Avatar the Last Airbender - Movie Discussion

[Nevar]

Mod Note: Split from a previous topic

Iroh is awesome! I <3 Zuko though..so much. BTW! random but for any who care/want to see the movie the final trailer has been released. And come to my suprise a twilight vampire plays Sokka! O_O

[Vephriel]

BTW! random but for any who care/want to see the movie the final trailer has been released.

*flails and runs off to watch*

[Nevar]

I did this too lol

[Kaleos]

*Flails!* WOO! ..what what are we flaining for? /shrug ...*Flails!* woohoo!

[Dragonpuff]

/Avatard nerdrage
Gah! Stupid casting! Zuko?! Why?! Scar is totally not big enough, and you have a FULL HEAD of hair! Sokka! You at least look kinda right, but you're a skiny white boy!
/end nerdrage

^-^

[Nevar]

Zuko needs to be hotter, Sokka looks pretty good shoulda made him get a tan BUT...I think Sokka's pretty hot <.<

[Vephriel]

I know a lot of people are complaining about some of the casting choices, but they don't look too bad to me.

True, Zuko could have been better looking, but in all honesty I think it would be hard to find actors that not only fit the part visually but are also skilled enough to perform the martial arts that would be required. I'm not going to go into the movie expecting the animated series, and by the looks of things just the action scenes alone will be fantastic enough.

Hmm, bit of a thread derailment now....perhaps I'll split this into a new Avatar discussion topic. ^^;

[Nevar]

I know!!! I'm a Sokka and Zuko fan girl and i also like the one earth bender guy...I forget his name..he was the young one Katara liked a lot...I cannot recall his name for the love of me

[Dragonpuff]

Haru? The one that gets the weird 'stache later? XD

I must admit, I am one of the people bothered by the casting. It just doesn't sit right with me that a characters based on different ethnic groups get f-ed around with for Hollywoods sake. It would have been the perfect opportunity to look for different people, a springboard for actors who aren't white. Honestly, the kid who plays Sokka actually said he got the role just because he really wanted to do it. Sounds like they didn't even look at anyone else....

The people they have look alright, yes, but they don't feel right to me.

It maketh me rage.
/breathesfire

[Talody]

I was excited about this movie when I first heard about it.

Was. Now I am just saddened by it.

Then I found out that that M. Knight Shamalamadingbat is involved in it. I have disliked every movie of his I have ever seen, and I know he's gonna kill this one. I'm gonna skip this movie entirely and enjoy the cartoons.

[Aleu]

...The only thing I have to say is dear god, I hope they didn't screw up something that could be completely epic...

[Nevar]

We shall see whatever they do the anime is still there and you gotta admit like Veph said...its gunna be hard to find people who can do the moves and look the parts. However an all asian cast like I've heard mentioned wouldnt really work..Sokka and Katara are clearly NOT asian. I'm still excited to see it and I'll give everything a chance if it sucks then it sucks if its good then its good its as simple as that. However I like some of the casting..Katara could have been better but then again in Sokka's case if you cast someone because they really want the part isnt that the entire point? If you really want something your gunna be passionate about that something..I think he looks good - like I said coulda been a bit tanner but eh I'm satisfied enough.

Ps. And yes Haru I HATE the facial hair on him though -_- Jet's nice though

[Dragonpuff]

It was just the way he said it though. It was in an interview, so I was listening to it, and how he said it bothered me. It was like... Argh, how do I put it to words?
Like the kid's agent walked in when they were figuring out casting, said he wanted the role, and the directors just chalked him up to it. 'He wants to be Sokka? Sure! The less money we spend on casting, more money we can spend on L337 SFX! Moving on to Katara...'
Now, I'm probably wrong about that scenario, but that's what it sounded like, and it just threw me off of him completely. :/

And yes, an all asian cast would be incorrect as well. The Water Tribe are based on Inuit peoples, the Fire Nation on the Chinese/Japanese, and Air Nomads on Tibetan monks. The Earth Kingdom people are more of a mismash of people to me, as you see a variety of people types in them, but I can't remember if they had a specific base. >.< Their basis is always the one I forget.


Pps. Yes, Haru's facial hair was totally laughable! It's like he was trying to look older then he was, and failed miserably! XD

[Nevar]

Yea I guess your right but maybe hes trying to ditch the stufy vampire title xD I would be...I'd love to be a part of the Water Tribe! lol It should be more widespread I agree but finding a Inuit person that could fit the part wouldnt be that easy imo... Idk we shall see ^_^

[Dragonpuff]

Oh god, now I'm thinking of a vampire Sokka! D: And little Bats with wolf-tail hair! Why is it cute?! WHY?!

Yeah, I gotta admit to the Inuit thing. Least they coulda done with their L337 SFX was make their skin darker... Or make all the actors get dark tans... or SOMETHING...
/grumbles

[Vephriel]

Hmm, I still don't see anything wrong with the casting and the trailer looks absolutely amazing. I'm excited for it. ^^

[Nevar]

Me too!!!

[Nick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIOgGBE5yOw

I think of this whenever I see Haru with his 'stache.
xD

[Mania]

The casting is a tricky thing.

(I've been doing a lot of reading on intersectional disabilities lately.)

On the one hand, the physical look of the actor isn't nearly as important as their ability to act. People can get hung up on this, but having dark skin doesn't mean you can't act in light-skinned roles and vice-versa. (And no, I'm not talking about black-face!) Perhaps a better example here is the martial arts -- skill may be important, but it isn't the only criteria. The right actor for the part is not necessarily the person with the most technical skill at martial arts -- otherwise they would have cast Jackie Chan.

So the race of the actors in this movie is immaterial so long as they act their parts well -- which includes acting in a believable fashion as members of the movie's vaguely Earth-like races.

On the other hand ...

There is still a lot of institutional and individual discrimination in film, especially for the people in front of the cameras. Young, thin, white people get more and better parts. Recognizing that, I'm a tiny bit hesitant about applying my first point in such a way as to choose an actor who happens to be white over one who isn't. It's easy and common -- and easy to justify -- choosing an actor who is white regardless of the role, much harder and more rare to choose a non-white actor even for non-white roles.

Now mind you, since I didn't cast this movie I don't have any particular right to dictate how the casting was done. But I can express disappointment that they didn't use this as an opportunity to deepen our set of known actors. (And if I feel enough disappointment, I can refuse to see the movie.)

[Torachi]

The people they have look alright, yes, but they don't feel right to me.

Dragonpuff pretty much summed up all my feelings. I know I'll probably either love the movie, or despise it, after I've seen it. There have been a few where I went into the theater thinking they'd be terrible, and I ended up liking them... but there's also been some that I was looking forward to, saw in theaters, and hated how they came out.

As it stands at the moment, I'm feeling quite skeptical about it, but I'll still at least give it a chance.