Opinion

Why Netflix is making a huge mistake by toning down Sokka’s sexism in Avatar

1-2-2024

Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson

He may not be the main character, but Sokka’s surely one of the most popular in Avatar: The Last Airbender. But now it looks like Netflix is about to scrap one of his most important «iffy» character developments. What a shame.

Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino had been working on a live-action adaptation of the classic animation for Netflix for two years when they dropped the bomb – both announced they’d be leaving the project. Creative differences being the reason for abandoning their work. «Whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make,» DiMartino said.

This was in August 2020.

Fast forward three and a half years and Sokka actor Ian Ousley telling Entertainment Weekly that Netflix’s adaptation should feel more tangible than the animated series. More down-to-earth. His character, for example, will continue to have a zany sense of humour but will no longer have a sexist side to him. «I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy,» Kiawentiio Tarbell, who plays Katara, agrees in the same interview.

Fans are livid. And rightfully so, if you ask me.

Can a Netflix adaptation without the makers of the original work?

I know, I know, I’m writing about a series that hasn’t even been released yet. Although that may be unfair, my intention isn’t to criticise the series, but to express my concern. After all, the Nickelodeon cartoon series was a constant throughout my formative years. This was particularly the case during my early teens in 2005, when Avatar: The Last Airbender was aired on Nickelodeon.

Now that the live-action adaptation is coming to Netflix on 22 February, I just finished re-watching the original on Paramount+. What can I say. The animated series is even better than I remembered. And a lot funnier. But it’s also more profound and more moving. There’s not one episode that’s purely superficial fun. They all have a deeper meaning. A lesson that Avatar Aang and his friends must learn on their journey before they can free the subjugated world from the Fire Nation.

So you probably understand why I’m feeling a little uneasy about the makers of this very masterpiece falling out with Netflix so badly. To the point that they actually left the project two years into the collaboration. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that adapting an animated series with real people can’t be done without some tweaks and changes. It’s not like I’m asking for a 1:1 adaptation. But I’d appreciate the spirit of the series being captured in a respectful manner. Above all, the unsurpassed mix of silly comedy, meaningful life lessons and nuanced character traits.

One of those traits belongs to Sokka.

Is Sokka a sexist? He is at first, but then ...

It’s true. Sokka is no bender of elements, but a proud warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. In his worldview, men go to war while women wait for them at home. And he’s not alone with his ideas. In the Northern Water Tribe, on the other side of the world, it’s also only men who are trained as warriors, while women are taught the art of healing. After all, someone has to nurse the injured men back to health when they return from battle.

The fact that the animated series doesn’t endorse this worldview becomes clear time and again as it progresses. This was the case long before it decided to wave the anti-sexism flag or identify with other progressive messages for reasons more political than heartfelt. For example, in the first season, when the main character Aang and his friends encounter the steadfast Kyoshi warriors of the Earth Realm. Initially, Sokka makes fun of the female warriors because he believes women don’t stand a chance against him. Challenged to spar, he’s promptly sent to the mat. Humbled by this, he swallows his false pride, apologises and asks the warriors to train him instead.

It’s a pivotal moment for Sokka’s character development, as the five-minute scene in the video above clearly proves. If you’re familiar with the whole series, there are other strong pointers. Sokka can’t bend elements, for example. As a proud warrior living in a world where you can potentially tame water, fire, air and earth to accomplish incredible things, this inability means he has a chip on his shoulder.

In the first few episodes, you soon realise his sexist remarks towards women are more of an outlet to mask his underlying jealousy and perceived inferiority and not malicious. Let’s not forget that it’s Aang, the legendary avatar, who can bend all the elements. And Sokka’s sister Katara is a fearless waterbender who has to help him out of trouble time and again. Unlike Sokka, who was never a particularly skilled warrior in the first place, if he’s completely honest with himself. So what could he possibly contribute to the group?

Then there’s the encounter with the Kyoshi warriors. Not only are they women, they also stand their ground against the evil Fire Nation – even though they can’t tame elements. For the first time, Sokka has to seriously question his worldview. He finally realises that people with no bending powers are also valuable in battle. Of all people, it’s women warriors who teach him this lesson. From that moment on, Sokka sheds the sexism and even goes on to vehemently challenge the Northern Water Tribe’s custom of only training men as warriors later on.

Scrapping the sexism is a loss for the series

I’ve rarely seen a TV show handle the topic of sexism with zero preaching and yet with such appropriate depth as Avatar: The Last Airbender. At no point do you feel lectured as a viewer. Instead, it feels more like being educated. Not least does this work because it’s never about picking a winner. It’s all about equality winning in the end. About treating people as equals and with respect.

The fact that Netflix removed the sexist streak Sokka has at the beginning because it’s «iffy», proves that the makers just don’t get it. What’s worse is that they’ve robbed an important and popular character of one of his most defining character developments. Perhaps even of the most challenging one of all. Pride and jealousy are taboo feelings we’re ashamed of to this day. More than we are of fear, anger or insecurity. Sokka confronts these difficult feelings and succeeds. But that’s exactly what he’s now being stripped of.

In any case, the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming to Netflix on 22 February. By then, at the latest, we’ll know if Sokka’s been degraded to a mere wisecracker without depth or nuance. Until then, I remain concerned.

Header image: Avatar: The Last Airbender / Netflix

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»

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