All about Avatar. Not the James Cameron one.

I don't know if the world is against me writing, because the second I decided to start again, I've been bombarded with so much work I haven't had time to think about things, let alone write. But, now that I've finally got some time, I had to snatch it to write, because something has been bothering me. 

Now, in my very unbiased and experienced opinion, Avatar: The Last Airbender is the best show that's ever been made. The time it came out, 2005, was a time where comedy was... questionable, to say the least. Be it movies, TV shows, animated cartoons, you name it. So when ATLA came out, it was refreshing. I think. Because I was not even born when the show originally came out. I never watched it as a cartoon during my childhood, but I got around to finally watching it during my college days, and it blew my mind to say the least. This is a show that talks about so many serious topics in a way that is understandable for kids and also shows the seriousness to adults watching. From the plot, to the characters, structure, dialogue, visuals, everything was perfect. If you have not watched it yet, I strongly advise everyone to watch the animated show and not the sorry excuse that Netflix has made with the live action. This brings me to the crux of my issue.

 

First problem of mine is the recent trend that the film industry has, an obsession I should say, of making live-action versions of perfectly good animated media. Why? Who asked? With superhero movies, it makes sense because their content material differs due to the amount of comic books that exists. But, who asked for live action movie of Moana or Tangled or Snow White? This makes me think that people don't take animation as a serious form of media, as if anything animated immediately makes it for children. Now, these movies are targeted towards kids, yes, but adults enjoy them too. So who asked for a live action? I personally feel like this also discredits the amount of work that artists put into making a movie or a show. Animation is a wonderful form of art and should be taken more seriously as a form of media. Also, let's be honest. VFX cannot do justice to the art form of an animated work. So many examples exist. Anyone who watched the live action Lion King knows what I am talking about.

My next issue is particular to ATLA. So, spoilers ahead. My major issue is the way they have completely removed the comedy of the show and made it so serious. The protagonists of the show are 12, 14 and 16 years old. Which 12 year old is ever serious about anything in their life? Especially a kid like Aang who never even wanted to be the Avatar. This is what makes him run away in the first place and not tell Katara and Sokka that he is the Avatar when they wake him up from the iceberg. He is a kid who wants to go penguin-sledding and play with his friends from the other nations, not be the powerful entity that is supposed to be the peace-bringer of the 4 nations. instead, Aang here is an asshole, to say the least. The next big change they made is for Sokka. They thought they were being so progressive when they announced that his character will not make misogynistic jokes and be a male chauvinist. This just tells me that the show makers did not watch and study their source material. Those who watched the original know that Sokka's character arc is the fact that he thinks men are better warriors but he becomes surrounded by women warriors who are so much better than him and beat his ass, for the lack of better words, and make him realise that his stance is wrong. That arc is really beautiful to watch. I mean, he even becomes a Kyoshi warrior, an elite group of women warriors, wear their clothes and makeup to fight. That arc is what makes him Sokka. 

This was just in Season 1. When Netflix announced Season 2, everyone and their mothers were excited to see who would be cast as Toph, the greatest Earthbender ever. And as usual, Netflix disappointed me, again. Not with the actress, I'm sure she is great. But with the announcement that Toph would be more "feminine" in the live action. So what? Masculine presenting girls like Toph cannot exist in real life and can only be so in cartoons? She says she wanted to "work into a very humanizing space for her because, you know, she was a cartoon". How did humanizing correlate to more feminine? This also opens a conversation on what is femininity and masculinity and they are essentially just social constructs that we have made. So how is making any of this change good? By not staying true to who Toph is, they are stripping her of her character as well. We know there is a reason she hates to present herself as conventionally feminine. They just threw it out the window because apparently, it is not human enough. 

Now, arguably one of the BEST character arc to  ever exist is that of Zuko. He is the best character in the show and the best character ever written. A Prince of the Nation that is colonising the entire world, he sets out to find the Avatar to regain his honour. But we slowly learn the amount of trauma he has undergone at the hands of his father. The Agni Kai between Zuko and Lord Ozai is the most essential part of his story. His own father burns half his face in front of the entire nation for speaking up against his father's cruelty in war. For not fighting his own father in the duel, he is called weak, stripped of his title, exiled and can only return when he finds and brings the Avatar, who has been missing for a 100 years. The person who brings Zuko back is Uncle Iroh, the only man who ever cared for him.

"My father used to say Azula was born lucky. I was lucky to be born." This shows the type of abuse that Zuko went through most his life. And yet, he realises his mistake. " Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was." This line itself talks a lot about not just what Zuko has learnt but also about how colonisers justify their violence and cruelty. Netflix took this complex and wonderful character and made a joke out of him. They thought they aced with bringing in a joke within the fandom but all that did was strip away from the healing process that he was supposed to have.

There is SO much more that I have an issue with. Suki, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai were all portrayed with such vast differences that they are not the same characters anymore. but my other main issue is the way they have cut and restructured the plot. The big one is Katara's Painted Lady. In the original, this happens in Book 3: Fire, which takes place in the fire nation. It shows us that even the fire nation does not take proper care of it's own colonies and how it neglects the poverty within its own empire. And Katara, who hates the fire nation, still ends up helping them because that is her nature. Now brining that plot into Book 2: Earth makes no sense. It's obvious that the Earth Kingdom Colonies except Ba Sing Se suffer because of the war, so what use does the painted lady have here? Having Sokka and Katara go into the Secret Tunnel instead of Aang and Katara, having Zuko steal from the pregnant lady, having Azula give the ultimatum to Ty Lee and Mai, I can go on and on.

This is my problem with big corporations like Netflix making shows. It ruins the original intention of the story because, let's be honest, Netflix will be the last company to agree with any of the politics that ATLA puts forth. It's almost ironical that a company funding for an ongoing genocide is making a show about the consequences of colonisation and genocide and war. This, I would say, is a bigger disservice to the Avatar World than the live action movie that we don't talk about. Uncle Iroh would be disappointed in you, Live Action ATLA.