This is one of my worries of the movie: All the trailers seem to depict Aang as some kind of somber savior figure, when he's almost never depicted as such in the show unless he's had some kind of serious tragedy happen. It's really core to his character that he acts like a kid 90% of the time and I'm really worried that they will try to turn him in a messiah from the get-go instead of becoming one over the course of the story.
The Last Airbender - New Trailer!
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Hopefully that's just because he's mostly fighting in the trailer.
although i understand that white skin might have been a lack of vitamin D thing (which would explain Inuits)
And in the film they're also supposed to represent various ethnicities, just played by white actors... the point being that the show also did something like that, kinda like Black Barbie being a normal Barbie painted brown.
You do realise that most of Europe in in a temperate climate, right?
although i understand that white skin might have been a lack of vitamin D thing (which would explain Inuits)
I don't think that's a fair statement at all. First of all, the show is a stylized cartoon and the kids don't look any more white than they do asian or black. The other thing is that there actually IS a fair variety in facial features of the various adults (and consistency as to where they're from). The Earth Kingdom people tend to look (slightly) more chinese, for example. You wouldn't necessarily notice if the Earth Kingdom wasn't obviously supposed to be reminiscent of China, but it's there.
Aang is the only character who looks blatantly white, not just because of skin color but also due to the large eyes (that would still be considered "Japanese" somehow in a regular anime). But I think what they're going for there is that the kids in general have larger, rounder eyes to make them look childlike, and Aang has the biggest, roundest eyes of all because he's supposed to be the most childish in many ways. (Granted, it probably also is because they wanted to the protagonist to be the most visibly white).
Until I saw the newest trailer I was upset about the whitewashing in a distant, intellectual way, but this is the first time I'm found myself viscerally reacting, in particular to Katara and Sokka. Someone earlier said all the actors were "uncannily similar" and I really have no idea what they're talking about. Sokka has the Sokka haircut, which is good, but apart from that they don't look like the originals any more than I'd expect any generic white actor(res) to look like them.
Fucking sweet trailer.
On the race debate, I could care less what skin color the actors have, as long as the general setting is preserved. Which it looks like it is. Honestly I think people are making too big a deal out of this. The trailer looks sweet and has upped my faith in Shyamalan making a good movie out of this, especially given the fact that some scenes (Fire nation fleet at the North Pole, Sokka and Katara standing together with him holding a lantern) are almost copypasted from the series. That's good enough for me.
I agree with whoever said that Iroh doesn't look like a jolly old man. Kind of a shame. Then again, this trailer seems to have highlighted the serious parts, including Yue's death for a brief moment. Can't wait to see it, personally.
On the race debate, I could care less what skin color the actors have, as long as the general setting is preserved. Which it looks like it is. Honestly I think people are making too big a deal out of this. The trailer looks sweet and has upped my faith in Shyamalan making a good movie out of this, especially given the fact that some scenes (Fire nation fleet at the North Pole, Sokka and Katara standing together with him holding a lantern) are almost copypasted from the series. That's good enough for me.
I agree with whoever said that Iroh doesn't look like a jolly old man. Kind of a shame. Then again, this trailer seems to have highlighted the serious parts, including Yue's death for a brief moment. Can't wait to see it, personally.
Dude, look at Aang next to the monks or Sokka and Katara next to their tribe... sure, the adults have ethnic features, which is also true for the trailer... (if you stop it right you can see actual inuits behind Sokka and his sis). The fact that the kids don't have them is close enough to whitewashing imo (as per Barbie, who isn't exactly an accurate representation of human faces either).
Yeah, they need to be more tanned to look close enough, i agree...
The difference between Barbie and the Avatar cartoon is that Barbie's features are very distinctly white (well, Barbie's anatomy has all kinds of interesting things going on but let's not go there), whereas in Avatar the kids' features are abstracted to the point where they're not clearly any particular ethnicity.
