glockgal: some progress

NO KILL I (

glockgal) wrote,
@ 2008-12-18 07:21:00

Entry tags:

avatar, avatar: the last airbender, the last airbender

some progress
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER - small wins! Successes of sorts!

1) The story got picked up by io9.com. Yay!

2) scifi.com has replied to my email, that they'll 'Look into it'. I'm gonna email them again. :D Send your emails to the media!

3) aang_aint_white is still going strong! Don't forget to mail your letters!

4) (courtesy of sweetie-pie jedifreac <3 <3 <3) -
FINALLY. OUR PROOF. Because for some colourblind-via-privilege people, we needed proof. Here is what everyone needs to preface their letters, comments, debates with :

"Avatar: The Last Airbender is a truly unique comic adventure with rich animation and incredible martial-arts choreography. Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino designed a fantastical Asian world with compelling characters and interesting creatures that will capture kids’ imaginations and spirit." - Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon. SAUCE

OKAY HOW ABOUT THIS:

Since its launch, Avatar has developed a fervent fan base, and not just with kids. The unique attributes of the show -- epic storytelling, Asian influence and film quality graphics -- have generated one of the most passionate fan bases in Nickelodeon's history. - Nickelodeon Avatar Related Press Releases SAUCE

So now, tell me that Avatar isn't Asian-based. Tell me it's fantasy world therefore it can't be Asian. Tell me you still think the characters are white. Tell me we shouldn't be angry because they picked the best kids for the job/we're over-reacting/we're being so hostile over nothing/we're blowing this out of proportion. Tell me a thousand other things that dismiss or derail my opinions. TELL ME THIS ISN'T BLATANT WHITEWASHING.

NOW I CAN FINALLY SAY IT. HERE IS YOUR PROOF THAT IT SHOULD BE A RACIALLY DIVERSE CAST. THEREFORE WHAT THEY DID - HOW THEY CAST - WAS RACIST.

....ohhh yeah that felt good.
-------------------------------------

The battle's no where near won, but at least there's more ammunition to shoot in the face of willful ignorance.

KEEP WRITING LETTERS:

aang_aint_white

KEEP CONTACTING THE MEDIA:
Email addresses here!

KEEP INFORMED:
Link roundup here!

And most importantly: KEEP TELLING YOUR FRIENDS!

(40 comments) - (Post a new comment)

	lisafeld 2008-12-18 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	Woot! Nice to have some outside media confirmation, and nice to feel the boulder finally beginning to budge! toddles off to write more letters (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2008-12-18 06:29 pm UTC (link)
	You are a GEM. Thank you so much!! MWAH It really is quite heartening. I just sent my second batch of emails this morning, and added new media contacts to the list. YAY! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	lisafeld 2008-12-19 12:40 am UTC (link)
	I am just so blown away by how much you have put into this. You're inspiring. (Reply to this) (Parent)

bzzinglikeneon
2008-12-18 04:20 pm UTC (link)

Damn it, Lori, they didn't talk about Jackson being too old! XD

In all seriousness, though, I love how you're bringing the pain on this one. Now that I know what the fuck is up with it, I'm pissed off, too. I'm also intensely disappointed in M. Night, who was my favorite director up until all of this started. It really annoys me that I've been defending him to all the haters all this time, and he goes and betrays my trust like this. I just do. not. get it.

This comment, however, wins the internets today:

Asian thing aside... Lets all be clear. Being white is not the most offensive thing about Jesse McCartney.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

glockgal
2008-12-18 06:34 pm UTC (link)

LOLS. CHEEKY MONKEY. XD

And I understand to a certain degree know how you feel about M Night. I have no real angry!zomg!complaints about his movies - any of them - and if anything I was full of so much hope when they billed his to direct, because, well. For obvious reasons. ;D

My only pov on him now is that I'd like to think that both he and the co-creators of the animated series had no control over the casting. They are all remaining so mum about it, it's almost like a gag. It's really too bad that more creators don't have JKR-style control over their creations - sure, I didn't like the HP movies personally, but at least JKR was key in decision-making.

Being white is not the most offensive thing about Jesse McCartney.

