Racebending: A Protest Against Discrimination

[TheSCOHara]

This racebending thing makes me sad to be half-Asian. The writers and most of the voice actors are white. M. Night Shyamalan is Indian and he casted the movie.

[stratisfire]

@xxCelestePa wow a little late don't you think? And no in the books it doesn't state the characters as being white it's just perceived that way because it's written in the style of a european folk tale

[chulah12]

AMERICANS VS TERRORIST OR TALIBAN....CAN ANYONE SEE THIS RELATIONS

[Zumzammim]

The Airbender movie is officially a box office bomb!

There will be no future sequels nor franchise for this movie!

Typical jew Hollywood tactics. This is subliminal brainwashing to justify their future war drumming against Iran. Israel and Hollywood are the evil ones.

[GameStation3]

@Zumzammim Who's being racist now?! There may be Jews watching this! I'm Jewish myself! >:(

[FluffyFeralMarmot]

The movie was pretty good. Can't wait for part 2.

[curtisb3000]

Next time make Air Bender with nothing but Albino Caucasian characters with white hair to make things more palatable to others especially Asians. Then say we say in a Color blind world and since it's a world of fantasy based on Asian culture it really does not matter. Boycott for more white characters and have the movie gross earnings bottom out, that's probably the only way they will Understand - probably not either. How can you expect Hollywood to represent non-whites fairly? That's funny.

[Stablemable2]

(racist paramount pictures)Last Airbender Film = Puke

[tyrantcodex002]

BIG FAN =)

Remember 2 watch THE LAST AIRBENDER JULY 1ST

[MechaRadio]

It's only fair, after all, the heroes in Lord of the Rings (Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, etc.) were al played by asians. Harry Potter was played by an asian. Tony Starks of Iron Man was played by an asian. Batman was played by an asian. So it's only fair that white people get to be portrayed as heroes because that never happens.

[jakkin03]

It's called Whitewashing!

[kibblesays]

I hate racebenders so much. With a burning passion. Die in a fire, all of you.

[Spriggan107]

@kibblesays Funny how you cant even see the fact that the term Racebenders is specifically for people like you who thinks its ok to switch roles meant for ethnic actors with white ones.

So you go have fun swimming in that lake of fire buddy.

[duodu2000]

funny how all you white people defending the casting of this flim are the same ones crying about the fact that they want to cast a black kid for the next spiderman movie, i smell hypocrisy!

[Gospel77]

maybe someone already told you this but Cliff Curtis is maori.

[TheVVanderingStar]

I do believe Iroh is a good guy.

[macgyversfriend]

@TheVVanderingStar

I bet that's exactly what the Earth Kingdom thought, right before he tore down the walls of Ba Sing Se. Yes, he is good in the end, but only through the providence of heroes that have been whitewashed.

[TheVVanderingStar]

@macgyversfriend

But that all happens BEFORE the show. So he's a good guy for the entire series.

He becomes good all on his own. I was under the impression that the death of his son was his wake up call.

[InFlames772]

You sir, are a racist. Good day

[abcchoy]

lol! funny gook..

[uclabiker06]

So sad how people w/ no life waste so much energy on things like this.

[chibangin007]

wheres the japs? but wait... indians are asians also. but this movie pretty much came out to be hites vs arabs... and one indian.

[bulletproofKevlar]

race has nothing to do with if they did use asains picture red army coomunist dictatorship trying to take over the world,.... im sorry but thats racist there is no race in avatar... only if you point it out

[jmlew]

@bulletproofKevlar

ROFLMAO!! So you think if Asians were portrayed in the film, it would perpetuate that the Red Army communist dictatorship is trying to take over the world?!?! HAHAHAHA!!!!! I laugh at your stupidity. :) So then let's keep Asians as extras/villains then so we can further stupify the general populace. How does that sound?! :D

[vincymon]

Although I do not think it necessary that all the Characters be strictly asian ... What I do think is this :

If Brian Singer could go through an extensive casting call, just to hire a waiter that looks like the dead Christopher Reeves, to act as Superman , then the same effort could have been put to finding actors who AT LEAST looked like the 4 title characters.

