Race fail 2009.
This past Monday, on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, on the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration, I discovered that the casting of the four leading characters for the upcoming live-action movie, The Last Airbender (based on the TV show, Avatar: The Last Airbender) had gone entirely to white actors. I want—no, need—to say something about this.
Following Jackson Rathbone’s footstep in addressing fans’ criticism over The Last Airbender casting, pop singer Jesse McCartney comes to MTV to share his response towards fans’ protest of the “all Caucasian” [sic] casting. The 21-year-old who is tapped for Prince Zuko part tries to assure hard core fans of the animated TV series that he will do his best to do justice for his character.
“I heard a lot about this online,” the singer who fills the voice of Theodore in Alvin and the Chipmunks explains. “There’s a lot of hard-core fans out there [who] probably know more about it… I’m still learning. This is M. Night’s vision and this is what he wants. To all the fans, I can tell you I’m putting my best foot forward.” He further adds, “I’ve been in kung-fu training for the last month and half-learning all the moves. I’m looking forward to it.”
The casting controversy came out after reports surfaced that karate-trained Texan Noah Ringer, Twilight actor Jackson Rathbone, Deck the Halls actress Nicola Peltz and singer Jesse McCartney have been offered the roles of Aang, Sokka, Katara and Zuko respectively. The casting of the four Caucasian actors brought out negative reaction from fans with accusations of racism.
Earlier, Rathbone has responded to the complaints, stating that it is his chance to show his range of acting. Speaking to MTV, he added on what he will need to do for Sokka’s transformation, “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.”
—“Jesse McCartney Answers The Last Airbender Casting Criticism,” ACESHOWBIZ.com
Actors are chosen by their popularity at the moment of the film, not by their race. Aren’t you just racist towards Caucasian people?
— Johnnie Jun 25, 10:45 PM #
Which means I suppose that the next inevitable Michael Jackson biopic will star Zac Efron? (Actually—)
— Kip Manley Jun 26, 11:57 AM #
I don’t think that just because someone is upset that the casting went to white people instead of Asian that that means they are rascist. It would be ignorant to say that. Understandably, one would expect that Asian characters would be played by Asian actors, and not white ones. Especially if you’ve seen the show or have been a fan of the show for a long time. It’s just disappointing. Duh.
— Lucia Jul 7, 10:45 PM #
The casting choice was ridiculous. The actors clearly don’t even look anything like their characters. Obviously, if the makers of Avatar made the characters look that way, it was for a reason. I’m a fan of the show and I am definitely disappointed for sure.
Plus Jessie McCartney isn’t even playing Zuko in the film. That one guy from Slumdog Millionaire is. So, yes, one of the most popular white characters in the series is going to be played by a very dark actor. WTH.
— Ray Aug 8, 10:02 PM #
The casting is just lame. Aside of the kid that plays Aang, the rest of the casting is stupid.
Racism is what this movie is doing, disrespect the characters is the most horrible error that can happen. So, if the character looks Asian, you would expect to find an Asian playing that role, and it’s the same with brown characters… man… this is like a deja vu, I’m having images of Dragon Ball Evolution right now… yuck!
— Raul Perez Silvent Oct 6, 02:12 AM #
wait, jesse mccartney plays both aang and zuko? WTF?
— theneslink Dec 21, 07:45 PM #
They dont look ASIAN! Holy cow they’re not tryin 2 b racist, they picked people that you KNO! There not gunna get some unknown dude 2 do it! WTF!
— Zuku=Hottie Jan 31, 03:12 PM #
1st thing: Zuko is NOT played by Jesse. I don´t know where this comes from, but if you´ve seen the Trailer u know, that´s not him.
2nd I watched Avatar myself (not all eps though), and the charas are animated, so mostly they don´t look really asian to me (it´s often like that in mangas and animes), so spare us with that. Naturally I can understand, that u expect them to cast a part of them with asian background, or rather suitable actors. And though I really like Jackson (recognized him imediately), he´ll never will look like Zuko.
And yes, I´m disappointed in Zukos choice, but we´ll see. Maybe they will act it all out.
— Carol Mar 5, 07:24 AM #