Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Art Of Missing The Point

Note: so I just found out about the controversy surrounding Ian Ousley's casting as Sokka and what seems to be conflicting reports over his heritage and him not being native (thanks to you!). Currently reading up on it, I was not aware of that at the time I recorded this video, apologies for the omission!

I hate how the show's writers went on and on about removing Sokka's sexism arc, only to end up taking away Katara's rage to make her submissive and docile, not allowing Azula to be fully a villain, having June think Iroh is sexy instead of annoyed by his advances, and then changing Suki and Yue to be just soooo obsessed with Sokka from the INSTANT they see him because he's just so sexy of a man, I guess. That, combined with cutting Sokka dressing in the Kyoshi warrior uniform, has led to what you could argue is a MORE sexist product than the original.

This feels like another case of an adaptation being embarrassed of adapting a cartoon and going "we can make it better" and by better they mean "gritty and realistic and mature" all the while completely missing the point of why the original is beloved.

Funny how animation is still seen by many in the West as a form of kids entertainment, yet so many live-action remakes water down plots and characters and feel compelled to explain everything as if they're talking to a six-year-old.

I HATED how they portrayed Azula. I think the actress was fine but immediately showing her insecurities was a terrible move. You really only see her break twice in the original show: once on the beach for like five seconds and again in the final episode. What makes her breakdown at the end so tragic is that she’s been so evil the entire series that you have no empathy for her. Then you are reminded that she’s just a kid who has lost her mind. Showing her as an insecure teenager from the start is kinda bizarre.

it’s another classic case of “they obviously have a lot of love for the original, but i don’t think they know WHY they loved it”

Katara's fierce personality is literally one of the reasons that they found Aang in the iceberg in the original lmao

No one saw what they did to SUKI ?? She spends all her chapter chasing Sokka and being embarrassed of him, doing weird stuff around him... It doesn't make any sense. Animated Suki is so much better bc she's the very definition of feminism. She shows Sokka how women can fight like men, being warrior and all that, also teaching him their ways instead of being a shy girl in love at first sight. That pissed me off the most ... (Just to clarify the actress is perfect for Suki, most of them are perfect, I believe she could nailed it with a better character writing). I hope writers improves her personality next season cause I feel they're waiting the actress full potential as Suki.

What drives me crazy about Zuko fighting back in the Agni-Kai is that being able to even think of landing a hit on Ozai at thirteen would make him an Azula or better level prodigy. Part of his character is how incredibly hard he's had to work to get the skills he has, how he doesn't measure up in Ozai's, Azula's, or his own eyes. I don't even know what they're going to do with the scene where he's screaming at the sky to strike him with lightning so he can learn to redirect it, because the universe has never held back before.

The biggest issue with the series so far is that the writers are afraid to give the main characters any flaws. Aang isn't irresponsible or afraid of hurting people, Katara isn't bossy or jealous, Saka isnt sexist or dismissive of things he thinks are stupid, Zuko despite being a bad guy doesnt really do bad things unless its for a good reason. Its like the writers were too afraid that people would dislike the main characters unless they made them 100% good people. And the biggest problem with that is that it dehumanizes them, and gives the characters NOWHERE to grow as people. If this show goes for all 3 seasons, then Aang, Katara, Saka, and Zuko, will be the exact same characters they were in episode 1.

what i hate most about this show is that they turned an anti-genocide, anti-war show, into a "i need to get strong asf so i can win the war" show

The exposition dump after Aang finds out Zuko is the blue spirit was one of the most frustrating scenes in the adaption.. as you said, in the original this conversation was carried by subtext and realness. Aang asking Zuko if they could have been friends in a peaceful world is so hard to watch. They saved each others life in this night but for Zuko it's to early in his journey to do another thing than throw a fire attack at Aang in rage. After both of them get 'home' to their friends or crew/family they both just go to sleep in sadness. You feel that something important is going on and maybe something can change. This is the real magic of the scene... Not 5 minutes of: I tell you why I'm here

azula’s actress is just way too cute. like she’s absolutely adorable and she looks kind. the show should’ve leaned into it. have her look like this sweet pretty princess who slowly becomes more and more unsettling as you realize her sadistic nature. it could be such an interesting change from the original but instead they made things worse by making her an insecure teen

“I can’t think of a single reason why I would recommend this to someone over the original” may be the most damning thing you can say about a remake.

The moment you stripped down most of the characters' complexities, take away Aang running away from his duties/his sense of fun, one-dimensionalize most of the female characters, take away a lot of Sokka's good actual clever moments and just TELL us that he's smart without showing it, strip out most of the friendship moments between the main three while once again only TELLING us that they're family, AND don't even have Aang learning waterbending this season, you're screwing up on a writing perspective

They basically made all the heroes of the show Mary Sue characters. Katara doesnt get jealous of Aang's waterbending (he doesnt even) or acts out expressively. Sokka isnt humbled nor has his mind expanded with his world view of what it means to be a warrior, Aang doesnt have his denial and pretense phase to overcome. I don't understand how they thought a "new generation " would become attached to and invested in these characters.

Zuko fighting back against Ozai is such a huge blow to his character and the changes he goes through WHAT THE FUCK 😭 LIKE DID WE NOT WATCH THE SHOW? HIM GOING FROM WORSHIPPING HIS FATHER TO FIGHTING HIM????? HELLO???? Fuck his arc in that regard, I guess.

The Bumi thing is weird. He is supposed to be so important to Aang that he names his first child after him.

Every adaptation is like a game of telephone at this point

Azula in this show looks like a girl that works as a volunteer in an animal shelter and then after job, she meets up with her friends and is the nicest of them all. It's not about being pretty or ugly or whatever. When I look at Azula, I see the actress that plays Azula and tries to convince me that she is a bad person, but it just doesn't work