Sozin is the worst, i hate him with a burning passion
The fact that the Fire Nation used Sacred Air Nomad sites and temples as lures and traps to kill any surviving Air Nomads makes this whole topic even darker.
This is horrifying. All because they wanted to kill a kid.
And the ending?
Ugh.
Aang whole story is so tragic. A lot of people constantly shit on him for no reason but this kid carried this loneliness through into his adult years and bottled so much up.
Aang never really accepted the end of his culture.
Sokka may not be a misogynist, but the Netflix live action ATLA is:
There really is no cartoon/anime for female empowerment like the OG ATLA and LOK cartoons.
The creators of ATLA wrote the manifesto on how to create a masterful series on female empowerment and equality that is not cheesy or hocky.
In this show, women and girls are not a monolith but immensely diverse. There's no correct way to be a powerful, talented and bold woman or girl within the avatar universe.
You can be hyper-feminine like Ty Lee and Asami.
You can embody more traditionally masculine qualities like Korra and Toph.
Or you could just be a typical woman or girl falling more in between like Azula, Mai, or Suki.
You see the exact same thing for the male characters. There's no right way to be a man. There's many ways to be a man, and this idea flies in the face of patriarchy.
I say that the Netflix version is misogynist, because it's not enough to be a powerful woman. One must be allowed to be unapologetically, unabashedly and boldy powerful.
Which is what happens in the OG ATLA. Sokka's misogyny was actually a part of his character arc, because every time he was misogynist his misogyny was met with the answer that women and girls are phenomenal, that women and girls are living their lives and largely unconcerned with the opinions of men.
If you read the Kiyoshi novels, you learn that surprisingly enough, the least patriarchal amd misogynist nation in all of Avatar is the fire nation, and the misogynistic nation in all of Avatar is the northern water tribe.
The reason I say that the women in these shows are unabashedly powerful is because aside from Sokka and the master from the Northern Water tribe, no one ever questions why or how they are powerful. They expect it.
Zuko is Ozai's first born son, yet Azula is his pride. When Ozai imagines the future, he imagines it with Azula as the fire lord. He names her after his father. He trusts her to go find the avatar once he knows the avatar has returned.
Sokka and Katara effectively lost both of their parents, but Katara the youngest steps up as the mother and becomes the glue of the group. She's the one who becomes both an immensely powerful bender and healer.
Suki loves Sokka, but when we are introduced to her. She is unconcerned with him. Her and the other Kiyoshi warriors are the protectors of the village who go out into the world to do good into the world.
We see the revseral of all of these tenants in the Netflix show.
Ozai has hope for Zuko at the expense of Azula who he sees as a nuisance. She is no longer am obvious prodigy.
Katara is seen as a child who will not grow up by her brother who is now behaving as a father figure.
Suki is infatuated with Sokka and she follows him around Kiyoshi island when he arrives.
These woman are powerful but restrained and undermined in this power. Suki becomes concerned with the opinions of a man, and a random man at that.
What the OG ATLA taught to all women, girls, boys and men is that you never have to apologize for being powerful, intelligent, kind empathetic.
This is a very critical point that cuts to the heart of the OG ATLA that Netflix has missed.
💦🌊 This is my favorite Katara moment, the way she looks at Aang when he reassures her as they dance in the cave. A few days ago, I watched “The Headband” episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” on Netflix. Definitely watched this show years and years ago on Nickelodeon with my sister. As far as characters, Katara was my favorite next to Ty Lee and Suki. Of course, the kid that I was thought she was pretty. Even as an adult, I still consider her among the best animated leading ladies in television animation history. While recovering from Covid, I kept myself occupied by watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Total Drama Action”. I also watched “The Innocence Files” and “Who Killed Malcolm X?”.
Nobleman on Zuko's Council: Firelord, someone blew up one of our factories!
Zuko, knowing full well it was Katara: Who could have done this?
Second Nobleman: Firelord, several of our war machines were crushed mysteriously by falling rocks overnight.
Zuko, deadpan, knowing it was Toph: Whatever shall we do?
Third Nobleman: And there was an uprising at one of the schools. Apparently one of the students, a young colonial wearing his school uniform belt as a headband, started a "rewrite the history books" campaign.
Zuko: Young people these days.
Fourth Nobleman: Also someone in a spirit mask is robbing the rich at swordpoint while reciting lines from theater.