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.

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”

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

“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 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

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.

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

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

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.

31:00 Zuko fighting back in the Agni Kai is absolutely a huge deal. In the original series, he is shamed for refusing to fight. At the end of the series, Zuko and the viewers realise that he was in fact the only one being honorable. Point in fact, this is a theme. Zuko has 3 Agni Kai during the series and in hindsight he is the only one acting honorable three times. The new series seems full of stuff like this, where they are just completely misunderstanding why choices were made in the first place. This is how you write a good story: everything is important. You don't just do whatever. Also, LOL AT HAVING HIM ALMOST WIN THE FIGHT. This series is a terrible joke.

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

I hated that they portrayed Katara as this submissive girl, especially in regards to Sokka, when in the original show, she was outspoken, and didn't let anyone stop her from getting what she wanted. Have the show runners ever actually watched the animated series? 🤦🏽‍♀️

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

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?

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

Katara in the original: “ I will never ever turn my back on people who need me” Katara in the Netflix Live Action: “you can’t help everyone.”

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.

One thing that bothered me so much on the live action was that every location that they went to seemed to be really close to the next. It didn't feel like they were in a looooong journey that took days or weeks to get to one place to another. stripping the live action of those moments in between checkpoints where the gaang just hung out, bonded, bantered while flying on appa's back or sleeping at camps contributed to the series feeling rushed af, like they were just teleporting from one location to the next just like that.

We are living in an age where writers don’t trust audiences to understand nuanced content and media literacy is at an all time low. I had a MASSIVE problem with how they portrayed Zuko and Ozai’s Agni Kai in the live action. By making Zuko fight back the scene lost all of its emotional potency and killed off why that scene was so integral to Zuko’s story. Zuko tearfully pleading for mercy and his refusal to fight was why Ozai burnt him. Ozai DESPISES weakness. It’s one of the reasons why he always hated Zuko. Unlike his cruel and selfish father, Zuko and Iroh showed compassion. Something which was devoid in the fire nation royal family. Zuko refusing to fight reinforces to Ozai that Zuko will never live up to be the heir he wants. It’s why he grooms Azula to act as cold and cruel as he. So having Zuko fight back his father and also having Ozai seem all too reluctant to burn Zuko just tells me that these are different characters.

removing kataras entire personality to water her down (pun not intended lol) to this docile submissive little sister was the thing that annoyed me the most about the live action. when you water down katara - remove her compassion, her ability to connect with others, her nurturing role, her ANGER and RAGE and DRIVE - you water down the very fundamentals of the story. you drastically and severely alter the core dynamics of the gaang, because katara was so important to the development of every single one of them. she was the rock and glue that held team avatar together. the thing with katara is that she WAS angry at the fire nation, for her mother, being the only waterbender left etc. it was her anger that freed aang. her anger was her strength and removing this core piece of her personality was such bad writing on Netflix’s part.

that scene when Sokka says that 'I always forget how powerful that kid is', while looking at Aang standing before the fucking VOLCANO he defeated. Is one of my favorite scenes in the show. I still cant believe its just a throwaway line here, like its still so amazing to watch until today, and im pretty sure it made katara waterbend without her hands too.

What really pissed me off is that Katara and Sokka came with Aang to "protect" him. In the original Katara wanted to learn waterbending and she basically hitched a ride there. She seized the opportunity she otherwise wouldnt have. Sokka supported her and wanted to protect her and Aang (to a lesser extent). In this version, Katara had no agenda herself and on the way to the north pole, they were like: wait, Katara could ask for guidance on her bending, too! They robbed her and I am mad.

