The Avatar the Last Airbender anime series, which revolved around Avatar Aang and his friends, siblings Sokka and Katara; was a massively successful Emmy-winning project that ended a bit too soon (and rather unexpectedly, at that). This is why a new, live-action adaptation of the same was greenlit, paving the way for an upcoming Netflix show of the same name.
But this Netflix version would not be the same as the original animated one, for it would reportedly exclude some of the key elements of the main characters. This includes Sokka’s sexism, for instance.
The showrunners obviously have their reasons behind not including the same in the live-action series. However, removing Sokka’s sexism would create a major problem in the storyline for his sister, Katara, that fans might not appreciate.
How Sokka’s Sexism Getting Removed Triggers A Problem For Katara
Besides the thrilling adventures the trio embarked on throughout their journey if there was anything that truly continued to entertain audiences in the Avatar the Last Airbender anime series, it was the bickering between Katara and Sokka.
This constant bickering was only possible because of the siblings’ contrasting perspectives. Sokka’s sexist outlook which he developed while growing up, was counterargued by Katara’s feminist values.
Not only did it increase the amusement in the series, but the two also worked in tandem and created some major arc developments for the show. The back and forth helped a lot in terms of character and plot development, not just for Sokka, but also for characters who were close to him.
However, with the upcoming live-action, this is seemingly about to change, considering how the showrunners for the Netflix show intend to not get into “some gender issues that didn’t quite translate from the cartoon.” (More on this later.)
Although Katara and Sokka’s different points of view made it all the more amusing, either of them would prove to be useless without the other. To put it simply, Katara’s voice of feminism is useless without Sokka’s bitter words.
This means that if they indeed remove Sokka’s sexism but leave Katara’s feminism intact, it would no longer create the entertaining ground that it did in the anime series. Netflix might also be accused of cherry-picking what it wants.
Even though Sokka was more like the ‘This is how the society is and works, so deal with it’ voice before he changed his views, it still worked both ways as Katara also learned a lot about the ways of the world from Sokka’s conservative point of views.
Thus, this decision of the showrunners to not include a key behavioral detail of one of the main characters in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series might not prove the most fruitful. It may even contribute to the potential downfall of the show because of the seemingly over-feminist approach (that fans notably might not appreciate).
Why Avatar Creators Want To Remove Sokka’s Sexism From Live-Action Series
Recently, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sokka actor Ian Ousley and Katara actress Kiawentiio Tarbell talked about their live-action series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Tarbell pointed out how they seemingly “took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was.”
“Yeah, totally,” Ousley agreed. “There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].”
During another interview with IGN, showrunner Albert Kim shared some similar insights into the upcoming series as he said:
“There are certain roles I think that Katara did in the cartoon that we didn’t necessarily also do here,” Kim said. “I mean, I don’t want to really get into a lot of that, but some gender issues that didn’t quite translate from the cartoon.”
Thus, in order to “guard against that kind of stuff” — which is basically showing Sokka in his originally abrasive personality — Netflix decided to not include it in the first place to avoid audiences perceiving the character as downright unlikeable.
While they may label it as “updating” the characters rather than calling it what it is — removing the character’s one major personality trait, fans may not have that equally positive response after they realize how useless Katara’s intact feminism is without Sokka’s sexism.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to be released for streaming on the 22nd of February, 2024.
