“Everything changed, when Hollywood attacked….”

If you know me well, you know that I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is one of the few shows, regardless of whether it is animated or not, that I can watch again and again and get something new out of every time. It has layers and doesn’t shrink back from difficult themes, complex characterization, and meaningful life lessons. 

So, it was with trepidation that I saw Netflix was making a live action adaptation.  Based on the previous venture, Shyamalan’s Avatar, I wasn’t super optimistic about this version turning out well. But then I saw that the original creators were involved.

Yay!

But then in the middle of production, the original creators left over “creative differences.”

Boo!

Then we started to see headlines like this “Netflix’s Live-Action ‘Avatar’ Series ‘Took Out How Sexist’ Sokka Was in the Original: ‘A Lot of Moments’ in the Animated Show ‘Were Iffy’”

and “Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Making Aang’s Journey Much More Serious.” 

These stories made my trepidation increase because anyone who has watched the cartoon knows that these elements of Sokka and Aang are not just silly little character flaws that need to be brushed away….they are essential character plots that tie into their character arcs. (Be forewarned, from here thar be spoilers!)

Sokka is sexist because he is the only “man” (and really he is still a boy) in his village. He thinks women don’t fight, hunt, etc., because in his village, the women don’t fight or hunt but maintain their households while the men have all gone off to war. Any female warrior that might have been there, like his waterbending mother, was murdered by the fire nation. It’s part of his character growth that he recognizes and apologizes for his sexism – i.e. when he bows down to the Kyoshi warriors and begs to be trained by them. He learns and changes. 

Same thing with Aang. His roundabout way of traveling the world is his coping mechanism against being the Avatar. (One of my favorite scenes is when Zuko is trying to predict where Aang will go next and thinking that the Avatar is a master tactician, when really Aang just wants to go ride Koi fish or visit old friends). One of Aang’s arcs is him coming to grips with the heavy burden that he has placed on his young shoulders. He doesn’t want to be the Avatar and so he goes out of his way to delay the inevitable in an admittedly childish way….but he is a child, so that makes perfect sense! And it makes his coming to terms with his fate all the more powerful when he finally turns from his childish ways and accepts the task given to him. 

This trend of making everyone perfect or serious is something that I have noticed about modern Hollywood. They are so afraid to have flawed heroes and to have them grow from their flaws.

I think of the live action version of Mulan – she can’t just train to be on par with the men, no, she’s got magical powers that help her and that she has to hide until she just accepts herself. 

Or Barbie, where everything is the fault of the patriarchy and that anything female led is inherently better. 

Or Captain Marvel, where the main character doesn’t grow at all, she just becomes even more amazing when she gets her memories back.

Even Encanto, which I enjoyed initially, doesn’t really have an arc or storyline. It’s not anyone’s fault or flaws that cause problems, it’s family trauma. 

I know a lot of people are going to think I simplified these stories – and to an extent I did – but you have to admit one thing. Each of these movies are afraid to let their characters, especially their female characters, have flaws. Their “arc” is essentially not learning from mistakes, but embracing their inner true selves as amazing, with no need to ever change or grow.  They often don’t accept personal responsibility for their problems, but blame society, family trauma, or – more and more these days – men. 

They are a lot harder to relate to because we all know that there are things we can work on – maybe we have a short temper, maybe we’re a perfectionist, maybe we judge others too quickly – and when we see characters that have flaws like ours and yet strive to be better and change, it gives us hope for change too. 

My favorite character in Avatar is Zuko and he is a deeply flawed character. I wouldn’t have him any other way. He is a character that teaches me that you can do terrible things, make awful mistakes, but they don’t have to define you. There is still a chance to change and seek redemption. Often that redemption is messy – sometimes people won’t forgive you and you still have to deal with the consequences of your terrible decisions, but you also don’t have to continue down the same destructive path. Zuko also takes personal responsibility for his errors – even when he suffers from terrible family abuse and trauma. He acknowledges that some of his issues stem from his upbringing, but he also recognizes that many of his problems are caused by his choices and his actions, not anyone else’s. And he takes personal, specific steps to make amends. What a beautiful message for all of us flawed people to learn. 

So, when I see changes like this and see the original creators leave due to creative differences, it troubles me that the directors who are left (who cheered at the departure of the original creators, like, what the heck?) don’t see the value of these carefully crafted story arcs and characters. If they don’t see the importance of fundamental character flaws and growth like Sokka’s sexism and Aang’s fear, then I don’t think they will see the importance of Zuko’s destructive zeal or Uncle Iroh’s painfully gained wisdom. 

A lot of people may say, “You just have to wait until it comes out. Give it a chance.”

Fair enough, I will and I will try to keep an open mind. The cast does look promising and so do the set photos, but that doesn’t mean anything if you botch the characters. And I can’t say that Hollywood has a great track record for me. They’ve already butchered Marvel, Star Wars, and even Lord of the Rings (don’t get me started on that travesty that is Rings of Power). 

I’m just so tired of my favorite shows and movies being ruined. I don’t want that to happen to Avatar.

At least, if all else fails, I still have the original show. And I’ll keep watching and loving it more and more with every view, flaws and all.