It’s never easy adapting a beloved work, especially one with a huge fanbase like Avatar: The Last Airbender. With the release of Netflix’s live-action adaptation right around the corner, the crushing pressure to deliver has never been stronger, but this latest update could well be a step back.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, cast members Kiawentiio — who plays Katara in the show — and Ian Ousley (Sokka) revealed that Sokka’s casual sexism in the original animated series will be toned down, or at the very least, reworked.
“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,” said Kiawentiio. Her co-star agreed, adding, “Yeah, totally. There are things that were redirected just because it might play a little differently [in live action].”
The tweak comes after entire Reddit threads were dedicated to discussing Sokka’s misogyny, where he would make remarks along the lines of “Girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting.” However, it should be noted that his sexist behaviour played a significant role in his character journey, and removing it from the live-action version diminishes the extent of his growth over the course of the story.
In the animated series, the boomerang wielder is seen displaying misogynistic traits from episode one, mostly directed at Katara. The waterbender doesn’t let his brother get away with the disparaging comments and would often criticise him, but one of the major touchpoints was when Kyoshi warrior Suki wipes the floor with him in a dojo, after he made comments relating her sex to combat prowess.
It’s unclear just how much the change will affect Sokka’s characterisation in Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. Some have speculated it to be one of the creative differences that led to creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino’s departure from the project. Other tweaks include showing the genocide of the Airbender tribe and the rise of the Fire Nation, which was only alluded to in the original.
“That was a conscious decision to show people this is not the animated series,” said showrunner Albert Kim. “We had to sometimes unravel storylines and remix them in a new way to make sense for a serialised drama. So I’m very curious to see what’ll happen in terms of reaction to that.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender hits Netflix on 22 February. Apart from Kiawentiio and Ousley, it also stars Dallas Liu as Zuko, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh, Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula, Ken Leung as Commander Zhao, Casey Camp-Horinek as Gran Gran, and Maria Zhang as Suki. Singaporean actor, Lim Kay Siu, will get his time to shine as Aang’s former mentor Gyatso.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
