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Honestly i never really thought that much about it, i mean who really cares that much what race the actors are, as long as they act good, i dont really care

To claim that there are racist goals that the end of the casting is idiotic in every sense of the word. It's a children's show, my friends, that's what it is. It uses traditions that are rooted in other cultures, yes. But to say that the casting of a white person in place of an Inuit is a "travesty against their long-kept traditions", is essentially like saying white people rapping is a travesty against black people's long-kept traditions.

The VA were diverse? LOL.
Dante Basco is the only one of the main cast that wasn't white.

TL;DR-
You're all taking this way too seriously. And it's getting out of hand.

Main cast, darling.
The Earthbending teacher is by no means part of the MAIN cast.

I'm just saying, it's ******** ridiculous. It doesn't matter. And saying it's racist is just taking it too far. Sure, you can claim and speculate, but is it racist? Not really. Yeah, I would love it if they cast Asian actors. But really, if the white actors they found can act better, I'd rather it be this way. I mean, I'd rather the film maintain its integrity than be "politically correct".

Also:
The blues has been a black tradition for a century, the playing of the didgeridoo has been a long-kept tradition. The use of sweat lodges, and peyote to broaden the mind have been rituals long-kept by the Native Americans. Basically, your argument is that it's a travesty if a white man participates in these things, because it's not his.

I think everyone understands that if they cast Jesse the fans will boycott the film.

We both seem to be neglecting the fact that if they were to cast people of color in the roles, they would most likely not cast Inuit actors anyway, they’d probably cast some guy from Portugal. Is this not the same thing? They do this all the time, cast Mexicans as Asians for example. How is this not a travesty as well?

I think this is what our cast should be:
Aang- Nathan Kress
Katara- Angelina Jolie
Sokka- Antonio Banderez
Toph- Dakota Fanning
Zuko- Dante Basco
Ozai- Hugo Weaving (Because the world would be better off if every acting role ever was played by Hugo Weaving. Even the smoking hot chicks.)
Azula- Grey DeLisle (admit it, this woman is gorgeous, just like Dante perfect for her role both as voice and as live action)
Ty Lee- Briana Banks

People seem to forget that the world of Avatar is not strictly Asian, the culture of the Airbenders was indeed based off the Chinese, but, it has been stated that the actual peoples themselves are more leaning towards Caucasian descent. Same with the Waterbenders in the swamp.

I still can’t take your argument seriously because of the fact that you only seem hell-bent on proving the fact that white folks are wrong; you strictly come off as someone who has a problem with white guys. And being a white guy and generally have a problem with people who have a problem with me.

Random points since I missed a whole debate here.

Native Americans in moves (at least the background actors) are usually Asian or Mexican (Sometimes other latin descents too), check some credits some time. Casting a russian man as a german, a filipino woman as a latina, a chinese man as a japanese man, etc. etc. etc. are all the same in my book. Not exactly PC and someone somwhere is going to have a problem with it.

I know this example won't be so profound, but keep with this here. Have you seen Memoirs of a Geisha? Or Hannibal Rising? Well Gong Li is in both of them. And in both she plays a Japanese woman. Now Gong Li is very chinese. And do we pay attention to this? No. You know why? Because she acts the part. She plays a good character.

This isn't as drastic as casting a white guy as an inuit/native america/first nation/etc. guy. But in essence isn't it the same thing? And can't we get over our dumb a** selves and reason that he's playing the part better than anyone else? Or would we prefer he slather on some dark make up and claim inuit? Or maybe that he should hand the role to a crappy actor who makes his own mother cry in shame. Just because he's not the right ethnicity.

. . .I'm sure I'm rambling. You'll have to pardon me. My eyes are blurring a little from tired.

Oh. A few more little things.

If you've seen the role Jackson played in Senior Skip Day I think you'd be a total moron to say he couldn't be Sokka. Seriously? "Why would I want to wear it when I can smoke it with all my lady friends?" Yeah.

India is part of Asia, making Indians Asians. For the love of god everyone get this through your thick skulls.

Grey Delisle is a gorgeous gorgeous woman whom I would love to marry and have the babies of (if it were possible). Dante Basco is also wonderful and a childhood crush.

I want some asians in here fighting for a racist point of view!

Screw us white people.

Oh. And if you want to exclude 'white' people from this whole asian debate you need to specify that you mean East Asia. Why? Because Russia is Asia. There are light skinned people in a number of West Asian countries. And weren't the people of the desert a little...oh, I don't know. West Asian seeming?

There actually was quite an uproar in asia with the casting for Memoirs of a Geisha. I can't remember quite exactly. But I believe it might have been in China. Though my memory is a little wonky right now.

Yes, it would have been politically correct. But isn't it an interesting thing that though you remember that she's chinese, atleast half way through the movie it doesn't matter. Especially for Zhang Ziyi. I know it hardly means anything. But if the acting is good for any character you'd be hardpressed to sit through the whole movie and think "Goddamnit I can't take anything this white Aang does seriously because he's white. I can't even see the acting through his white skin!"

Also using something such as Memoirs as a stand point isn't really as close as we can get. Unfortunately. Because in the book everyone is specifically classified as Japanese. You can't really point an ethnicity so accurately in a world where names like Zuko, Sokka, Mai, Tho, Due, Toph, Azula, June, ETC ETC ETC. Especially since the names for each nation are so all over the place. A good portion are more likely than not made up. And the others are a mixture of ethnicities. June? Sure it's probably a spelling of japanese Jun. (Even though most Juns I know are male...)


Someone remind me when real world ethnicities became part of a fictional world? Based on cultures sure. But I could create a world based entirely on Japan. And have the people of it be entirely Nigerian.

. . .Rambling again. I need to get out more.

It may not be specifically stated but the parallels to the real world make it seem East Asian. And the creators in the Pilot episode commentary even said Katara's hair loopies turned out to be "an authentic Inuit hairstyle".

I didn't know Jun was a man's name but that is her name. It doesn't have an e I don't think. And yeah the names might be made up but some words like Agni Kai are REAL (it means "Fire Duel"). The lettering is in Chinese. On Zuko's wanted poster the characters for his name were "Ancestor's Robber" but in "Tales of Ba Sing Se" they were "Resurrection Rule" you can't change things like that in a romance language.

The Blue Spirit had a Kabuki mask. Heavy placement on honor is East Asian too. (An example is when in movie Mulan, Mulan was discovered to be a woman the was said to have given her family "ultimate dishonor"). The dragons are also an important part of Chinese culture. The martial arts were mostly from Shaolin. The clothing styles were East Asian. In the Water Tribes their furs and styles of dress were Inuit. The monks having shaved heads and being vegetarians is Chinese too. In China people sweep the floors for the monks so they won't kill even the tiniest insects by stepping on them they value life so much. The mention of Chakras is East Asian (the Guru would be Indian as in from India to me) and Chi is mentioned a lot too. Even the way people in the shows kneeled and the furniture is East Asian. There is a lot of meditating too.