I disagree that Kyoshi yelling at Aang is a nitpick, it's such blatant mischaracterization of a beloved character. They changed her from a calm, level-headed and dignified presence into an asshole screaming at a child for something he didn't even do. It's like they based her on the "kyoshi is bloodthirsty" fandom memes rather than the actual character from the show. Past lives are supposed to guide their current incarnations not scold and guilt trip them. They literally had her yell "YOU NEED TO BE A MERCILESS WARRIOR" at Aang which was so puzzling. In what world is Kyoshi merciless? They made it seem like being a warrior is what's most important to her which is ridiculous. Kyoshi is someone who wouldn't hesitate to enact violence when necessary but she does not take pleasure in it, she is also gentle and compassionate and wouldn't treat one of her successors the way she does Aang in this show. I couldn't even enjoy how cool her action scene was because I was still recovering from how baffled I was at the way she's depicted. They made her come off as unnecessarily aggressive and unreasonable. For all that talk about "toning down" the sexism, it sure seems like they took the sexism out of Sokka's arc and put it in the writers room instead because the way these women are written is atrocious. This is apparent with Suki as well, she is literally ogling Sokka and is instantly interested in him for no apparent reason. Instead of Sokka learning to see women as equals from her, they had Suki reassure him that actually he's a super great warrior. Also the way they framed Suki beating Sokka in a fight (and him getting upset and storming off) was as if she did something wrong which was really weird. Sokka also grabs one of her fans out of her hand and saves her mid fight, which is crazy that the leader of the Kyoshi warriors needed rescuing from a far less experienced fighter. They also had her thank Sokka for "showing her the world" by....existing near her? Suki I am so sorry for what they did to you. Why are women just randomly throwing themselves at Sokka? A similar thing happened with Yue and she actually calls him the "boy of her dreams." The video already mentioned how they butchered Katara and Azula so I won't get into that but I will also say that Mai and Ty Lee could have been replaced with two pieces of cardboard and nothing would change. They added nothing to the show and there was no reason to introduce them this early. There definitely are some things I do like about this show, but it's very telling that none of those things have to do with any of the female characters. The writing for them was egregious.

Every adaptation is like a game of telephone at this point

In regards to the casting, I was one of the people who initially complained about the actors not looking right and it's not because they're not "hot enough", but because Zuko and Azula's actors just straight up don't look like villains. They both have these round, sweet baby faces that make them instantly friend-shaped. There's kids out there with angular features, who could look menacing in those costumes and these two just aren't among them. It's like if you cast the guy who plays Iroh as Ozai. He doesn't look like Ozai, he looks like Iroh.

My main problem was actually about the costumes, they don’t look used at all, they always look perfect, no dirt or wrinkles. I feel like they missed that…

I've seen people be like, 'you guys, you keep criticizing this show, but you should be happy it isn't anywhere *near* as bad as the movie was'. And my response is - just because we *could* be getting food poisoning, doesn't mean we can't criticize the dish for being under seasoned.

What’s a nitpick that isn’t really a nitpick because it’s actually quite significant is Azula’s hair. I don’t see anyone talking about this but I hated that they show her with her hair down. Azula’s hair, just like Zuko’s hair is heavily connected to their character and where they are as a character in the story. Azula’s hair represents her perfectionism. From the very first scene they properly introduce her, they showcase this. And slowly as her mental state declines, so is her hair. They completely ignore this by having her hair down from the very first season.

What they did to Katara is so funny to me. They really tried avoiding the sexism from the animated series by making the live-action series even more sexist.

My problem with Azula is that she doesn't look menacing or threatening at all. Animated Azula had that scary look in her eye and a sharp jawline. Live action Azula is...adorable? It's not the actress's fault but it just makes it harder to take Azula seriously.

This katara would never take the waterbending scroll from the pirates

So, Aang is traveling around with someone who literally has an instructional manual on how to waterbend, but he never once tries to learn. I guess he doesn't take his role of avatar that seriously.

The ONLY thing I will add to this, that I believe is missing, is that the new show is missing the wisdom... It seems to be missing the lessons that were taught as we progressed through the story.

I'm pretty certain they stripped away the flawed parts of katara because she almost always got slandered by the fans for what essentially made her an actual person. The netflix showmakers tried making her more appealing to that subset of the fanbase and subsequently ruined the character. They've actually put themselves in quite the conundrum because it'll be near impossible to get her back to what the original is like without massive retconning.

Katara pisses me off the most, I'm convinced that every writer trying to adapt her has only seen the Ember Island Players episode of ATLA and just went "Oh yeah that's Katara!"

I truly don’t understand how this many people can fail to do the thing that the cartoon did so well, which is to never condescend the audience - especially children. I’ve never felt so infantilized as I did watching this adaptation.

The best thing about the 2024 Life-action adaptation is: That more people are (re-)watching the original Series :'D

Respectfully, I fully disagree on the fright scenes. What made the original so impactful is the fact that each style of bending had a specific style of martial arts assigned to it which best represented it . The movement were so distinct that you could tell the type of bender even without the clothing colour. Such a brilliant idea too. In this adaptation, however, the fight scenes are just that, fight scenes. Sure the effects look cool, and the action sequences were mostly nicely directed, but the same kind of action can be seen in blockbuster movies. It’s like they missed the entire point of having fight scenes for character development and important story beat, and instead made it to be like “Oh look, cool fight, you like cool looking fights, right?”.