SOOOOO MANY THINGS TO LIST WRONG ABOUT THIS PIECE OF VEAL. GYAH.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

mijan
2008-12-18 04:22 pm UTC (link)

I don't know too many animated series. In fact, I barely watch TV and was honestly unaware of this whole thing. However, having read your post, I can see that any intelligent and aware person should join in the letter-writing campaign. This is ridiculous. Like you, I am stunned that they'd blatantly select white actors and actresses to fill roles that are distinctly non-white characters. I plan to send a letter. (Besides, as a cosplayer, I'm die-hard about accuracy, and if you're going to play a character, you'd better look like the character!)

At the same time... I also find myself feeling a touch of personal frustration. It's a hard feeling to describe. Let me explain.

On one hand, I simply look Caucasian. I speak unaccented, American English. I've actually been accused of being automatically racist JUST because of that, even though I'm not racist whatsoever. I know that all physical attributes are part of a person, and to me, a person's race is no more important to their value as a human being than height or eye color. Yes, our cultures play a part in how we're raised, but not in our intrinsic abilities.

Going back to the fact that I look "simply" Caucasian... it belies the fact that I actually have a diverse background. I'm half Jewish and half Acadian - two groups that have historically dealt with severe oppression. Both have faced attempted genocide. I think that a lot of people ALSO forget the fact that Caucasians have a diverse history, and not all of them have had it easy. We only tend to look at the relatively recent history in our own country, instead of seeing the fact that powerful nations have oppressed other groups of people absolutely irregardless of skin color. The British tried to wipe out the Acadians, and treated them like second-class citizens for centuries. The Jews have been abused by... everyone.

Nowadays, I see cases of racism such as this, and it hurts me on SO many levels. It hurts because I fear that because I look white, I'll be lumped into the "racist" category JUST BECAUSE of my skin color. It hurts because I know that discrimination, historically, has not just been determined by skin color. It hurts because I so deeply value the richness of other cultures, and yet I see things whitewashed with the modern American version of "culture." It hurts because I feel that I'm somehow obligated to be self-deprecatory because another person with a skin tone similar to mine was an asshole. It hurts because I feel like I have to go out of my way to make amends, instead of TRULY just treating everyone with the same respect and regard. It hurts me because I'd hoped (apparently in vain) that we'd somehow progressed beyond the infantile mindset of racism.

I hope I've articulated this well enough. Like I said, it's a frustrating feeling, and it's hard to describe. It's upsetting on many levels. It leaves me both angry and sad. It makes me feel guilty when I've done nothing wrong myself.

I'll write a letter, even though I've never watched the show, and had no intent to watch the movie. I think it's important to do so. Please keep us all updated on your progress.

I need a cookie now.

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thegr8saiyaman
2008-12-18 06:05 pm UTC (link)

*gives you a cookie* Hope you don't mind cookies from strangers >_>

It hurts because I feel that I'm somehow obligated to be self-deprecatory because another person with a skin tone similar to mine was an asshole. It hurts because I feel like I have to go out of my way to make amends, instead of TRULY just treating everyone with the same respect and regard. It hurts me because I'd hoped (apparently in vain) that we'd somehow progressed beyond the infantile mindset of racism.

This is so eloquently put and exactly how I've always felt. Well said.

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	jedifreac 2008-12-18 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	Yes yes, and well, like my boyfriend, who is white put it--"I'm offended because it is condescending for them to assume that white people can't handle Asians in Avatar." =P I mean, do they really think so poorly of audiences? Did they really think people wouldn't notice and get pissed off? (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	bossymarmalade 2008-12-18 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	mijan, while I appreciate that your ancestors have faced discrimination, please don't refocus the issue to the hurts suffered by white people/white guilt. This is not the place for it and in fact derails the discussion at hand, which is the lack of representation of people of colour. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

mijan
2008-12-18 07:45 pm UTC (link)

Wow, that was narrow of you.

As I see it, it's not your journal, so please don't tell me what is my place, and what isn't. If Glockgal wants me to delete the post, let her speak up. I know her and respect her. I don't know you, and you haven't done much towards the latter.

You also missed my point. Racism, bigotry, and prejudice are complex issues, rooted in society at many levels, caused by imbalances of power and politics so old that we've forgotten their origin, and perpetuated against people of every demographic on earth over the course of human history. I was discussing MY perspective on situations like this: my AGREEMENT that it is racist and obnoxious for the movie producers to cast non-Caucasian characters with Caucasian actors, and ALSO my own personal feelings, as a Caucasian, that arise when things like this happen.

