Netflix’s Live-Action ‘Avatar’ Series ‘Took Out How Sexist’ Sokka Was in the Original: ‘A Lot of Moments’ in the Animated Show ‘Were Iffy’

by GroundbreakingSet187

48 comments

  1. But Sokka’s sexism was part of a story arc for his character development. He was humbled by female warriors and that humility led him to ask to learn from them and helped him become a stronger fighter in the end.

  2. Oh, yeah, removing the flaws a character arc addresses is excellent storytelling. The episode where Sokka understands he’s being sexist and learns from it is one of the best first season episodes. Now it won’t exist.

  4. **Ousley :**

    > “There’s more weight with realism in every way,”

    **Which prompted Kiawentiio to reveal :**

    > “I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy.”

  5. Norms change with time and how a sexist character acts can change with time too. For a character to be “sexist” in a 1970s film they’d need to be a lot more aggressively so than in one set now. And if the character is to be redeemed (or even deserving of it) how far they go matters. So I can see the need to change some degree of sexism or something when a new adaptation is done.

    But I don’t think Avatar went too far. So this baffles me.

  6. So it begins…

    Removing all flaws from characters, so they can’t grow in any way, what a wonderful idea!

  7. I don’t think this means it’s going to change his story arc. I think it will just mean his blatant sexism will be watered down to be more in-line with cultural norms today.

    He can still be a dick to Suki while being less sexist.

  9. Just a reminder to everybody: no matter how much we end up disliking this adaptation, we still have the original show. it’s not going away, it’s not gonna fade in popularity and nothing is gonna get changed in it.

    So if we don’t gain anything, we are not gonna lose anything either.

    But yeah, it’s starting to show that the showrunners from the original left and maybe it shows why.

  12. It’s almost like…people are flawed and characters should overcome those flaws. It’s something called character development. Someone should tell Netflix that.

  13. It’s called a character flaw god forbid a teenager has one.

  14. Wonderful. Hey, while we’re at it, maybe we should remove Zuko’s misguided nationalist pride and maybe Azusa should be a little kinder or she might come off as icky?

  15. Him being sexist is what triggers Katara into cutting open the iceberg where they find Aang lol

  16. The Sokka sexism arc is brief enough that I don’t think removing it is inherently a huge series-derailing issue or anything… but the reasoning certainly feels pretty weird and kinda dumb. Wouldn’t exactly call that arc “iffy” (which is basically code for “problematic” in this case)

    EDIT: I’m also just not sure this needed a big press announcement. Feels kinda like the change you just put in the episodes lol

  17. “We thought anakin was a little bit violent in the original films so we took out his fall to the dark side”

  19. Censor everything so that nobody will ever have to face any sort of complex questions. Hell no more TV or story at all. Just sacrifice anything that made the story compelling and dumb it down for even more mass appeal. It’s the future, but hey, at least it’s not sexist

  21. We took out how evil Zuko is in the first season, there were a lot of moments in the original where he tried to capture Aang which seemed kinda mean

  23. So Sokka sucks now? Like throughout the story he is humbled by women and eventually comes to the realization that some of the biggest threats on both sides of the war are women. So what is he now and who will he eventually become? Kind of hard for a character to grow and change if you start them off at the finish line

  25. So they botched his character? And they are saying it like it’s a plus ?

  26. I am concerned these people do not remotely understand Sokka’s character arc…

  27. But, yeah. The show ADDRESSED Sokka’s sexism; he learned how much of a bone head he was, and how little he actually knew about being a warrior UNTIL he was completely humbled by losing to a woman. (Whom he learns to respect, and they both develop feelings for another, winds up dating Suki)

    And yes- it’s very early in the show but it directly feeds into another of Sokka’s insecurities. He’s a non-Bender- he’s older then all the kids in his village, but not old enough to join his Father and the other men and fight. He feels the need to prove to himself he’s an actual warrior and can truly contribute. But he grows- both as a warrior, and as a person.

    (And Water Tribe sexism is a HUGE factor that plays in Katara’s character arc too. Remember her trying to learn from Pakku, and the backstory of her Grandmother?)

