Sorry, my inner Kanye got the best of me for a moment.
The link embedded in the title of this post actually refers to Yang's thoughts on the upcoming movie, The Last Airbender (which should have been called Avatar, but some small independent film that debuted last year and nobody ever saw had already claimed that title). The movie directly and overtly cast white people in roles that should have gone to Asian actors, in Yang's opinion. This made him upset, so he did a comic about it.
I find virtually every aspect of this phenomena interesting, but I'm not ready to come down on a side yet. I'm not a viewer of the cartoon the movie's based upon, but Yang makes me want to watch it. On the other hand, I think Yang is putting some words in the mouths of a group of nebulous, apparently white Americans.
Yang certainly has a lot of pull right now, especially among teachers. I'm very interested to see if his argument gains ground, and, if so, whether it'll be lauded or critiqued. I'm also interested to see what else this "shakes out" regarding people's honest opinion about things.
Me? I hadn't planned to see the movie in the first place.
6 comments:
thanks for the link
My pleasure. It's a cool little comic and a neat example of comics as medium for political message, at the least, eh?
I am a big fan of Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender." it's a great series that is strongly embedded into ethnic cultures.
So will you see the movie, Mr. W? I don't have cable, so I'm no longer hip to the toon scene.
You can get the entire series from Netflix. Thats how I watched it. Couldn't get enough, if you want the truth. I am a bit disappointed in the cleansing of the characters but am open to seeing the movie.
It is difficult to take sides on this issue as both have compelling arguments. Racism is almost always subject to proving intent, which is never easy to do.
Cheers!
Steven G. Willis
XOWComics.com
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