The Failed Femininity of Netflix's Katara

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

They stripped my girl of her fiery spirit, her passion, her determination and will power, and her never ending love and compassion for people. The original Avatar has some of the greatest female characters to ever be put onscreen, Katara being one of them. This is NOT Katara.

[@greent26tube]

Exactly; you put into words why while watching I felt this entire series on Netflix to be devoid of heart and emotion.

[@rialove8451]

I never felt that she was stripped of those things tho ESPECIALLY when she was at the northern water tribe, her "fiery spirit" definitely came out and it feels like she'll grow even more into her character.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

@@rialove8451 I WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagree. One episode does not justify 7 other episodes where Katara is a shadow of her real self. And even that episode, it is again a very hollow shadow of everything she is.

[@Iden_Elihio_1999]

​@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343Exactly ....

[@jayduong9838]

Least they got Azula right. Suki haven’t got enough time we’ll see. If they fuk up toph I’m out

[@blubblubblup]

best thing about netflix's avatar is how it makes me want to watch the original again

[@rosebrown7002]

@JackAttack-jn4op same tbh

[@emanuelarriaza3710]

Yea KZbin did a live show of an episode and everyone just loved it it was aang vs bomi😊

[@minatorres5261]

@JackAttack-jn4opme too. I’m currently in season 2. Oh! How I missed sokka’s humor

[@Sly-Moose]

And look forward to the movie that the OG ATLA creators are gonna make of Team Avatar in their 20s

[@Justmesofree]

I thought the same thing😅It was a fun watch for me, im very glad I had no expectations🙏🏼

[@AscendantStoic]

When a "kids" animated show is far more mature than a Netflix adaptation for "adults" you know something went horribly wrong.

[@glo391]

You’re so right…

[@gwen5715]

"Mature" isn't the right word. You are using that word to describe quality. If you fail to use words properly they lose meaning

[@gwen5715]

The Netflix adaptation isn't specifically for adults either. Its closer to being like Korra. Or how Avatar would of been if it aired on cartoon network instead of Nick. In terms of censorship. But in no way is this specifically trying to be an adult show.

[@AscendantStoic]

@@gwen5715 Maybe say that to the show creators who literally said that they want to appeal to the "Game of Thrones" audience, which last time I checked was a show for mature audiences.

[@younghades2503]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@gwen5715there were people literally burned alive, blown up, and they happily showed people bleeding too on camera in the live action😂 but sure it’s SPECIFICALLY for kids and def not the the old fans of avatar

[@iech0526]

The fact that the original animated ATLA writers WALKED OUT of the development process of this show because they were being forced to go along with changes to the story they could not, in good conscience, support tells you all you need to know. This video was very illuminating, and also very depressing. I'm going to do my best to forget the new live action exists.

[@bubbles4897]

I’m so tired of people saying this. Those motherfuckers talked favorably about that horrid movie adaptation, and plus, people act like they were the bread and butter of the show but there were so much more people who contributed even MORE

[@tcrzsppr3163]

Eh, both writers had been going downhill with Korra and I also believe they wrote the first chapter of the Netflix adaptation, they aren't what they used to be.

[@Gandorhar]

​@@tcrzsppr3163Do you even know why Korra is writen the way it is?

[@yusaidit5311]

​​@@bubbles4897*cough* Aaron Ehasz

[@cuppajoe2]

Korra was pretty good (Except for season 2 we don't talk about season 2)@@tcrzsppr3163

[@ishathakor]

making katara a naturally skilled waterbender is so.... bad. katara was always innately powerful (even since the first episode) but she was never innately skilled. the reason she gets so good in the finale of season 1 is she's actually fighting to learn with pakku and aang is fucking around doing nothing. the reason she's such a fearsome fighter later in the show is because she WORKS AT IT. it's like this show is allergic to the idea that people might have to learn to fight.

[@edogawaconan4869]

How Millennials were raised: Animation Katara (have that strong mindset to be optimistic) How a traumatized Generation Z was raised: Netflix Katara (realistic) I was literally told the same thing ( my water "instinct" was good ) by my swimming coaches and learned how to do the right moves right after watching them do it. But being bullied in school and the neglection of my father and teacher did held me back, and I thought I was not worthy for these people. Changing your mindset can be an advantage, Neflix just didn't film enough Katara scenes.

[@cutecats532]

She became skilled because instead of fighting with Aang, who is a master bender, Aang teaches her the basics of bending in general. No conflict over the scroll because the origin changed and it's just hers, and she listened to Aang when he tried to tell her the key to bending. She learned the basics from Aang and was stronger for it. Everything they changed in the show makes a logical sense.

[@danielar4413]

This remembers me of Mulan the live action. It's the same thing. They made her a natural skilled fighter and that completely ruins all the deepness in Mulan's character

[@OutcastLove365]

I mean not really? Katara struggled in the live action as well. She gradually gets stronger over the season as she practices and seeks advice from other people. She was never innately skilled.

[@Barakon]

@@edogawaconan4869I’m what you’d call Gen z but I still grew up on OG reruns on nick.

[@FrizziExRose]

Katara's mother was not a warrior. She was a protector. When the fire nation showed up looking for a water bender, her mother lied to protect Katara. She sacrificed herself for her child without fighting. This is why Katara started mothering Sokka. Because she felt like their mother's sacrifice was her fault, and Sokka still needed a mom. Not once, considering that she also still needed her mom. It shapes who Katara is as a person. They even could've used that to attempt to drive a girl boss attitude, and that still would've been better writing than what they gave their audience.

[@huntressmma1822]

I think he was referring to Jet's mom being the fighter not Katara's, I could be wrong though.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

@@huntressmma1822 No in the live action show, Katara's mom was rewritten to be a fighter.

[@huntressmma1822]

@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 Ah, I didn't notice that detail. I only watched the live action once so sometimes my brain doesn't pick up on things sometimes. 😂

[@kenslycarpel3140]

If I wanted to give the show the benefit of the doubt, I’d say Katara saw her mother as a “warrior” in her own way and called her such, after all, protecting those you care for is just as important for a warrior as fighting the enemy in combat.

[@huntressmma1822]

@@kenslycarpel3140 That's a cool way of putting it, there are different types of warriors not just the combat kind!

[@mimaimoo]

Honestly, I think actress for Katara has this drive to her in interviews. She seems genuinely passionate about Avatar, knowing many aspects of the lore and being excited to share it. It was nice seeing her ramble about something she feels strongly about, and I wish they let her show this side of her on the screen, because I feel like she has the potential to show Katara's emotional range. Then again, I feel like the actors are more like their characters off screen, without a script or any restrictions. They have such great chemistry as a cast, and I hope the direction/writing in the future isn't as disappointing as this season.

[@blumelodiez]

I wholeheartedly agree. Kiawentiio seems like she could do so much more for the character. The entire cast, I feel like, is being held back by the writing and directing

[@ursidae97]

It's always the billionaires who make the stories lesser

[@ieatteeth5605]

@@blumelodiez Literally! All the actors deserve better writing

[@Dred0n]

Fr like that's the Katara I want not the Katara Netflix gave us. I really hope in season 2-3 they bring out Kiawentiio personality into Katara.

[@mayae9372]

Shes such a good actress 🥹

[@TheLastSpider-Man]

Katara seeing waterbending only as a means of being a strong warrior completely erases the nuances of what bending is. Bending is more than just a power or weapon, it's an art form and a part of a nation's culture. The way Katara in the original show spoke about her desire to learn waterbending felt similar to someone wanting to learn how to speak their culture's native language, or experience their culture's lifestyle. As an Asian American who doesn't know how to speak my family's native language, Katara felt relatable in this way

[@Sly-Moose]

Yess. Like how I'm still trying to learn Spanish

[@master_samwise]

In the first episode she even says "waterbending built our culture" and then that line gets completely forgotten throughout the rest of the show.

[@kylepessell1350]

@@master_samwise The irony of Netflix Katara adopting the Fire Nation's philosophy on bending=power is not lost on me.

[@nicoleraheem1195]

🥹😪👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 *Sniffles 🤧🥹👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 As an Linguistics major, I love the correlation. You've painted a vivid picture. 🤧 Don't give up on yourself. When you're able to, you can take a college language course or visit your parents country. Thank you for sharing. ❤

[@tarrker]

I feel that. I grew up not really knowing much about my own people and their culture either. Studying our family's form of martial arts was certainly empowering. But, for me, it was simply a way to be closer to my own culture. I didn't care about being strong or anything. In fact, as a guy who grew up in the 80's and 90's, I got really sick of fighting by the end of my school days. Even though I'm a man and the show was released while I was in my 20's, I still really connected with Katara as a character. I think anyone of any race or gender who grew up too fast and had a desire to connect with their ancestry will feel a bit of themselves in Katara. ^_^

[@PrettyPrincess9609]

As a woman, I am PISSED on how they RUINED Katara’s character. They turned a strong , stubborn, and independent girl who never gave up no matter what anyone said to a soft spoken girl who couldn’t even stand up to her brother. Also it made no sense how she became a master after NO TRAINING ! In the cartoon, she FOUGHT to be trained. In this live action show, they turned her into a master after ONE fight when she went to the Northern water tribe. 🙄

[@yurichtube1162]

I hope there is no season 2

[@beepboop4833]

Ironic when they are always talking about female empowerment but then remove her fierceness and strength, and all the moments where she inspires others...

[@mariekeho]

It reminds me so much of the live action Mulan, where instead of the hard work she had to put in in the original, she was just "naturally" better. As a woman, that is not inspiring to me at all. I am not born with supernatural abilities or a natural inclination for a skill so therefore I shouldn't even try, according to budget Katara and live action Mulan. The actual Katara and original Mulan, however, show me that through hard work and determination, we can achieve what we want. I prefer the latter over the former.

[@mrkleenupguy5781]

I think we're supposed to assume they trained/fought off screen, which still sucks

[@Eilonwy95]

Exactly!!! She was an actual strong character in the original. Not just her water bending but her entire personality.

[@ggrarl]

Katara's mother really said, "One day you'll show the world how powerful you are"? That sounds like something you'd say to a future supervillan.