There's a section in the book "understanding comics" about the power of the cartoon - when you see any random photo, it probably won't look like you at all. The more cartoony it looks, however, the more people can identify with it. A lot of times in games or movies you'll have fairly detailed environments, but a simplified hero that people can project themselves onto. I think that's part of what's going on with the Avatar kids.
There's a section in the book "understanding comics" about the power of the cartoon - when you see any random photo, it probably won't look like you at all. The more cartoony it looks, however, the more people can identify with it. A lot of times in games or movies you'll have fairly detailed environments, but a simplified hero that people can project themselves onto. I think that's part of what's going on with the Avatar kids.
fade
Staff member
That someone was me, and I still stand by it. It's more than the haircut. He has the same jawline, the same somewhat unusually broad mouth, and same eyes turned down at the corners, for example.
Katara even more so. The same moon face. The same circular eyes, and the same narrow, pouty mouth.
I think as far as ethnicity for the actors go, even if you had a full asian cast you'd still get people bitching and moaning about it. The girl who played Suki would be of a Korean background and the earth kingdom is obviously supposed to be china! I mean...HELLOOOOO people! WAKE UP!
Or better yet
OMFG they make a movie largely centered around martial arts and guess what? It's full of ASIANS! What, he is a mathbender too? RACIST HOLLYWOOD IS RACIST!
Or better yet
OMFG they make a movie largely centered around martial arts and guess what? It's full of ASIANS! What, he is a mathbender too? RACIST HOLLYWOOD IS RACIST!
And i guess they're doing the same for the film, after all, kids identify with white people better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_and_Mamie_Clark#Doll_experiments
Well that's the flipside of the argument. The point isn't that kids identify with white people because people are inherently more identifiable - the point is we put white people all over the bloody place to the point that people strongly connect white == good guys. That experiment is one of the reasons that I'm upset with hollywood in general, and Avatar was the first film where I finally got pissed enough to complain to the producers about it. (In the grand scheme of things I honestly don't think it's the worst of sins for Avatar to have an all white cast, but it was the last straw for me).
The kids in avatar aren't "easily identified" because they look white IMO, it's just that they have a style that we normally associate with blank slate, and people have come to associate "blank slate" with white. (There's an article out there somewhere about how most black superheroes are either the black version of a pre-existing superhero, or instead of a normal costume they just have an outfit that particularly emphasizes "blackness.")
What I actually wish is for hollywood to make more movies and TV shows with protagonists that aren't white, without having any particular "ethnic" vibe to the role. (Hollywood has demonstrated a tendency to underestimate people's willingness to enjoy films than run against the current demographic bent, for example they tried to kill the Kirk/Uhura kiss in Star Trek, but when it went on the air as originally planned they got tons of fan mail. They also originally didn't think even Will Smith could play the lead in Hitch, because it was "common knowledge" that people didn't want a romantic comedy starring a black guy).
I can't really complain about any particular movie that has no racial bent that happens to star white people (well, I guess I could, but it would feel silly). But when you take a movie about an asian world and turn the protagonists white, I feel justified in bitching.
The kids in avatar aren't "easily identified" because they look white IMO, it's just that they have a style that we normally associate with blank slate, and people have come to associate "blank slate" with white. (There's an article out there somewhere about how most black superheroes are either the black version of a pre-existing superhero, or instead of a normal costume they just have an outfit that particularly emphasizes "blackness.")
What I actually wish is for hollywood to make more movies and TV shows with protagonists that aren't white, without having any particular "ethnic" vibe to the role. (Hollywood has demonstrated a tendency to underestimate people's willingness to enjoy films than run against the current demographic bent, for example they tried to kill the Kirk/Uhura kiss in Star Trek, but when it went on the air as originally planned they got tons of fan mail. They also originally didn't think even Will Smith could play the lead in Hitch, because it was "common knowledge" that people didn't want a romantic comedy starring a black guy).
I can't really complain about any particular movie that has no racial bent that happens to star white people (well, I guess I could, but it would feel silly). But when you take a movie about an asian world and turn the protagonists white, I feel justified in bitching.
