Racebending Segment of Avatar Panel at Anime Boston 2010

I video recorded this to show the internet the overall fan reaction to the racebending in the upcoming TLA movie's cast. I found the audience reaction to be positive and encouraging overall. Sorry for the bad camera angle; I had my flip camera up on the table where I was sitting as a panelist so it wasn't exactly the best way to capture the video.

This is only a segment of the panel; the rest revolved around the anime influences in the show, fanart, and cosplay.

I made the slideshow, but three other people helped me with the panel: Amaya from the AB forums, and Amjam, and xTwistx from Deviantart.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• the
• last
• airbender
• racebending
• anime
• boston
• 2010
• avatar

[stratisfire]

lol at 56 they said " her cloths arent blue, where are the loopies?" and then the racebender lady is like" yeah thats right the cartoon version has darker skin" lol these people are fucking retarded and need to get lives

[Chaobunny12]

@stratisfire Oh really- I need a life? I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm ALWAYS going around leaving grammatically incorrect and insulting comments on people's youtube videos. It's how I spend my free time, because I love trolling and I have nothing better to do than criticize the opinions of others. Sound familiar?

I'd love to hear you say that to my face. But you wouldn't, because you're a cowardly troll who hides behind a computer screen. I laugh at people like you.

[Timstuff]

You say this is "the overall fan reaction to racebending." Sorry, but that's an outright lie. This is the reaction of a room full of racebenders who were already mad about the movie and decided to huddle together. This is not in the least a fair representation of the Avatar fandom as a whole.

[Chaobunny12]

@Timstuff Oh really. You think I'm clever enough to coordinate something like that? The panel description had to be really short, so nothing about the live action movie was even in the description when people read the program guide. I think it's fair to say that everyone who came to this panel were ordinary Avatar fans who wanted to go to an Avatar panel. They entered without any preconceived notions about it. So I think it's pretty fair to say that this crowd samples the overall fan reaction.

[Timstuff]

@Chaobunny12 Pretty much every racebending lecture ends up getting posted at the Racebending website so members in the area know to show up. I find it hard to believe you would have went through all the effort and expense of getting a space at the convention without even telling anyone that you were going to have a racebending conference.

[Chaobunny12]

@Timstuff This video is 7 min out of a 60 min Avatar fanpanel- the whole thing wasn't on racebending. And I only know of 1 person from the LJ group who attended this panel- no one else from RB could come- so this wasn't "set up." And effort and expense? Are you kidding? I did this for fun. It was such a thrilling experience running a panel at a convention. You should try it some time. It requires a bit of effort, yes, but it didn't cost me a cent and I had more fun than I've had in a long while.

[iNESADRIenne]

7:01 FAIL! white guy not caring :)

[iNESADRIenne]

@Mrsgeraldanderson native americans are very unrepresented in hollywood so casting them as filipino wouldn't have solved everything :) I'm filipina so although it would have been cool if filipinos were cast, it would have been cooler if they were cast as native.

[billmaster17]

this is stupid why does everything have to be about race

if i went to india and said ooohhhhhh theres no white people in this movie

you know how dumb i would sound. ANd aang in the show looks white

and OMG the bad people are dark skinned OMMGGGG lets start a riot its soooooo racist

fuck you

[zimdainvadur08]

The overall movie was a real disappointment. I went to see it with my friends who all love the show as much as I do and there was no comedic relief, no character stories or personalities, nothing. The actors were just another thing to add to the list of failures. I, personally, think they tried to fit too much into one showing. I'm glad to see that others share my feelings. And it's true, the creators did do so much research to make the show what it is.

[drunky1022]

Jesse Mcartney to play an OBVIOUSLY ASIAN CHARACTER!? HOW CAN PEOPLE SAY THEY WERE NOT BEING RACIST!!!! Dev Patel (indian guy) WOULD HAVE NEVER GOT CAST if Jesse wouldn't of had turned it down later! The original plan was to take Aang (asian) and make him White! Take Indian/ Inuit Sokka & Katara make them white! and take Asian Zuko and make him WHITE! On top off that what proves racism a factor is the pure fact that there were Asian and Indian people who fit the role! #KARMAMOVIESUCKED=D

[pienkunicorn]

I will boycot the film, because it sucks. I get what you guys are saying. And one of the things I love about anime is the asian cultural elements. I just don't think everything should be turned into a race issue.

[Kataang102]

thanks for the komono thing Im being katara for holloween

[Kataang102]

zukos not hot

[Mrsgeraldanderson]

i totally agree with you! i think Sokka and Katara should

have been filipinos since they have pretty tan skin.

Aang should have been asian along with Zuko and Iroh. I could go on and on with what's wrong with the movie but i think he just ruined an amazing show. The fire nation didn't all have to be indians. It could be different ethnicity's. Thank you for pointing everything wrong about the movie ;] you are awesome Chaobunny12 :D

[robinclank2]

@stratisfire well said