[@10freekie2]

yeah it is awful i just realised how bad the writing was now i read that in a vacuum.

[@EugeneOneguine]

Literally sounds like what Ozai would say to Azula...

[@m-pc5334]

I think it’s because of the adaptation’s obsession with fighting and treating it like the only thing that matters. It severely muddies the story

[@johjoh9270]

plot twist, netflix WILL have the characters have their development... by canonizing evil Katara

[@jokhard8137]

@@EugeneOneguine Wouldn't it be cool if they had a scene like that later on in the series, though?

[@user-ks5cg5cd7m]

“When the focus on the character is just her power, she isn’t a character at all. She’s just a weapon.” Good observation.

[@deadpoolrockz6410]

They went full Rey with this Katara. You never go full Rey.

[@Master10k2]

Might as well just call her "M1-Katara" at this point.

[@shannonmcelroy8454]

So, in a sense, she's being objectified in the old sense of the word.

[@potatoesdeterre]

And it is definitely NOT Kiawenttio’s fault at all, it’s 100% Netflix’s. She is an actor completely capable of playing the animation version of Katara because she plays that same fiery and passionate character in Beans. It’s a shame that she couldn’t put her skills to use in this adaptation, she would’ve done amazing!

[@noranizaazmi6523]

Exactly!

[@animeotaku307]

Super sucks when a great actor’s talent is wasted by bad writing and directing.

[@clydesheridan69420]

Shes a bad actress too lets be real. The horrible script doesnt help but this whole project from every aspect is just all around bad

[@madpal518]

It's such a shame! You can see her giving emotion to her scenes, but the writing is just soooo bad there's only so much she could do. How can they fail so bad at something that has all the material already available on a silver platter??

[@1Meepman]

"I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too." ~Suki This show was so ahead of its time with feminism you'd think that line was written today. Granted I'm a man but from what I've seen, even women are getting irritated that every "strong" female character is forced to sacrifice her femininity. ATLA demonstrates power in femininity with the Kyoshi warriors; their uniforms are more feminine with the headdresses, makeup, war fans and dress-like armor.

[@Eilonwy95]

Well said!

[@IllumInator-sv3tl]

Well I’ve seen another video explaining that women characters are a weird combination of not dressing masculine or feminine. So it’s like it’s representing neither in most media. They dress masculine most of the time but still have to be toothpick thin and have curves and wear makeup and impossibly have their hair done in really intense fight scenes while dressing s*xy for the male audience. It’s not that it’s a lack of femininity, it that it’s a straight up lack of multidimensional women characters. Black widow is a good example. Always dresses in tight clothing with a boob window with meticulously done hair and make up that never gets messed up. She never seems to have any importance in the storyline or much to say, she’s a side character there to be gawked at. When they did her backstory it felt hollow. What women are actually mad about is that there are no real representation of women, they never commit to the fact that women typically dress more one way or the other or that women switch which way they dress for fun or for different occasions, and there is no dimensionality to the characters, they usually written off, ect. And then we never see women that are hero’s or main cast that get to be dress feminine or masculine because it’s all performative for the male audience. Almost all the women characters wear clothing or hair that is considered feminine because you’d never see what is considered a masculine man wearing that, so it’s not really a lack of feminity. Plus, in most story’s with women in the main cast they have trauma from war and threats and they don’t have the luxury of stoping to spend 2 hours on their hair, makeup, and outfits. But, there are ways to find balance with this. I can’t recall the video right now, it did a much better job explaining than I did.

[@Ika0713]

@@IllumInator-sv3tl What you're talking aboput has NOTHING to do with what we're talking about! You're the reason modern media thinks the way to portray female characters is by having them be stoic and masculine, perfect at everything and always mad, especially at men. You're complaining about female characters dressed sexily in movies, smt that barely happens anymore. We're complaining about female characters not being real characters, being always cardboard cutouts who hate femininity bc god forbid a strong female character likes feminine things, and whose only personality trait is knowing how to fight better than everyone without any training.

[@IllumInator-sv3tl]

@@Ika0713 I was bad at explaining what they said. I’m trying to say that what we usually have is neither feminine nor masculine, it’s never a real representation of women who actually wear what they would want to or is good for whatever situation they are in. A lot of media in which you claim it is masculine dressing women or them not embracing their femininity is not that at all. I dress masculine those girls and women most certainly do not most of the time. My point is they try to make it a weird combination of masculine and feminine so they can portray them in a way to make everyone happy when really they are just making everyone mad because it represents neither and ends up being a character dressing s*xy to get the attention of a male audience. It’s very much linked. And in the vast majority of media women, even held women dress feminine we never really see masculine dressing women. It’s still prevalent that they have them dress daintily and act really really feminine. I think she still looks feminine. The way her outfit is styled, how it fits, it’s appearance is more dress-like than Sokka s. She’s still very feminine presenting though she is missing many of the character traits we knew her for in the show and more of her feminine characteristic traits. But she is also lacking in her emotions and actions many still vein as masculine when it’s just emotions. Her anger is greatly toned down as are her motivations. They just made her loose any and all qualities that made her a likable and well written woman character.

[@zzzohmy]

@Ik0713 What mainstream action films are you watching where female characters are “barely” dressed sexy anymore. This wouldn’t be a problem even if true, but if you look at most popular action or superhero films of the last couple decades, women will usually have flattering clothing and hair, be wearing makeup, etc. Female characters in modern media are still plenty feminine. The problem with the stereotypical “strong female character” trope is that they lack depth and individuality as characters. This type of character is flat and doesn’t have realistic human flaws. This is often the case with male heroes and action stars as well, and has been for much longer. You just don’t hear people complain about it every day on youtube, probably because it isn’t effective rage bait for the “woke media is destroying everything” crowd. By the way, anger isn’t gender specific, it’s a human emotion. Female characters expressing anger doesn’t mean they “hate femininity.”

[@bertimusprime7900]

My sister described her as ember island players Katara, but reversed, where she has no emotions.

[@master_samwise]

This is 100% accurate.

[@kylejackson7913]

Well that’s not accurate at all

[@heartsDmise]

And you know whats worse? The actress actually has range, Ive seen her in Anne With An E and she is fantastic. Its the writing that is the problem

[@ltsoul9751]

That's what i said too!

[@mmyr8ado.360]

I wonder if the Ember Island episode would depict Craigslist Katara more like either the cartoon or M. Night Shyamalan version, if we even have that at all.

[@janarenger3938]

What got me the most is that they stripped her of her anger. In the original, she waterbends Aang out of the iceberg by getting angry at Sokka, but in the remake she does it by stoically waterbending a boat. This is also seen in the Pakku fight, because in the original she gets angry at him and than walks out asking him to fight. But in the netflix she is calmy discussing with Sokka if she should ask Pakku for a duel. Like what? The fight was a spur of the moment decsision made out of anger. And removing her anger might be even more sexist than the original, because anger is traditionally seen as a "masculine" emotion, so cutting out her anger is weird. At first I thought it was an acting issue, but I am more and more starting to think it's the writing / directing. Let 👏 my 👏 girl 👏 be 👏 angry 👏!!Let her make jokes and show her emotions!!!! I am pretty sure her actress will nail it.

[@MirrenTheDragonKnight]

Maybe they thought it made her the "bitchy, irrational female teenager" or some other bollocks.

[@Yupyupyup32]

lol yeah the only way a woman can be powerful is if shes a bitter constantly angry feminist.

[@TehMomo_]

she not only creates the waves that them flip the iceberg that Aang and Appa were trapped in... once she sees that there's someone inside...SHE GRABS HER BROTHERS CLUB AND BASHES THE ICEBERG OPEN. like... that was the most insulting part of the adaptation take on that scene. katara had no agency in aang's rescue...

[@hameley12]

@janarenger3939 My favourite episodes other than the pilot EP have been The Painted Lady, Imprisoned, and the Southern Raiders. Because it shows her soft strengths, hard strengths, compassion, character development and the balance between hot, warm, and cool. Just as water itself, it heals, adapts, is malleable (into mist due to heat) and it is quite versatile, just like Katara. Having weaknesses and phases is what made Katara so real and relatable. The new Katara has none of that, and it is very sad. These actors are excellent at acting. So, if given the correct script and a new director, I'm sure the TV series will turn into a real hit.

[@S_raB]

Modern writers think: Empowerment = character development Agency = growth Winning/Losing = plot

[@GeekazonDeals]

Nailed it

[@VinnyUnion]

They must be out of their damn minds then. What I don't get is how this is realistically possible. These writers are old. I mean even the youngest aren't teenagers. They've lived through times and they've likely seen thousands of scripts in their lives. Also they all have a very high graduation. How are such people capable of writing nonsense like this? Or more like, incapable of writing a consistent story?

[@talkingweevil3172]

I mean katara is still bad at waterbending in the first season she wasn’t an insane girl boss

[@christophergardiner5351]

​@@VinnyUnion because they haven't been humbled yet.

[@arnowisp6244]

​@@talkingweevil3172 Dude. They cut Katara having to master Water bending with her Grandfather.

[@SatoThe]

The ironic part of the adaptation is that in the process of making Sokka not sexist, they make him appear like a better person/leader and simultaneously remove a huge pillar of how Katara shows her resilience as a character in the first season. The flaws of Sokka and strengths of Katara are removed in taking the initial sexism out, sucks to suck Netflix

[@aomafura3374]

Yeah it makes sense that Katara is always challenging to gain a moral authority because at home, she is raising a brother with sometimes questionable morals that defies her own and her passions

[@tarrker]

Proper character arcs require characters with flaws. They deleted all the flaws because, reasons, so now there's nothing for our characters to achieve except defeating an enemy. Which isn't that compelling now because they have nothing left to overcome in order to do that. So what we're left with is a generic action show that feels like a cartoon in live action and, how many of those do we have? -_-

[@marocat4749]

Its not even the sexism, him being insecure alone would have had her, show how motherly she is. sokka without sexism is fine, through it takes her banter pushing back away, him being the caretaker, takes her arc over.

