I had to represent. Cause they had one good role for a black man, and they gave it to Crocodile Dundee!
-Alpa Chino, Tropic Thunder
Earlier in the week, Cinematical ran an article on M. Night Shyamalan’s new film, Avatar: The Last Airbender. For those unaware, the movie is an adaptation of a hit anime, long due a trip to the screen – I hope it ends up either significantly better than, or significantly trippier than, Speed Racer, the most recent such attempt (seriously, it’s what I imagine really hard drugs are like). Of course, this being Hollywood, Shyamalan has secured a predominantly white cast for his film. Well, except for one of the major roles, which will go to Dev Patel. The fact that that role is the role of the villain probably doesn’t help none, nor does the fact Patel was only the second choice. So why does Hollywood insist on the race lift?
Is the cast ethnicity a sticking point?
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar, avatar: the last airbender, ethnicity, hollywood, M. Night Shyamalan, minorities, movie-making, prejudice, race lift, racism, racist, recasting, zoe saldana | 10 Comments »
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