So apparently M. Night Shyamalan's whitewashed adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is a terrible movie as well as a textbook example of racism in action (link goes to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
snarp's post). Like umadoshi, I can't help but feel some schadenfreude, though I hope torachan's prediction that Hollywood will take this as an example of the unmarketability of Asian fantasy will turn out wrong. Based on Nick Matamas' review and Variety's comments, it looks like Hollywood is taking it as an example of the fact that M. Night Shyamalan's career is trending downward. (Quite honestly I was surprised that he got the project, and my sense was that this was Shyamalan's last real chance to show that he still had box-office mojo. We'll see.) Also, Dante Basco, who played Zuko in the TV show, has spoken out against the whitewashed casting today.
All that being said, it's not possible to say enough about this.bossymarmalade has a great post illustrating why that is.
I don't even have to put a line in this post to separate the next topic. To wit, I learned frominkstone yesterday that, in order to increase sales, Cindy Pon's publisher has decided to whitewash the covers of Silver Phoenix and its sequels.
inkstone has a roundup of links here; the only post I've had time to read so far is this one by bookshop, which I recommend.
It's great that Greenwillow wanted to go to bat for Pon and her Chinese YA fantasy Phoenix enough to put in the money for the cover redesign, but the new covers betray both the author and her story by trafficking in misogynist, racist publishing truisms. There are alternatives, as the new covers of Liar and Magic Under Glass demonstrate, and Greenwillow should change the covers again.
In the meantime, it appears I failed to review Silver Phoenix; I shall have to remedy that.
snarp's post). Like umadoshi, I can't help but feel some schadenfreude, though I hope torachan's prediction that Hollywood will take this as an example of the unmarketability of Asian fantasy will turn out wrong. Based on Nick Matamas' review and Variety's comments, it looks like Hollywood is taking it as an example of the fact that M. Night Shyamalan's career is trending downward. (Quite honestly I was surprised that he got the project, and my sense was that this was Shyamalan's last real chance to show that he still had box-office mojo. We'll see.) Also, Dante Basco, who played Zuko in the TV show, has spoken out against the whitewashed casting today. All that being said, it's not possible to say enough about this.
bossymarmalade has a great post illustrating why that is. I don't even have to put a line in this post to separate the next topic. To wit, I learned from
inkstone yesterday that, in order to increase sales, Cindy Pon's publisher has decided to whitewash the covers of Silver Phoenix and its sequels. inkstone has a roundup of links here; the only post I've had time to read so far is this one by bookshop, which I recommend. It's great that Greenwillow wanted to go to bat for Pon and her Chinese YA fantasy Phoenix enough to put in the money for the cover redesign, but the new covers betray both the author and her story by trafficking in misogynist, racist publishing truisms. There are alternatives, as the new covers of Liar and Magic Under Glass demonstrate, and Greenwillow should change the covers again.
In the meantime, it appears I failed to review Silver Phoenix; I shall have to remedy that.