[@tarrker]

@@marocat4749 exactly! It would've been fine to replace the whole over coming sexism thing with something else. But... you kind of need the something else to make it work. x_x

[@leaffinite2001]

Its so strange to me that they basically made sokka already done as a character. Hes uninteresting now. I thought at least mild-Katara would get a training arc but... no. Just becomes a master seemingly undeservingly.

[@Armagilord123]

You have to admit that Neflix did some great foreshadowing. They showed exactly how they would Butcher her charactor right from the beginning. In the original she saw a complete stranger in an iceberg and while Sokka told her to just leave him she rushed to help him without a second thought. Her charactor was established from that moment. She was a kind person who had a strong instinct to protect and help others. It was her attempt to free him that woke Aang up and started the entire plot. In the netflix adaptation she...happened to waterbend near the iceberg he was in without even knowing and it woke him up because plot. From the start she was just a waterbender and nothing more.

[@Sly-Moose]

They literally made Katara more passive and quiet, which is even more sexist! OG Katara wouldn't have even bothered waiting for Paku to "give her permission to fight". She would have just already been fighting!

[@huntressmma1822]

Don't know if it was intentional but "Puka" made me lmao😂

[@ChromeandClean]

define sexism

[@Legitimate123]

@@ChromeandCleanYeah that's not really sexist at all lol. Stupid, but not sexist.

[@cutecats532]

They basically said she was skilled enough to be a master without being taught by him, and gave her more agency instead of Paku needing to realize she was his ex fiancee's gran kid who left because she disagreed with the traditions, and somehow accepting her off screen without really explaining it. It wasn't just Paku either, they made Aang agree with Paku at first too, which would wear anyone down at first especially a teenager. A lot of you guys criticizing the show don't see what the writers were going for. It was never going to be exactly the same. Some things either don't work in live action or had to be cut for runtime. Useless conflicts that build on Katara being fiery, like snapping at Aang over water bending, were cut to save time. Conflicts with her brother and Paku weren't cut and show she doesn't get angry for no reason, which might've probably made critics call her a bitch so no winning. Maybe we'd get some Toph and Katara fighting later if people don't ruin the show's chances at a second season.

[@Lulu.Cthulhu]

Puka? Lmao you mean Paku?

[@natyinthehouse]

For some reason, I was most upset that the show didn’t let Katara really get angry. Her temper was one of her defining features in my mind. She is just always sweet and calm so it’s like they took out half her personality. I thought for sure that even when I heard Sokka wasn’t gonna be sexist that he would still make her mad somehow to break the iceberg. I personally didn’t hate the show, but I hate what they did to katara.

[@polin1710]

This is actually so funny because for years ppl hated her for being human and getting angry

[@edogawaconan4869]

haha, ten years ago people HATED her for her bad temper lol

[@bunnyleaningonasquishedbun5542]

​@@polin1710when was this? Throughout my time in the fandom, people mostly just poke fun at her because of her temper, never really 'hating' her. If anything, the fandom seems to adore her given her badass moments especially from book 2 and finally in book 3.

[@halfbloodbelieber]

@@polin1710 I was annoyed with cartoon katara because she kept getting angry a lot, but as a character that's what made her interesting. This katara is bland and uninteresting and can't express any emotion to save her life xD

[@ilinanaumoska9803]

"We're going to tone down the sexism in the show" *Ruins every frmale character and makes them meaningless*

[@crimsonpheonix1715]

Katara was already the embodiment of a fullfilled feminist character, you know, dynamic and human. If anything it feels more sexist that her rage and deep emotional capacity is so muted.

[@Yupyupyup32]

um no? why does a successful woman have to be an angry one? the cartoon one was so annoying, no different to sokka. this one shows that women dont need to be tortured with sexism to have talent

[@gwen5715]

​@@Yupyupyup32The cartoon one had fans. Few people like the Live Action

[@gwen5715]

​@@Yupyupyup32She wasn't "tortured" by sexism. She was clearly stronger than Sokka who was the weakest of the cast. Sokka's character gimmick was about comedically getting shown up after talking down/underestimating someone

[@gwen5715]

​@@Yupyupyup32If the "cartoon one" was a problem to you, then it shouldn't be remade. Netflix can make a different show that panders to your agenda. Instead they took an existing show, Avatar and CHANGED IT

[@gwen5715]

​@@Yupyupyup32all this proves is that Avatar should not of been remade. The cartoon did not need to be fixed in any manner. Especially not to appeal to the likes of you

[@ATLA99]

People talk about how woke Sokka not being a misogynistic, immature teenager undermines his arc, and thats true, but it also hurts Katara's arc as well. A huge part of her character revolves around her dynamic with Sokka. He pisses her off with and she pushes back and puts him in his place. Her fiesty stubbornness also leads to her making some irresponsible decisions like stealing the scroll from the pirates and those moments allow Sokka to have the high ground. Making Sokka supportive and understanding removes so many opportunities for Katara to stand up for herself and let her character stengths and flaws shine Also what in the sweet home south pole posessed the writers to make Katara go into the cave of two lovers with Sokka instead of Aang?

[@nope19568]

jessie gender pointed out in her review that by making sokka not sexist they inadvertently made the whole show more sexist lol

[@galaxywizard8904]

I distinctly remember in the first episode of the cartoon when Sokka and Katara were out catching fish, Sokka was talking about how he should've left Katara back in the village when she messed up her waterbending, and then Katara blew up and called him sexist and insufferable - and her blowing up at him is what caused her waterbending to go out of control and break the iceberg that Aang was in. The cartoon intoduced both of their character flaws right from the get-go, and them bickering was also the reason why they even found Aang to begin with.

[@wisdommanari6701]

​@@nope19568really enjoyed that video. Was Captivated by her presentation and break down

[@zacharyfreelove6101]

I actually kind of liked Sokkas portrayal in the live action was it perfect but its wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

[@Sly-Moose]

"We wanted to make the show like Game of Thrones" 💀

[@EvilWeiRamirez]

The Netflix show feels like they made zuko and sokka the main characters with aang as a side character and katara as nothing

[@kalesmart1]

I was soooo thinking that too

[@Ray03595]

I hate to critique young actors so harshly, but I kind of feel like the Aang and Katara actors being levels below Zuko and Sokka's is also kind of jarring. I notice when Sokka and Zuko are in a scene. When Aang or Katara read their lines they just fly by me. There's really no emotion or substance in what they're saying. I know they are all trying their best and I hope they get better if the series get renewed, but it's very noticeable even to me. And I'm someone who really cant pick out differences in acting talent usually.

[@EvilWeiRamirez]

@@Ray03595 I think it's the direction, and the screen time. Zuko and Sokka get time to be in the scenes with other actors. I feel like Aang is always kinda alone, or doing action, and Katara is just there randomly. Even if she was a good actor, her lines just feel forced. They feel especially forced because I don't feel the emotions of what they're going through before they say anything.

[@Kuhboose1]

@@Ray03595Like evilweiramirez says, I think direction is to blame. Sokka and Zuko were given blatantly more thought out and just objectively good lines, they are clearly given more screen time, more to do, more motivation and character beats. Just more attention in general. It just seems an awful lot like whoever is behind this liked or identified with Sokka and Zuko and only focused on them, nerfing the other characters in the process. There's moments when you can see Aang and Katara's actors pulling stuff off, but its hard to make the constant monologues about hope and the character lore speeches come across as anything but what they are, which is bad writing. It felt like Sokka got SO much screen time, and SO much action, when there are three members of the gaang to utilize and characterize. He also very clearly was given every funny line the writers managed to come up with. I get he was comic relief in the OG show, but Aang and Katara had their own moments too, which are nowhere to be found in the live action.

[@rossjones8656]

​@@Kuhboose1 indeed.

[@SupaSweetKay]

I think a huge problem with why they couldn’t give Katara the character arc that she was supposed to have, is because her Sokka and Aang’s characters become so much less flawed. She is the mother of the group because Aang is normally unfocused and childish and Sokka is normally sexist and stubborn. She is the glue of the group when this happens, keeping them on track and in line in a very motherly way. That’s missing from here because now Aang is incredibly focused on the mission and barely playful at all and Sokka has a good head on his shoulders and doesn’t have much to learn at all. So her role becomes moot and therefore lifeless.

[@master_samwise]

“You just miss the original show!” Correct, I do in fact miss good writing and actual character development. “Her arc isn’t done yet; this is only the first season!” Correct, hence why I talked about the character traits and growth Katara experiences in Book One. “This is just content for content’s sake. This is click bait!” Oh no, a KZbinr made a video on a topical subject because he knew it would get views. The horror.

[@LiveFreeOrDie2A]

I can only imagine how much they’re going to butcher and bastardize TOPH’S character.. you know they’re going to take her cocky and brash Tomboy personality and dial it up OVER 9000, and strip her of all femininity, wit, and charm

[@Brrocklon]

Frequently asked questions or frequently thrown tantrums?

[@Harmonia96]

Lessons to be learned: 1) You don't have to be a chef to know when the food is crap. 2) Once you've had gourmet, you can't go back.

[@Yupyupyup32]

bro katara is really feminine in this show. so if it goes the same toph will be more feminine@@LiveFreeOrDie2A

[@dryfox11]

@@Harmonia96More specifically for number two: Don’t make a gourmet dish like trash, and expect 100% lovely feedback.

[@slicerneons3300]

Somehow they made her softer in a shallow way by taking away her passionate nature. Then they made her arrogant because of the Girlboss cliche.

[@master_samwise]

Right? Where is Katara's passion? Why doesn't she CARE about anything?

[@StarskyHugh]

@@master_samwise It feels like this version of Katara is sedated or in a dream state. And she never really fully wakes up. There is a little burst of character here or there, but ultimately, I think I would put it down to poor writing, directing and storyboarding for her character.

[@isaidwhatisaid3564]

@@master_samwiseI was SO mad that she planned to fight Master Paku rather than her passion making her impulsively stand her ground!!!!

[@esch4920]

​@@master_samwiseyou should not do reviews. You mis to much. Also a bit of an idiot..