[GloomySunset]

noah ringer looks like aang. similar skin tone, similar height, same age. and as far as the asian thing is concerned, if he wasnt so fond of shaving his head, i would seriosly think he was half asian or something. in fact, I already do

[apocavis]

How about casting Asians for Lord of the Rings? Tolkien didn't specifically say the humans in his saga have to resemble white / Anglo-Saxon people, did he?

[samryanrod]

would you rather have mcartny playing zuko cause i shure as hell would just to shut you up but then you would be talking about how zuko looks nothing like his father and uncle so they would all needto be white and then oh my god all the villians/ fire nation would be white

so we would have darker actors playing water tribe/ heros and white people playing fire nation/ villians

[samryanrod]

you are compleatly right katara and soka are way too white to have those parts we need to find other actors who have darker skin!!!!!AND WOW Zuko Iroh and Ozai all have dark skin .... i wonder if that might be that there supposed to ALL BE RELATED!!!!!!!!!!!

when is iroh ever a villain?

when dose iroh ever do anything besides look after zuko?

what besides the martiall arts aspect is so asian?

[PUFFYsaidgo]

@ samryanrod

"what besides the martiall arts aspect is so asian?"

Are. You. Serious?

Hmm... let's see... the Chinese writing, the pagoda-style buildings, the eating with chopsticks, the idea of spirits, the NAMES (!!!) of people and places (Yue, Ba Sing Se, Gyatso) the dresses, the armor, the Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, etc.!

[Stfuandwatchvideos]

EVERYONE. THE EARTH KINDOM IS EASTERN ASIAN .

there happy , good now shut up! ths "racebending" bullshit has gone to far. people need to realize that M. night has a vision of the movie and THIS IS IT. so seriously. stop .

[xenex23]

P.S. If you hate the live action movie for these reasons. You should hate the tv show too. Because the majority of the voice actors, they picked based on ability, are white.

[xenex23]

First of all, these people were picked based on their acting abilities not by the color of their skin. Second, the tv show (made by two white guys) and the movie were both made in America. Where it is a melting pot for people of all race. Thirdly, did you know that the so called "Asian" culture their entire world was based on. Does not recognize air as an element at all? Bottom line, people that boycott movies based on the color of the skin of the people playing in them, are racist.

[Spriggan107]

@xenex23 yup. It is Very racist to point out racism when you see it in front of you! Just let it go, roll with the flow, its ok the native Americans got wiped out, white made this a better country for everyone else to be secondary citizens.

[edijamco2]

very good observations...

[nikorasu57]

watch?v=_0juJVUfWg4

[Apocali15]

Dude. stratisfire is one of the most retarded people I've ever had the misfortune to read on the internet. It makes me want to write a letter to Obama to give more funding to the sorry school stratisfire may or may not have gone to. Any school that produces a student that thinks Russia is in Europe is just plain sad.

[foreverbrotherinarms]

I will be intregued who will play toph in the second movie (if there is one).. because the charecter is obviously of chineese heritage

[artez1114]

i so agree with you!!

[DarthFanta]

To all people who don't think that The Last Airbender movie is racist. Do u mind if Legolas from Lord of the Rings is cast with a black actor? Do u mind if Edward Cullen is played by an Asian just because he's talented?If u don't don't want to see an Asian Edward and an African Legolas, why do you want a white Aang?

[stratisfire]

first off aang is white in the cartoon. and second i wouldnt care if edward was cast as an asian if he was talented . if the actor is talented then great put him in there. if they made legolas black and the black actor was a good actor then great put him in if they have to. i guess im not as narrow minded as you oh and they made the "villians" arab because they cast dev patel as zuko and needed to balance the nation

[lordvader3215]

what? aang is not white in the cartoon!