Don't give me a line about "derailing" the discussion. I was using the points I made to illustrate my perspective on matters of racism. I come from two cultural heritages that have faced severe discrimination, and I've encountered it myself, believe it or not. And YES, that does impact my world view of racism. If anything, it's made me want to take an even stronger stand against racist behaviors. However, I've become disillusioned by the self-perpetuating notion to which some people cling: that it's the PoC's against the Caucasians. It perpetuates divisiveness, instead of allowing people to share mutual struggles, and to learn from various experiences. It builds walls instead of tearing them down.

I've stated my support for the letter-writing campaign. I've stood with many friends of different ethnicities against prejudice and bigotry. I do it because prejudice and bigotry are evil, and because I also know what it feels like. Forget about my cultural heritage for a moment. I face legalized prejudice EVERY DAY in this so-called land of freedom. I listen to people spew libel and slander against my demographic in the media, and constantly wonder if my mere presence will offend the wrong person. I get to sit back and watch arrogant politicians discussing whether or not my marriage is valid, as if I'm nothing more than a rabid dog and they're discussing the best way to euthanize me. In my state, I can be denied housing AND employment. I'm called a "threat" to children, and am accused of destroying family values, even as I fight to keep my own family safe. It's part of the same evil. It's part of the bigotry and prejudice and stereotypes that are used to demean and degrade human beings of all groups.

You missed the entire point of my post. I'm sorry that you thought I was trying to rain on your parade. I'm even sorrier that you were narrow enough to categorize the entire point of my post as simply "white guilt" instead of seeing the complexity of the issue for what it is.

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bossymarmalade
2008-12-18 08:48 pm UTC (link)

I'm really glad I have you to lecture me about how complex racism and bigotry are. I hadn't picked up on that in my thirty-plus years as a multinational woman of colour.

Also, since you seem to have missed MY point: I was not calling into question your experiences or status as an ally. I was merely saying that diverting the discussion to your own issues with racism and being Caucasian (which have taken up the better part of comments for this post) don't serve the focus of the letter-writing and publicity campaign.

I'm sorry that you thought I was trying to rain on your parade. I'm even sorrier that you were narrow enough to categorize the entire point of my post as simply "white guilt" instead of seeing the complexity of the issue for what it is.

Don't tell me you're sorry when you're obviously not.

At any rate, since I know my sister hates strife in her journal and I have no desire to contribute to your feeling of entitlement to discuss your personal feelings as a Caucasian in this post, I'm going to leave it at that.

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jedifreac
2008-12-18 09:22 pm UTC (link)

bossymarmalade, I don't think it was a derailment. I agree that it's much worse for non-white people but that doesn't mean that white people don't have to put up with crap either. It may be less crap than what other people have to put up with, but that doesn't mean they get a free pass and it would be fallacious to act like they do.

Even though mijan looks Caucasian (even though she is half Jewish and half Acadian), she has still experienced prejudice. Maybe not the same type or the same amount as you have, but she's just trying to say that she can relate.

Racism goes both ways and talking about it doesn't undermine this point: Racism and discrimination towards anyone should not be tolerated.

I wonder what the kids cast in these roles are going through. I mean, they are being accosted for their race. I feel like they're kids and it's really the producers' fault for not knowing better, but they've gotta be feeling pretty defensive and confused right about now. (But again, not as defensive and confused as the people who didn't get the opportunity they have, I'm sure.)

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bossymarmalade
2008-12-18 09:33 pm UTC (link)

Well, I don't expect everybody to agree with me. To me, focusing so much on "How White People See It" diverts from the subject at hand, and I was hoping we could keep the focus on *this particular topic* instead of making lengthy comments that fill out a white liberal bingo card.

ETA: Also, I really REALLY don't want to get into Oppression Olympics. I never said that

mijan didn't face prejudice or doesn't understand discrimination; I said that perhaps this is NOT THE PLACE to talk about it at such length.

Edited at 2008-12-18 09:37 pm UTC

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mijan
2008-12-18 09:42 pm UTC (link)

"...your feeling of entitlement to discuss your personal feelings as a Caucasian in this post..."

