USA Today released the first two teaser pics from M. Night Shyamalan’s live action feature, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Despite the ongoing debate and protests over the casting, it’s clear that the studio is hellbent on moving forward with the movie and promoting it as much as they can. Well duh, it’s their job but it seems like they’re taking a pretty unabashed approach.
Take that, nay-sayers! You may blog all you want, but we’ve got USA Today to talk to us! You say Aang ain’t white, but to us, he sure is!
Oh, and to rub this white-washing in even more?
For years, Noah Ringer went by the nickname “Avatar” because he looked so much like the lead in the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now he gets to act like the character, too.
Yeah, they said it. And don’t forget the photo caption as well:
The good guy: Noah Ringer, 12, already had the look of Aang, an Avatar who can manipulate weather, because he usually shaves his head to keep him cool for tae kwon do (he has a black belt).
Because that’s all that it takes to look like Aang, right? Thank god he already has those wide Caucasian eyes that you find so common in anime. So while the rest of you whine about the misrepresentation of the race and culture behind Avatar, it doesn’t matter! Shyamalan still got the perfect white kid to play the lead role.
I’m not convinced though. He just looks like some white bald kid with freaky hands.
On a more positive note, I must admit that the pictures look cool–you know, in that way where you realize that it is possible to bring an incredibly creative and imaginative animation to real life (but uh…without the magic…and Asian people).