Netflix has released the long-awaited live-action version of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
The first season of Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was released on Feb. 22. While many were excited for the live-action version of the cult classic cartoon to hit streaming, the series was met with mixed reviews.
Series plot
The series, both the animated and live-action versions, follow the story of 12-year-old Aang, the last of the air nomads. Aang is the avatar, the protector of both the physical and spirit realms. He is the only human who can bend all four elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
The Avatar has the responsibility to defend the world from danger, or in this case, the wrath of the fire nation. Citizens were counting on the avatar to stop the Fire Lord from attempting to conquer all nations, but when he was needed the most, Aang ran away and was frozen for one hundred years.
That is until Katara and Sokka, siblings who are a part of the Southern Water Tribe, discover him. With the help of his new friends, Aang begins his journey to master the four elements.
Keeping the heart of the story
The first season of Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” did a good job at keeping the core of the original tale. There was a clear effort to blend plot points to better adapt the story to the live-action format.
The creators of the animated series made clear that each of the elemental nations represented specific cultures. With that in mind, casting directors made sure to cast Asian and Native American actors for their respective roles. This decision made many fans of the original show very happy.
The widely disliked 2010 movie adaptation of the same name disappointed many fans with their choice to cast mostly white actors for Indigenous and AAPI roles. Instead, Netflix’s Avatar went the appropriate route of actually hiring actors to represent their own cultures on screen.
Kiawentiio, the Mohawk Nation actress who portrays Katara in the Netflix series, has spoken to several news outlets proclaiming her pride in portraying the young water bender and representing her people on screen.
Other well-known actors starring in the series include Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Uncle Iroh and Utkarsh Ambudkar as King Bumi of the Earth Kingdom.
Fan criticisms
One criticism that Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” received was that it wasn’t identical to the original. However, it would have been close to impossible to make a live-action identical to its animated source material. Meshing plot points made a lot of sense for the sake of maintaining the important pieces within the eight-episode limit,
Fans were quick to criticize some of the casting choices for the live-action adaptation. Many claimed that certain actors were not attractive enough to play their favorite characters. Understandably, fans often want actors to look somewhat similar to their original art and design. However, attacking an actor simply for how they look rather than their performance of the character is uncalled for.
Elizabeth Yu, who plays Azula in the Netflix adaptation, received harassment from viewers saying that she looked “too innocent” to play the princess of the Fire Nation. Other actors from the series received criticism for not being as attractive as fans hoped.
Ultimately, this is a bizarre critique. Most aspects of the look of each character mostly come from make-up, hair and costume design. Especially when it comes to beloved childhood characters, fans should be allowed to share their opinions. But it’s important to step back and remember that they are comparing the actors to a cartoon before adding their two cents.
Bad acting or bad writing?
However, the most valid criticism comes from the portrayal of some important characters.
Now, it should be clear that issues with the characters mostly come from the writing of the show. Though it is the same story, most of the writing within the first season does more telling than showing. It felt like writers were spoon-feeding details to the audience, because they didn’t think viewers would understand it otherwise.
Take Aang for example. In the animated series, Aang is a goofy kid who doesn’t fully understand the responsibilities of being the Avatar right away. Gordon Cormier, the actor who plays Aang in the live-action adaptation, portrays Aang in a serious way. Aang is a goofy young kid until he learns what happens to the other Air Nomads. However, the writing does a lot more showing rather than telling. Because of this, viewers don’t get to see the arc within his character in season one.
Another example of this happens with Katara’s character arc. Katara is an optimist and is supportive of Aang in both versions of the show. However, an integral part of her character is that she has to work hard to be a talented water bender. In the animated version, Katara became frustrated that Aang can pick up water bending so quickly. Throughout their journey to the Northern Water Tribe, she worries that she may never be as good as she hopes.
The writers took away this progression in the live-action by making her a natural at water bending from the get-go. This makes Katara almost feel dull in comparison to her animated version.
By relying on telling rather than showing and preventing the actors from actually acting, Netflix’s version loses its essence that has captured audiences for years.
