In one of M Night's latest defenses against racebending accusations he said that Dev Patel plays the hero (or is the star--I can't find the article to quote). Now, I haven't watched more than a handful of the cartoons, but whuh? Is not Aang the star, being the titular character and all that?

From everything I've read so far MNS should have just stuck with "they're just anime, they have no race," because what he's said just sounds dumb.

Now, I haven't watched more than a handful of the cartoons, but whuh? Is not Aang the star, being the titular character and all that?

Aang and Zuko are essentially dual protagonists. Zuko starts out a villain but is really more of an antihero. His character arc is one of the best I've seen in any medium. So I can see where M. Night is coming from in saying that Zuko is the real hero/star, although, like I said, I would consider him a dual protagonist on par with Aang in terms of the story.

Do you think it's a valid defense against claims that the cast has been whitewashed? Also, is his villainy countered in the span of the first movie?

Not P-C, but no, and no. The movie plotwise covers the first season of the show, which ends with Zuko slightly redeemed and ambivalent, but still a bad guy.

Well, the real problem with Dev Patel being cast as Zuko is that he'd make a way better Sokka. But I do think it's cool for an Indian guy to play an important character with a great dramatic arc. The fact that it makes everyone around him brown is an unfortunate consequence. And of course it wouldn't be so bad if the protagonists hadn't been cast as white instead of Asian.

I don't know, I can sort of see both sides of the argument, which is usually the case.

In the span of the first movie, Zuko does become, at the least, a sympathetic villain, in contrast to Zhao. It'd be the second movie where he really starts to grow.

I also recall MNS saying that casting Dev was a win for the race-blind casting, since the character was not Indian in the cartoons. But he's still browned up the baddies...I just don't get his point of view. I understand that there are fans that don't care and won't care, but he said his kids loved the cartoon because they saw themselves in it, and he passed on the chance to translate that to a massive audience.

And all the casting sides and tales of the calls are just horrendous. What a clusterfuck.

I've read a few early reviews. It sounds like Airbender isn't worth watching. oh dear- Ebert gave it half a star.

Little Aang reminds me of Wallace Shawn as a child. This is not a bad thing (he should only grow into Shawn's shoes), but doesn't the role require little Aang, not little Wally?

Well crap. I was hoping that despite everything it would be watchable.

So I can see where M. Night is coming from in saying that Zuko is the real hero/star

I can too, but that doesn't make his choices any better. Either he cast someone from his own race as the pivotal character, and cast the other characters Default White, or he cast the bad guy of 2.5 movies brown.

Is Iroh Indian?

What if he'd made the other Fire Nation people white, or random races?

Well, the real problem with Dev Patel being cast as Zuko is that he'd make a way better Sokka.

Oh man! You are so right.

Mal's been checking out the photos of the actors on his McDonald's stuff, and had a bit of a hurdle accepting that those kids were Aang and Katara. He's still really dubious about Sokka.

Is Iroh Indian?

Yeah, the whole Fire Nation is Indian.

Oh man! You are so right.

I think it was a friend of mine who said that, and as soon as she said it, I couldn't not think it. He'd be perfect.

the whole Fire Nation is Indian.

And Persian and Maori. They're the only and exclusively not-white Nation.