REPRESENTASIAN

Revival of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” franchise demonstrates accurate Asian representation, rest of entertainment industry should follow suit

CHLOE SUN COLUMN W hen the world needed him most, the Avatar returned. Netflix re-released the beloved 2005 Nickelodeon show “Avatar: the Last Airbender” (ATLA) in May and its spinoff, “The Legend Of Korra,” in August, much to the delight of longtime fans and many new fans such as myself. Many credit the show’s widespread popularity to its intricate worldbuilding, character depth and most notably, its Asian representation. The show features no white characters; instead it portrays Chinese, Japanese, Inuit and Tibetan culture. From character building to clothing to beliefs to even fighting styles, there is very little stereotyping, and each culture is carefully represented instead of caricatured. Unfortunately, this degree of accurate representation is still rare—ATLA first aired 15 years ago, yet it is still somewhat revolutionary compared to Asian portrayal in media today. Moreover, awareness against blatant whitewashing of Asian characters has

barely improved since 2005. Ironiare still predominantly white. Not cally, ATLA itself has fallen victim to maintaining diversity behind the whitewashing—in 2010, a livescreen alters these movies’ meanaction movie adaptation hit theings to the communities they aters and was met with horror supposedly celebrate, and by many fans as all the Asian sends the message that divermain characters were played sity is being used as a token by white actors. Unfortunateinstead of a step toward a ly, even now it seems nothing more representative world. has changed—in August, the While I celebrate Asianoriginal creators of ATLA THAT’S ROUGH made, diverse shows and movleft the production of the live-action series by Netflix BUDDY ies like “Never Have I Ever,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Parbecause it wanted to open casting to white actors. BY THE asite,” much of the entertainment industry has yet to learn that We have a long way to go when NUMBERS diversity cannot just be performait comes to real Asian representation. tive. There should be a better effort Our cultures are currently celebrated for their food, fashion and stories, 60 among mainstream entertainment to give the reins to the people who repand yet the people that inspire Asian portrayals onscreen are rarely given the chance to accurately depict them. This extends behind the screen as was the number of consecutive days ATLA was The views in this column do not necesresent our cultures, both in front and behind the screen. H well. While the faces of movies like #1 on Netlfix sarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. the live-action “Aladdin” and “MuReach Chloe Sun at csun@hilite.org lan” are beautifully diverse, the crew NEWS WEEK This column was originally published and creative team for these movies SOURCE online on Sept. 22, 2020

SLEEP SCHEDULES

Sleep before an in-person day

“Phew, I got the homework from the last 4 days done and now for my 5 hours of sleep”

ANIKET BISWALGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

Sleep before a virtual day

“Only 3 a.m. ?? I’ve got so much more time for my homework. Who needs sleep this early?”

2:00 a.m. 3:00 a.m.

ORDER IN THE COURT

Q&A with junior Faith Austin on her internship at local law firm, interest in law

WENDY ZHU Q&A FAITH AUSTIN SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Why are you passionate about politics and law?

My sophomore year was when I joined Model U.N. and debate, and I remember joining and being like, ‘Why didn’t I do this before? This is so cool; it’s right up my alley.’ I think that was really what kind of kicked it off. But even since then, I’ve just kind of realized that as I was growing up, (I did) things that most kids didn’t do that kind of showed my passion (in) politics and things like that. I have read the physical newspaper every Sunday since I could read. I’ve always read the politics section; I’ve always read the Current in Carmel and (followed) what the (Supreme) Court’s doing. So I think I had always had a little inkling, but I didn’t realize it until last year.

Where do you work as a law intern? I am an intern at Cate, Terry & Gookins LLC, which is a law firm off of Carmel Drive and 116th.

What do you hope to get out of your internship? Do you plan on continuing to pursue law and politics in the future?

I’ve only been there a month, and I’ve learned so much about how the whole process works and what the environment is like. But also, from reading through all the cases, the power of the American court system and what we can do legally that we can’t in other countries is amazing. It’s definitely guided my interests. In general, I would love to go into legal studies (and become) an attorney or a foreign ambassador or Secretary of State—who knows? But this field is what I want to do, so I’m glad I realized that earlier because otherwise, I wouldn’t have possibly had this opportunity.

MODEL MASTER: Junior Faith Austin poses with her Best Delegate award after a Model U.N. event. For other high schoolers also interested in law, she recommended joining organizations geared toward history and communication like Model U.N. “You need to learn how to communicate efficiently with other people while understanding what’s happened in the past and having knowledge of what you’re defending,” she said.

DEBATE DEBUT (RIGHT): Austin, third from the right, smiles with fellow members of the debate team at 2020 state competition. On her experience as a member of debate, she said, “I don’t want to say it changed my life, but it definitely made me realize a lot of things about myself and what I want to do.”

AWARD-WINNING (BELOW): Austin speaks at the National History Day National Contest in Washington D.C. She won First Place State Winner and Outstanding State Entry Senior Division.

What’s something about the courtroom that most people might not know about?

We get to go to court hearings and sit on mediations with the attorneys. I think a lot of people have the mindset that it’s this really scary environment (but) it’s definitely very civil. Even in criminal cases, everyone keeps their cool—there’s not a ton of yelling.

How much time do you dedicate to your internship and these areas of interest? This year, it’s kind of crazy. (I dedicate) maybe 10 to 15 hours a week for the internship, maybe five to 10 for other clubs. Time management has become a very crucial skill. Everything I’m in, I love it. When I’m there, I get to be with people who are pretty like-minded, and they’re showing up too for a reason, so it’s super energizing. But then I come home and I still have homework, and I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be a long night.’

This Q&A was originally published online on Sept. 24, 2020

CALLED OUT

Take a look at information for clubs at CHS that can improve your law and policy skills

Mock Trial

Work on real legal cases and perform them in front of real judges and attorneys. Events: Mock Trial competitions Meetings: Wednesdays in Room F102.

Model U.N.

Simulates the U.N. General Assembly and teaches students how to debate and resolve international, national, and historical issues. Events: Model U.N. conferences Meetings: Thursdays, text @carmelmun2 to 81010 for updated meeting locations

Debate

Helps students become informed, articulate, and logical speakers in various debate subjects like policy. Events: in-person and virtual tournaments Meetings: Weekly in E137, email jamehta72@gmail. for more information

CHLOE SUN GRAPHIC CHS SOURCE

GAME DAY DRILLS

Colton Parker, varsity football wide receiver and senior, warms up before a home game against Center Grove on Sept. 4. The varsity football team will play their next game at Carmel Stadium against Ben Davis on Oct. 2.

NICK BECKMAN PHOTO