6 years ago on September 18th 2018 Netflix
announced that a liveaction Avatar the Last Airbender adaptation was officially in the
works. With the announcement they released this now iconic teaser image of Aang resting his
hand on Appa in a field of snow, which is actually a call back to original Avatar visual development
sketches. The creators of the Animated Series which aired from 2005 to 2008 Michael DiMartino and
Brian Konietzko were also on board as showrunners and executive producers.
"We're thrilled for the
opportunity to helm this liveaction adaptation of avatar The Last Airbender." DiMartino
and Konietzko said in a release announcing the project. "We can't wait to realize Aang's world as
cinematically as we always imagined it to b,e and with a culturally appropriate nonwhite washed
cast. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone's great work on the original
animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action and World building. Netflix
is wholly dedicated to manifesting our vision for this retelling and we're incredibly grateful to
be partnering with them." Netflix declared: We are committed to honoring Brian and Mike's vision for
this retelling and are thrilled to support them on creating a liveaction event series bringing Aang's
Epic World of Elemental Magic to life for Global audiences." Okay. And having the creators as
showrunners and producers was imperative for this project to be taken seriously, as the
fandom was
still reeling from the first live action adaptation of avatar The Last Airbender
by M. Night Shyamalan from 2010 depicted here. And in fact DiMartino and Konietzko's statement directly
addresses the liveaction movie by saying that this won't be whitewashed. This will be a
truly authentic reimagining. But like any animated liveaction remake fans were skeptical
not just because of what happened with the first one and the long history of miscasting white
actors in roles meant for people of co
lor not to mention the poor quality of live action films
in general, but because Avatar The Last Airbender is a widely beloved series with a dedicated
fandom and a lot of people tie part of their identity to the series. In other words the stakes
for an Avatar liveaction series are incredibly high for some people me included. As one commenter
said in 2018 "Avatar The Last Airbender is one of the best TV shows ever made and if they mess it
up with the live action like what M. Night Shyamalan
did then the series will be completely ruined.
Please don't mess this up! Like other fandoms Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek Etc the
Avatar fandom is very vocal and cares deeply about the property. The series isn't just highly
regarded for its storytelling, characters, World building and political messages, but its ability
to bring people of different backgrounds together and make people feel seen. Additionally as an
Asian-American person having Avatar as a kid growing up was huge fo
r me. The amount of Asian
actors on children's programming was few and far between but in animation it was everywhere. I saw
myself in the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon and Avatar the Last Airbender and better yet Avatar
was freaking cool and from the US so I felt an even deeper connection to it. And as an adult I go
back to it time and time again because the world is just so amazing I want to live in that world.
And though the fandom isn't perfect and divided on a lot (Zutara) not going
to get into that, I still
find it to be a very accepting and creative space and just an overall net positive in the world. I
truly believe as Millennials will never get over how good Avatar the Last Airbender is especially
if you're an Asian-American Millennial. So this live action Series has some big shoes to fill as
fans Not only love the original series, but also tie part of their identity to it and more
specifically tie their childhood to this property upping their Nostalgia and love for
the
series even more. I think another reason why the announcement of an Avatar liveaction series was
polarizing to many was because it's kind of like a spit in the face to the animated series. And
this doesn't just go for the impending avatar The Last Airbender Netflix series, but also for the
Avatar liveaction movie and other liveaction adaptations, whether they're anime to liveaction or
Disney Animation to liveaction, having a liveaction version makes it seem as though the animation
can
't speak for itself or somehow less than as if animation isn't a respectable medium with
its own merits. Animation and the artists behind the scenes deserve so much more respect it's
a grueling process from start to finish and is totally valid as an art form and a way of
telling stories. Sometimes even more effective than live action. Especially when it comes to a
series like avatar The Last Airbender which is one of the most beautifully animated series
to date and a huge reason people like
it is because of the Artistry. Animation was a perfect
medium to tell this story to display the bending to get various themes across Etc. The fact that
animated shows are animated is intentional, it's not because they actually wish they could be