[@marocat4749]

Also like cartoon katara was bossy and intense at times, because of her compassion. Literally avoiding making her bossy just because, but it mwakes sense because she has to be the mom, dah she will a bit overbearing. Not arrogant for no reason. Do they want to giver her an arrogant but fall arc? like her original that its just impressive how she handles all that put togethe as she does, was.

[@_st4reater]

the loss of her feminine rage is such a depressing loss. as a woman i hate this trope of a woman having to lack emotion and femininity to be “strong”. emotion and femininity MAKES us strong

[@animeotaku307]

Also, women’s anger, even when justified, being treated as a specific flaw to begin with. Women getting angry should be treated the same as men getting angry.

[@Marvelfanatic3658]

Cringe

[@lilibey444]

@@Marvelfanatic3658okay Marvelfanatic3658

[@albedoweatheruno]

​@@Marvelfanatic3658 you're cringe.

[@Mollymauking]

@@Marvelfanatic3658’marvelfanatic’ says it all

[@beskamir5977]

The complete lack of Aang doing any waterbending during the entire season titled "water" ruined Katara's character arc with regards to waterbending since it removed the all jealousy, teaching, encouragement, learning, etc that she had in the animation.

[@Eilonwy95]

It’s incredible how angry this show made me over how they handled Katara. She is such an amazing character originally. Women can and should be about more than power.

[@starshipquail8398]

I think the problem is Hollywood's definition of "power." They think of it as a physical verb, if that makes sense. "I beat 'em up" for example. It's hard for inexperienced writers to express the true beauty, pain, and, yes, power of the soul. *Hope* is a power; *Kindness* is a power. But with hope comes the pain and despair that knowing there's a chance this will never happen. The very real recognition that the fire in your soul may never have anything but your soul to fuel it. The people that can grab and *hold fast* to that fire , breathing life into it even as it burns them. Sheltering for others who have lost it. Sharing it with the ones who need it. THAT is power. One that can't be taken away. No wonder it's so hard to write.

[@theatricalityanddeception]

The original series understood that female characters could be strong and fierce while also being caring and feminine. Netflix clearly failed to grasp that concept.

[@arenkai]

Men too should be about more than power. But it's a shame most Hollywood doesn't understand that and boils everything down to overpowered women, underpowered men. Instead of building a diverse tapestry of traits upon which this power struggle can stand and shine.

[@uchihanoname1758]

I was literally shouting for Katara to show some emotion every time she was on screen.

[@sebaschan-uwu]

Yeah they literally just made katara bloodthirsty here

[@sistasistaourchannel9829]

They really made Aang the supporting character of his own show 😂🤦‍♀️A DISGRACEEEE

[@gorgit]

People act all surprised, when in reality the entire premise was to redo an already perfect series with less runtime. There is an absolute 0% chance of it ever working out.

[@l.t.4897]

What about one piece then?

[@PobTheFactual]

The saddest part is that runtimes are actually fairly similar. Removing times for intro/theme and credit scenes, the shows actually only differ by approximately 53 minutes (out of 423 minutes for the original's season 1). That would be the equivalent of adding one more episode for the live action or removing up to two episodes of the original and they could literally be shot-for-shot, if they really wanted to.

[@gamingartbeasts]

​@l.t.4897 One Piece has over 1000 episodes. I would say that's a different situation.

[@bluesyrupgc4224]

⁠@@l.t.4897I think the OP didn’t mention that along the cut, some characters’ personalities got stripped down too. Katara, Sokka, Iroh,… all lost the characters that make people love them from the original show. One Piece do cut down stuffs, but they keep the cores of the characters from the original show as much as possible (besides Zoro imo)

[@ATLA99]

The new show only had 30 minutes fewer than the original. Its almost impressive that they made it feel as rushed as they did with how much time they had.

[@furederikku7]

what I think it happened with this messy live action: • Netflix gets og creators and decent showrunners • Netflix betrays og creators • OG creators leave without finishing arcs and leaving plot unfinished • Showrunners left helpless because they don't understand this characters and needs a desperate solution Netflix: *pulls Hollywood's modern rules to filled the voids*

[@HalbdaemonKite]

The very first announcement years ago, was nothing but virtue signalling bs. There was never any chance of it being anything but "Hollywood's modern rules".

[@gwen5715]

They understand the characters. But they want to fix them

[@gwen5715]

The show's creators left because Netflix prefers *progressive writing.* Do you know what Progressive Writing is?

[@able_archer01]

@@gwen5715 If this is what Progressive Writing gives us, I want something else...like, I dunno, Good Writing?

[@LegalizeTax]

​@@gwen5715 bad writing?

[@SalvagedCreativity]

Katara is my favorite and I was so sad to watch her as a quiet mom. She had no attitude, no mood swings. A teenager in a war zone would never be as calm as they’ve made her.

[@agroed]

"We have Katara at home."

[@TheStraightestWhitest]

We evict her.

[@poke4114]

The original ATLA has 2 main female leads, each represented an opposite version of femininity. Netflix already failed the softer, kinder, and more feminine dominant female lead (Katara). I don’t want to imagine what will happen when they get a hand on Toph, the masculine female lead. In the age of girl boss girl power, it’s really unfortunate to see characters fail to represent things they stand for.

[@malrofo]

Netflix will probaby just go with the fire nation play version

[@PSNanonimousplayer]

There's also Azula, embodying the dark side of femininity. Doubt they'll do her justice

[@dickensdickala6601]

​@@PSNanonimousplayerthey already failed, azula wasn't the kind to get angry all the time it's what made her scary, she was cool, precise and straight to the point. she's supposed to be a prodigy. they've made her get angry easily

[@PSNanonimousplayer]

​@@dickensdickala6601 yeah... I didn't and am not going to watch that shit lmao

[@mollyeverglade3655]

@@PSNanonimousplayer In my opinion, they've already failed Azula. I don't think making her obviously as much a victim of Ozai's manipulation as Zuko right from the start was the right move for her character. And even though she says she's "the best" she comes off as really insecure and needy and desperate for daddy's love. I'm not saying that they are not aspects of Azula's character, because in some ways they are, but painting her as a victim right from the start removes any sense of her having her own agency and being the true villain that she is. I'm surprised we haven't gotten a sympathetic back story for Ozai at this point. I'm seriously scared of how they are going to handle Toph.

[@mythtaken6610]

They also got rid of another crucial element of Katara's character - her anger. Her anger propels the whole plot of the show and acts as the inciting incident. She gets angry at Sokka for being sexist, and breaks Aang out of the iceberg. She is angry over her mother's death at the hands of the fire nation, she's angry at being underestimated by others (especially Pakku), she's angry at being left alone by her father and having to mature so fast, and she's angry at having so much taken from her in regards to not having a teacher to help her develop her bending and through that a deeper relationship with a big part of her culture. She is sassy, and combative, and impatient, and gets jealous - she has flaws that both fuel and hinder her. She's a person. She steals a scroll, she breaks Aang out of the Avatar state, she inspires downtrodden people to rise up - her story develops alongside Aang's. She has agency - she wants to find a master, and Aang needs one, too, so they decide to go to the Northern Water Tribe. She isn't just tugged in that direction by a convenient vision. They made her a side character in her own show, rather than a protagonist who helps shape the narrative, and I do not know how the writers failed the assignment so badly. This, along with all of the other character issues (Sokka, Aang, Zuko, Suki, Azula, Yue, etc.) make this show unwatchable to me.

[@Thawheedi]

Also I have to appreciate you for saying multiple budget synonyms for Netflix water girl

[@Emarella]

I was coming to the comments to say the same thing. The whole video was great but the fact Master Samwise was creative enough to come up with a different way to say it almost every time blew my mind. Mad respect!

[@louisem3969]

«Wish Katara »

[@SquidFiction]

I said this on another video, and I’ll say it here- I don’t see this Katara delivering the same kind of performance that was done so well in the Southern Raiders episode in the cartoon. Years of carrying grief, rage, and sadness since the death of her mother, pressure to be strong for her tribe and having big shoes to fill all comes to a head when Zuko says he can help Katara find who killed her mother. She HATES Yon Rha and she never forgave him, she stopped at nothing to track him down, even using blood bending on the guy she thought was him, the look on Zuko’s face was like “ohh shit, glad I’m on the right side now”. I still get chills and hold my breath every time she stops the rain in mid air, turns it to ice and hurls it at Yon Rha. I always wondered what that scene would look like in live action (I imagined like House Of Flying Daggers level of cinematic beauty). I don’t believe that it’s gonna leave the same impact in this version, what a shame.

[@master_samwise]

Yeah that's another problem with this show (which I don't want to harp on because these poor kids are trying their best): the acting just isn't that good. Zuko's actor is quite solid, and Sokka is played by an adult, but Katara and Aang... oof. Not only is her character arc flattened down to a mere bump, but the actress just doesn't have the chops to elevate the script one bit. Also, while we're on the subject, Zhao's actor absolutely murdered his character. I might make one video just about how badly they ruined Zhao, who isn't even all that important.

[@Sly-Moose]

Watch them completely remove that episode altogether cuz "Oh noo. Blood ending baaad, and we cAn'T hAvE hEr HaVe FlAwS!*

[@Sly-Moose]

Watch them completely remove that episode altogether cuz "Oh noo. Blood ending baaad, and we cAn'T hAvE hEr HaVe FlAwS!*

[@Sly-Moose]

​@@master_samwiseThe actress in her other words does actually have good range in emotions. It's the directors that failed her

[@rachelelliott246]

​@@master_samwise @SquidFiction Please watch Katara's actress, Kiawentiio Tarbell, in the movie "Beans." she is literally more like Katara in "Beans" than in the Netflix live-action adaptation. She absolutely pulls off "Southern Raiders" level of emotional intensity and character growth in "Beans." The difference is that Beans was written by Tracey Deer who knows how to write and direct.

