Transcript of Growing up Avatar-American
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Century Cinema?
chapter 11 Cosmopolitan Pleasures and Affects; or Why Are We Still Talking about Yellowface in Twenty- First- Century Cinema? Felicia Chan Introduction1 Yellowface and cinema share their roots in the theatre. Writing about yellow- face performance in the 19th century, Sean Metzger (2004: 628) argues that the ‘Chinaman’ fetish ‘substitutes for and conceals the dominant anxieties about Chinese immigrants among the white majority in the late 1800s [in America]’, and the ‘Chinaman character serves as a vessel, encapsulating a range of anx- ieties produced by white concerns over the presence of Chinese people in the United States social and economic order’ (ibid.: 643). Indeed, yellowface per- formed as camp and comic representation via the racial impersonation of East Asian peoples (not only Chinese) by way of caricature extended well into the 20th century – Mickey Rooney’s short- tempered, buck- toothed and heavily be- spectacled Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961) still jars (Ito 2014) – and also as figures of fear, such as the Fu Manchu figure in numer- ous books, films, television programs, comics and radio. Jill Lane (2008: 1730) suggests that ‘racial impersonation – acting in the name and place of the other through such practices as blackface, redface, yellowface, cross- dressing, and drag – has played a particularly important role in the imagination and aesthet- ic articulation of national communities across the Americas’. Yellowface is now, by and large, perceived as an offensive and unacceptable practice, yet it persists, even in films as recent as Cloud Atlas (Lana Wachowski 2012), in which actors Hugo Weaving and Jim Sturgess have their facial features altered with prosthetics to appear ‘Asian’ in the film’s fictional ‘neo- Seoul’ city (Le 2012). -
Harry Potter Racebending
Petersen-Reed: Fanfiction as Performative Criticism Fanfiction as Performative Criticism: Harry Potter Racebending Khaliah Peterson-Reed University of Southern California [email protected] Abstract Fanfiction anatomizes a text and in this textual nakedness fanfiction writers recognize gaps in their chosen source texts and seek to supplement these deficiencies through literary disrup- tion. This essay focuses on the kind of fanfiction that critically disrupts through artistic cultural production—a practice that I am labeling performative criticism. I look at Racebending fanfiction that intervenes in the gaps of the Harry Potter series—specifically the gaps related to race. Using fanfiction produced by Harry Potter fans, I will show that by reading and writing fanfiction these writers are blurring demarcation between creative writing and literary criticism. Essay I suspect that Jo Rowling probably imagines James [Potter] and Harry [Potter] as white too, I don’t mind that, that’s her business ...In absence of a specified race I choose to imagine the one that makes the story most compelling to me. My James is black because that creates the most personally compelling racial background for my Harry. It is informed by interpretation of the canon interactions between the Potters and the Evans/Durselys , [...] It is informed by my expe- rience as the black mixed-race child ... [and] by my personal desire for a black mixed-race hero story. It’s not arbitrary and it doesn’t come from nowhere [...] All my interpretations are based squarely in canon. But if they weren’t, that would be damn well acceptable. Squeeze representa- tion out of anywhere you can feel it and fabricate the rest. -
Animating Race the Production and Ascription of Asian-Ness in the Animation of Avatar: the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra
Animating Race The Production and Ascription of Asian-ness in the Animation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra Francis M. Agnoli Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of East Anglia School of Art, Media and American Studies April 2020 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 2 Abstract How and by what means is race ascribed to an animated body? My thesis addresses this question by reconstructing the production narratives around the Nickelodeon television series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-08) and its sequel The Legend of Korra (2012-14). Through original and preexisting interviews, I determine how the ascription of race occurs at every stage of production. To do so, I triangulate theories related to race as a social construct, using a definition composed by sociologists Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer; re-presentations of the body in animation, drawing upon art historian Nicholas Mirzoeff’s concept of the bodyscape; and the cinematic voice as described by film scholars Rick Altman, Mary Ann Doane, Michel Chion, and Gianluca Sergi. Even production processes not directly related to character design, animation, or performance contribute to the ascription of race. Therefore, this thesis also references writings on culture, such as those on cultural appropriation, cultural flow/traffic, and transculturation; fantasy, an impulse to break away from mimesis; and realist animation conventions, which relates to Paul Wells’ concept of hyper-realism. -