liveaction. And honestly this is personal but this is a huge sticking point for why I'm not
really excited to see a liveaction avatar The Last Airbender series and frankly I never really
wanted a live action you know ever. I love that it's animated
. That's one of the main reasons
why I love the show, and the world. I don't need a gritty realistic remake. Though I will concede
that the latest trailer did make me hype for the series especially for the bending which is
good considering they spent 15 million USD per episode and there's eight episodes. Not to mention
the music in the trailer like that music gets me every time. So thus far we've talked about some
general reasons why some people would be against and Avatar the liveaction se
ries despite the
creators being on board. Firstly live actions are generally received poorly, but especially with
the Avatar The Last Air vender fandom where there already was an attempt at bringing the world to
life that failed miserably. Secondly avatar the Last Airbender fans in particular have pretty
high standards due to the show being attached to their childhood nothing will ever be as good as
the original. And lastly live actions in general aren't really received that positively beca
use one
reason fans love animated properties is because because they're animated, so it makes little sense
to make a liveaction retelling specifically for Avatar which is beautifully Illustrated and
really thrives as an animated story due to the fight choreography, visual effects and Fantastical
and mystical elements Etc. But the creators are on board this time right? We're saved this won't be
another flop! Oh wait the creators left in 2020 due to creative differences... So this was my firs
t
red flag like I wasn't happy that avatar the Last air bender was getting a live action series as a
fan of the series who definitely should have been excited for one, but you know the teaser image
looks interesting the original Minds behind the series are working with Netflix, let's see where
this goes. And then Brian Konietzko and Michael Di Martino released separate statements announcing
their departure from the series. DiMartino wrote "When Brian and I signed on to the project in
2018
we were hired as executive producers and showrunners. In a joint announcement for the series
Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting
us on creating the series and we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at
the helm. Unfortunately things did not go as we had hoped." DiMartino called exiting the project
the "hardest professional decision I've ever had to make. Netflix's liveaction adaptation of Avatar
has the potential
to be good it might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying, but what I
can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on screen it will not be what Brian and I had
envisioned or intended to make." More recently Konietzko and DiMartino have since gone on to lead Avatar
Studios where they are developing various new animated Avatar projects. An animated feature film
is set for release in 2025. I was going to say 2015. Um, and that I am excited for. And before we go on
this is
n't to say that these two guys are like the end all Beall of Avatar and that they're perfect
and that what they say is like the only thing that can be Canon or whatever but rather knowing what
we know now in 2024, I can definitely see why they left and why it probably isn't a good thing. So
they never said specifically why they and Netflix parted ways but from what we're going to talk
about next I think we can make our own guesses as to why or at least I've made my own guesses as
to why, bu
t this was again the first red flag for me, that this show probably won't be that great. And
some of you in the comments did say it's too early to make assumptions, but you know what's the point
of even having like trailers and teaser images and all this hype if we can't make assumptions
about the end product? After the show Runners left the next year in 2021 the main cast was revealed
and most people were excited about it as Netflix seemed to keep the original show Runners request
to not h
ave a whitewashed cast. However the actor who is to play Sokka Ian Ousley has been called out
online for not being Native American. He has stated that he's mixed race and a Cherokee tribe member
despite fans discovering that he's not actually listed as a member of any Cherokee tribe except
for one that is not federally recognized and this isn't to say that to be indigenous you have
to be a part of of a federally recognized tribe and be on some government list, but rather that
he is being ac
cused of straight up lying about his Heritage to get the role. So that's something
to keep in mind when and if you decide to watch the show and it might even be one of the reasons
why the creators left but I'm not sure. I would also like to add that there have been colorism
accusations by some fans when it comes to the casting of Sokka and Kiawentiio as both actors have
lighter skin than their animated counterparts. But I do want to say that with the actress
who plays Katara, Kiawentiio, I
don't see that especially if you look at her other films like
Beans for example, but that's just my opinion. In the summer of 2023 we got our first glimpse into