_"There is less banter and interaction between the core cast...but that's arbitrary..."_ No, I think that's also fundamental. We are supposed to be watching their journey together as friends, learning and growing. If they don't interact enough, why are they even together? Why change something so fundamental?

A huge component of what made Azula and Zuko so great in the original was that Ozai’s abuse made them bad people. They were easy to hate, and sympathizing with them required understanding that who they were *was not their fault,* that they were CHILDREN who were molded into monsters. NATLA turns them into perfect victims. They no longer require any empathy or compassion from the audience, and that’s truly vile.

My problem with Azula is not that she is not attractive. It’s that she does not give any of the menacing energy we are supposed to have with azula, at all. You would not believe that this actress would hurt a fly.

Once again, what angers me most is that imo they toned down all the features that risked making Katara and Azula 'unlikable female characters' in a very sexist way.

I seriously hate what they did with Azula. Live action Azula is not... Azula. No cold razor sharp sarcasm, no brilliant manipulation and calculation. Azula never wore her emotions on her sleeve, she was always in control. Zuko's flashbacks have shown that it has always been that way. "Almost isn't good enough" but they couldn't even remotely capture what made Azula so fascinating and interesting. Seeing live action Azula scream and rage feels so wrong, just so out of character. So disappointing. EDIT: why do people feel the need to bodyshame a teenager yuck. It's okay to not like the casting, and I see the point that athletic superhuman teenage agents should be muscular and well built but bodyshaming a young actress is not helping anyone.

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.

The fact that Aang didn't even attempt to bend water, changes to Bumi and only being 8 episodes were serious disappointments and would never recommend this adaptation to anyone.

I’m tired of everyone saying it’s okay. If the acting is bad, the writing is bad, and the characterization is bad, then it’s bad. Few good moments don’t make up for the fundamental missteps

The moment I saw them fly Appa without saying “Yip Yip” made me know the show was gonna be some bs

The change to the zuko ozai agni kai not only makes it less impactful since he's no longer on his knees begging while disfigured, but it makes ozai seem like a non threat with zuko almost getting a winning blow in. same with how much they show him in the season, he's just a guy. He's not a looming powerful presence

Seeing how much these writers want to make characters talk about their feelings all the time, the only ATLA character they should be allowed to write is The Boulder.

zuko refusing to fight ozai is a v telling moment for his character, it tells us he is someone who intrinsically values the lives of others - that the fire nation's violence isn't innate. & ommitting it is definitely a disservice to his characterization. but it also cuts out important context abt fire nation society itself. i feel like its SO telling that ozai's rage isn't really abt zuko challenging his military strategy - is distinctly abt zuko's refusal to fight. it really fleshes out the fire nation's preoccupation with honor, that this is a society where it's MORE inhonorable, MORE socially taboo, to surrender - than to literally set your son's face on FIRE. we learn so much about their culture & the way it punishes even those living at the top of it. so sad not to see that, especially when dallas liu IS great a bringing zuko to life generally.

What Netflix did to Bumi should be a Master Class in how to assassinate a character.

My theory, is that every adaptation, Shyamalan, Netflix, and even Ember Island, all adapt Katara as presented in the opening narration. That's their only frame of reference for Katara's character. She gives a monotonous speech about how doomed everything is and how we need to remain hopeful because the avatar will save the world. That speech isn't enough to encapsulate all of Katara's character. But it's the first thing you hear in the show and Katara reads it, so people think that it's all Katara is.

You forgot the lack of Aang penguin sledding

My biggest issue with this show was how much time the 3 of them spent apart. I kept asking my husband like why do they keep saying they're like family they've spent like 5 minutes together and the keep getting separated for no reason. It was sooo frustrating

One thing that bothered me was how they tried to make some characters overpowered, like Katara self teaching and being great from the jump, when it was a point made in the og that even if she had a lot of talent and potential she still needed help and to work towards being great, she was even jealous of Aang learning faster than her. And also Zuko and that fight scene with his father where he actually fights and they make it seem like he could've won at that young age when it's a integral part of the character that he was not the prodigy that he wanted to be and that his sister always was, also, he was desperate for his father's approval and was terrified of him so he would've never even try to lift a finger against him

I think the problem with the actress who played Azula was not necessarily about her "not being hot enough", but that she had a very intense baby face. Azula is terrifying even if she is just standing there. Doing nothing. Sorry no hate to the actress, but you wont look at her and think "wow im scared"

This has convinced me to watch the original asap.