[@ryansarafin12]

I remember when they announced that they were going to "scale back Sokkas sexism" I said to my friend "God forbid we take the time to explain to kids that sexism is wrong" I didn't bother watching the show because I knew I would be comparing it to the original the whole time, and everything I've heard about it tells me I made the right choice (plus I don't like Netflix as a company and didn't want to give them money)

[@Natta44]

Katara basically has no flaws now. In cartoon, she did get hot headed, a bit of a know it all, or always trying to be too reaponsible. And it was always great when Aang would goof off and Sokka would tell a stupid joke. Katara would then start to lighten up too. She learned to get that joy back, she also became stronger and more confident as time went on. Now shes all that already and we have 2 seasons to go 🥴

[@Project199x]

😮‍💨

[@danielmejorado6098]

If Netflix katarra can become a master bender with just the one water bending scroll, they should just pass that scroll around to all the other water benders.

[@huntressmma1822]

Or why did she need to leave her home to go North to learn from a master?

[@paulbrown9328]

That’s not the case katara is a prodigy just like everyone else on team avatar. She just needed more techniques and learned more style. When she had someone to show her technique she became a master super fast. The og and the adaptation are pretty similar in that regard.

[@cutecats532]

She learned because when Aang tried to tell her the key to bending she listened instead of snapping at him for being a better bender. Aang is a master of one element, but he was "naturally gifted" in the og show for water bending too. He taught Katara in the live action.

[@skylark7921]

Also, Katara being good at bending naturally - without the need for formal training, just natural talent and a bit of confidence - ironically makes her seem weaker. One of her greatest strengths in the animated is her diligence, her patience. As soon as she has formal instruction, she surpasses Aang, who is naturally skilled, through her own hard work. In the live action, she’s a natural talent from the start. Her ability isn’t won through her own merit. Her patience and diligence are gone. In trying to make her more of a powerful “girlboss”, they removed her greatest strengths and overall made her less impressive

[@ohood1788]

Where was her anger? Her feminine rage??

[@cye2310]

It's ironic that a realistic Katara feels more fictional than the animated one.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

​@@cye2310 animated one is the realistic one. Not...THIS.

[@dechale]

​@@berilsevvalbekret772 Isn't that what they're saying?

[@janinebelleestrada7096]

Both? IM COMPLETELY CALM!!!!! I love that line 😂😂😂

[@sadscientist9995]

Paku didn’t train her in the Netflix version because “you can’t have a woman learn something/be taught by a man” -modern writers

[@Fr0zenPeanut]

Yup, they didn't want him 'mansplaining' waterbending to her.

[@BlushingRoseDiaries]

The woke culture is ruining everything

[@mlk0-0]

Except she improves through being spoken to by Aang and Jet. They can't even keep their own nonsense consistent

[@dejajade6726]

​​​​@@mlk0-0 Then I don't think it was a matter of inconsistency and not wanting him to teach her but time and plot. Like not to be vulgar but Zhao and the Fire Nation was right up their ass crack 😭😭 Literally five minutes after fighting Paku, Fire Nation ships pull up into the tribe's territory. They immediately go straight into the final battle. There was no time for training. And there's literally no more episodes. And yeah you could argue that the writers chose to make it that way, but to be fair to them, they set that up since episode 2 when Kyoshi tells Aang that he has to go to the North to stop the Fire Nation attack. That was their primary motivation for going there, as well as the driving force of the season. Getting trained was secondary.

[@mlk0-0]

@@dejajade6726 Maybe for that example, it could just be extremely poor pacing and content choices. However, through a slew of other choices in how they obliterated Katara's character (and Suki's for that matter) has turned her in yet another "I'm a fighter and literally nothing else" female "girl boss" character. The writing is highly incompetent, and she manages to be both weak and mild compared to real Katara while also being only really about fighting and proclaim she is her own bending master, which makes no sense. So, I wouldn't put it pass them to just have messed up or simply not realize that their nonsense contradicts

[@localtavernsluteplayer2182]

Too many movies think that women can only be worthy if they adopt purely masculine traits, which I believe is sexism with extra steps

[@Burnlit1337]

Two more women that they ruined is Suki and Yue, where Suki is the trapped lovesick girl who falls in with a foreign boy, and made Yue who takes control of her destiny in a girlboss way. I hope you make an analysis of these two. Especially with Suki because the original was able destorying Sokka's sexism and turned into a better man and warrior.

[@marocat4749]

Also i think suki really respected his readiness to humble himself, not him being hot, only.

[@younghades2503]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@marocat4749yeah but at least in the cartoon he came off as a funny but quirky teenager that NEEDED some character development for their relationship to happen but in the live action it’s like OP said she’s just strung on by the “foreign boy” bc she thinks he’s cute had nothing to do with his character at all it’s like all the characters in the live action have it all figured out out before part one was over

[@catdad626]

In the original there was no chemistry between the two characters until after they trained together and Sokka had shown humility and willingness to learn. When he parried her attack, it affirmed her teaching, and sokka right after pays with his hubris and they go for round two with some flirting. I can't imagine how they bastardized the plot on kyoshi island. Without 1) sokka learning the hard way that prejudice doesnt pay off, and 2) Suki showing that strength and femininity are not mutually exclusive, very little else happens for the characters. I guess there's Aang having fame go to his head, and Katara gets annoyed, but this vidoc establishes that discount Katara has no negative emotions or flaws. Truly a bummer they made an adaptation i am actively avoiding. You would think the producers directors and writers would have learned from the failed atla movie...

[@NeytiriPhoenix]

I literally got so mad at the Suki character changes! When she puts Sokka in a headlock and Sokka acts all weirded out and off put by her I was literally yelling "You made Suki the weird one! Suki! Suki?!" What the actual hell! She was such a confident badass but she was also sweet and capable of being understanding! They also did her so dirty!

[@lucaquinn2623]

What annoyed me as well was her line to Sokka "Thank you for showing me the world." That is SO insensitive! Her village just got attacked, people are hurt, houses burnt down. And she says THAT. It makes sense for her not to hold Zuko's attack against him but that. It still buffles me.

[@NatashaCraig92]

I feel like Hollywood is afraid to make their heroines actual girls. Like they're afraid of showing the flaws that sometimes come with sterotypical femininity (i.e. emotions or crushing on a flawed guy like Jet). They seem to think this undermines girl power, when, in fact, it really helps showcase character growth and development when they overcome their flaws. They learn to embrace the potential and strength these characteristics can offer them while no longer being overcome by the negatives. This is what makes characters relatable and human. No one can relate to Ms. Perfect Girl Boss. I really like the point you made about whittling down our heroines to just weapons that the story uses. They are "badass" and... that's it. I can't relate to a weapon! Their unwillingness to shows flaws in female characters is starting to remind me a little of toxic masculinity. No weaknesses or humanizing for our heroines, only kicking ass and having girl boss moments, which are spoon fed to us through dialogue rather than being shown to us. Just my thoughts. Great video!

[@LaTristologa]

Exactly this. I feel that these characters are just an empty shell with the label "woman" on top of it... And it sucks. Like, what are you trying to tell with these characters? What's the point? I want to see actual women who have to deal with the actual weight of being a woman. Katara in the live action is just a fighter who defeats a caricature version of the patriarchy or something, but we never actually see her exploring her womanhood. In the series, Katara's womanhood is defined by her relationship with her mother (and her brother too), and it's fleshed out as she grows and matures and actually defines her own identity as a woman, and she fights for it. Toph does the same thing, and even when she rejects stereotypcal gender norms, we still see her trying to explore her femininity and the insecurities that originate because of these gender norms, and even if she knows who she is and even she knows she shouldn't care what others expect from her, it still hurts, and it still feels nice when Katara says she looks pretty. Those are the sort of things that really speak to me as a woman.

[@janderson947]

They better not water down TOPH suki was PERFECT though she was femine yet strong yue needed a new wig Ang was okay sokka perfect zuko perfect katara didn’t even get mad a boy jet she use to have more of a temper and passion I just couldn’t get use to her acting and katara had to work on her bending a lot more pack didn’t respect her until she fought him and he agreed to train her she didn’t just automatically get it right..

[@andreburton6552]

You had me then you lost me lol, why whenever most woman see a problem they start blaming men. That’s really not fair, everything else you said was cool though. And there’s nothing wrong with there being a awesome female character that can kick butt, the world just has a weird and extremely annoying way of rubbing woman empowerment in our faces every chance they get. I just want to see a good show. The animated series was perfect. I can already see the modern agendas they’re trying to put in the show which is going to ruin it all together.

[@vanetiawellington1302]

You said it all! Amen!

[@andreburton6552]

And no….. Hollywood has proven they are no where near scared to do that. Sometimes it gets boring because it’s basic. And the majority of the time no one cares lol, we love heroes like Wonder Woman and black widow. Now y’all got she hulk, captain marvel and so many other female heroes that seem more like feminists used to degrade men. Modern generation writers are losing their creativity trying to cater to people’s feelings.

[@Red_pine]

I cringed so hard when kyoshi called tha avatar state "the ultimate weapon" Im surprised my eyes rolled back to their normal state

[@asiaoharasbutterflies9425]

Oh god. Why?

[@hylianflower9681]

I loved when Katara was trying to teach Aang what she knew about waterbending, and he caught on and even surpassed her within moments of trying. It showed a true side a lot of people have; trying to show someone you are proud of something only to realize they were actually better than you the whole time naturally. I liked that she got upset, and angry, but eventually came together in her thoughts, and apologized, and was mature when she needed to be. She was also snarky and so well written... I believe many girls i went to school with were inspired by her, and her strong will. Her hopefulness was sweet. I loved her in the animated version

[@TheDaniela3112]

I think seeing and be naturally gifted at something that he doesn't particularly care about, while waterbending means so much to her and she couldn't get it right, was the main drive she had to keep training as hard as she could with pakku. Aang showed her she had a long way to go, and she worked as hard as she could.

[@rflowers360]

@@TheDaniela3112now she’s like one of the greatest waterbenders

[@S3ymira]

Katara’s voice actor has more feelings and emotions than the live action Katara.

[@BTSIPURPLEYOU-zi4mk]

Can you do any better? And it’s her first time acting no?

[@ethanrodgers2838]

@@BTSIPURPLEYOU-zi4mk Not the customer’s job to do better.