the liveaction series with some promotional photos of the actors in their costumes and again like
you'd expect fans were split. Some fans said that this was a huge upgrade from the liveaction film
While others said that the costumes are the one thing M. Night Shyamalan got right, and honestly looking
back at the first live action Av
atar attempt they're not wrong. Like Aang's tattoo in the Netflix
pictures is just too literal of an interpretation for me that it's distracting. I also agree with
critics that say the fabrics and the promotional photos look too synthetic and that the 20110 film
costumes seem to be more organic and don't look out of place in the world. And I don't know if
it's just me, but the colors in the photos are just kind of off. They're just really bright and
it makes it look cheaper maybe than it ac
tually is. And these are just promotional photos so who
knows. I know Everyone's a Critic and you can't please everyone and negative press gets picked up
more than good press, so I'm okay with waiting to see how the series and world looks overall, and
though the photos were generally off-putting to me personally, the trailer still looked awesome
and did surprisingly get me hyped to see the final product whereas I was generally not into it
for the past 6 years of hearing about it. Now onto t
he latest Avatar the liveaction controversy and
honestly this is probably why the creators ended up leaving at least in my opinion the writing and
character arcs. So yesterday January 30th during the time that I'm writing this it was revealed
via the actors who are to play Sokka and Katara Ian Ousley and Kiawentiio that the writers decided to get rid
of how sexist Sokka was. Ousley said "there was more weight with realism in every way." Kiawentiio added
"I feel like we also took out the ele
ment of how sexist Sokka was. I feel like there were a lot
of moments in the original show that were iffy." "Yeah totally, Ousley agreed. "There are things that
were redirected just because it might play out a little differently in live action." "Oh brother
this guy stinks!" Okay everyone let's just take a deep breath. This really struck a negative chord
with Avatar fans who specifically pointed out that the reason Sokka is sexist is because that's a huge
part of his character Arc and growt
h that's how he meets Suki and how Aang is revealed not to mention
sexism within Warrior bending culture is the norm and Katara works to challenge those Norms.
Sokka starts out as this sexist guy who thinks that women are only good for cooking and mending
pants and Katara rightfully calls him out on his BS even using the word sexist in the pilot episode.
And I made a tweet saying that as a kid I was 10 in 2005 this was one of my first introductions
to the word sexist and how important that
was and now they're just taking it out because it's iffy
like what? No wonder the creators left. "Oh brother this guy stinks!" Katara's anger at Sokka's ignorance
is what breaks Aang out of the iceberg but Albert Kim the new showrunner said that the Netflix
show doesn't begin the same way as the Animated Series so there's that. Sokka also meets Suki by
vocalizing how a bunch of girls took them down and disregarding female warriors only to learn how
skilled they are and learn to respect them
. That's a really important lesson for kids to learn and
see and also a major story beat. Lastly the water tribe being sexist is crucial for Katara to face
off against Pakku who was also to her surprise her grandmother's ex-lover. Having morally grey
characters and characters with flaws that they learn from is good actually. I honestly can't
believe we're having discourse on if Sokka is a bad character because he's sexist even though the
series illustrates why sexism is bad and that you sho
uldn't be like him, but that you can also find
him relatable and root for him. Rather than having the audience side with Sokka and uphold the status
quo in our real world, the original series shows viewers why female empowerment is important while
also not dismissing women or having Katara and the other female characters hate on other women either
or look down on more womanly things like emotions or mending pants or cooking or taking care of the
household Etc. The show illustrates how women
and girls aren't monoliths and are three-dimensional
the same as the men and even calls out men for dismissing women, like that's a central theme to
the entire story. Though of course there's the writing with Azula which some fans have pointed out
as iffy if you will as they make her into a mad woman in order to take her down a notch because
otherwise she would just be undefeatable, and how that's lazy storytelling. But that's for another
day. In general I think we really need to stop with
this line of thinking that if you like something
with morally grey elements or a character who is morally grey or problematic then you yourself are
problematic because that's not true. Just because you like something with problems doesn't mean that
the media needs to be fixed Disney, but rather that art isn't for moral instruction or to validate
your own moral compass, but to just exist as art as fiction - a place to explore the Human Condition and