[stratisfire]

idc he looks white acts white and even his voice is white and his race isnt ever real established in the show ether so yeah

[lordvader3215]

voice is white wtf? is there an asian voice? and how can he act white? please explain!

[stratisfire]

he acts like a white kid..like dorky, and his eyes are big as well not squinty and the kid that does his voice is a white kid thats all i meant

[filmvisionary]

Please watch Part 2. It covers why Aang does not have Western Asian stereotypes.

[altrever]

Big eyes =/= white only, especially when in most anime and cartoons, eyes are far too big than ANY human can have. Aang acts AMERICAN, not "white"; Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and other ethnicities can act like that too.

[stratisfire]

i know im just trying to say it aint a big deal... its a fucking cartoon character ..who give a flying shit . im a big avatar fan and i dont care about the change of race. if they specifically said in the cartoon"i am form china" then i would get a little upset. but just because its influenced by asain culture does not necicarily mean everyone needs to be asian. like you can have a story about dogs thats influenced by american culture do you get what i mean? and thats just IMO

[altrever]

They may not absolutely NEED to be Asian, but Paramount still FAVORED Caucasians in the lead casting. All 4 leads were originally white. The call said "Caucasians or any other ethnicity" as opposed to "any ethnicity". Now all the main hero actors are white, the main enemies dark, and some secondary characters Asian. It's a very noticeable pattern. Yes, it's just a cartoon but subtle things like this add up and can affect us greatly. Look up "black white doll test" and see how media affects us.

[stratisfire]

how do you know that they said "caucasians only"? to me thats just rediculos and maybe they did that because they were having the water tribe white.. and if i do recall zuko and iroh arent really bad guys they progress and trun out to be good

[altrever]

They did not say "only" Did you actually read my comments? You can the exact words of the casting call on the racebending site. I think it's strange (and racist) that they've made the main water tribe characters white when they definitely were not in the show. There was no reason for that. Zuko and Iroh are not clearly portrayed as heroes until the 3rd season. In this movie they are definitely the enemies.

[stratisfire]

hows it racist to make the water tribe white? i dont see them changing it as racist.. it can be strange but not racist..saying that people absolutely ned to be a sertaian race is racist

[altrever]

But why else would they do that if it wasn't to purposely make the heroes white? How is that not racist? If they had changed them to Hispanic or another race, then nobody would be able to say they were favoring white people like Hollywood always has been...

[stratisfire]

dude racism is described as making assumptions about someone because of there race..changing a character to white isnt racist because they arent making any assumptions about a person because of there race thats why i dont believe it is racist and if they were hispanic people would be saying they were only cast because they were hispanic you know what i mean?

[altrever]

I'm not accusing them of choosing actors only because they were white, but their whiteness WAS PREFERRED FACTOR. That is racist. Changing the race of characters in itself is not racist. I wouldn't call Hollywood racist if it weren't for the fact that whenever they make a movie based on a story of nonwhite characters, ALMOST EVERY TIME THEY CHANGE THE MAIN CHARACTERS' RACE TO WHITE because they thought white faces would make them more money. That. Is. Racist.

[stratisfire]

my thing is how do you know for sure that they said white or any other ethnicity on there thing? you got that from a site that already didnt like the movie so for all i know that site could just be pulling that out of there ass

[altrever]

Go to the movie forum in the avatarspirit site, it's common fan knowledge that they said "Caucasian or any other ethnicity." The casting call is no longer on its original site, but if you go to the racebending site, look on the left side and scroll down to under "racebending: the essays" and click on "language of the casting" you should be able to find the link on the livejournal page that takes you to the screenshot of the actual casting call.

