According to racebending.com, protesters have accused Paramount of racial discrimination. Particularly with initial casting calls which indicated a preference for Caucasian actors despite the fact that Avatar has been advertised by Nickelodeon executives as a “fantastical Asian world.”
From the site:
As fans of the original television show, we still hold the highest level of respect for the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series and its culturally nuanced depiction of an Asian fantasy world. We desperately want to support The Last Airbender film, but we cannot in good conscience support its current incarnation and the generations of Hollywood discrimination it represents.
Several key points have also been outlined:
-Because the world is supposed to be Asian-based…but Hollywood has deemed that only white actors can populate it.
-Because Nation that was clearly Inuit-based are now white-washed as Caucasians
-Because according to the actors and creators of the movie, ethnicity is just a white person with a tan and some make-up.
-Because it is cultural appropriation (ie, Market research tells us that Asian things are cool! Just not the actual Asian people)
-Because this is a children’s film and children are being shown that only white heroes can exist in a fantasy world.
For more information and ways you can help, visit racebending.com.
I’m not saying i disagree with racebending and what their message is.
I just wanted to point out that the image showing Katara, and Sokka (played by white actors) labeled as “hero” and Zuko (played by an indian actor, dev patel) as “villain” is incorrect.
Zuko is the fire nation prince who tries to capture the protagonist aang in the first season of the series. By the end of the third season he has become one of the heroes, and becomes aang’s firebending teacher, hence helping him defeat the fire lord.
Zuko is a hero, not a villain in the series. He starts off as a misguided villain, but overtime transforms into a hero.