Yellowface is the New Blackface*** 
I read a blog post on Floating World the other day and I meant to share it with you people, but then I didn’t because I was busy. And that’s the story of how that happened.
::ahem::
M. Night’s Shyamalan’s new movie apparently not only sucks — go here for a damn good review by Pajiba author Brian Prisco and, hello, 8% on Rotten Tomatoes — but perpetuates Hollywood’s serious race problem. What’s the problem? Too many white folks getting jobs that should be going to colored folks.
This issue was presented brilliantly in Tropic Thunder; Bob Downey, Jr. is a white American playing a white Australian playing a black American. He’s the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude. (It cracks me up that there are people who didn’t understand this brilliant bit of satire and accused Ben Stiller of being racist. People are asshats.)
In The Last Airbender (a movie based upon Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is a Nickelodeon series about… you know… Asian stuff), white actors portray all of the main characters (or almost all — admittedly, I have not seen the film, nor do I plan to because fuck you, Lady in the Water and The Happening) who, in the television series, are obviously of Asian and South Asian heritage. Aaaaaaaand, the bad guys are portrayed by brown people. Duhvs.
I don’t know anything about this series, so I’m going to shut my yapper. I am, however, going to give you a snippet of Q. Le’s article, “Face Painting,” and then encourage you to read the entire post. It’s long, but it’s well worth reading:
“As some of you may know, Paramount commissioned (in)famous director M. Night Shyamalan to adapt the popular Nickelodian series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” into a movie trilogy. The TV series revolves a fantastical, Hayao Miyazaki-inspired universe that deals with individuals capable of controlling and manipulating (aka “bending”) one or several of the earth’s elements – Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire – and how the main protagonist, Aang, the Last Airbender, is destined to bring back balance when the Fire nation’s imperialistic and war-mongering desires get out of hand. The movie is slated for release July 1st this year, and its production has led to a lot of controversy specifically with regards to its casting.
Though I’m not a particular fan of the show (nor do I dislike it) and am simply neutral overall, I feel that it is necessary to state for several reasons why I will not support this movie for professional, philosophical and personal reasons.
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