My main issue is that the original has this theme of "injustice". These children have gone through so much pain and strife and now they have to save the world? It isn't fair. And they hammer in how unfair it is with every awful thing that happens. Changing aang to this kid who's dedicated to stopping the war changes that subtext. Having Katara and Sokkas mother fight back for even a moment, before being struck down, changes the subtext of her believing she would be taken prisoner and instead being outright murdered by an evil man. Taking away a truly angering moment where we see how merciless the fire nation is. Having Zukko fight back against his father, you guess it, changes the subtext. Just having him land a hit on Ozai diminishes the emotional impact of a 13 year old on the floor begging his dad for forgiveness before he's struck down. They somehow managed to erase all the emotional maturity that the Nickelodeon cartoon spelled out for them 0:15

I wish they made Katara a good character, if only there was a blueprint to follow.

A small writing blunder in the live action that I haven't seen anyone mention is all the references to regular animals. In the Avatar universe all the animals are fusions, such as the penguin otters, or Korra's polar bear-dog. Off the top of my head, Sokka says Momo probably tastes like chicken, and Bumi mentions that one of the foods being served is kangaroo. In the animated series the gang is flabbergasted when seeing a regular bear for the first time, which also happens to be so rare that it's the personal pet of a king.

I really only think people are saying this show is mid is because it's better than the movie. If the movie didn't exist I think people would be much more harsh towards this show.

You’re actually telling me you “DIDN’T CARE THAT MUCH” about them literally destroying any semblance of motivation Zuko has to be pissed at his dad later on?! Also you thought the scene with Kyoshi was SICK?!?! Aang just basically handed the controller to his big sister to beat the bad guys for him. Aang only gets possessed once by Roku and it’s because he visited him at just the right time AND Roku doesn’t even actually take out any bad guys he just destroys the island so Aang and his friends have a window to escape. Bad takes man I’m sorry

the biggest issue i had with this show was the fact that aang never learns waterbending, thats the main point of the show, for aang to master all elements, and yet he spends no time learning any waterbending, or any other elements.

I think my biggest overarching concern is just that they didn't trust their audience. They didn't trust their audience to pick up subtext in the world and writing; they didn't trust their audience to have the patience to wait for answers (thus eroding much of the tension); they didn't trust their audience to be willing to engage with characters even when they were unlikable; they didn't trust their audience to put together basic plot elements from showing instead of telling; they didn't trust the adult part of their audience to enjoy the charm of children's media. They spoke down to the viewer the whole time for fear of not making the show accessible to the widest possible audience (in an attempt to gain the biggest hit possible), and the result was a show that was so broadly targeted that it didn't hit bulls-eye for anyone.

Azula should've been a litteral version of Cercei Lannister.

It feels like the creators just read fanfiction and researched the memes.

It's like this reboot already gave zuko his honor without even losing or earning it in the first place

so tell me why Ozai is a supportive father to Zuko, but Hakoda is disappointed in Sokka???!!! In what world

It feels like they stripped the show of most of the mystery and heart that kept us intrigued originally. They also miss Aangs motivation. The main reason for him going to the south pole before the iceberg was to go sledding on otter penguins. They went to Kyoshi Island to ride giant koi. He was trying to get all his fun in before he's forced to grow up prematurely and face the responsibilities. Additionally, the reason why the characters are so beloved is because they were allowed to grow and develop. Also, Aang and Appa are eternally bonded and really close. Appa is not a pet . How did Katara know how to get Appa to fly. In the live action, can anyone just jump on and take off? Where is the yip yip? The things that built the bond and chemistry of the gaang are lacking. I fully understand that some things would have to be taken out for live action. However, some are essential to endear the audience to the characters. I agree they did nail the visuals 100% and the action sequences chefs kiss. 👨‍🍳 It's the writing that is the issue for me, I suppose. The acting is pretty good. Watching the live action makes me want to turn it off and start the original again for the thousandth time.

not the show literally only having eight episodes and they've already gutted zuko's character arc.