A Look at Race-Based Casting and How It Legalizes Racism, Despite Title VII Laws Latonja Sinckler
Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law Volume 22 | Issue 4 Article 3 2014 And the Oscar Goes to; Well, It Can't Be You, Can It: A Look at Race-Based Casting and How It Legalizes Racism, Despite Title VII Laws Latonja Sinckler Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/jgspl Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Sinckler, Latonja. "And the Oscar Goes to; Well, It Can't Be You, Can It: A Look at Race-Based Casting and How It Legalizes Racism, Despite Title VII Laws." American University Journal of Gender Social Policy and Law 22, no. 4 (2014): 857-891. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sinckler: And the Oscar Goes to; Well, It Can't Be You, Can It: A Look at R AND THE OSCAR GOES TO . WELL, IT CAN’T BE YOU, CAN IT?: A LOOK AT RACE-BASED CASTING AND HOW IT LEGALIZES RACISM, DESPITE TITLE VII LAWS LATONJA SINCKLER I. Introduction ............................................................................................ 858 II. Background ........................................................................................... 862 A. Justifications for Race-Based Casting........................................ 862 1. Authenticity ......................................................................... 862 2. Marketability ....................................................................... 869 B. Stereotyping and Supporting Roles for Minorities .................... 876 III. Analysis ............................................................................................... 878 A. Title VII and the BFOQ Exception ............................................ 878 B. -
Moral Rights in the Last Airbender and Fair Use in Ms. Marvel
4. Tanaka4. Tanaka (Do Not Delete) 9/4/2018 10:01 PM Promoting Asian American Representation Through Copyright: Moral Rights in The Last Airbender and Fair Use in Ms. Marvel Jon Tanaka† INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 88 I. REPRESENTATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS IN POPULAR CULTURE ... 91 A. The Absence of Asian American Characters and Narratives .......................................................................................... 93 B. The Whitewashing of Asian American Characters ............. 95 II. THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF MORAL RIGHTS AND FAIR USE ............. 98 A. Preventing Whitewashing with Moral Rights ..................... 98 1. Moral Rights in the United States: The Visual Artists Rights Act ................................................................. 100 2. An Expansive Moral Rights Framework .................... 101 3. Moral Rights as a Framework for Whitewashing ....... 105 B. Promoting Diversity with Fair Use ................................... 107 1. Transformative Works ................................................ 108 2. Character Copyrightability ......................................... 110 3. Applicability to Racebending ..................................... 111 III. DUELING CASES: AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER AND MS. MARVEL ............................................................................................... 114 A. The Whitewashed Case: Avatar: The Last Airbender....... 114 1. Moral Rights in Avatar .............................................. -
The Appreciation of Storybending an Exploration of Reviewing Practices in Online Avatar Fan Fiction
The Appreciation of Storybending An Exploration of Reviewing Practices in Online Avatar Fan Fiction Master thesis Arts and Culture Studies: Children’s Literature School of Humanities Tilburg University Rincke de Bont ANR: 284541 Supervisors Dr. S.J. Lehtonen Prof. Dr. W.L.H. van Lierop Drs. A.W.M. Duijx Tilburg, September 2014 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 2. Theorizing fan fiction and the appreciation of the arts ....................................................................... 11 2.1. Fandom: the definitions .................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2. Quality .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 2.3. Reviews and the fan fiction system .................................................................................................................. 19 2.4. Fan activism in Avatar .................................................................................................................................... -
Or Why Are We Still Talking About Yellowface in Twenty-First-Century Cinema?
