“It’s meant for kids”: Avatar the Last Airbender to Do the Unthinkable After Removing Sexist Elements, Will Show Horrendous Genocide

The trend to make live-action adaptations of kids’ movies is on the rise. From Moana to How to Train Your Dragon, many animated movies will be seeing their live-action counterparts in theatres soon enough. Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon superhit series Avatar: The Last Airbender will be released on the streaming platform on February 22, 2024.

Avatar: The Last Airbender To Show Genocide Scene

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the story of Aang, a young air nomad who has to rise to the occasion to protect his kind. On the other hand, Avatars are peacekeepers who balance the harmony of all four natural elements. However, when the fire nation wreaks havoc and attacks the Air Nomads, they scramble to stay alive and fight to keep their lands. Sokka and Katara are water siblings who join Aang on his life-altering journey.

Netflix released the trailer of the show to eager fans’ delight. It shows accurate costumes and set design, already making fans happy. The comparison to M Night Shyamalan’s adaptation has already started. While everyone applauded the Netflix adaptation’s ability to stay as close to the source material as possible, a few things seemed to stand out. The most noticeable among them was the addition of the genocide scene where the Fire Nation attacks and kills Air nomads. This scene was missing from the animated show since that was explicitly made for kids.

The trailer of the live-action series opens with the battle scene showing the glaring fire that spreads to kill everyone. It seems to mark the beginning of the hundred-year war behind the elements and their people. Fire Nation is on its way to conquering the world and it will stop at nothing to achieve its goals. The attack swept out the Airbenders, making Aang, the last one to keep the fight going. Albert Kim, the showrunner of Avatar: The Last Airbender spoke to EW regarding the animated show,

“It’s a cartoon, it’s meant for kids. But I felt it was important that we see the event that creates the story of Avatar. The famous line is, ‘Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.’ I wanted to see that.”

So this must have been the creative difference the original creators had

— Austin (@NoChill_Austin) February 1, 2024

This decision to show the genocide has received mixed opinions from fans on social media. The scene is not exactly shifting away from the original story but rather adds another dimension to it by showing it and not just mentioning it in passing. However, fans also feel that this is a weird decision on Netflix’s part to agree to show genocide but alter an entire character of the series to not show sexism. Questions are being raised as tempers flare on X (formerly Twitter). Some people also feel this is the reason why the original creators of the animated show left the live-action adaptation.

How Can Netflix Say Yes to Genocide But No to Sexism?

Fans of the show have taken no time to react to this news and the trailer by flooding the social media platform with their comments. In the spirit of realism, the show decided to remove Sokka’s sexist behaviour altogether as some scenes will get very dark for the viewers in a live-action adaptation which is not a dark retelling of the story. Fans have labelled this effort as the show’s attempt to be woke, which has backfired completely.

Netflix: “I can excuse genocide, but I draw the line with sexism” pic.twitter.com/JvcEa2TOS6

— Lee (@FilmItLee) February 1, 2024

Now, the question of Aang’s equation with the water siblings becomes pertinent as Katara becomes so mad with Sokka’s sexist behaviour that she reveals Aang to Sokka. Being sexist is a major part of Sokka’s identity. He goes through his arc by learning to respect women and embrace their place in the world. That’s how he grows as a person. A flaw in a character makes them more relatable and human. It appears the showrunners did not realize this aspect and have now angered the fans.

Moreover, showing the storyline and Sokka getting schooled by powerful women around him would have sent a crucial message to the viewers and hence increased the show’s relevance in today’s world. Removing that storyline altogether appears to be their attempt at shoving things under the carpet.