One of the most annoying defensive position people assume when it comes to Netflix Azula is that "she is 14, she is a child" bullshit. We *KNOW.* THAT'S THE POINT! Her unchild-like behavior that is mix of both trauma and her natural inclination is what makes her such and impressive, intimidating and complex character! The whole point is that this 14 years old girl is somehow manages to be by far the most impressive villain in the og show, when we think about iconic villain, we don't think Zuko, we don't think Zhao, we don't even think Ozai - we imagine Azula's face and that cool ass character OST. She is always in control *until* she is not, and that's why her downfall is so goddamn tragic! This scared wet eyed little girl has no business to be Azula! They stripped her of so much of her complexity and made her pathetic instead of sympathetic just because they are so goddamn scared of taking thing slow and humanize her using decent pacing like the original show did.

the one thing i couldnt stop noticing was how often they used slow mo during the fight scenes. 😭

The biggest thing that I disliked about this show is that they mixed into way too many stories from 2nd and 3rd seasons. At first, I thought probably it’s gonna be limited series so they tried to fit in as much as possible. But when they announced seasons 2 and 3 upcoming I was like what they’re gonna show there? Stories from season 1?? It really didn’t make sense. And they added toooo many characters from future seasons it gets confusing. I definitely agree that this adaptation was more for people who didn’t watch the original series.

This Katara isn’t saving anyone by being assertive in the desert arc 💀😂

How they shouldve casted Azula: Have the auditions act out these 4 lines she says in the show, and she has to hit all 4 on the MARK to get the role. Line 1. "My own mother though I was a monster.. she was right of course, but it still hurt." Line 2. "You sure? I'm a pretty good liar. I am a 400-foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings." Line 3. "Maybe you should worry less about the tides who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over." Line 4. "You mean it's not obvious?! I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!"

I was incredibly suspicious abut Bryan and Michael leaving for "creative differences" given how accurate the casting and costume/set designs looked. Like, I see a lot of things going right, so what's going _so wrong_ that they felt the need to leave? As we started to see more and more articles about how they were making what they claimed were "small minor changes" to elements that were actually HUGELY important foundations to various world lore and character development arcs, it became increasingly clear they were _still_ missing the point about what made the original series so truly exceptional.

I felt something was off about Ozai and you’re right: We see him too often. And I would add that he has too much emotion visible in his mimik and eyes. In the cartoon version his eyes are *empty*, Ozai is just … Ozai, the firelord, the villain. Even when he is screaming at Zuko or expressing emotion in his mimik, the cartoon version still does not radiate any emotion to me, just coldness. Evil. Nothing more.

I hate when shows make kids spew out exposition and people expect gold-tier acting..... THEY HAVE NOTHING TO WORK WITH

The earliest red flag is when the creators walk out of this live action.

I’ll say it again-we don’t need live action versions of animated artworks that are already peak. If you’re going to make an adaptation, you better have an angle, a reason, a way to bring something *new* to the existing work.

The original show felt like...as if we were at the concert while this show feels like we are watching a clips of a concert show on our phone

I have a quote from when I studied adaptation theory that I think about when I think about what went wrong; "Adaptation is no longer seen as a single and linear process; it results on stand from many different influences, stimuli, and responses in and from different media." What created the flaws in this case to me was not some of the changes for pacing or needing differences to make live action work, different mediums truly do require changes and that is fine. But it's these ideas of different media and influences that caused the show to tank in some ways because those who were working on it didn't understand the source material before adapting. This mainly comes from 'wanting to be serious' causing most of the changes without understanding the show was inherently almost always serious with its concepts while making it friendly for conversation. You don't need to go full cartoon humor, but do you need to understand why the humor was there and in these characters as children of war. When you talk about the scene of Aang talking to Zuko after saving him, we see how it's because Aang is childish that he is able to connect and befriend people because that's how kids are [Bumi plot!!] and that Sokka's humor was coping but also an extension of his dad. Their silliness is what made them bond to become friends and it's what made them able to be likable to others to create the needed connections over their journey. Now for character changes you mentioned it; the characters are all deeply flawed but in aways that are reasonable for kids. I think of how the introduction scene is one way this is changed. Aang ran away for a very specific reason-- they wanted to take him away from Gyatso who was his father figure. Like any 12 year old kid he ran away-- he was selfish [with reason] and that's one of Aang's flaws. He pushes others away when upset, makes rash and mean comments, and takes the selfish approach like a kid. It's a flaw, but it's understandable because that's what Avatar was trying to convey; Aang was forced to grow up told about responsibilities far before everyone knew was ready. Aang is deeply flawed, and it's easy to get upset with him in the animated series but it's because we also know of his good traits that tell us he will learn and be better-- which he always comes back to. We see this with many other characters too; Sokka's flaws is what forces him into doubting if he could be a genuine fighter to earn his master. He has to come to terms with his sexism to grow, he has to struggle with his self worth as a non-bender eventually become an inventor. He had the opposite arc of Aang where his serious and war identity hurt him and it wasn't until he embraced his silly, people skills, and creativity that he grew into a truly leader/warrior. Katara, Zuko, even Iroh I could say more on but that the point is comes from the way media currently has influenced character building and concepts through media where likability comes before characterization. It's like if pre-teens were trying to RP for the first time and think flaws deter from their perfect concepts and throw fits and anyone saying flaws aren't bad! Also Azula's character is all about how she was born lucky and never had to work for the affection of her father, her perfection mainly came easy what was the issue near the end was maintaining that perfection when Ozai proved he didn't care and that the perfection she maintained got her eventually similar treatment that Zuko got. Her character was the opposite of everyone else-- her 'lack of flaws' is what defined her into being so great. She doesn't need built in sympathy, because the ending proves why she deserved in unpacking that like everyone else she was just a kid.

