Racebending: A Protest Against Discrimination - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my protest video against Paramount Picture's "The Last Airbender."

Links
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGit0_evzR4

Website: http://racebending.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54866461619

Petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/racebend/petition.html

Protest Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/racebending

A Visual Essay: http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/1007.html

An Avatar Essay: http://community.livejournal.com/racebending/61396.html

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• racebending
• avatar
• the last airbender
• protest
• asian
• asian american
• chinese
• inuit
• native american
• discrimination
• whitewashing
• yellowface
• activisim
• boycott
• M.
• Night
• Shyamalan
• shamalan
• Paramount
• pictures
• 2010
• last
• airbender
• aang
• ain't
• white
• katara
• sokka
• zuko
• roku
• iroh
• ozai
• Noah
• Ringer
• Nicola
• Peltz
• Jackson
• Rathbone
• Dev
• Patel
• Ben
• Cooke
• Shaun
• Toub
• Aasif
• Mandvi
• Cliff
• Curtis

[BigBis1337]

i belive that avatar is based off of asian culture,yes. but i also belive that this problem of racism is blown way out of proportion. And what i hate is that people that support your idea say that this movie is racist even though their are a lot of different races. But think if the movie went your way everyone would be Asian, that's not bad, but isn't that racist, just include one race exclude all others, thats the message i got from your video

[filmvisionary]

@BigBis1337 Yes, I definately understand what you are saying, and I agree. Diversity is a wonderful thing and should be embraced! What many against this movie are disturbed about though, is that not a single member of the lead cast is of East Asian or Inuit descent. This would have been the perfect opportunity to present an Asian hero, but instead, all minorities in this film will either be villians or background extras. While Paramount claims a "diverse" cast, it is by no means an equal one.

[Matt206330]

Very well articulated and very good points. You have very good reasons for protest. I do see this movie as a missed opportunity. I still am a huge fan of the series and will still see the movie. But it is a shame the direction they decided to take.

[filmvisionary]

@Matt206330 Thank you for your comments. I have certainly though about going to see the movie too, but I realize that I wouldn't even enjoy it because of the discrimination that it represents. Thus, if someone understands that this is wrong, how can he or she really still enjoy this movie?

[filmvisionary]

Below are a majority of the comments I received before I reuploaded this:

oathkpr

"Thank You for this great and very very professional and will written video.

It would be interesting to see how some of the original employees felt about it like Giancarlo Volpe and an analysis on how Paramount have communicated about this Issue.

Specifically with the MANAA and the EWP which surprisingly have members from the original Avatar such as Dante Basco (Zuko) "

[filmvisionary]

blaquejaxx

"Great video.

And I think that ou will definitely have to make more seeing as some people are too stubborn, ignorant, or flat out stupid to understand.

Baby steps, I guess, but like you said, in a society that boasts its diversity and welcomes different cultures, we should not have to argue about this at all.

No matter how unified our country becomes, the separate cultures make it even more beautiful and we should not take away from any of them. "

[TresMonk]

As a black american (who can relate to the asian brothers and sisters who are voicing their frustrations here), I have to say be proud. We are all influenced by asian culture no matter what hollywood does. Keep fighting for your cause in a noble way because when all is said and done, you can't expect them to change. Their motivation is $ and not anything else. So do your part so that you can be the ones to give the world what you want them to see about you. & that way is even sweeter. Trust!

[conzicann]

This was a wonderful, well articulated video. Even if I wasn't asian, as an Avatar fan I'm extremely disappointed.

Consciously casting white actors is not only wrong because it promotes the idea of racial otherness, but because it takes roles away from Asian actors that are generally pushed into deprecating Hollywood roles.

Thank you for posting this! c:

[Blaznblitz33]

Damn my lack of proofreading.

[Blaznblitz33]

Racebending shouldn't be a problem here. Since this is based off of cartoon, they should at least look like they do in the show. They failed at this to. Asians can be in this movie if they look like the character they are potray. Anyways you really think that this will mean much considering what a shitty movie this ended up being? Was it really worth the time? Do you it really think this did any good? I personally see discrimination of minorities to not go away. Your thoughts?

[TheSCOHara]

M. Night Shyamalan did the casting and he is Indian. The voice actors are white and the characters have big eyes.

[Simonc319]

characters which you CLAIM to be white are only like that becuase of the choice of japanese styled animation. the japanese like their cartoon eyes big to convey emotions effectively.

[Simonc319]

the blue eyed characters are obviously either Inuit or Indian. AND ALOT of them have blue eyes...besides, even THE Robert Ebert agrees, "The original series Avatar: The Last Airbender was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts."

[hapibth0pel3ss]

@MrsUndreamed  Okay so just because they have blue eyes means their clearly white? I'm black and i have blue/green eyes...Does that mean im clearly white?

[MrsUndreamed]

Many of the characters in the cartoon were clearly white. They even had blue eyes. Funny how I don't see white people throwing a shit fit when different races take over white roles Get a grip.

[BigBis1337]

@filmvisionary One their are minorites as heros like zuko and iroh (if the movie is protrayed right they should give iroh a laid back feel and zuko more of a conflicted fell). but yes i am aware that they are bad guys (but not evil) in the movie. and what i hate is that when i first saw aang (noah) I thought he was a 5 year old asian boy, not untill i visited race bending did i see otherwise. i would love to continue this conversation so PM me.