[@drakephysecron6775]

i think the actress was hindered by the script she has so much energy in interviewss

[@scribbles3721]

@@BTSIPURPLEYOU-zi4mk that’s like saying “ I don’t like this movie” “Well you make one then and see how hard it is” ????? What’s ur point

[@scribbles3721]

@@drakephysecron6775literally it’s (mostly) not the actors fault

[@RavenousCucumber]

They removed Sokka's sexism but made Katara the damsel in distress.

[@jonieljoestarzawarudo8172]

The moment when budget Katara told Pakku to let what is esentially the equivalent of armed civilians into the front lines of an active war zone, was the moment where I almost stopped watching the show. It seriously pissed me off that much.

[@master_samwise]

I can't believe I came up with "ersatz Katara" before "budget Katara".

[@luvamiart8567]

It would be more accurate to say budget Katara wanted to let armed medics into the front lines. They are healers, they are supossed to be in the back treating the injured. Sure they can become warriors in the next war when they are given the proper training, but in this case their healing job is equally important to the fighting job and a very much needed power. If healers are massacred the village is screwed.

[@johnoliverfainsan3115]

​@@luvamiart8567 that's the writer's mo, ignore logic and history to serve a very loud minority.

[@johnoliverfainsan3115]

Some of the writers*

[@Gigglingsiren]

​@@master_samwiseBuck 99 Katara was gold, though.

[@amandatoast]

I agree with every single thing you've said in this video. I was sooooooooooo incredibly disappointed with how they flattened/ruined every single character. I've been watching the original series to cleanse myself and feel better about this depressing disaster.

[@mariekano9730]

"I am a warrior....but I'm a girl too" - Suki

[@Dupletor]

"Almost every character in the adaptation acts like they are doing a half-hearted job at trying to keep Ko from stealing their face." Congratulations single-handedly burning every character on the face harder than Zuko.

[@catdownthestreet]

Gasp. Not the burn mention

[@juliaesa1]

They took Sokka sexism out of him to put in the show. They didn't need Sokka, because they have the writers to take all characters developments from the women of the show. It was on purpose.

[@master_samwise]

They didn't just take out his sexism - they removed his ego and cockiness, or at least severely tamped them down, making his character growth way less in every way.

[@SirCrusher]

They also took out his emasculation (being forced to crossdress)

[@alessandrolamera8857]

They demolished suki

[@AskeladdCalvo]

There's no character development in the show... They just got all shallow.

[@suezcontours6653]

​@@master_samwiseCan Western males shut up about femininity. You know nothing about it

[@IAmMegatoron]

why does EVERYONE think that EVERYTHING should be live action and movie remakes? I HATE IT!!!

[@ktbecstasy]

Because they are too lazy to write new material

[@Stew91]

@Megatron, imagine getting this pressed over a show.

[@BlackMercura]

14:18 "Katara does a LOT of important, noteworthy, impactful stuff without having to waterbend one drop". You said it. Amidst all of the indeed powerful waterbending she does, her selflessness and patience such as in "The Desert" are a MUCH more virtuous and powerful.

[@robertmoya8449]

Exactly why is everyone like omg why isn’t she angry all the time like in the original show because that’s fucking annoying my god this hole video is just saying because she’s not angry all the time she’s not her but in the live action and cartoon I just can’t stand her annoying ass she reminds me to much of kora and my god is kora a bad representation of how an avatar is and how a female lead should be

[@NARUTOS.CLANSS]

The Pakku fight was such a letdown for me because it lacked the rage, emotion and buildup it had in the original show. The fight in the live action just seemed like it was only there because the plot demanded it to be, not to mention her attitude towards him is so passive and meek compared to the rage and aggression she showed in the original.

[@leonardomeloni69]

Well, the girl wasnt even the best at acting in this series. Someone has to say it. Best actors: June, Theo and Jet. Ozai and Aang somewhat. Side characters being the best ones speaks volumes.

[@master_samwise]

This is so true. I rewatched the original fight when editing this video and MAN is it so much better. That's also probably due to the constraints of live action though.

[@dejuanhickman3175]

At this point you guys should just watch the cartoon. I'm enjoying the live action

[@dusky5535]

I mean we aren't saying you can't enjoy bad tv shows like the live action. I enjoy some bad movies. You do you.@@dejuanhickman3175

[@derricktalbot8846]

@@dejuanhickman3175 same. This is pretty much everything I wanted in the live action..... a slim version of a story I know well. I don't need my hand held to understand that having the Avatar next to you day in day out... to understand that she is learning how to Think about bending. It annoys me that folks want a shot for shot remake. I am thankful Netflix is getting this done... and can only hope they are ignoring all of the "this isnt mine" out there

[@neuroatypi_gal]

I think removing love from her character is a bummer too. Her love for aang, her love through friendship for sokka and tof. Her ability to remain soft hearted even though so much has been taken from her is an incredible STRENGTH and is drawn on throughout the original show. I think removing love is another step in girlbossification and it’s a bummer. It’s a bummer to see that adding love to male characters is what helps us see them as strong but somehow the opposite is true of Hollywood women.

[@TheSpiderInUrWalls]

I don’t get why some people can’t understand that girls can be badass but still have a soft feminine side as well.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

I mean Katara is the heart of the entire show because of her never ending compassion for people. The line "I will never turn my back on people who need me" can be applied to her entire character. Because Katara will always choose to help people and give them hope over self preservation every damn time. Her pulling Aang out of the Avatar state in the desert speaks to how big her heart is. The compassion and love at Katara's center is the key to her character.

[@mridstaid414]

"Bu-but she is a strong, female character" yeah Netflix ruins everything. There's goes one of the best written female characters in modern fiction.Way to go Netflix!! What's next ? A sympathetic and kind Azula.

[@godofnothing428]

⁠@@mridstaid414the original katara was a strong female character who embodied feminism. This one is the opposite

[@mridstaid414]

@@godofnothing428 I said the same thing...

[@MrErik052005]

When Katara yelled to Aang she needed him and they were family now, i didn’t see how. Like, the audience never got to see them get close. There was no drama that got resolved by them. It felt very odd to say and unearned.

[@BlackMercura]

My thoughts exactly. These lines were delivered in the last episode when their relationship development was supposed to peak. But somehow they ended up being much less convincing than when similar lines were delivered in only episode 3 of the original.

[@raccoonchild]

That's some Kimetsu no Yaiba tier writing lmfao

[@Quoxz]

I liked how it fell even flatter because they completely cut out any of the romantic feelings Katara and Aang were building up over the course of one season's worth of journeying together in the cartoon. In the cartoon it was her saying "Yo, I understand what you're going through. We're here for you." at the start of their friendship. In the live-action series it was her saying "We've done a lot of off-screen interactions I guess. You didn't even help me learn waterbending in this adaptation. Whoops."

[@vanetiawellington1302]

Same! I literally had the same reaction when she said that.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

1000% correct. Katara in the original says that even though the air benders are gone, she and Sokka are Aang's family now. This is a sentiment that is backed up by everything they go through over the course of the season. They become a ride or die family. They go through good times, hard times, they fight, they yell at each other, but at the end of the day, they will always come back together to support each other no matter what. That is a family and by the end of season 1, their bond is solid and by the end of the series, it's a bond forged in fire. In this first season of the live action? Nope. They're coworkers.

[@littlebigmarc]

I really enjoyed the show but holy shit. The people who made the show just don't know how to write anything subtle at all. The show is full of tell, not show. I was surprised how quick she was able to be a "master" though the animated had the same problem but she did struggle a lot more and also failed a lot more too. She was very short tempered and can easily be triggered. Netflix one seems to be just perfect and a "natural" I'm afraid what they gonna do to toph next season.

[@QuatarTarandir]

Oh gosh, I dread that. I loved Toph in the original, so this is probably gonna suck

[@master_samwise]

I mean, Katara in the original tells Aang how it took her TWO MONTHS to master one simple waterbending technique, showing us just how difficult learning on your own is. And yet here, she takes one look at the scroll at is able to nail almost everything on the first try. It's silly.

[@QuatarTarandir]

@@master_samwise Yeah, at least in the original they showed her struggling with it. I mean we had the whole thing of Aang getting it easily since he's the Avatar, and her getting really mad about that. But of course, we have to take that out

[@mariekeho]

@@master_samwise Exactly. Also, I'm not sure how much time passed in the northern water tribe in the original, but wasn't it implied that Katara trained for weeks with Master Pakku? Still not a super long time, but definitely more than the nonexistent training she did with Pakku in the netflix version.

[@littlehamham3281]

i will say that while kataras bending gets better after the first book she still improves and her bending style changes drastically throughout the series infact all of the main cast have very obvious bending style changes with zuko being the most obvious, using movements from every bending style numerous times, all of which are shown in azulas agni kai

[@goldenrabbitkh]

A quote I heard somewhere “the more you want to make a strong female character the less strong et gets” I find that there is truth in that. Bc for all characters all genders all types. If they don’t struggle we won’t relate to em. If the character struggles we will relate to there wins and feel for there depth. Great video

[@Pakaku9]

My gf never watched avatar. Though, she know this as been very important in my life. She asked, about the show and my thought and I talked about katara and the problem with feminity in media. Guess I sold the original talking about the subject, now she curious and want to watch it. So it did that

[@huntressmma1822]

Sweet!

[@ieeee_.]

aww

[@TehMomo_]

i hope that us ragging on the netflix show drives more people to the cartoon. it still deserves love

[@YaroLord]

I’m on the opposite situation. My girl actually liked the new abomination because she likes the new Katara, says the old one was too bossy. We’re rewatching the animated series and I hope by the end she sees how wrong she was. Arguably the only good thing in the live action are the VFX. Everything else is objectively inferior.

[@ieeee_.]

good about the movie is zuko and the viLLLAIN@@YaroLord

[@filsdelleche6592]

I wonder what they're gonna do with Toph? (not really, because I can probably guess but lets pretend that these people sit and think about their decisions at some point.) In the show, she was introduced as the self-sufficient type who held her own and didn't need anyone else before developing her beyond that. If they do that now, it'll have no unique quality because of their version of Katara. And now Katara can't properly challenge Toph's selfishness the way she did in the original show without being a hypocrite.