Wow, that just says it all. That's right - to make up for every Anglo-Saxon jerk from the past few centuries, I am obligated to keep my mouth shut to make you feel better about it because I'm going to be lumped together with everyone paler than Draco Malfoy with a tan. I was trying to lend my support, but seeing as this is an issue of perspectives, I ventured to offer my perspective, too. I should have learned my lesson from watching other discussions of racism: white people are obligated to keep their mouths shut unless they only speaking about the evils of white people. I'm glad most of my non-Caucasian friends are so narrow.

If you think that racism and bigotry are limited to people of color, then you DON'T know how complex racism and bigotry really are.

And I WAS sorry. I really was. Now I'm not. I'm only sorry to Glockgal for the direction this took.

I told a co-worker (and dear friend of mine) the Acadian history once. She's a black woman, and she had never known that any group of northern European ancestry had faced racism. She didn't know that the British tried to wipe out the Acadians, and murdered them on the shores of their villages until the tides ran red. She didn't know the centuries of prejudice that followed. And when I told her about it, we bonded over the shared knowledge that race is only one part of overall historical struggle of humanity. Apparently, the idea that "white people" struggled is something you'd rather ignore.

I'm still going to write that letter because this is an issue that impacts everyone, and because I cherish diversity. I'm going to write it because I like and respect Glockgal. I'm going to write it because the producer and casting director of that movie are morons who need to be taken to task for their stupidity. And I'm going to try to forget about this conversation, because it's the sort of thing that only serves to divide people.

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	bossymarmalade 2008-12-18 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	aaaaaaaand BINGO!!! (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

mijan
2008-12-18 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Thank you for proving that racism goes both ways. No thanks to you for being part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

That bingo card is disgusting. And I've got to love this:

"Claims that not dating POC is purely a matter of physical preference—“I don’t date short/redheaded men, either!”"
And then a couple of squares over...
"Brings up race of POC partner or children randomly, in order to prove lack of racism."

There's nothing a white person can do to make you happy, is there?

I'm going back to the original point of this whole post, and I'm leaving my discussion with you behind.

Glock, I'll write a letter, and I'll post about this on my f-list tonight to get more people to write letters. I hope the letter-campaign works!

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glockgal
2008-12-18 06:48 pm UTC (link)

MANY COOKIES FOR YOUUUU. THANK YOU FOR WRITING A LETTER!!

I have two ways to respond to this, the second way being that I am reputedly a really bad written communicator. ;D

The first being - I'm pulling out my friend-card! She's my BFF, she's as white, blonde and blue-eyed as can be. She's also an ESL immigrant to Canada. However her English is flawless, so no one can tell at first meeting/glance. So many - SO MANY times she'll come to me and rant about so-and-so friend who made a racially offensive comment/joke that she will call them on. They would look at her in surprise and say "But you're not ___that race__, why are you offended?" So many times people will dismiss her as "Oh, that's just D____, she's such a hippie/commie/liberal, her opinions don't matter." So many times she'll be told "I don't see race; I'm colourblind!" and people expect her to congratulate/agree with them for this. So many times she'll be greeted with silence when she makes her voice heard.. So many times, people will not understand at all why she is angry about racism - why should she be? She's blonde and blue-eyed and white, for god's sake!

So yeah - when it comes to knowing how it feels, I can see her pain and I can understand it and I kinda love her for not taking any bullshit from anyone.

The second being a couple extraordinarily cogent responses to people feeling the 'liberal white guilt' -

florence_craye pipes up here.

bossymarmalade adds to it here.

They are very good with words; I am not. But what they say sums up how I feel about the whole situation! I hope it'll makes sense to you too, boo. *MWAH*

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mijan
2008-12-18 08:09 pm UTC (link)

COOKIES!!! *nom-nom-nom*

I sympathize with both you and your friend. I've called people out for their racist remarks, and I've received a similar response that your friend got. In contrast, I had a guy spit on me when he found out I was half Jewish. It's like, damn, I can't win! And best yet - I remember the day that a young black man almost flat-out said that I automatically MUST be racist because I'm white. How the hell do you respond to that???

I looked at the posts on "white guilt". Okay, there's no way for me to say this without the risk of it being misinterpreted because this is the internet, so I'm going to have to trust the intelligence of people who might happen upon this post.

