production had already begun and the producers refused to discuss the issue.
ful article here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2734965/whitewash_the_controversy_behind_the.html?cat=40
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