Cosmopolitan Pleasures and Affects; Or Why Are We Still Talking about Yellowface in Twenty-First-Century Cinema? Felicia Chan Abstract: It is now widely acknowledged that the postracial fantasies ushered in by Barack Obama’s two-term election success are now in tatters. Yet debates on yellowface casting practices in contemporary Hollywood (also said to have evolved into “whitewashing” practices), in such films as The Last Airbender (M. Night Shyamalan, 2010), Aloha (Cameron Crowe, 2015), Doctor Strange (Scott Derrickson, 2016), Birth of the Dragon (George Nolfi, 2016), and Ghost in the Shell (Rupert Sanders, 2017), have resurfaced in recent times. These press controversies seem almost anachronistic after a generation of “intercultural” artistic theory and practice, “diversity” management training, and numerous academic discourses on otherness and difference, including those on cosmopolitan theory and practice. This article reviews yellowface practices and debates in contemporary times and puts them in dialogue with cosmopolitan aspirations of being “open to difference”, and argues that the latter cannot be taken as self-evident. It offers a way of thinking about yellowface practice via cosmopolitan pleasures evoked largely through modes of consumption, which “hollow out” the subjectivity of the character being depicted. On the site of the intersection between representation and subjectivity is where the identity politics occurs, yet, rather than universalising the issue, the article argues that a cosmopolitan approach should take on board -
From Racist Depictions to Token Minorities Debra Kates Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago Cultural Studies Capstone Papers Thesis & Capstone Collection 5-12-2017 Yellow Tokens: From Racist Depictions to Token Minorities Debra Kates Columbia College Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cultural_studies Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons Recommended Citation Kates, Debra, "Yellow Tokens: From Racist Depictions to Token Minorities" (2017). Cultural Studies Capstone Papers. 17. https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cultural_studies/17 This Capstone Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Thesis & Capstone Collection at Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cultural Studies Capstone Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Columbia College Chicago. Yellow Tokens: From Racist Depictions to Token Minorities By Debra Kates Capstone Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies Cultural Studies Program School of Liberal Arts and Sciences Columbia College Chicago May 12, 2017 Abstract The project argues that the misrepresentation of Asians in film is a direct result of white supremacy. It researches the presentation of East Asian Americans in films as a result of the hegemonic ideology of whiteness, focusing on the standard of movie star perfection as a form of white supremacy, and includes films that have white men and women cast in lead roles, even when the story is uniquely Asian. Using the theoretical lens of whiteness studies the project analyzes examples from the American film industry from the past fifteen years. -
Whitewashing in the U.S Film Industry by Claire Starling My Piece On
Whitewashing in the U.S Film Industry By Claire Starling My piece on whitewashing is related to the theme of diversity in many different ways. It brings attention to an issue in the lack of diversity in the U.S film industry and the erasure of different races and cultures. This erasure acts as an attempt to whitewash our history and many different stories because of the perceived notion that whiteness is the preferred standard. This not the case of course, and this work argues that fair representation and diversity within films and television is vastly important for audiences who are consuming this kind of media. The Hollywood film industry plays an enjoyable and consistent role in the lives of many people in the United States. As a form of entertainment, the film industry provides countless hours of stories and performance for a substantial amount of profit. Although many aspects of the Hollywood film industry are extremely popular and lucrative, there are undesirable aspects to the industry that can cause ethical issues for the movies it creates as well as the audiences watching them. One issue that has been present in the film industry for many years is the act of whitewashing. Whitewashing occurs when film producers actively seek and cast white actors for roles that were originally meant for people of color, whether it is that the character is described as a certain race or their ethnicity is clearly defined within the story. This phenomenon creates a complex and harmful issue within the film industry that many people are opposed to for good reason. -
Representation in the Story: the Social Impact of Diversity in Transmedia