I don't personally feel "white guilt." Hear me out. I don't have any personal sense of guilt for slavery, for the Jim Crow laws, for the inequality of funding for schools, or even for the stupid behavior of movie producers. Why don't I? Because I had nothing to do with any of those things! Neither did my ancestors, for what it's worth. And I've spent my life actively working against bigotry and prejudice in all forms.

What I feel is frustration at the pressure I've received telling me that I'm SUPPOSED to feel this mysterious "white guilt." It's like, why can't I be friends with people, and work with people, and simply treat them as human beings regardless of ethnicity, instead of being pressured to feel like I'm supposed to constantly apologize for things I didn't do? That's not guilt - it's frustration. It's frustration because there's no good answer that I can give. It's frustration because I feel that the fight against racism and bigotry is a fight for HUMANITY, not between cultures or races. As long as it's seen as a fight between races instead of a labor of love for all humanity, then we can never hope to defeat racism.

I said that things "hurt", but I didn't say that I felt guilty. I said, "It hurts because I feel that I'm somehow obligated to be self-deprecatory because another person with a skin tone similar to mine was an asshole."

So, where does this leave me? I shared this to offer a perspective, not to anger people. Perhaps it was my attempt to illuminate why a "white woman" (read: "half-Jewish lesbian Pagan") would be so determined to fight racism in all its forms, and even get involved with a letter-writing campaign for a movie that I don't intend to see, based on a cartoon I've never watched. Perhaps it's because when I see issues like the movie casting, it infuriates me, but I feel that I'm somehow not worthy of being equally infuriated as everyone else.

In matters of gay rights, I have heterosexual friends and family who will celebrate just as much as I will when my nation finally recognizes my marriage. I know straight people who are working just as hard as I am. I don't tell them, "You couldn't possibly understand my pain, so stop pretending." I say, "Thank you for being part of the fight."

I hope that whoever reads this post will take it for what it's meant to be, and not pass unfair judgment on me. Give me at least that benefit of the doubt?

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glockgal
2008-12-18 10:43 pm UTC (link)

I totally acknowledge your pov and I respect the perspective, because everyone has one and I love reading them! And as always, I am grateful you're taking the time to write a letter. <3 <3

I do agree with my seester that this might not be the best forum, because I do want to keep these posts concentrated not on personal experiences, but on media coverage, news about the movie in particular and other incidences directly related to The Last Airbender movie.

However, I don't want to lose all of this, so I've gone ahead and made a whole separate post dedicated to people sharing their thoughts. You aren't the first one who has given me their story and it's made me realize that people need a forum to do so. So I created one.

Please please I want as many people to share and I'd love if you even just c&p'd your post there! Getting as many voices out about racial issues is also sticky and hard, but we all need to be brave and take a step forward with it, I think. <3

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	glockgal 2008-12-18 10:45 pm UTC (link)
	Also, since this is no longer a forum for debate, I shall freeze this thread. Discussion can be taken to the new post instead of this one. Thanks everyone for understanding! (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	itsbeenvery 2008-12-18 05:08 pm UTC (link)
	Some of the comments left on the io9 article...head desks FYI to some people there: "American" does not mean "white". (Reply to this) (Thread)

	jedifreac 2008-12-18 06:15 pm UTC (link)
	UGH some of the comments on io9 are pretty disgusting. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	glockgal 2008-12-18 06:50 pm UTC (link)
	I know, I'm not sure how or where that idea came from, because uh. UH. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO ARTICULATE MY WTF-ERY. Anyway, all I can think is la la laaa, any publicity is good publicity right right right?!?!? Gyah. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	jedifreac 2008-12-18 09:26 pm UTC (link)
	Anyway, all I can think is la la laaa, any publicity is good publicity right right right?!?!? Gyah. Well, let's how the producers of The Last Airbender don't feel this way. This isn't just "any publicity" it's "extremely negative word of mouth." Let's make it so! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	glockgal 2008-12-18 10:49 pm UTC (link)
	LOL yeah if there's one thing I've come to realize, people love getting into a good debate. I just hope that, you know, our side wins in the end. tee hee I saw your original post before you edited it. Cheeky. XD <3 <3 <3 <3 (Reply to this) (Parent)

itsbeenvery
2008-12-18 10:08 pm UTC (link)

Anyway, all I can think is la la laaa, any publicity is good publicity right right right?!?!? Gyah.

