My friend and fellow GeekRoundTable panelist Mary Sturhann is one of the most honest people you will ever meet, she rarely holds back her opinion, so when Mary sent me a page from her live journal regarding the upcoming live-action Avatar movie, I thought I should share it with you my fellow geeks. Here is are the words from the woman herself....
Avatar the Last Airbender
As
a kid I grew up watching Westerns. I loved them. As I matured,
slightly, and my worldview widened I became aware of the actors. I
started to realize the Indians were just white guys in makeup. I had
grown up just missing the very edge of full frontal prejudice. I lived
in a world were jerks usually tried to hide it. I live in California,
the movie studios are in California and there are plenty of Native
Americans so why were none of them in the movies? I was mildly confused
at the time. Unfortunately reality settled in and I learned more than I
wanted to know about. When I first started dating my husband 24 years
ago it raised a little ruckus. Now no one cares that our coloring
doesn't match. I am not hardcore about the whole race issue. I thought
"Memoirs of a Geisha" was a great film, but some Japanese people were
upset that Chinese people had most of the main roles. I was just happy
that an Asian was playing an Asian. Any fruit in the bowl was fine with
me.
My
kids started watching Avatar the Last Airbender long before I did. The
show is good so I did not mind being pulled in. I really enjoyed it.
After the wonderful jobs movie studios & Directors have made in the
last 10 years producing quality films from comics & animation I was
thrilled to know they would make an Avatar movie. Then disturbing news
began to leak out. M Night Shyamalan would be the director. I'm not
sure what I think of that choice, but it certainly did not cause me to
lose any sleep. Then the casting call came and the Caucasian kids
rolled out. People were upset! I have heard similar complaints before.
Firefly / Serenity has an Asian flavor to it. That should include at
least some Asians in the background, but never seemed to. However this
is a bigger problem. Avatar the Last Airbender is ALL ASIAN ALL THE
TIME! Every character seemed to be a different branch of the Asian
population. California in particular is drowning in Asians. There is no
way to legitimately say that they interviewed all the young Asians
actors out there and came up with nothing. Avatar could and should be
cast by mostly unknown actors. I realize the Studio decided they had a
blank slate when they signed on to convert animation into live action,
but did they need to clean the slate all the way down to white?
Here is my problem in 2 sentences:
#1:
If the miscasting of Avatar was done innocently, then it proves they
are supremely stupid and have never ever watched the show.
#2: If the miscasting of Avatar was done on purpose, then they have proven themselves to be supremely stupid bigots.
I
will not support a movie where either one of those situations is in
effect. I will just watch the excellent DVD of the original show and be
perfectly happy with that.
Mary Sturhann
Words from a wise woman and friend, stay tuned for an upcoming podcast where we will be discussing the Avatar movie.
Geek out!