society and culture and not as a baromete
r for how good of a person you are. Some people are calling
this gen Z criticism and maybe that's true because they're growing up with all of these corrected
liveaction remakes of Lion King and Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast that fix all the problems
in the originals, but I also think that this is a hang-up we as adults have too. We want to stay as
far away from the problematic as possible because we're not problematic right? Without understanding
that some art is intentionally defamiliar
izing that some characters are supposed to be bad in
order to grow and change and to challenge us as viewers. On the other hand I'd like to point
out a tumblr post someone left in the comments stating how toning down Sokka's sexism could be
positive as in the original series it's weird how the water tribe gets this portrayal as a sexist
society while none of the other nations get this treatment. It's made doubly ironic considering that
Innuit culture tends to be more gender balanced rather
than sexist, not to mention showing a native
character being sexist plays into this trope that indigenous people are inherently backwards and
I think it's really important to point this out especially in a live action series series like
Ousley said where there are real people delivering these lines not just cartoon drawings. However I
think what most people are upset about isn't how the culture is portrayed, but rather the character,
in that characters being sexist no matter their ethnicity
is part of the real world and shouldn't
be erased from stories especially a story that was originally aimed for young boys. Looking back
on the series I think the main point of the water tribe being sexist is to juxtapose with how
modern the city is. The southern water tribe has almost been wiped off the map so when they see how
strong the northern tribe is it gives Sokka and Katara Hope, but the society is still regressive in a lot
of ways that surprise Katara, specifically that women aren
't taught to water bend in ways other than
healing. So there's this disconnect between this modern city that has regressive values, but I do
agree that it is weird how this isn't present in other societies in Avatar, but at the same time
it kind of is? For example Toph is infantilized by her family and fellow Benders for being blind
but also for being a little girl and Sokka doesn't believe that she could win against the boulder
because of her stature and gender, but that's again more of So
kka hangup than making the Earth Kingdom
out to be some backward Society. Though we do see class inequality in Ba Sing Se, and that really
characterizes the Earth Kingdom as opposed to sexism when it comes to the water tribe. Lastly the
Fire Nation is of course not portrayed as sexist or at least that's not its main feature, but rather
more attention is given to its industrialization and killing the planet and of course its hand in
genocide. Each nation is given its own flaws but it is unfo
rtunate that the water tribe which is
based on Inuit culture gets the sexism attribute when that doesn't doesn't seem to be the
case or at least the whole story in real life. And some people did point out how it is
really early for us to be making all these assumptions and guesses but at the same time it's
part of like again the hype for the show. I mean I'm still going to watch it I'm excited for it and
I also think that we shouldn't be mean to like the kids that are just giving these inte
rviews and
who have no real power or say when it comes to the direction and writing of the series. Netflix's
live action avatar the Last air bender set the air on February 22nd and I'm probably going to be
tuning in and honestly I do want it to succeed I don't want it to be bad, especially for the child
actors who are just children and need to be protected, and this could be like a huge thing for
them. And before I end this I want to acknowledge how much pressure like Albert Kim must be und
er
because this is a beloved International franchise with millions of fans and you know you're not
going to make everyone happy at the end of the day and that's okay. This show doesn't exist to
please me and even if it's bad I'm not going to like throw a huge fit about about it. Honestly
I'm not that invested, but I don't like that this could possibly be like a correction to all the
things that are wrong with the original series because the original series does have flaws
and those should
be talked about, but I don't think we need to make another series to correct
those things and honestly at the end of the day I'm not expecting much at this point. So that's
it for this video. Let me know what you think about the hype for the series and if you want to
see my review of the series once comes out and in general what you think about Avatar The Last
Airbender and the news that has come about from this like live action thing. All right I'll see you
in the next one thank you so muc
h for watching bye :)
Comments
The removal of Sokkas character flaws reminds me of the term the "disneyfication of media" how characters can't be "flawed" or even evil, they have to be "misunderstood".