Dave
Staff member
The rape of Smurfette. In this way the male lead character will be able to grow as a person.
C
Chibibar
since Iroh has DREADS. A friend of my wife made these comics.
http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Rastafire-Nation-153873596
http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Rastafire-Nation-153873596
http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Rastafire-Nation-153873596
http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Rastafire-Nation-153873596
North_Ranger
Staff member
Muhahahahaha:
[/QUOTE]
You want something truly horrific? Try this ear-bleeder for change:
Actually i recall a study where lighter skin was preferred by men regardless of social influences and that even historically it was preferred in isolated societies with no contact to white people. My google fu fails me though.
I just rewatched Season 1, and I have no intention of stopping. (Book 2 is my favorite. I really wanna rewatch "Zuko alone" and "Bitter Work," but I'm trying to pace myself).
It bugs me that the first few episodes aren't quite as good though. I want to get my folks to watch but the fact is the first 6 episodes or so aren't all that amazing and I'm not sure I can get them to keep watching.
(Book 2 is my favorite. I really wanna rewatch "Zuko alone" and "Bitter Work," but I'm trying to pace myself).It bugs me that the first few episodes aren't quite as good though. I want to get my folks to watch but the fact is the first 6 episodes or so aren't all that amazing and I'm not sure I can get them to keep watching.
I tried to get my roomate to watch it with me when it first came out, but he'd sit down for a few minutes then say it wasn't for him. It wasn't until the Dai Li came along in the second season that he got really into it, then he had me go back and show him the whole series. I've heard other people mention starting with the "Siege of the North" from the first season to get them hooked. Maybe you could cherry pick some episodes to show them, then make them sit through the first episodes.
On behalf of my country men, i'd like to apologise for that song's existence... totally our bad.
I
Iaculus
Zuko Alone might be pretty good for that. Good mixture of continuity and stand-aloneness.
Second seson was definitely the most consistently good, I'd say. The Day of Black Sun from the third season was very cool, but I couldn't help noticing that it could have been easily avoided if the Earth King had just said to them "Oh, hey, you remember those fake Kyoshi Warriors who infiltrated us a while back? I... kiiinda showed them our attack plans while they were here. My bad."
North_Ranger
Staff member
Well, the Earth King was something of an idiot...
My favourite episodes are pretty action-packed and also continuity important. Try showing people The Waterbending Master (Pakku vs. Katara) or the Blind Bandit (which is both funny AND awesome).
---------- Post added at 02:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------
WHY IS ZHAO SO AWESOME
---------- Post added at 02:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------
WHY IS ZHAO SO AWESOME
Those are indeed awesome episodes.
I think I might love you a little bit. Not LOVE love though.
I was "meh" on the series at first. Watched a few episodes at a friend's house, thought it was cool, but nothing I really cared about.
Then I watched "the Blue Spirit" episode, and I was totally hooked.
North_Ranger
Staff member
First one I watched? The first episode of Book 3. By accident. I had taped it accidentally 'cause the Extreme Ghostbusters used to play at the same spot. I watched it out of curiosity and thought 'huh, this looks interesting'. Books 1 and 2 I've watched online - and without Finnish dubbing.
My best friend went to school for animation, and she'd always give me a heads up on new shows that looked promising.
One day I stumbled on Avatar, completely by accident, and watched the second episode. I immediately called her and told her about it, and she said she knew about it for like a year.
She's now dead to me.
One day I stumbled on Avatar, completely by accident, and watched the second episode. I immediately called her and told her about it, and she said she knew about it for like a year.
She's now dead to me.
First episode I saw was "Jet" and it didn't make me too interested. Didn't help that the next time I randomly caught an episode on Nickelodeon, it was also "Jet." My fiancee convinced me there was more to the show than that and we sat and watched her DVD set. My opinion improved immensely.
They're not; it'll be adapted. As it should be. I'd rather watch a movie adapted from the story than a cliff notes a la the Ember Island players from before the season 3 finale.
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