The Netflix live-action series Avatar: The Last Airbender is set to premier next month and has already created a lot of talking points. Not all of the hype though, is positive. The series which follows the narrative made popular by the 2005 animated show of the same name, is garnering some criticism for its character development. One of the key protagonists is Sokka, a warrior of the Water Tribe, who along with his younger sister Katara, discovers an Airbender named Aang and accompanies him to bring peace to the war-torn countries.
A prominent feature of the character apart from his sparkling intelligence and wit, is his inherent abrasive and sexist nature that featured in many parts of the animated series. But with information that this attitude would be toned down in the live-action series, fans are questioning the whole point of the narrative, especially with regard to his relationship with Aang.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Has A Significant Change In The Live-Action Series
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a series that fans are eagerly looking forward to. Set to release next month on Netflix, the show will be a live-action version of the 2005 animated series that gained a lot of popularity. Young stars Ian Ousley, Gordon Cormier, and Kiawentiio will play the 3 central characters namely Sokka, Aang, and Katara.
In the animated series, Sokka is seen as a protagonist with very distinctive traits including sharp intelligence, wry humor, and a protective brotherly affection towards his sister Katara. In addition, he also had a penchant for making immature and sexist remarks that were prevalent throughout his adventures. In fact, it was Sokka’s inappropriate comment that accidentally led to the siblings discovering Aang.
But now, it seems like the live-action series has done away with this specific characteristic of Sokka judging by the confessions of the 3 main stars of the show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actors spoke of how the show tried to tone down this trait in an effort to be more relatable as a character. In the words of Kiawentiio,
“I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy.”
Ousley also concurred with his co-star’s statement and revealed that these changes were made in order to bring a different aesthetic and nuance to the character. It now remains to be seen if audiences accept these significant modifications when Avatar: The Last Airbender premiers next month.
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Fans Are Worried About Sokka’s Character in Avatar: The Last Airbender
Since being told of a significant change to the character of Sokka in the live-action Netflix series Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans have taken to social media to express their doubts regarding how the role will pan out. With the news that Sokka’s distinctive sexist nature will be toned down in the show, netizens are also questioning the logic behind this decision especially when this trait is important to the discovery of Aang.
Sokka’s sexism is literally how they found Aang. Katara got mad because of Sokka’s sexist remark and broke the ice glacier that freed Aang 😭 how are they gonna play around that https://t.co/2YzL1fNh7k
— daily aang (@aangdaily) January 30, 2024
I could write a 2 hour long video essay on why Sokka's sexism was important to his character arc, growing and accepting the powerful women in his life was a major plot point for him. From the beginning of meeting the Kiyoshi and to watching his sister become a master bender.
— Solisis Dicax (@BLHUPublishing) January 30, 2024
it’s literally apart of his character arc that Sokka learns how stupid his sexist views were and begs the Kyoshi Warriors to teach him
this show is gonna suck pic.twitter.com/4HPBIDrX3h
— Mike Carolla (@SJTimes13) January 30, 2024
I'm now worried too that they'll remove or "Tone down" the Toph blind jokes too. They were comedic, but also served a purpose too of showing how everyone saw Toph as an equal. Like I'm worried they're gonna tell us stuff instead of showing us, and be blatantly preachy about it.
— VinSen (@VinSenneth) January 30, 2024
they toned it down 😭 i’m guessing when they head to kyoshi island i’m guessing he won’t be all “women can’t fight” etc..
— 🥂 (@hhunch0_) January 30, 2024
Judging by the reactions of fans, the show looks to have taken a huge risk by modifying the character of Sokka. Time will tell if this decision is a genius move or a costly mistake.
Avatar: The Last Airbender releases on Netflix on 22nd February, 2024.