    So maybe they’ll show Sokka’s development in other ways, sure- but “iffy?”. Like, are we forgetting the literal genocide against Aang’s entire people is the backdrop of this show? And the nation that committed said genocide have been waging a war of global conquest in the century since? (Where we have numerous other examples of the Fire Nation literally trying to not just take over, but utterly destroy the culture of the other nations).

    Those “iffy” moments kind of had a purpose.

  28. The good part of the show was watching how very normal people with real world biases grew past them.

    The dope kung fu magic was set dressing.

  29. This is fucked on two levels.

    It’s removing an important character arc in which Sokka is forced to confront his own sexism.

    And it’s detracting from Katara’s character. A girl who faced sexism her whole life, including from her older brother, and persevered regardless.

    Are they going to remove Pakku’s sexism as well?

  30. Sokka’s sexism imo serves 3 key purposes in the show. The first is to masquerade his insecurities over being unable to protect his village/mother against the fire nation. This carries on deep into the show where on paper he’s the weakest member of the main group. The second is a manifestation of his admiration of his father, who he sees as a protector and warrior. This belief is also challenged when Sokka has to make the difficult decision to end the attack on the fire nation during the eclipse for the sake of his soldiers and friends in season 3. And the last is to set up a parallel with the northern water tribe who discriminates against his sister when she wants to learn water bending. Without having these flaws represented in a main character we not only lose a lot of growth in a key character we also miss out on how societal traditions can manifest and affect a small group. Avatar the show is full of the ladder and is why it is so great. Bending as a concept is philosophy and your mental outlook of the world affects your bending.

  31. I guess this is the kind of thing people talk about when they’re annoyed about political correctness? i did a rewatch of the series, and honestly i don’t see it. They’re kids. Not everybody’s perfect. Let them grow.

  32. Sokka is an over-confident, cocky guy, but he’s also loyal, determined and resilient, with a goofy sense of humour. But Netflix will turn him into a spineless dumbass. Yawn.

  33. So, like, *why* is anyone interested in watching this?

    The cartoon is still there, it’s still available, it’s still good.

    I don’t understand why anyone would seriously choose the live action remake over the original cartoon for their first time watching or, even worse, choose to rewatch the story they’ve already experienced, but done worse.

    And yet this series will somehow break records. I don’t understand people. Nobody learns.

  34. Somka was sexist for like 3 whole episodes in the first half of season 1, got clowned in immediately every time he was, and used that as learning experiences to become a more well rounded, empathetic person.

    Absolutely none of that is iffy. This is all learned behavior. People don’t come out of the womb being incredibly empathetic people. Sokka developing into that is exactly how you write characters that reject sexism without it being preachy or unrealistic.

  36. This is gonna be worse than the movie isn’t it

  37. This just shows how media literacy has gone out the window. If a character is sexist then somehow the entire show is sexist on social media, even if it’s established that that characters views are wrong.

  38. Isn’t that part of growing up though? I think most kids say problematic stuff in one way or another and learn not to as we get older.

    There’s also a bunch of conservatives pushing the alpha male talking points, that kids now listen to and bring into schools and share with other kids. Maybe having a flawed character who grows over time might be a good character to teach those kids otherwise?

  41. I already had zero faith in this show. Now they’re afraid of character growth, conflict and having their entirely fictional character “canceled”? Misogyny is too harsh of a plot point but murderous empire is fine?

  42. Wtf, THAT WAS THE POINT. How are you going to have an arc about learning when you were never dumb to begin with you braindead softbrains

  43. People are so fucking stupid. As you all have already stated, every single sexist moment shows Sokka to be an asshole and the shows message is that he is wrong for saying those things. Then he learns the error of his ways when Suki embarrasses his ass

  45. Smart move. It’s not like dumbing your stories down won’t hurt your product in the long run.

  46. The more I hear about this adaptation the more confident I am that it’s going to suck.

    Sokka being a jerk to women was part of his growth when he realized he was wrong and changed.

  47. Oh sweet! I hope they skip the whole Aang discovering his powers crap too and just give him all the power at the beginning.

  48. “We’re going to smooth out all the characters into easily digestible tasteless flan. No one can start off as one thing and get better over time. That’s not what market research says people like anymore. 

    “Everyone’s safe. Everyone’s clean. Everything is sexless and devoid of romance. Just like we believe you like.”

    – Netflix Execs two minutes before canceling the second season anyway

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