I completely agree, and I think the way the OP presented what you and others had to say was very fair. So far, so good! I think this issue definitely has time on its side, as the nature of making a movie takes months, and if we keep at it strong enough for long enough, it is possible tptb might at least reply.

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	the_glow_worm 2008-12-19 01:56 am UTC (link)
	Someone summarize that for me? I only skimmed the first page and most of the comments I saw were pretty supportive besides the occasional WRY SO ANGRY? (Reply to this) (Parent)

reallyreally
2008-12-18 08:08 pm UTC (link)

I haven't had time to read all the discussion around this, but it pisses me off so much. I don't know, I feel I have to share parts of my life which relate to this in like, general pissed-off-ness.

I work at a school in a racialy diverse suburb to Stockholm, in a very racialy diverse school (we've got students from 34 different countries who speak a bunch of different languages). The subrub where the school is located has this big mall, and the people on it's advertisements are all white, and every morning when I get off the subway I am met first by these white, thin people on billboards and then by my students and my mind just sort of goes BHWU? Not because we have no white students or there are no white people living there, but because the people on the advertisements are ALL. WHITE. and the population certainly isn't.

Also I was half watching this award show for "Swedish Heroes" aka everyday people who have helped other people from burning houses or fought discrimination or what have you, and they had these vinjettes with kids talking about what it meant to be brave inbetween the prizes being handed out, and while I was watching all the children were WHITE BOYS. WHAT. WHAT. I mean, I didn't see the whole show, and it might have been more diverse overall, but it's still so weird to put all the white boys in the same part of the show, if that was what they were doing. AGH.

Tbh, though, I'm not entierly sure where the line between white and POC goes in these discussions because I have a whole different understanding of race and racism. In Sweden the difference is more related to culture than skin colour (meaning that racists hate people on cultural grounds, too, not that there is no racism, obvs! :P).

Like, we have this word "invandrare," which basically just means "immigrant" but is heavily negative. A person from Ukraine, Afganistan or Nigeria is an "invandrare" but Swedes would never call Americans who move here invandrare, they're just Americans. Being an American in Sweden is positive, but being an invandrare is not. However, you can easily be and invandrare without being POC, if POC is what I understand it to be. I can recognise that the people on the billboards are white (especially on the pictures, they might speak with an accent, in which case they won't seem as invandrare on the pictures but coded as invandrare IRL), yes, but I couldn't tell you if some invandrare I know would be read as white in the states.

Like, I've always wondered, according to American ideas of whiteness, are Jews white? I have never fully managed to understand this! I mean I would definitly say that my jewish relatives are white (fair skinned) but they are still not white (nordic) and they are still invandrare.

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mijan
2008-12-18 08:18 pm UTC (link)

Re: "Like, I've always wondered, according to American ideas of whiteness, are Jews white? I have never fully managed to understand this! I mean I would definitly say that my jewish relatives are white (fair skinned) but they are still not white (nordic) and they are still invandrare."

Well, it depends on who you ask. It depends on how the person was raised.

I've been told by plenty of people that Jewish is white - particularly by people who don't want to accept that anyone who isn't brown has faced racial prejudice.

In contrast, I've been spat at for being Jewish. I've heard someone use the phrase "dirty Jew." And I had a very nasty break-up with a boyfriend about ten years ago... who didn't recognize my Jewish heritage in my features, but when he met my dad, he saw it and made a comment. I dropped him before he knew what hit him.

So, is Jewish also white? As I said, it depends on who you ask. But when the answer is "no" and it comes from an anti-Semite, you learn very quickly just how "not white" it can be.

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	jedifreac 2008-12-18 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	Some people make the assumption that since some Jews can "pass" as white, they are white, so there. So they're...yeah. ::headdesk:: (Replies frozen)(Parent)

reallyreally
2008-12-18 09:47 pm UTC (link)

Since the only people who have ever recognized that I have Jewish heritage without me mentioning it are Jews I have found myself listening to people saying things like "well, don't you know that the Jews are secretly ruling the world! It's horrible!" etc, so I definitely know that there is a problem there, and that there is predjudice.