[@vickytubbie997]

They might have to soften Toph... And make her weaker. No more funny Toph because offensive. Also the warrior is Katara so Toph might be the feminine one this time....idk I already hate the idea. They are writing themselves into a corner. Specially with azula showing mental weakness so fast....I don't like it... there's no mistery to her. The best development in the show was knowing that at the very end Azula also deserved compassion like Zuko...but theres no surprise now...

[@markfoshee4768]

​@@vickytubbie997I doubt they're going to soften toph, most likely they'll just take away her humor and give her captain marvel's personality. This has been the theme for, pretty much, every female lead in recent years. If they're "good" guys they are given captain marvel's personality, and if they're bad then you get what they did with azula; it's never there fault, there's a reason they are like that, it's a man's fault, you should feel sorry for her, blah blah blah 😒😒😒

[@pookaoi211]

@@markfoshee4768 I haven't seen the live action so I don't know how they handled Azula, but in the original I think they did a great job as portraying her as a true villain while also making it clear that she was also a victim of the war under Ozai's influence. They really show how much of a terrible person she is while also expressing that(once she's defeated and removed from a place where she can hurt people) that she isn't one-dimensionally bad and there could be room for growth and redemption the same way Zuko had.

[@akram379]

@@vickytubbie997 well, if some dickhead on social media gets offencded by Toph's blind jokes, they should re-evaluate the way their parents raised them.

[@vickytubbie997]

@@pookaoi211 the comics continue her story, Azula is unredeemable. But it is as much Ursa’s fault as it was Ozai’s . I would dare to say that Azula’s obsesión with perfectionism and Ozais approval comes from Ursas blatant favoritism towards Zuko. Both parents truly failed them, unfortunately each parent cherry picked a child to love and a child to neglect. But the live action wants to blame it all on Ozai, and in Azulas case my girl more than anything has mommy issues

[@SkywalkerOne1977]

Cartoon show: "Katara is so much more than just a waterbender." Netflix: "Katara is nothing without her bending."

[@idkmyname1295]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You're literally the ONLY person to address how lackluster and off-tone the duel between Pakku & Katara was. The acting and script completely missed the mark and sucked the life and emotion out of Katara's character & growth. It frustrated me so much.

[@Thawheedi]

Can we all agree that this show should NEVER BE PUT INTO LIVE ACTION AGAIN PLEASE

[@FathDaniel]

Or make a sequel. Korra was meh to dogshit.

[@hassansulaiman3848]

@@FathDaniel how was Korra bad

[@jppf91]

Unless it's a carbon copy of it no one will want it.

[@FathDaniel]

​@@hassansulaiman3848most unsatisfactory villain resolution, giant glowing Kaiju fight, Anarcho-Redditor and Mecha Kaiju fight.

[@angelicambyence]

@@hassansulaiman3848 A case of a super powered hero from BIRTH so no room for her power to grow besides airbending (all Avatars studied to learn the elements, even the ones BEFORE Aang and which was completed in their ADULTHOOD, Aang had to rush it cause of the war. Why did Korra have to not do that? Why remove that element?), and then somehow inexplicably is still a damsel in distress first season with someone with less power and ability to rescue her. They also made her fall in love and made that her main goal in the story from the start even though the Avatar is ya know, supposed to save the world, not be a selfish teenager wanting the hot fire bender guy to look at her. I mean, they could have still done that, but done it gradually like they did in the first series. I REALLY wanted to like The Legend of Korra, but Korra herself was absolute dogshit. They took everything we loved in the first one away, twisted and distorted the things we loved that still remained - Loved carefree happy Aaang? yeah, he grows up to be a grumpy sourpuss who neglects his kids. And then of course the retcons... Its like, WHY make these changes? Why do you think this is good? This. This is why there isnt a third Avatar series. The writing SUCKED. Oddly enough, for me, The Last Airbender...was literally the LAST Avatar show period. The rest is just poorly done fanfiction.

[@lucylu184]

The one good thing that came from this live action is people appreciating Katara's character.

[@siloPIRATE]

Why don’t we just throw the Netflix show away since the original is so naturally gifted!?

[@huntressmma1822]

Geez Katara, you should apologize to Momo and Aang!

[@jackalexande]

Hopefully One Piece season 2 won't be as bad as this

[@ledanoir1239]

Do Sokka, please. Dont force me to watch the Netflix series just out of morbid curiosity

[@ATLA99]

He's boring and humorless and always gets along with Katara. Its kind if uncanny

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

Because Netflix removed his realization that sexism is wrong, the guy has no start to his character arc. He doesn’t even have one. His arc is I have to learn to believe I have what it takes to be strong rather than learning what he needs to do to be strong. In addition to that, he is completely stale and feels like he has no place in the series. And because they take out the sexism, he has no room to grow and it makes his relationship with Suki hallow.

[@master_samwise]

Oh, I plan to.

[@ATLA99]

@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 the new writers thinks we are all brain dead idiots with no comprehension skills. In the original show, every time Sokka said something sexist, Katara or Suki immediately called him out. "You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained...i'm embarrassed to be related to you" "A bunch of girls , huh? The Unagi is going to eat well tonight" They were very clearly criticizing sexism. The fact that the new writers didnt trust us to understand that is crazy

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

@@ATLA99 It's really funny that by taking away the sexist aspects of the Avatar world, Albert Kim and Netflix made the show more sexist. lol.

[@Eternal_Placidity]

No avatar adaptation will ever come close to the OG Katara. She wasn’t that powerful in the beginning, and had to work hard to reach her full potential. She has a fiery spirit, bravery, and determination, but she’s also kind, compassionate, and motherly. And last of all she has moments of loss, weakness, and grief. Katara is more than just a perfect female character, she’s a profoundly human character.

[@huehue5286]

Am I the only one that is mad how clean and cosplayish this show looks like? I mean, c'mon, everything looks so plastic, it wants me to believe people use that clothing every day and it looks brand new, even Sokka who was a baffoon now looks like someone from high school musical.

[@Brookings715]

I saw someone mention this in another video. No matter its issues, I will defend the Harry Potter movies for throwing dirt on the actors and giving them cuts and the like. It made it feel real.

[@ashthepotato3172]

@@Brookings715Oh my agree. Completely agree. It feels so much more lifelike when Ron or Harry actually had cuts, bruises or dirt on their clothing and faces (as well as sweat) after a duel. They're not gonna look clean and pretty 24/7 when they're at war. 😂

[@amicableenmity9820]

That's something the movie had over this for sure.

[@CuteBlueCherri]

Yes same!!! Also something that's bugged me about all the Disney live action remakes lately, everything is just too bright and colorful and pretty and clean and cosplay-ish, you finally put it into words why it just feels so fake to me 😭

[@llewelynshingler2173]

While "Buffoon" and "High School Musical Character are not technically exclusive, you raise a good point

[@nurainiarsad7395]

Katara is a waterbender, influenced by the moon, meant to be feminine and emotional. They are afraid of showing a female character who is deeply emotional and with changeable moods, because they don't know how to do it without making the female seem irrational and weak. Katara is a character is totally emotional and feminine and yet not 'lesser'. In fact, I'd argue that her high emotionality is reflective of her bending power as a WATER bender, and her journey is about learning emotional regulation and stability. She learns to create space between trigger and reaction/judgement, she learns accept others and be more patient, she learns to overcome vengeance and the temptation of bloodbending. She cries, gets infatuated, loses her temper, mothers others, harbours resentment for a long time - she feels fully. Katara who doesn't show emotion isn't Katara. Katara who is obsessed about power and fighting and taking down enemies rather than the purpose for the fighting (usually the protection of something or someone), isn't Katara. Geez, in all the clipped scenes netflix Katara, who is supposed to be the 'strong female' movie version, still looks mopey and passive, when supposedly 'too emotional' OG Katara is bossy and loud! re: water tribe custom, I always assumed that male water benders were trained to use it in combat, whereas female water benders were trained to use it for healing. this is not an unreasonable gender role division in the majority of cases. also, it's telling if the showrunners don't think that waterbending for healing is at least as powerful and important as waterbending to harm and fight.

[@TorianTammas]

@nurainiarsad7395 You may not be aware but all you described were fantasies of men to deny women the right to vote, the right to higher education, and the right to live a life of their own outside of the shadow of a father or husband. So yes these cliches really hurt people and denied them basic human rights.

[@sebaschan-uwu]

Exactly. The only reason the avatar world can have a lesson that says "sexism bad! Girls can fight too!" is because half of the women have literal godlike power and the other half have live action mulan level of magical martial arts. In real life, the stuff sokka says, that girls shouldn't fight or hunt, is totally reasonable. But in the avatar world the women actually are about as strong as men for some reason.

[@Appletank8]

@@sebaschan-uwu I mean, magic makes muscles a bit less important.

[@louisem3969]

You nailed it!

[@sebaschan-uwu]

@@Appletank8 I know, that's what I said.

[@mlindquist8942]

so she was....... watered down......

[@llewelynshingler2173]

Booo! Booooooooooo!

[@HogBurger]

get out!!!!

[@RKutha]

The door's THAT way, bud.

[@jonesbbqandfootmassage6107]

You did not

[@jaredbezes7806]

It was super weird how katara didn’t even struggle to learn water bending when in the cartoon she was actually jealous and mad on how easy it was for aang to water bend

[@mnb128]

"It's not about what she is, but what she isn't." Thank you for pointing this out. I've been watching the Netflix show and been frustrated at how I can't recognize any of these characters as the ones I know, but didn't quite know how to put it.

[@WHALEx3]

Losing it over the all the little “clearance aisle” and knock off” Katara jabs.

[@cl20v87]

Zuko: you found a master didn’t you? Katara: ya! You’re looking at her! Me: 🤢

[@jakeryan2805]

Terrible line for a terrible scene. The fact they completely axed Aang leaving his body to find the spirits, and Katara protecting him ruined the finale. I have no idea why they switched that up, and had them meet Koh earlier beyond stupid.

[@rockinpc4447]

When I heard that line, I died inside : )

[@clayongunzelle9555]

In the original she still had to train with paku after the fight before she was called a master...

