Go see "The Last Airbender"

No movie is going to appeal to everyone but I think M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" is a far better picture than the critics have made it out to be. Film critics seem to abide by an unwritten law that they will slam anything which is entertaining, well-thought out, and visually beautiful.



"The Last Airbender" is entertaining, well-thought out, and visually beautiful -- so the critics are wrong once again.

Does the movie have flaws? Sure it does. I doubt it will take "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards next year but it doesn't need to. The film doesn't have to "fix" M. Night Shyamalan's career, either. I don't care if the guy's movies are blockbusters or not. I keep watching them and that is good enough.

I have written an extensive review of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" at SF-Fandom. Frankly, if you're offended by the casting in the movie you're not going to be happy with me. But I won't insist that all Shakespearean plays be cast only with English actors if people stop and realize that there are, in fact, no Asian-American characters in this movie (there are no American characers at all, so far as I can tell).

The movie is set in a fantasy world so it's hardly morally bound to pretend that the characters of the world think of themselves as "Asian", "Chinese", "Indian", "Buddhist", etc. The story is about a truly interesting conflict deep within the heart of a child who is not really "just a child".

Don't deny yourself the enjoyment of watching one of the better-made fantasy films of the past couple of years. Don't manufacture faux issues about the casting, either. If the characters were indeed Asian Americans I would agree completely and whole-heartedly with the criticisms leveled at Shyamalan about his choice of lead actors -- but frankly those criticisms are unjustified and they only serve to reinforce an unfortunate stereotype: that Asian-American actors can only find work in martial arts movies.

To be honest, I think the protest should strike Asian Americans as offensive because it threatens to niche actors of Asian descent in stereotyped roles.

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