[stratisfire]

well imo i think people should just see the movie anyway cuz they are just trying to interperet the story in the way they think it best fitts..i wouldnt take this so serious. and if they replaced other cartoon charaters with a different race i wouldnt count it as a big deal...just see the movie as a story not a look alike contest

[stratisfire]

dude the thing only said that for the water tribe...so maybe they change the WATER TRIBE to white not the whole fuckin cast the only whites in the movie are the water tribe and aang.. and everyone else is asian.. belive it or not indian counts as asian it seams to me they are just having it be more like the real world with more ethnicity they arent totally white washing the cast it just happened that the water tribe was chosen to be white

[altrever]

Do you actually read my comments or the casting call? No one ever said that the whole cast was white-washed. It said "Caucasians or any other ethnicity" for ALL 4 MAIN CHARACTERS, including Zuko. They only changed him after everybody complained. Only the villains and side characters are of color; all the main HEROES are still white. This is where they discriminated. Hollywood has been pulling this crap for decades, including movies that are not even fantasy. Don't make me repeat myself again.

[stratisfire]

actually a TON of people are saying its white washed and it just isnt and they white people are the water tribe it doesnt mean they intentionally made all of the heroes white ok?

[altrever]

I have never heard anyone say the whole cast was white, because we all know it's not. Look at it this way: They INTENTIONALLY made Aang and the main water tribe characters (Katara, Sokka, Gran Gran, and Pakku) white. Besides Aang, all the heroes in this movie will be water tribe. Hence, they purposely set up the nation races so that all the heroes we see will be white.

[stratisfire]

god you racebending people are annoying im just fuckin ignoring you..while you guys are siting at home thinking of more reasons to call people racist i'll will be watching a quality movie and i will be having fun with friends wich i think you dont have and i will now get back to my life..which is..believe it oor not a job so suck on that bitch..and im just ignoring you just to clarify

[altrever]

If you're ignoring me, why are you replying? And if you're gonna insult us "racebending people" (because we are obviously all the same [/sarcasm), at least come up with some good ones? I've been having loads of fun with my friends too... OMG, having a life AND making comments on youtube? How is that possible!?

[stratisfire]

@altrever i respect your opinion its just i hate the race bender people that act like someone is stupid just because they disagree. and then most of the time if somone disagree then automatically they assume that that person is white..aka the person down there that just did that to me. personally i think the vast majority of the race bending community is full of about 1000 or less people(and thats pushing it) that are just going around making asses of themselves

[conzicann]

How is Aang white? What would you assimilate the airbender society to? Do you think the air nation most resembles France or India? Do you think Monk Gyatso was imagined to be of European descent?

I think your ideas are unfounded.

[stratisfire]

dude stfu you racebender people are al stupid..you know your saying an asian is being racist against other asians right?

[altrever]

Why am I not surprised? The "everyone who lives on the same continent must be the same race" argument... Indians are different from East Asians. Would you say that Russians are East Asians too? Besides, people CAN be racist towards their race. Did you not watch the black/ white doll test I suggested you look up?

[stratisfire]

first off you need to learn where your countrys are because russia is im europe not asia and india is an asian country. and i think its racist saying that these characters need to be a sertain race. just stfu this is a stupid conversation and it isnt even that big of a deal

[altrever]

YOU need to look at a map: The majority of Russia is in Asia. YOU need to remember that I actually said they don't 100% have to be Asian, but it's racist that they favorred Caucasians. Yeah this conversation is stupid... How many times are you gonna make me repeat myself?

[Vengrence]

@altrever What about the times when Caucasian characters magically turn to something else in movies? Why is that always ignored, but this isn't? Like in that new Thor film, where Heimdall, a norse God, was African? That's not at all stupid to you?

[conzicann]

How is this not "even that big of a deal"?

Subliminally encouraging the public to believe that white people are the heroes isn't "that big of a deal"?

Hiring only people of color to play the prominent villains and caucasians to play the protagonists (protagonists originally depicted to live in clearly Asian-inspired societies) isn't "that big of a deal"?

[stratisfire]

no..first thing the bad guys were supposed to be white because of jesse mcartny but then he couldnt do it so they hired dev patel at the last second and had to make the rest of the nation consistan with his skin tone..

[simple17]

they should make a movie called the Constitution, and star a bunch of different people other than white....lets see how that turns out, this shit is stupid, its like dragon ball evolution, they gonna fuck this movie up too

[conzicann]

yes, clearly if your eyes aren't squinty, you aren't asian.

