2004-09-17 - 1:43 p.m.

Back before your "Harry Potter," the series of books in which a kid goes to wizarding school was the Earthsea Trilogy (actually, the fact that both series have a boy who goes to wizarding school is the only similarity - otherwise, they're different in every way possible, and wizarding school only takes up like a quarter of the first book). Now the Sci-Fi Channel has started working on a film adaptation of the first three books, which could be neat if they hadn't GOTTEN THE CASTING COMPLETELY WRONG.

For the main character, Ged, they've cast angsty teen Shawn Ashmore, best known for moping it up as Iceman in the X-men movies. Which might work if Ged were white, which he damned well isn't. From my copy of A Wizard of Earthsea: [Vetch] had the accent of the East Reach, and was very dark of skin, not red-brown like Ged and Jasper and most folk of the Archipelago, but black-brown. Ged and most of his countrymen have a reddish-brown complexion and straight black hair. The barbarian hordes of the Kargad lands have *white* skin (which is why Tenar is called the "white lady" - her skin color makes her stand out). Author Ursula K. LeGuin has gone on record to say that that she made non-white characters the heroes in her books because so many fantasy characters are just "immidiately" white, when there isn't really any reason for them to be. So, by making Ged white in the movie, they've just negated her theme.

I guess it's not so bad that Danny Glover is Ogion, but Ogion is from Ged's island and should also be red-brown. Also, Vetch (as evidenced by the above quote) should be *dark* brown, and not white as he is in the movie. Are there no young southeast asian or black or indian or native american actors in Hollywood? Is it so damned important for Ged to be white?

Also, judging by the promotional pictures, they all look like a bunch of goddamn hobbits.