Do the anime fans in this thread agree with this assessment?
No, I think that's a load and an extremely weak-ass explanation. I might have had more respect for M. Night if he came out and said, "Look, there aren't enough quality Asian/Indian/foreign actors who speak English well enough to make casting them in this big budget project practical. It's a very limited pool to be drawing from, so I opted to go with predominantly white American actors. Plus, since I'm making this for an American audience first and foremost, and white faces will sell better." I'd still think he's a douche, but at least he'd be an honest one.
Although, he can't use the argument that a Western audience wouldn't respond well to an unknown Eastern cast. Because, quite honestly, aside from Dev Patel and Aasif Mandvi - two of the very few non-white dudes in the cast - I don't know who the hell the other actors are! If you're going to go with virtual unknowns anyway, why not bring more Asian actors into the fold?
Though, in fairness, I think the argument that this is racism is only exacerbated by the fact that this is coming on the heels of
Prince of Persia, another movie that seemingly chose to use as many non-authentic actors as humanly possible.
And am I the only one who suspects that even if Mako were still alive, Shyamalan wouldn't have offered him a role - any role - in the film?
