M. Night Shyamalan took a leap of faith by creating the notoriously infamous 2010 film The Last Airbender based on Avatar: The Last Airbender which was poorly received by critics and fans alike. The film got into a little bit of controversy as well for casting non-Asian people in the film.
Jackson Rathbone, the actor who portrayed the role of Sokka in the 2010 film defended the criticism alongside Shyamalan which did not sit well with people. Dismissing the allegations of Whitewashing the cast, here’s what the Sokka actor had to say about the 2010 film.
M. Night Shyamalan And Sokka Actor Defended The Whitewashing Criticism
Starring in the 2010 film made a lot of controversial noise because of how bad the film was. Adapting the iconic animated series into a film, M. Night Shyamalan axed his own feet but the director defended one particular criticism after the film’s release. Although there were some things right with Shyamalan’s take on the movie, the alleged Whitewashing was simply too much for the people.
Casting Jackson Rathbone in The Last Airbender for the role of Sokka, the world hated the choice and even claimed that the film was whitewashing the characters. In an interview with MTV, Jackson Rathbone, the actor who portrayed the role of Sokka stated that it was all hogwash for which he received some backlash as well.
“I think it’s one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It’s one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit.”
This wasn’t the end of the matter for Shyamalan however, as the director continued to further talk about the alleged Whitewashing in his film and even went as far as to defend his actions by saying that anime doesn’t see races.
What M. Night Shyamalan Had To Say About The Alleged Whitewashing
In an old interview that has been archived now, Shyamalan sat down with The Washington Post to talk about the alleged whitewashing in The Last Airbender. In his comments, the director claimed that “anime is based on ambiguous facial features”.
“Anime is based on ambiguous facial features. It’s meant to be interpretive. It’s meant to be inclusive of all races, and you can see yourself in all these characters…This is a multicultural movie and I’m going to make it even more multicultural in my approach to its casting.”
In the end, the movie was considered a failure with a low rating of 4/10 on IMDB and a record-low of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2010 film is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