....

[Spriggan107]

@stratisfire Let's try to imagine the books of Lord of the Rings, none of the story mention being caucasian, but it was clearly a European centric mythology storyline. How about if someone made that movie instead being casts with Blacks and Latinos, obviously not fitting the characters? I'm sure you'll be able to just brush it off easiy, especially if you're a fan :)

[stratisfire]

@Spriggan107 yeah I WOULDNT CARE im not a racist bastard i honestly would not care if they did that because it isnt based in Europe! and im a huge fan of lord of the rings. its based on european mythology it doesnt mean every single character in the story is white! lol you just proved my point for me. and my point is that you people care too much about race. and you could be any race imaginable and i would still disagree with you because im not as discriminatory as you are

[Spriggan107]

@stratisfire not every single character yes, but I'm sure many won't share your statement that they wouldn't care if the MAIN CHARACTERS were changed into blacks/latinos/asians.

The only time people "Care too much" about race is when we have good reason to point out something wrong that has BEEN going on for generations. The only time people like YOU can act so smug about not caring is when you have NEVER been those who got cheated, time & time again!

Thank YOU for proving my point admittedly

[stratisfire]

@Spriggan107 how exactly did i prove your point? in the book if they said NOTHING about skin tone you would not know what they look like. yeah its based off of mid evil European mythology but that doesnt make every character European! thats what you dont understand! i mean its not like in o brother where art though (which is based off of homers odyssey) its not like they hired people from greece to play the main characters right? you really need to grow up and actually learn what real racism is.

[Spriggan107]

@stratisfire What YOU don't understand is they still casted white actors to play major parts of those in Homer's mythology works. Hardly a valid counter point. Tell me it would be ok for a Robin Hood movie, with Asian actors playing lead heroes while whites are the cannon fodder.

How skillful whites like u have grown to express their hypocritical and bias points of view, I guess in your definition, I'm not learning real racism unless it's about hanging people or violating civil rights? :D

[stratisfire]

@Spriggan107 so your saying that my example was bad and then you say robin hood being played by asian actors and robin hood was a real person he probably didnt actually rob royalty but he was a member on englands military. you REALLY need to get your facts straight before you try to look smart =) and your quote "How skillful whites like u have grown to express their hypocritical and bias points of view" yeah thats called you being racist. and im not even white!

[xxCelestePa]

@stratisfire Actually, every character in LOTR is white. Big fan here.

[vincymon]

And I supposed next you are going to say that Sokka and Katara are white too ?

In actuality Zuko is coloured PALER than Sokka, Katara or Aang, yet it is he of all the four main characters that is potrayed by a dark skin indian.

[ccbikeryder]

I honestly don't see why this is such a huge deal. Steven Chow (chinese) Directed Dragon Ball Evolution (japanese anime) for America. The casting director then casted a white guy for goku and a chinese girl, of AMERICAN descent for chichi. Then again its nice to know you are passionate racial equality. I just wish it was towards something more important than the "anime" industry.

[SolomonBUSHIDO]

revolution starts in through art.

[LordInit]

Newsflash! 'Avatar the Last Airbender' is NOT anime, but an AMERICAN cartoon concieved and produced here in the good ol' US of A. The creators of the series were white guys whose very creativity and novelty in creating a fantasy world that's NOT European based is what made the series so successful. It just so happens Hollywood just totally raped and disfigured the story for their racist status-quo purposes!

[frbe0101]

...and animated in korea. just wanted to add that.

[filmvisionary]

Here are some comments made the first time I uploaded this:

neattracy

"you did a really good job describing your thoughts about the racebending. I agree with all the points you made in part 1 and 2. Thanks for doing your part to spread the word about this issue. "

oathkpr

"Good video, very professional and showed no offensive attitude =]

I also kind of find it Ironic that Iroh (the core good guy w/in the bad guys) just happen to have the lightest skin out of all them.. "