ATLA: Part Two

Hooray, I got my part two! Unfortunately, I do need to keep this relatively short so I’m going to speed through some things.
To make up for not talking much about Sokka’s character go watch “The Failed Masculinity of Netflix’s Sokka” by Master Samwise on Youtube. (I know none of you will but I like to pretend.) Also, I can’t believe I chose to talk about Bumi rather than how they massacred Hakoda’s character. To keep it brief: Allowed Sokka to pass his trials even though he put everyone in danger because he didn’t want to hurt his feelings→ Terrible Chief. Doesn’t understand/appreciate Sokka’s inventive side even though that’s literally where Sokka got his inventiveness in the first place.
Anyways….
Aang not waterbending?? At all?? The entirety of Book [Season] One is about him learning waterbending with Katara and they completely scrapped that for what? Maybe we’ll get a reasonable explanation in the next (confirmed) season. No, I’m not taking Aang’s excuse of “I’ve never been trained by anyone but Gyatso before, so it wouldn’t be the same 🙁 “ that was stupid. He knows he’s supposed to be training to master all four elements to defeat Ozai and end the war. In fact, this version of Aang was supposed to be super into the idea of being the Avatar, so it doesn’t even fit into their own characterization.
AND ANOTHER THING I hate how they took away the Pakku/Gran-Gran storyline. It was there for a reason. I’m 90% sure that it was to “take away the sexism” of how Katara won Pakku’s respect. But again: It! Was! There! For! A! Reason! It’s almost like the original writers had this thing called characterization and good storytelling. In the original, Katara challenged Pakku to a fight (she knew she wouldn’t win, but it was about showing Pakku that she could be a good fighter despite being a girl.) Although she held her own, truly showing how skilled she was at fighting, Pakku still dismissed it, he still scoffed at her. But when he realized that the necklace Katara had was the betrothal necklace he carved for their grandmother long ago, that’s when he had the revelation that “Oh. The misogyny that is rooted in our culture drove the love of my life away.” That’s when he started loosening up and thinking differently. It was just his character, his FLAW, which is an okay thing to give your characters, 2024 ATLA writers please understand this. In the remake, Pakku immediately changed his ways after their fight, with no mention of Gran-Gran anywhere. Which is okay, but takes away a bit of character depth.
Adding on to the Northern Water Tribe arc, the way Katara was hailed a master felt entirely rushed and undeserved. We barely saw her master anything, she didn’t even win the fight against Pakku. In the original, we see her clearly improve and by the end can easily defeat all of Pakku’s students.
To wrap up my boiling thoughts on a show meant for children ages 6-11 let me talk about Zuko’s Agni Kai with Ozai. Simply put: Terrible change. The whole point is that Zuko is a terrified 13-year-old child who doesn’t want to fight his dad. His refusal to fight is the sign of weakness that Ozai punishes him for. Making Zuko fight back takes away that horrific significance.
Alas, my time here ends. Thank you to any readers who put up with my ramblings, whether it be the stupidity of love triangles, “gently encouraging” you to go read my favorite books, or generally nerding out over a show meant for children. I’ll miss this, my own little outlet.
Goodbye <3.