Meet The Avatars: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra
Hello, fanclubbers!
We have a couple of articles I wanted to share about Mako and Dante Basco, two incredible Asian American actors who were also voice actors in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just a heads up, both articles are behind either a paywall or soft paywall. I was able to access the periodicals through my local library. You may be able to do the same through your local library. Yay, libraries!
We did chat about representation and how we thought they did a nice job for a Western show. However, that is not everyone’s perspective.
This interview with Lhamo, a Tibetan American activist, is a REALLY good read and discusses the problematic appropriation of Tibetan history and culture in the show. This is also a good reminder that just because we’re fans doesn’t mean that a piece of media doesn’t have issues or flaws. At YRFC, we want to make sure that we acknowledge the problematic parts of the things we love and keep learning.
This interview, that we saw after recording, was very valuable and educational for us, and has us loking at ATLA through a different critical lens.
-Mari & Clare
Fox, Margalit. "Mako, 72, Pioneering Actor for Asian-Americans, Dies: [Obituary (Obit)]." New York Times, Jul 25, 2006. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/arts/25mako.html
Berger, John. "On the Scene with Dante Basco." Honolulu Star - Advertiser, Jul 30, 2017. https://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/07/30/features/on-the-scene/on-the-scene-with-dante-basco/
Wang, Veronica. “TIBETAN REPRESENTATION IN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.” Kollaboration San Francisco, October 15, 2020. https://www.kollabsf.org/kollabblogposts/2020/10/15/tibetan-representation-in-avatar-the-last-airbender