I'm glad you mentioned being especially kind to child actors, no matter how the new series turns out:)
the sexist thing pisses me off so much, out of all the sexist characters in netflix shows you take Sokka out??? Thats the only character thats being criticized for being sexist and his behavior is portrayed as a bad thing, which he also comes to relalize!!! Feels more like they didn't want to have a male character learning to change about his beliefs and become a feminist
My big gripe with the show is that this is a setting and concept that inherently promises a limitless history of heroes who each have to undertake their own journey to learn and master their bending abilities, but we're getting told the same Avatar's story for the third time.
I hate live action remakes of animated movies and shows. They just show how little respect the art of animation has.
Hey Cheyenne, my understanding of the issue with Ian Ousley from Native mutuals and my own experience being from a non-federally recognized tribe isn't the federal recognition, it's that none of the 7 Cherokee tribes recognizes the tribe Ian is from. Even though the main federally recognized band from my tribe doesn't recognize my band, there are others of the 14 bands that do. For all 7 of the existing Cherokee tribes not to recognize the one Ian is from is what makes it suspicious. Again, this is just my understanding from speaking with Native mutuals and my own experience.
I don't really think they made Azula a "mad woman", I think they pretty correctly showed what happens when you shake someone's core belief structure to it's very core. Azula had been raised to belief that might made right, fear was the best way to control people, and that she was uniquely powerful. You actually see her start to unravel when Mai and Tylee turn against her. She had internalized being a monster ("my own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt"), and she could not imagine a world where anyone could be trusted if her closest subordinates would betray her. She held it together well enough until her only remaining source of validation refused to take her with him for the domination of the Earth Kingdom. At the end of her fight with Zuko you really see all that lashing out was just due to fear and sadness. She didn't go mad, she just suffered the results of her father's abuse.
Completely agree. A big part of Sokka’s identity is his drive to be a warrior. He’s been taught all his life it’s his duty to fight and protect his tribe, and it’s a huge burden for a sixteen year-old to take on. His father and the rest of the men have left to fight in war, and he’s the only man whose of age left to defend the tribe. It’s a huge responsibility, and at the start of the series he’s not a great fighter. But he’s brave. He stands in front of the Fire Nation ship on his own, staring down certain death, because he believes that’s his duty and he’s the only one who should be putting himself in the line of fire. If Sokka already believes woman are capable fighters, then he wouldn’t feel as if it’s only his burden to bear, and he wouldn’t be able to undergo such an great arc in the later episodes. We see him humble himself to the Kyoshi warriors. He learns that being a warrior isn’t just able being able to swing a sword, or even about being brave, but it’s about humility. Being open to change, asking for guidance and always being ready to learn. His world view changes and he becomes a better person for it. He comes to respect Suki, not just as a woman or as a person, but as a warrior in equal merit. And if Sokka didn’t learn how valuable humility is, I doubt Piando would have agreed to train Sokka later the series. Since it was Sokka’s admittance that he wasn’t a great warrior, and his lack of entitlement which make Piando want to teach Sokka. And after Yue, we see Sokka grapple even further with this notion that it’s his job to protect everyone, and if he doesn’t save everyone he’s failed. Which is something he needs to learn to let go of. More character development! And I think Sokka being a man who was brought up in a patriarchal society is central to a lot of his themes. Additionally, Katara standing up to her brother and Pakku, and proving that being a woman doesn’t make her any less capable wouldn’t hit as hard as if this wasn’t already an established cultural norm she was calling into question. In fact the Fire Nation is the only army which allows woman into their ranks, so it’s a norm which exists outside of the Water Tribe too. I also think animation is the best media for the story of ATLA, but the teasers and trailers do seem promising…
Sokka's original storyline WAS the fix he needed. He grew up without any male role models in a village full of women (I can't even remember any male Southern Tribe Members other than Sokka in the first episode). He picked up a very single minded and potentially toxic idea of how and what a man should be and acted on it. How should he not? Given that every other man in the tribe who could have given positive examples was absent for the most time. And he only got to be a badass AFTER he changed his viewpoints, especially after meeting characters like Piandao, who were basically all possible future versions of him.
