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The Interesting Case behind the The Last Airbender Casting

Over a year ago, I talked about The Last Airbender whitewash scandal.

Quick reminder, Airbender is a multicultural cartoon with Asian & Inuit lead characters that is now a feature film. However, the folks who were being considered for the roles were white.Well, this started a geek storm against the movie, M. Night Shyamalan and the producer, Frank Marshall.

So after a devoted group of fans investigated, protested, started a website and later exposed the casting sheet (notice the WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR part)...

Frank Marshall responded:

Marshall further writes that he “agree[s] that this casting notice was poorly worded and offensive. However, it was not written nor distributed by the production, or the studio, but by a local extra casting entity that did not consult with either. "Ultimately, we all take responsibility for not doing a more thorough job monitoring these frequently used third-party agents and Paramount has since been in regular dialogue with Asian American advocacy groups including the Japanese American Citizens League and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans to ensure that such a mistake does not happen in the future.”

It should not have happened at all. M. Night shoud have caught this and Frank should've said something as well.

But anywho, there's more to this story here

They Did it to Jubilee, Now They're doing this to Avatar

I have seen Avatar The Last Airbender with my niece and thought it was a cute cartoon of multiracial content. If you don't know about this cartoon, here's a quick run-down:

The show is set in an Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental manipulation; the series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. In the series' terminology, each episode is referred to as a "chapter", and each season as a "book".

The cartoon is enriched with Asian and Inuit cultures and when I found out that it will be a live action movie by M. Night Shyamalan, I thought it could good for the kids to see a diverse cast and cultures.

However i09 has dropped a bomb about the casting which frightens me. All the main characters are WHITE! What in the Florence Jean Castleberry is this? Did M. Night Shyamalan watched the frakking cartoon? I guess not.

This ain't cute, folks. I remember this foolishness when they whitewashed Jubilee (she's chinese) in the Generation X movie.

Shyamalan, should be aware of this. He's a person of color, how could he let this happen? Well, the fans of the show are NOT happy about it and plan to take it to the streets.
I can't see how this just pass through without somebody saying something at the studio. I guess money talks and keep mouths shut too.