The Avatar Clusterfuck continues apace....

ROUNDUP ONE


ROUNDUP TWO

Some of the entries that hit the spot for me.


UNICORNS, or a list of Asian, First Nation and seasoned with 1 or 2 White actors who could have been used to play the Avatar characters

Fear of a Black Fantasy Planet

ojouchan was particularly upset yesterday. She's worried about our children, who will be brown, and who will look to the few characters who look like them, then wonder why they get changed to look like the people who don't. She's worried about her niece, who recently told her momma, "My favorite color is going to be brown, because that's what color my skin is, and nobody likes it." She's only four. I'm worried too, but it's still not as real for me yet.

But that's why I find it utterly heartwrenching that M. Night Shyamalan, who decided or at the very least signed off on the idea that all of these beautiful characters of color are better off being all-white, was initially drawn to the project because his Indian-American daughters loved the show so much they wanted to dress up as Katara.

Angry Asian Man: A break-up, of sorts.

What does this casting choice say to me, the angry Asian man? It says that every time somebody speaks more slowly and loudly to me because they assume that English isn't my first tongue, they're right to do so, because I'm not normal. It says that when my freshman year roommate thought that the delivery guy calling with my order was my dad, I shouldn't have been offended, because the guy sounded Chinese on the phone, so how was he supposed to know, right?

Debunking the Arguments and what else you can do

But so-and-so character has pale skin, big eyes and light eyes! Those are Caucasian features! Therefore he could be white!
FACT ONE: Not all Asians have dark skin
FACT TWO: Not all Asians have small ickle tiny eyes
FACT THREE: Not all Asians have dark eyes
FACT FOUR: Many Asian children have giant melon eyes. BECAUSE THEY'RE CHILDREN.
FACT FIVE: Asian people have many many differing facial features too! Just like Caucasian facial features! Zowie! Zoinks! Zounds!

They are all dressed in blatantly Asian-style clothes and follow many Asian-influenced precepts. I don't know how many times I can say this. So just once, just this once just accept the possibility that a kid dressed in Tibetan monks clothing who subscribes to a Buddhist-type religion should therefore be Asian. Yes, pale skin, big eyes and all.

DO something about it!

I love Avatar, and have for a long time. But I'm pretty disappointed about this casting decision, and I know I'm not alone in that. This post is about what we can do.

Petitions are largely pointless. Emails are easily ignored. What we need to do is send real, paper letters to Paramount Pictures -- specifically, the two produces, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall -- telling them why we're offended by their casting choices and what we want them to do about it.

Below is a guide for how to make your letter as effective as possible and where to send it once you're done.MORE


EDIT:RACEFAIL BINGO CARDS!!!


HERE and HERE

(no subject)

Avatar Protest Icons

The shoe thrower guy, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, is being tortured.

Shoe thrower tortured, Iraq to go up in flames?

Now we're learning that this guy, seen as a hero by a non-trivial segment of the Arab world, has been charged with assault (on the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, not Bush), thrown into Camp Cropper prison and tortured.

Albaghdadia, the TV channel where the Iraqi Journalist Montather Al-Zeidi works, reports that an Iraqi MP (Ms. Zainab Al-Kanani) informed them that Montather’s hand was broken in jail.
This confirms a lot of reports and rumors about Montather being subject to torture while the Iraqi authorities are interrogating and detaining him in some unspecified location.

The BBC confirmed this. There have been two days of mass demonstrations calling for Al-Zaidi's release. The news that he's being tortured will only exacerbate matters.MORE