University of Central Florida STARS Honors Undergraduate Theses UCF Theses and Dissertations 2020 Representation in the Story: The Social Impact of Diversity in Transmedia Tiffany S. Tanaka-Cooper University of Central Florida Part of the Creative Writing Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the UCF Theses and Dissertations at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Tanaka-Cooper, Tiffany S., "Representation in the Story: The Social Impact of Diversity in Transmedia" (2020). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 826. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/826 REPRESENTATION IN THE STORY: THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF DIVERSITY IN TRANSMEDIA by TIFFANY TANAKA-COOPER A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program and for the Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in the College of Arts and Humanities and in the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2020 Thesis Chair: Peter Telep ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to take a more profound and nuanced look into the effects of diversity in transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) on society, more specifically, how the representation in these stories affect the minority groups that interact with transmedia. This thesis investigates the depiction of minority groups in transmedia storytelling and the influence of identifiable characters and plotlines. -
Bamboo Box Lead Artist Wynn Lee ’21
SKIDMORE THEATER PRESENTS JKB SpringFest Bamboo Box Lead Artist Wynn Lee ’21 CAST Émilie-Anne Choi ’21 K-pop Idol Ayesha Robyn F. Domingo ’22 China Doll Jessie March ’21 Weeb Waifu Carter Jones ’22 Voiceover PRODUCTION TEAM Annie Cox ’21 Choreographer Libby Hinshaw ’23 Lighting Designer Arielle Lamb ’24 Costumes Designer Wynn Lee ’21 Scenic & Props Designer Braedon Quinlan ’24 Assistant Video Designer Gemma Siegler ’22 Director August Sylvester Sound & Video Designer Georgianna Zanotto ’23 Stage Manager Lucrezia Zichichi ’24 Assistant Choreographer Rehearsal photo by Wynn Lee ’21 Rehearsal photo by Wynn Lee ’21 Lead Artist’s Note Bamboo Box was created after experiencing and seeing racist incidents towards Asians on campus and in the classroom. In the spring of 2020 on a zoom call, the professor was in a breakout room with us and asked how we were all doing. All my white peers were sharing their bread baking stories, art, and nature walks tales. When it was my turn, I told them that I was anxious. I was getting glared at in grocery stores, followed even. I wouldn’t leave the house after almost getting hit by a car while taking a nature walk. But the professor of the Zoom call didn’t acknowledge it at all and asked the rest of the group if they were watching anything on Netflix. For some reason, Joe Exotic has captured the attention of my (white) peers rather than my anxiety of leaving the house without sunglasses to hide my eyes. I have never felt more angry, alone, and abandoned. -
Fandom Forward Is a Project of the Harry Potter Alliance
1 Fandom Forward is a project of the Harry Potter Alliance. Founded in 2005, the Harry Potter Alliance is an international non-profit that turns fans into heroes by making activism accessible through the power of story. This toolkit provides resources for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra to think more deeply about the social issues represented in the story and take action in our own world. Contact us: [email protected] twitter.com/hpachapters fb.com/hpachapters #FandomForward 2 Introduction………………………………………..…………………4 Facilitator Tips……………………………………….…………….…5 Representation in Avatar……………………………………..……6 Book 1: Health………………………………………………..………8 Talk it Out…………………………………………….…………10 Take Action…………………………………………….……….11 Book 2: Environmentalism………………………..………………..14 Talk it Out……………………………………..…………………17 Take Action…………………………………..………………….18 Book 3: Genocide…………………………………………………….20 Talk it Out……………………………………………………….25 Take Action……………………………………………………..26 Resources……………………………………………………………….28 Recommended Episodes…………………………..…………..30 Unexplored Themes………………………….…….………….31 Thanks…………………………………………………………………..33 Join a Chapter………………………………………………………….34 3 Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Health. Environment. Destruction. Balance. In the world of Avatar we learn that - despite first appearances - all things are connected. The health of the natural (or, sometimes, spirit) world surely impacts our own health, and so too can our health impact the way we interact with nature. Discord within ourselves often leads to mistreatment of others, and that mistreatment often manifests in damage to the environment, too. We are all connected, to each other and to the world we live in, and in the search for balance we must consider the wellbeing of not only ourselves, but every living thing that surrounds us. The journeys of Aang, Korra, and their friends and families are not easy.