A PEOPLE AGAINST RACEBENDING MANIFESTO

We, the PEOPLE AGAINST RACEBENDING, hold that the CASTING PRACTICES USED IN THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE WERE RACIST. We urge the producers to recast the movie to better reflect the roots and diversity of the original source material.

We hold that THE WORLD OF AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY ASIAN CULTURES due to the names, architecture, clothing, writing, and philosophy evident within the original source material. Lacking geographical (no actual Asia or Europe) and physical (the art style renders the characters somewhat racially ambiguous) clues to the characters' ethnicities, we conclude from the overwhelming cultural clues listed above that the characters AANG, KATARA, SOKKA, AND ZUKO ARE ASIAN.*

We hold that RACE MATTERS. While ability (to act, to perform martial arts, to save the world) is more important in the judgment of people and their character, as well as in the judgment of who should play an acting role, we recognize that RACE AND CULTURE HAVE SIGNIFICANT ROLES IN SHAPING THESE CHARACTERS AND PEOPLE IN GENERAL. WE RECOGNIZE THAT RACE IS A PART OF WHO THESE CHARACTERS ARE, AND A PART OF WHO THEIR ACTORS ARE.

Therefore, we conclude that ACTORS OF ASIAN DESCENT SHOULD BE PRIORTIZED FOR THE ROLES IN THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE, in the same way that roles in movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia were prioritized for white (and in some cases, even more narrowly required to be British) actors. ACTORS OF ASIAN DESCENT SHOULD BE PARTICULARLY PRIORITIZED FOR THE FOUR PRINCIPAL ROLES OF AANG, KATARA, SOKKA, AND ZUKO. In the event that no capable Asian actor is available, an actor of non-Asian descent is acceptable, in accordance with the ideals of affirmative action. This means that all possible measures to cast an Asian actor must be made before the selection of a different actor.

Because there are more than 14 million Asians (and 4 million Native Americans) in the United States, and not a single one of the four actors initially cast for the four principal parts were of Asian descent, we conclude that the producers made no effort to prioritize Asian actors. Furthermore, because of the lack of a non-white actor in the already non-Asian cast, we conclude that race was not made a non-factor (“race blind casting”), but continued to affect casting, this time prioritizing whites over all other races.

That the casting call sheets featured the phrase "Caucasian or any other ethnicity" instead of the more general, race-blind "Any ethnicity" reinforces the idea that the producers prioritized whites over all other races.

Since then, the producers have replaced the actor for Zuko with Dev Patel, an actor of South Asian descent. They have since moved to fill the antagonistic genocidal nation of Dev Patel’s character with actors of descent from in and around South Asia and the Middle East.

WE THEREFORE HOLD THAT THE CASTING PRACTICES USED IN THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE WERE RACIST.

THE RACISM IS THREEFOLD:

1) FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ASIANS AND THEIR CULTURES TO THE MAKING OF THIS STORY.

2) TOKENISM: In failing to prioritize Asians, the producers then did not, at first, open casting to all races, and instead prioritized whites over all others. They have since replaced one of the actors, seemingly to address our concerns, but continuing to disregard the above point.

They have further introduced "Africans" into the Earth Kingdom. Whites and blacks were not in the original source material, leading us to conclude that the presence of blacks as background people is being used to justify whites in the lead roles under the banner of "diversity."

3) REINFORCEMENT OF STEREOTYPES AGAINST DARK-SKINNED PEOPLE, AND THOSE OF SOUTH ASIAN AND/OR MIDDLE EASTERN DESCENT conflating them with evil and genocidal elements.

The fact that "Asian, East Asian, and Africans" make up the Earth Kingdom creates a situation in which WHITE HEROES WILL BE SAVING THE PASSIVE PEOPLE OF COLOR FROM TERRORISTS. We hold this to be CONTRARY TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL'S MESSAGES OF RACIAL HARMONY AND EQUALITY.

WE URGE THE PRODUCERS TO RECAST THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE, PARTICULARLY THE FOUR MAIN ROLES OF AANG, KATARA, SOKKA AND ZUKO, TO BETTER REFLECT THE ROOTS AND DIVERSITY OF THE SOURCE MATERIAL.

We further hold that THE MISCASTING OF THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE WAS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. The policy of hiring white actors for Asian roles, commonly known as YELLOWFACE HAS A LONG HISTORY IN HOLLYWOOD, AND IS EVIDENT IN MANY FILMS, including but not limited to Broken Blossoms (1919), The Good Earth (1937), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Kung Fu (1972-75), Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981), Balls of Fury (2007), Norbit (2007), 21 (2008), Dragon Ball Evolution (2009), Prince of Persia (2010), and The King of Fighters (TBA). We therefore conclude that THERE IS SYSTEMATIC RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ASIANS IN HOLLYWOOD.

WE URGE HOLLYWOOD TO STOP THESE RACIST PRACTICES IN FAVOR OF CASTING POLICIES THAT RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT HOW RACE AND CULTURE SHAPES ITS ACTORS AND THEIR CHARACTERS.

Lastly, WE URGE THE PUBLIC TO BOYCOTT M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN'S THE LAST AIRBENDER. The producers have made their casting decisions based on the idea that the audiences only want to see white actors and to give them money justifies their actions.

*We use the term Asian to include Inuits, since some Inuits live in northern Asia.

If you have further questions about this movement and what it stands for, check to see if we have addressed them here:

http://www.racebending.com/racebending.php


What can you do to help?

-Write a letter
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/646.html

-Sign the petition
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/racebend/petition.html

-Make a protest video
http://www.youtube.com/user/racebending

-Help us find new ways to protest
http://community.livejournal.com/racebending/

-Spread the word to news sources
http://racebending.com

-Buy a Tee-shirt and Spread Awareness in Style
http://www.zazzle.com/glockgal

-Hand out fliers
http://www.sendspace.com/file/03lvm6
http://www.sendspace.com/file/csos22

NOTE: Please note, this group is in no way, shape or form connected to the production of The Last Airbender, Paramount Pictures, or Viacom. The Last Airbender is property of Viacom. We're a protest site. (read less)

A PEOPLE AGAINST RACEBENDING MANIFESTO

We, the PEOPLE AGAINST RACEBENDING, hold that the CASTING PRACTICES USED IN THE LAST AIRBENDER MOVIE WERE RACIST. We urge the producers to recast the movie to better reflect the roots and diversity of the original source material.

We hold that THE WORLD OF AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY ASIAN CULTURES due to the names, architecture, clothing, writing, and philosophy evident within the original source material. Lacking geographical... (read more)