I got yer "Airbender" Right Here!

For those of you wanting more on this The Last Airbender casting stink, you should visit the original link in the title a few posts down and read the growing comments. They pretty much cover the bases of how one might view this occurrence. I finally saw a commercial for the film yesterday and thought it looked pretty cool. I still won't run to the theatre to see it, but it does look like a strong effort.

I keep thinking about the assumption that Asian characters can't carry a film of this kind, and that seems so foolish to me, whether based in a racism or a reaction to an apparent racism. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon anyone? Hero? The Forbidden Kingdom?

I also wonder if casting all-Asians for the movie would have subjected it to the criticism that it was just another action movie with magical nasty yellow people fighting one another while making semi-erotic vocalizations and hitting on a host of other fringe fetishes.

So, isn't there a way to look at this where the film's casting decision makers can't win for losing?

I'm sympathetic to virtually every argument being made regarding the casting for this movie, but I also wonder if some fuss could have been avoided at all.