Dev Patel defends 'bender' phrasing

Dev Patel has defended the use of the term "bender" in The Last Airbender.

The film, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is about a boy who can control the four elements - earth, wind, fire and water. In the movie, the boy is referred to as a "bender" and in one scene, his aunt says: "I knew from the first time I discovered that you were a bender that this would be your destiny."

Patel, who plays a young prince, said of the term: "When I came onto the movie, I was like, 'Really'? Benders?'"

Asked why he did not inform the director of the British slang connotation of the word, he told The Times: "It was too integral to the movie. We couldn't call them fire or air manipulators. It would have been moving too far from the source material."

The Last Airbender is released August 13 in the UK.