Last Airbender Casting Change

When the major casting choices were revealed for Avatar: The Last Airbender (now officially truncated to The Last Airbender) movie last December, director M. Night Shyamalan drew considerable heat for his decision to use an all-white cast. Fans of the show didn't understand how a film based on a TV show with heavy Asian overtones (philosophies of the setting parallel Buddhism, and the "magic," if you will, is used through martial arts-style moves) could merit not a single Asian actor. While I agree with fan outrage over the casting, I also have much simpler concerns about casting decisions, which simmer down to one point: Jesse McCartney as Prince Zuko?!? Really? A character who over the course of the show undergoes a complex and tormented character development is going to be played by a teen pop idol?? I gave up the game right then and there, seeing no hope at all for the movie.

Now I see a tiny glimmer of light in the darkness, however small. Jesse McCartney has been dropped from the film, supposedly due to tour conflicts with shooting schedules. In his place is Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel, who is currently doing quite well being nominated for and winning awards for his performance in that film. I think Patel will have a much better shot at nailing the arrogant and angry Zuko. What's more, he is most definitely not caucasion, a fact that will hopefully bring down the blood pressures of fans across the nation. Regardless, this film still has a long way to go to dig itself out of the pit it fell into. Shyamalan blundered right of the gate with his casting choices, and although he claims in his interviews to understand the Buddhist influence on the material, I fear that his time in Hollywood is interferring with the director's ability to look beyond the blockbuster concerns of the film and look at the story beneath. To paraphrase movie lore, if you build a good movie, the audience will come. Shyamalan put the cart before the horse when casting this film, and now he'll need to pick up some serious ground to prove to fans that he knows what he's doing.

Stay tuned for further developments in the tale of The Last Airbender.