Asians, many say - and I have said on occasion - are not really minorities anymore. We are for the most part treated with respect. Old stereotypes linger with African Americans and Hispanics, ranging from gangs to stealing jobs. But Asians are known for being exceptionally smart, taking over the universities, playing the violin or martial arts. At worst, they are known for having strange accents. These are not the worst stereotypes in the world. For the longest time, we were the "model" minority, quietly building railroads and standing apart from the more rowdy Caucasian workers, silently and stoically filing off into concentration camps during World War II without so much as a fight, and then rebuilding our lives after the outbursts of backlash and violence from majority populations. In time, we have, the Caucasian Americans say, integrated well into American society, the shining example of America's melting pot wonders.
So it surprises Americans, it seems, when we protest.
The casting for Avatar: The Last Airbender has been finalized, and to the horror of many Asians, the entire main cast is Caucasian. This is an outrage, the Asians say! Instructions for the casting of Aang, the titular Avatar, has one sentence that caused many to blow up anger: "We are considering male actors 12-15 years old, Caucasian or any other ethnicity," as if Aang was based off a German page rather than an Asian Buddhist monk. The actor chosen to play Sokka, Jackson Rathbone of pale Twilight vampire fame, remarked (hopefully flippantly and without thinking too hard rather than being serious), "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." The Asian American population is pissed, and nobody seems to understand why.
There have been calls, according to the website Aang-aint-white.livejournal.com, "telling us we shouldn't be offended. And of all the arguments we've been presented with this past week, the most common is also the most surprising: 'These characters look white to me.'" Many people have said that Asians should chill out, that this isn't a big deal, and it'll be doable and a great movie anyway.
But it is a big deal, and it's because Avatar was based almost entirely off of Asian mythology. Where else will you get a show that explains the basic concept of a chakra in a simplistic and accurate manner for kids? Where else will you get a show that takes the concepts of martial arts, such as stance, balance, flow of energy and its style and then turn them into metaphors on life? Where else will you find a main character who is portrayed as fun loving, clever and kind hearted but also performs daily meditation, is vegetarian and attempts to seek nonviolent solutions at any cost? Korean fashion, Chinese calligraphy, Japanese values, Indian concepts and Inuit architecture are all rolled up into one highly enjoyable children's show, and done in a respectful manner. Rather than portrayed as exotic, completely foreign or even backwards, the Asian concepts of chi, chakras, meditation and the uniquely Buddhist flare of detachment from the material world are treated as normal concepts without the slightest hint of condescension.
That's what makes this whole situation really strange. It's obvious a lot of thought has been put into this show. All of the four types of bending - earth, fire, water and air – find inspiration in different types of martial arts keyed to their characteristics. Experts, some with PhDs, do all the calligraphy. So the choosing of an all-Caucasian cast seems contradictory to the past actions of its producers, even - dare I use the word? - betraying. So what happened?
To put the resentment by the Asian community into some context, imagine if the powerful miniseries Roots, based off the book by Alex Haley concerning the saga of slavery in the United States and its effect on African families and identity, had its main character played by Tom Cruise with some dark makeup on, roaring his name is Kunta Kinte. Or, imagine even the stereotypical movie The Mask of Zorro, except that instead of Antonio Banderas playing our masked hero, it was Richard Gere faking a Hispanic accent. Now the inconsistencies become clear, of playing characters based heavily on Asian culture with Caucasians, and then denying why it should cause any inconsistency.
So it surprises Americans, it seems, when we protest.
The casting for Avatar: The Last Airbender has been finalized, and to the horror of many Asians, the entire main cast is Caucasian. This is an outrage, the Asians say! Instructions for the casting of Aang, the titular Avatar, has one sentence that caused many to blow up anger: "We are considering male actors 12-15 years old, Caucasian or any other ethnicity," as if Aang was based off a German page rather than an Asian Buddhist monk. The actor chosen to play Sokka, Jackson Rathbone of pale Twilight vampire fame, remarked (hopefully flippantly and without thinking too hard rather than being serious), "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." The Asian American population is pissed, and nobody seems to understand why.
There have been calls, according to the website Aang-aint-white.livejournal.com, "telling us we shouldn't be offended. And of all the arguments we've been presented with this past week, the most common is also the most surprising: 'These characters look white to me.'" Many people have said that Asians should chill out, that this isn't a big deal, and it'll be doable and a great movie anyway.
But it is a big deal, and it's because Avatar was based almost entirely off of Asian mythology. Where else will you get a show that explains the basic concept of a chakra in a simplistic and accurate manner for kids? Where else will you get a show that takes the concepts of martial arts, such as stance, balance, flow of energy and its style and then turn them into metaphors on life? Where else will you find a main character who is portrayed as fun loving, clever and kind hearted but also performs daily meditation, is vegetarian and attempts to seek nonviolent solutions at any cost? Korean fashion, Chinese calligraphy, Japanese values, Indian concepts and Inuit architecture are all rolled up into one highly enjoyable children's show, and done in a respectful manner. Rather than portrayed as exotic, completely foreign or even backwards, the Asian concepts of chi, chakras, meditation and the uniquely Buddhist flare of detachment from the material world are treated as normal concepts without the slightest hint of condescension.
That's what makes this whole situation really strange. It's obvious a lot of thought has been put into this show. All of the four types of bending - earth, fire, water and air – find inspiration in different types of martial arts keyed to their characteristics. Experts, some with PhDs, do all the calligraphy. So the choosing of an all-Caucasian cast seems contradictory to the past actions of its producers, even - dare I use the word? - betraying. So what happened?
To put the resentment by the Asian community into some context, imagine if the powerful miniseries Roots, based off the book by Alex Haley concerning the saga of slavery in the United States and its effect on African families and identity, had its main character played by Tom Cruise with some dark makeup on, roaring his name is Kunta Kinte. Or, imagine even the stereotypical movie The Mask of Zorro, except that instead of Antonio Banderas playing our masked hero, it was Richard Gere faking a Hispanic accent. Now the inconsistencies become clear, of playing characters based heavily on Asian culture with Caucasians, and then denying why it should cause any inconsistency.
"Call me white again and I'll kick your @##!"
Some say that the storyline in Avatar is a universal story, a classic hero epic, which it is. Yet while there are universal concepts, the story is hardly universal. Where would Zuko be without his obsession with the loss and restoration of his honor? The big finale is based off of Aang's search for a solution rooted deeply in the Taoist and Buddhist beliefs of non-violence. Even the concept of the Avatar himself, complete with cycles of reincarnation and balance restoring, world saving business is a uniquely Hindu concept. It is undeniable that this story has its base in Asian mythology, and it should be treated thusly.
And so, Asians should have a just cause in protesting this egregious error. But the real racism starts to come out when people don't seem to understand why we have such a problem with it and dismiss our concerns as just being finicky, picky, irrational or unreasonable. We have been a quiet minority for a very long time, and perhaps by now, a forgotten minority. But please don't tell us our concerns are not valid. What made Avatar great was that it told a classic hero epic with a panoramic backdrop of accessible, respectfully treated Asian mythology. Now, for Asians, the actors might as well show up with yellow powdered faces and tightened skin to make their eyes skinnier. We are having the best of our cultures exploited with little recognition that it is ours and then told to shut up and sit down. But that's not even the worst of it. Perhaps the most disturbing part is that few people seem to understand why we are angry at all.
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