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

SONG: "Byakugan" by Wayfloe & FSN

Edited by: @ajcaraballo95

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
6:40 Breakdown & Early Changes
12:57 The Good (Mostly Okay) Stuff
31:11 The Bad Stuff
1:01:50 Conclusion

[friendlyspaceninja]

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!

[enigmadrath]

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.

[Figgy]

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

[wolf-ghdz]

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”

[meowsielee]

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

[katyluvsread]

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.

[cocoxcocoa]

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.

[shanleenkinnjaskey]

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

[christiner]

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.

[enji]

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

[blackmagic]

Every adaptation is like a game of telephone at this point

[sololeveling]

This katara would never take the waterbending scroll from the pirates

[sarah]

not only did Aang run away (rather than just go to clear his head), the night he ran away WASN'T the night he found out he was the avatar. the pressure put on him for it makes him miserable ofc, but he actually runs away the night he finds out he's going to be separated from Gyatso (the only person sympathetic to him still being a child, and also basically his father figure) in order to focus _even more_ on learning how to be the avatar.

i'm glad it sounds like they added more Gyatso bonding to make up for it, i guess? but the original was meant to be relatable to kids who feel overwhelmed by a huge change in their life that the adults around them made, like moving far away or parental divorce. and it also REALLY solidifies that Aang was just a kid who didn't know what else to _do_, as opposed to maturely going to "clear his head". have you ever in your LIFE met a 12 year old who could emotionally regulate well enough to do that?

[crimsoneclipse]

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.

[pkpyro]

It appears that the show runners idea of “Mature” isn’t nuance, character and stakes it’s “Oh we see people die onscreen now”

[maliaareneee]

For me it was how Katara and Sokka’s fights were about how “childish” Katara was acting, while in the original show the issue was she wasn’t childish enough and was acting too much like his mother…

[tobennaokoli]

Every character was so juxtaposed well in the original between their ability and their personality:

Azula: a raging firebender who is in control of her fire

Aang: a pacifist airbender who HAS to fight because he’s the avatar

Katara: a go with the flow waterbender except she’s hotheaded and has to control everything.

Sokka: a frontline warrior who has a natural affinity for engineering and strategy

Toph: a grounded earthbender who wants to be free and travel the world.

But in this show everyone basically acts how you THINK someone with their ability would act.

[Jarakin]

“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.

[Fire_Summoner]

Netflix: We want this to be our Game of Thrones.
*Has Sokka and Katara enter the tunnel of love together*

[davismorgan]

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.