This show doesn't need a live action adaptation at all imo. The original series is good enough as is and we can always revisit it. Not every property needs a new adaptation or reboot.
Avatar is so special because it doesn't give any craps about the type of stuff people obsessed with the culture war whine about today. Katara was such a compelling character that had a great arc because she was discriminated against and fought patriachical societies head on, Sokka had to get beatdown by women to the point he had to crossdress in order to be put in their shoes, and Toph came out the gate as the most powerful hero in the show at that point and her first scene was kicking the butt of that universe's equivelant to a WWE superstar. Things that would be considered woke today. Hell, it was arguably catching small degrees of flack for doing what it did back in the day. Forums and online discussions were full of Katara hatred going on and on about how she was too annoying. But the way it is made it age so well (look at that scene where Aang gets reprimanded for pointing out how the Fire Nation textbooks lied about the genocide of his people) and trying to water it down is just mind-boggling. We arguably need the political meat of a show like ATLA now more than ever.
Haven't finished the vid yet, but colorism isn't identical to whitewashing. The actress for Katara is undoubtedly of a background that would suit the cast, but her skin is also very visibly lighter than animated Katara. While not the same ethnicity, many brown kids were entranced by seeing someone (regardless of race) with darker skin on screen. And it was entirely possible to cast someone who matched that in live action. Sokkas case is more of a whitewashing issue. Its just another big reason I will always perfer the animated version, and I am very much not looking forward to the live action. I feel it's largely a cash grab riding on the ATLA trend that flared up in 2020 upon its initial Netflix release. But the average viewer's 'obsession' with the series nowhere matches what it was during that initial wave. Only fans of the original remain, and they were skeptical from the word go.
I think on the sexism in other cultures thing, it’s fair to note that although it isn’t blatant in the earth kingdom, we don’t really see any other female earth benders aside from Toph. And the Kyoshi warriors were pretty far removed from the rest of the earth kingdom.
Hey great video, but a little reminder: I wrote a scientific paper of social work and the government acts in the context of indigenous tribes and their people in the US. Long story short. The reason, why many tribes are not on a Government funding list is, because the government forces different and different tribes to move into a reservation even though they want nothing to do with each other. If tribes resist this, they will be excluded from government support. But there are also other reasons, such as saving tax money, etc. This is a very complex problem. Many tribes want to be independent, but the state forces them to comply with these requirements in order to receive these funding. It is also possible that certain people are not listed on such lists; this can also have various social or other reasons. Sorry for my bad English, but it's not my native language.
I've only seen a handful of tweets about the LA but the ones I saw were "we gotta appeal to game of thrones people" "no more sexism for sokka" and "less girly shit for katara." Why even adapt the story if you're gonna change it??? Like I know the answer's money but come on, man.
Maybe someday we'll get a katara that actually has her skin color 😢
I’m afraid that the Sokka related changes might be a plan to make him more likeable (to make ppl forget about whitewashing) they showed him most in the trailer, he’s the most active on interviews, that worries me
I think if this adaptation is aimed at a more mature audience, it makes sense to approach sexism in a more nuanced way than the original show did. Like yeah it was cool as a ten year old to see Katara call out her brother for being sexist, but the misogynists I interact with as an adult don't usually say things like "girls can't fight, they should stick to sewing."
Give Jet and Hama their justice is all I’m hoping for
Im also surprised at how there are little to no Indians in the original show and this adaptation considering so many concepts of the show (and the whole concept of an avatar) comes from Hinduism and India. Even in the show, one of the only Indian characters had a stereotypical Indian accent and yet the other characters based on other cultures had a typical American accent.