Well, then most likely you’ve never traveled outside of the States and you’ve never put your internet access to good use…like to learn about people of other cultures… you just use it to spew your ignorance.

Aang, is Asian. And what about Uncle Iroh? Is he WHITE too? You guys will do ANYTHING to own everyone’s culture but your own. I bet you practice yoga and drink green tea and are meaningless Asiaphiles like the ones who will see this movie. There are a lot of us out here OF EVERY RACE who know that the characters are ASIAN and we have no problem with that! Why did the actors HAVE to be white? Would anyone have cared if they were Asian? No.

In this world ALL cultures have an Asian influence; art, martial arts, music, architecture, etc. I just keep hearing people getting upset at the casting of Ang and yet the released picture of Noah Ringer as Ang is a DEAD RINGER for what the animated version drew.

People need to be careful when they start throwing the race card around. Where-as racial problems do still exist, it is too easy to use the arguement that this person is a racist or that person is a racist because people see things differently. By saying Ang is Asian simply because he is a monk and resembles a Shaolin Monk is wrong. He has always been drawn as a “white kid.” You can see the considerable difference in features from how they draw Prince Zuko, whick has always been drawn with Asian features. Saying Ang is Asian and calling everyone racist is racist in it’s own right for you have no tolerance in seeing Noah Ringer as Ang. But look at the picture… looks like Ang to a lot of us.

The running controversy will hurt the movie commercially. But more importantly, his choices and the studio’s will affect children who will take away powerful impressions from seeing one set of actors instead of another on hundreds of screens worldwide.

PBS just ran a documentary, “Chinese Hollywood”, on the long history of yellowface in movies, from silent films to the 70s – oops, the 00s. A timely reminder of the irrefutable cultural history and racist baggage of today’s industry.

“Muhnight” is either chillingly indifferent or blatently ignorant of this baggage. Even if we’re charitable and assume he’s an ahistorical ignoramus, this is difficult to excuse, given his prominence as an Asian American director. He isn’t working on the Moon. He’s seen Citizen Kane and Lady from Shanghai – and he’s seen the Charlie Chan movies, too. He *should* know his history.

Even if he’s afraid to challenge his studio after a series of commercial flops, doesn’t he have some measure of responsibility to make a modest, personal Alamo of this issue?

To paraphrase Jeff Smith, “Stupid, stupid sell-out ar-teest.”