[@micaann7974]

Mary Sued

[@dire213]

@@clayongunzelle9555 she was only called a master at the start of book 2, where it is implied that some time has already passed with their training

[@Taiga-16]

They totally ruined our girl 😭😭😭

[@beovulf7241]

12:08 The funny thing is that its not even a green screen. Its literally a big wall of screens with video playing that was such a hassle to work with that they scrapped it for season 2 and 3.

[@venrakdrake]

They wouldn't dare show Katara getting angry, or stealing the waterbending scroll. No no no, that would mean Katara could be vulnerable and has flaws and that's no good, because the writer's wanted to make a perfect girl-boss character. Perfect girl boss characters don't exist in real life. If they do they are insufferable to be around. They don't exist. This is why we hate these characters. There is nothing real about them.

[@yurichtube1162]

Yeah, the directors are just as bad as the acting.

[@marocat4749]

The actress was apearently emotional pretty well in another movie, so must be the direction, that sucks.

[@vanetiawellington1302]

Yes! I noticed that the scroll was passed down to her by her grandmother. I was wondering "Why? So she stole something in the original. That only makes her human."

[@NeoN-PeoN]

"You're looking at her" LMAOOOOOOOOO

[@rflowers360]

“I’m a boss bitch”

[@Sugarlly]

AGREE 100%, original Katara is a true iconic badass :) Also I don't get it why they always butcher her and Aang's relationship.. even in the first netflix adaptation.. Maybe because Aang looks so young? But in reality he is only 2 years younger than her.. it's a major part of the story.

[@DannyPotato]

The first netflix adaptation?

[@Frozen_Death_Knight]

As a guy, Katara was my favourite character of the main protagonists (Iroh and Zuko being above her). She felt like a very believable girl who had to grow up too early because of unfortunate circumstances. Incredibly feminine while remaining headstrong and pretty hot headed, something that I haven't seen being done successfully in any Western show in a very long time. Growing up with the show I had a crush on her and she even influenced my taste in women. Great character. Just so disappointing what Netflix did with her in the live action show. I only bothered watching episode 1, but even there I got disappointed by how poorly her arc was handled. Not surprised in the least that this was the direction her story arc went with this season.

[@StarskyHugh]

The saddest part is that her flaws are what makes her such a good character, and they are sorely lacking in this adaptation. * Her fiery passion can turn to jealousy like when Aang was a natural at the water whip * Her caring and loving nature can sometimes be over-bearing * Her generous attitude gets her into trouble * Her desire to be a better Waterbender causes friction in herself and others * Her constant reference to hope is what makes her a meme but also relatable It feels like Katara is sedated in this version, and never fully or truly wakes up. It is like a ghost of her actual character. I put this down to poor directing, writing and storyboarding.

[@marocat4749]

Even her bloody crushing on boys like a bloody teenage girl added a lot to her. or girls if it were another story, she is into boys.

[@Newest-hoomans]

0:05 that second I scrolled down and saw that same vid that bro mentioned. It was just so iconic

[@ChincerDante]

i felt they nail the fact that sokka was force to grow up in the absence of his father but forgot katara had to become a motherly figure in the absence of her mother, original katara was both a child and a mother sometimes, trying to do the responsible thing as well as having issues she had to work with, and she was much more fierce, not backing down, not shutting up, not letting things just happen, you can be a woman and not be a pushover

[@VKaMG]

Gran gran plays a slightly larger role in the live action. Could it be that in this adaptation, the writers decided that Katara didn't need to become a mother figure to Sokka growing up because their grandmother is still there afterall and therefore her personality will come about from different circumstances in the next two seasons? Just my theory.

[@Unhappytimeaper]

@@VKaMG I likely think that they just didn't like that idea of making her motherly as their goal to have strong female leads. The whole point was never that Katara had to be the mother to Sokka, she made herself into one. GranGran didn't get just screen time because she just was in it for two episodes, we never knew how involved she was, it's just Katara had motherly traits that often were likely shaped by the village and personal fears. She feared others getting hurt and into trouble, she cared for them deeply, and she always pushed for what was the best even if others didn't want it. It's the combination of these character traits that give her the motherly feeling, not so much just that she needed to be a mother figure, and these are all things that could have been present to keep that overarching feeling if they decided to give her active feelings and flaws.

[@ThelcarusWing]

Calling Katara's arc a 'character arc' is overstating its complexity, because it implies that the character did anything throughout the story to work towards a final goal. Her arc is entirely verbal, announced by her and other characters whenever they want to acknowledge what stage her development is at. She has no emotional or moral development in the story. In the original, Katara had a very narrow belief of right and wrong, which is understandable, as she was a child, and one who grew up literally at the end of the world on the map. As she explores the world with Aang, her sense of justice is challenged repeatedly, but her sense of right and wrong don't waiver. That is why Katara can often be considered 'short tempered' in the original. it's not because she's impatient of self righteous, its just that she believes the world can and should be better, and is frustrated that no one else seems to want to make that happen. In the Netflix edition, she has nothing of the sort. Morals, beliefs, compassion, indignation, determination, hope? I can't even begin to think of a single moment where any of these would apply to Katara. Instead, we get verbal confirmation that she is strong or independent. Netflix tunnel visioned so hard on making sure she was depicted as strong and capable, that they worked on literally nothing else. What amused me the most, was that they couldn't even think to have her brought low at any moment. Even her defeat at the hands of Pakku wasn't really a defeat because they, again, verbally tell us it wasn't when she says "I lost," and Sokka replies "Did you though?" This unwillingness to show any humility or room for growth in Katara's character extends to the finale as well during her fight with Zuko. As you likely remember, during the full moon, Katara had the advantage against Zuko, and managed to defeat and detain him. However, once the sun rose, the odds shifted into Zuko's favor, and he promptly beat Katara and escaped with Aang. This scene established visible world-building in how bending is affected by worldly conditions, character development in the way Katara and Zuko were further at odds with each other and adding more strife to their dynamic, and also allowed the plot to move forward as Zuko escaped with Aang. The writers on Netflix did not do any of this though, because then they would have had to show Katara losing, which would go against the entire character arc they've set up thus far. We don't even see Katara lose on screen. What actually happens is that she manages to beat and detain Zuko, until he escapes and as the fight is about to resume, the moon spirit is killed and Katara cannot bend anymore. Then we don't even get to see what happens next, because then the writers would have to show Katara lose. So there you have it! The only reason Katara lost is because the moon was killed, so its absolutely not her fault and theres no way she would have lost if other people didn't fail.

[@mxrcrow8893]

21:09 "I could've never gotten to where I am without master Paku. Everyone needs a teacher" - Katara, Book 3 Episode 4 Damn the og avatar is so good they foreshadowed how bad the adaptation would be ❤️

[@matteroffactmia8305]

I see why the original creators pulled out the series. They really didn’t do their work justice.

[@pranayacreative]

Out of context but Princess yue looks like ember island katara

[@monster-enthusiast]

Crazy how they made her exactly what they said they were trying to avoid.

[@Yupyupyup32]

she is great

[@llewelynshingler2173]

​@@Yupyupyup32 Please, tell us what you can possibly see in Netflix Katara.

[@Yupyupyup32]

@@llewelynshingler2173 she isn’t a constantly angry pedophile

[@bearlogg7974]

“If the character is flawed they will sooner or later be awed” All you have to do is be human to write human characters, something Netflix writers just cant

[@akram379]

All the more reason why they should be fired without pay

[@Ambivlaent]

Thank you for making this video! I was so so sad to see what they did to our girl. Some people say they removed her passion and attitude because it could be viewed as “hysterical angry women” trope but no. She is so much more than an angry women. Her character and personality was striped to the point of unrecognizable levels.

[@aaronc4899]

Honestly one of the best parts of the show was how they were always bickering with each other. It felt real, because that's how people actually are. If Katara is perfect, she won't be the authentic Katara from the animated series.

[@SpagettiSpeltWrong]

Why would Katara's mother be "The Fighter" and not her father Hakota. Who led the entire of the Southern Water Tribe's army into war. Who's literally a soldier. Kataras mother was brave and a protector. She was not a warrior. Hakota was the one who fought for his kids. Kya died for them.

[@fairyfairiefaerie]

Not to mention that the actress Kiawentiio has shown to have the ability portray strong emotions (including anger, sadness etc) both in Anne with an E ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4Crpnl5n8Z4gZosi=hpfIsOUnPdnEGpG_ ) and in Beans (2020 [ kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5vPiIJso6ahbrcsi=ejT7yEuQcIxIUVKB ]). So this choice to make Live Action Katara less emotional seems like an intentional choice by the directors/writers.

[@me-yx3iq]

Yh ikk 😢

[@huntressmma1822]

I'm glad you mentioned this because I do like the actresses and actors that portray the gaang, so I don't want to throw shade on them when its the directors and writers more at fault. Also I wish Netflix infused some of the actual chemistry these kids have off camera, you watch the interviews of them together and it's like okay this could work then you watch the live action.....wtf happened to that chemistry?

[@catherinebracy4332]

@@huntressmma1822 It's possible that they were still feeling each other out when they were filming, given that it was a few years ago, but that's probably a weak argument at best. Idk. I'll continue to watch it just for the hell of it (mostly interested in Sokka, Zuko, Iroh, and Ozai at this point).

[@Pastelsnek]

God it was so infuriating seeing her take sokka’s sarcastic comments and just whimpering away. For girls like me who do way too much of that in real life, seeing katara clap back at sokka anytime he got out of line was so refreshing and inspiring. In the live action they treat her like some lost puppy that thinks she can bark at bigger dogs. They completely stole her back bone. These writers are so incredibly sexist, and it’s so obvious they’ve never challenged their own beliefs about women. I’m scared to see what they do to Toph

[@laurelsilberman5705]

How dare you accurately call me out for getting my hopes up that it would be good😂

[@MatthewOliphant]

_sneaks into Master Samwise's office_ _finds thesaurus on desk_ "Still warm..."

[@kintaro1851]

Looks like there is a killer about.