DISQUS

I'm not Asian, I'm black, and I think this is appalling. It's a big deal when white people make fun of anyone different from them by perpetuating stereotypes. It's objectification -- they're not treating that Asian guy in the photo like he's one of them, or an ordinary human being. That guy has just become their mascot, who they'll probably point to the next time they do something racially stupid, and say, "I can't be racist! I've got an Asian friend." It's sick.

I'm not sure I'd agree there are "so many" black actors making blockbuster films. But I do agree that this film is based on Asian culture and Asian characters and should feature exclusively Asian actors. So should lots of other films that got whitewashed. This is fucking ridiculous.

I'm black, if you're wondering.

Ditto Mongols, Tibetans (frankly I thought the entire Air Nomad nation was meant to be Tibetan, right down to the Avatar = Dali Lama similarity), Ainu, and others. Since it's not Earth it's not an exact analogue, of course, but I think the show's producers did a good job of trying to show the full diversity of the "race" we lump together under the generic term "Asian". (For that matter, I saw the Sandbenders as Kazak [given the architecture of the area], and the swamp Waterbenders as [less than flattering and generic] southeast Asians, though that's open to debate.) It made sense that the majority of the world showed the Chinese cultural influence most strongly, since in *our* world that's the most populous nation, but I loved that lots of other groups got namechecked too.

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Damn. When I heard this was an M. Night movie, I actually thought it might not suck. Now, seeing how they're showing no respect whatsoever for the diversity (yeah, all the characters in the show are obviously Asian, but DIFFERENT kinds of Asians, which I always loved), originality, and sheer coolness of the source material... Just don't make the movie, M. Night, if you're going to spit on it like this.

OMG I loved this movie!! It was soooo awful -- but so cracktastic! I actually got chills when Bruce Leroy got "the Glow" and that cheesy music started!! ::wistful sigh::

I can't wait to see the remake.