I'm still having problems understanding "white" as a defition, though. I don't have any problems with it AS a definition, I recognize that there is a problem and that people are valued because of their skin colour/heritage. I want to make that clear. I'm trying to understand "white" as a term because I think it's important to have a basic understanding of it when you want to fight racial predjudice. Is white defined by "not white" i.e "the other" and if it is, then how do we know who is white (out of people who have relatively fair skin and could "pass" as white) until someone (like the anti-Semites you mention) calls us on it?

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	raggedann 2008-12-18 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	You're kind of my hero. FYI (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2008-12-22 07:15 pm UTC (link)
	NAWW BOOOOOO. <33333333333 I'm just happy to see people reporting on this, HOMG. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chootoy 2008-12-18 08:34 pm UTC (link)
	I love your tenacity. This perpetual racial sterilization is a blight that has to be put to an end! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2008-12-22 07:16 pm UTC (link)
	BLIGHT IS RIGHT. ALSO - HAIRY COO FTW. XD (Reply to this) (Parent)

roadtriphome
2008-12-19 03:14 am UTC (link)

It's really awesome how you're getting people to think about the importance of keeping the Avatar movie ethnically correct (is that even right?). When you posted about the non-Asian cast, even as a non-fan, that just makes me upset. I don't know if that's just laziness or marketing on their part. If your adapting something, you want the screen characters to be as much like the original characters as possible (especially without makeup) - that definitely includes ethnicity. With a story like Avatar, which appears to be deeply rooted in Asian storytelling, it's an insult not only to the culture but the story just to slap on a cast of popular kids and hope the name sells it. That's where adaptations have been going wrong with for a long time (as well as with how they adapt the story itself).

What am I getting at? *confusion* Uh, so yeah, keep up the good fight! I with you 100%!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

roadtriphome
2008-12-19 03:31 am UTC (link)

Random thought: With trying to write scripts (a lot of adaptations) myself, I constantly think of how ethnicity plays a part in the casting. Like, take Jubilee and or Grace, from the game Gabriel Knight. Now a days, it probably wouldn't come into consideration that these two are ethnically very different. Jubilee is a Chinese-American while Grace is Japanese-American. Now would this matter to Hollywood? Probably not, just find someone whose Asian and rebellious looking and hope she can read her lines right - if that. I mean come on, the movie they did of Generation X had Jubilee as a white girl (despite having liked her portrayal). I don't know if their ethnicity would even be taken into consideration as an important piece of character building. Grace is heavily influenced by her Japanese parents and family back in Japan, even if she's very much an American girl. Jubilee has never really shown any sort of influence from her Chinese upbringing (but this could be a slight on the writers part), but she still was raised by parents who immigrated from China (last I remember). An orphan with Chinese family is a huge influence on her character (for someone who doesn't want to be discovered and returned to them). Without their cultural backgrounds, they would be different characters, as much as any Caucasian European descendant. Though, lets not get started on the stereotypical stuff they include in things when they DO get a character's ethnicity right. That's a whole other post. *facepalm*

SO again, go you for fighting this. It's not right, and it's terribly sloppy on their part.

Sorry for writing so much, but you're so right.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

glockgal
2008-12-22 07:22 pm UTC (link)

*MWAH*

People in one of my previous posts did have some conversations about the casting of Memoirs of a Geisha along that whole reasoning of casting non-Japanese people in Japanese roles. It does get into a tricky racial casting issue, especially when the character or the world is set so specifically.

The advantage that Avatar has is that the world is fantasy. Asian-influenced fantasy yes, but still not completely adherent to worlds like in X-Men (which is set on actual Earth) or Memoirs. So the room for a diverse casting becomes a bit more malleable ethnicity-wise. Casting a set of blindingly-Caucasian kids and saying "we can tan them" is soooooo not right; but (I think) casting a set of racially mixed kids to fit in an Asian-influenced fantasy world? It just...it makes so much more sense!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	brown_betty 2008-12-20 04:16 am UTC (link)
	I wanted to thank you for keeping at this. Posts like yours have actually made me check out Avatar, and I'm half-way through the first season now! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2008-12-22 07:22 pm UTC (link)
	For true??? I hope you're enjoying it! Second season is definitely my favourite! XD (Reply to this) (Parent)

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