soc_puppet | Casting Aside

Soooo, it seems as if Jesse McCartney has been replaced by Dev Patel for The Last Airbender?

I'm still a bit worried, actually. In addition to him being a potential "token Asian actor" ("Okay, guys, you've got your Asians, you can STFU already!"), my concerns are that both Katara and Sokka have canonically darker skin than Zuko, and also that Zuko plays something of an anti-villain for a good part of the story. For basically the whole first season, while Zuko is a sympathetic character, he's not really one of the "good guys", and he doesn't get to be until season three. Up until that point, the Gaang (as it stood) is still pretty much played by all white kids (assumptions made re: Noah Ringer).

It also looks like we've got an actor named for Suki: Jessica Jade Andres (picture here, second to last one). Suki definitely has less of a problem with being portrayed as a villain, but she also has considerably less screentime.

I dunno. I mean, it's a step in the right direction, sort-of, and I'll probably never be 100% happy with the cast, but... I did still kinda want Katara and Sokka to keep their pigment, yanno? I guess I may just have to live with what I can get, though :/

Edit: Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one still dissatisfied DD: I feel better about myself now.