My theory about expository dialogue in modern shows: They’re made for passive/casual watching. They’re betting on people just put this in the background and not giving the show their full attention. The bad, unnatural dialogue allows viewers to check in at any moment to follow along. If you’re actually sitting down to watch every minute, it’s repetitive and boring.

One thing that really bothers me about how they wrote Aang is that his role with alot of the other characters is flipped. In the original show, he was taught lessons from the people he interacted with. In the adaptation, it feels like he needs to save everyone he meets and teach all the moral lessons himself. It takes away from his development as a character imo.

When I saw Azula in the remake I almost wanted to ruffle her hair and hug her. Same with Mei. In the original show Azula is pure NIGHTMARE FUEL !!! And Mei makes shiver. Tai Li was fine justice though

Aang loved Bumi so much he named a kid after him.

Azula is a product of Nature+Nurture. If she hadn't been born into the Royal family, she'd have just been a walking red flag but not as demented! She was a sociopath born to Ozai and her mother's fear of her made her even more crazy. hence never understanding why Ty Lee was happy in the Circus . Azula was Ozai's weapon because she doesn't hesitate . Changing azula makes no sense. Azula doesnt cry. Azula only started to cry when her mind was breaking .

The way they handled Katara was honestly heartbreaking. They omitted the connection with Paku and gran gran which was bad but we never saw her struggle with water bending. We never see Aang water bending so we never see her be jealous of him being a natural at it. She struggles a bit at the beginning but then she is instantly a natural. She is called a master EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS NEVER A PUPIL. It pissed me off so much.

I love that Ang's whole purpose of season 1 was to go to the north and learn how to waterbend. Not once in the whole series did he water bend.

Just finished watching the live action last night, and I think I agree with most points. However, when you consider how watered down the main trio’s relationship and characterization turned out to be, I can even appreciate the changes they’ve done to Zuko. Him being sympathetic from the get go and the emphasis they’ve put on his relationship with Uncle Iroh hard carries the show. For newcomers who didn’t watch the original show I’m sure Zuko will turn out to be a favorite, because honestly one might find themselves cheering for him more than the main trio.

In the great words of the robot devil: “You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel. That makes me feel angry!”

Zuko being able to defeat Ozai doesn't make Ozai scarier, it makes him less scary, more cruel. If he can be beaten by a 13yo who sucks at firebending as much as Zuko did, what are we even supposed to be afraid of? There is now zero chance to build him up to this scary powerful bender that has to be defeated, preferably when he can't firebend as we didn't see any other option. Ozai in Netflix show is just this regular cruel dictator who is in power because he has his supporters, not because he's so powerful that nobody dares to question him. I wonder how they gonna fix this to make the final battle believable. But I guess I already know the answer to that. Characters change as the writers need them for the sake of the plot.

Also! The entire reason Azula has an inflated ego and loyalty to her father is because he held her on a pedestal all her life, ONVIOUSLY favoring her over Zuko! If you take away this action from her dad, you take away her inflated ego and sense of superiority, which drives all of her interactions with people.