Good news, I am back from the blogging dead! It's pretty apparent now that I didn't make my Nano goal, because unfortunately, November coincides with the release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of The Lich King. Even though my comic is currently sitting forlornly in its dusty, neglected little corner, I am happy to announce that my troll shaman Beifong is now a respected level 80 (and has been for some time). This announcement, while worthy of a blog post in and of itself, leads to the main reason for my blog resurrection, the upcoming live-action movie adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender directed by M. Night Shyamalan. My unabashed love of this show spurred me to name my shaman after my favorite character, Toph Bei Fong, causing many a WoW denizen to suspect that I am one of those dreaded Chinese gold-farmers. Recent rumors have surfaced concerning casting choices, setting the internet abuzz with the news that most of the leading roles are to be played by actors who are, for lack of a more succinct description, very very white.
It's easy to see why Avatar has consistently been Nickelodeon's highest rated show since its inception, and has garnered such a large and devoted fan base. The storytelling in Avatar is AMAZING, better than most TV shows on network TV today. The characters are believable as kids and easy to relate to, making you empathize with their struggles and emotional growth. The plot is as sweeping and epic as any top-grade fantasy book, without being either overly violent or overly "kiddified". Overall, it achieves a superb balance of humor (which is admittedly sometimes a little kiddy/cheesy), suspense, action, and most importantly, heart. That being said, one of the biggest attractions of the show is its ingenious and in-depth portrayal of different Asian cultures and martial art styles. The elemental "bending" (controlling the elements of nature through Asian martial art movements) is beautiful to look at, and most impressively, accurate to the actual different martial art styles they are based on. As a result the fighting/action sequences are the most entertaining I've seen in a television show, let alone a children's cartoon.
Let me say that I have no delusions, I fully understand that Avatar is a children's cartoon, aimed mainly at boys ages 7-14. I can understand that when casting a live action movie, they would want to pick actors that would appeal the preteen crowd for optimal cash money intake. What I CANNOT understand, however, is the need to whitewash the ENTIRE OBVIOUSLY ASIAN-INFLUENCED cast. I say "Asian-influenced" because it is after all, a cartoon set in a fantasy world with a HEAVY Asian presence (Chinese writing/calligraphy, Asian names, Asian clothing and hairstyles, Chinese martial arts, Asian architecture, Asian art, a palace that looks exactly like the Forbidden City, etc etc), but a fantasy world nevertheless. Let's take for instance Aang, the central character of the show:
His character is dressed exactly like a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, and the whole Airbender culture is an obvious take on Tibetan Buddhist society, complete with the Dalai Lama-like figure of the reincarnating "Avatar". As various casting talk has put a previously unknown young Caucasian actor in the role of Aang, many Avatar fans have been staunchly defending this move by saying Aang could "pass as white" because of his ambiguous facial features and "white" skin color. This statement causes me a disproportionate amount of anger and unease for a statement about a cartoon character. Why does Aang have to "pass" as white? This is a cartoon, there is no skin color labeled "Asian". Just because his facial features do no conform to the traditional stereotypical portrayal of Asian (i.e. small slanty eyes, buck teeth) does not mean he is meant to be white. And I'm sure no Asian could possibly have light colored skin, everyone knows our skin is muddy yellow like the waters of the mighty Huang He (Yellow River). Another character that falls prey to this arguably racist line of reasoning is my favorite character in the show, Toph Bei Fong:
Many a crazed Avatar fan has declared that "I could see Toph as white". Yes, her skin color and facial features aren't stereotypically Asian (and even her clothes could be considered pretty culturally generic). Casting her as Caucasian would be all well and fine if not for the fact that her name is freaking TOPH BEI FONG (北方 托芙). Even an ABC with horrid Chinese proficiency such as myself knows that "bei fong" is of Chinese origin (north, northern, northern part of China). As here's the kicker, these are her parents:
Here are two more rumored, absolutely SPOT ON casting choices:
Some random white guy from the Twilight movie as Sokka, a boy from a southern water tribe based on Inuit culture.
Jesse freakin' "I don't want another pretty face" Mccartney as Zuko, a banished crown prince to a power-hungry empire based on Japan's pre-war empiric expansion into Asia.
As for there being "no race", and therefore "no Asians" in the made up fantasy land of Avatar, I call total and utter BS. There is Chinese RIGHT THERE IN THE TITLE SCREEN. With a cartoon based almost exclusively on Asian influences, I find it hard to believe that there are "no Asians". After all, I'm really sure an Asian/Black/Hispanic Gandalf, Frodo, or Aragorn would have caused no stir whatsoever within the public eye and Tolkien fandom, because hey, MIDDLE EARTH IS A FANTASY LAND, RACE DOESN'T EXIST THERE GUYZ. Also, why do so many Avatar fans think that "ambiguous race" or "nonexistent race" in fantasy means that the default is white? Is the point that Hollywood, along with the rest of these whitewashed ethnocentric brats defending the casting, think that it's okay to exploit the "cool" parts of Asian culture and leave out the "unattractive" or "unmarketable" subject of actual race? I guess in their eyes culture is mutually exclusive from the people that create it.
Of course right now these casting announcements could be pure speculation and aren't finalized, but I hope to god they at least manage to squeeze SOME Asians into fake Asia-land, if there's room after all the important teeny-bopper Caucasians have been cast.
