Adaptational Crises: Netflix’s “Avatar”
On Feb. 22, Netflix released its highly anticipated live action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s much-beloved animated TV Show Avatar: The Last Airbender. Being eight episodes long, it is an adaptation, though not a straight remake of the first season of the animated show. I wanna talk about the show and why the jump from animation to live action isn’t always smooth.
We start out with the things I thought were done well. First, the casting. Almost every single character in this show is wonderfully cast. From the main cast like Aang and Katara, to side characters like Suki and Yue. The brilliant blend of mostly unknown and indigenous actors like Kiawentiio with more established names like Danny Pudi and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, the casting is an art form in and of itself, masterfully translating 2D drawings to living breathing people.
The design of the world is another thing the show does very well. The design of the worlds, the characters’ clothes, the props, the bending and more. It feels like how I’d want the world of the Avatar to feel. It feels vibrant, colorful, and alive.
The actors also give standout performances almost across the board. Dallas Liu and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee have excellent chemistry as Zuko and Iroh, Gordon Cormier does a decent enough job with Aang (he’s a child so I’m willing to let a lot go), and the guest actors more than play their roles. Standout performances almost everywhere you look.
Unfortunately, the show has more than its fair share of issues, most of which stem from the decision to adapt a well-known and eternally beloved TV show. When adapting anything, there are decisions that have to be made as to what stays and what goes. Mainly this is because most adaptations are cross-media adaptations, that is, from a written medium like a novel or a comic book to a visual medium like a movie or a TV show. Problems start to rise when you choose to adapt something that was already made in a visual medium, as is so often the case with animated endeavors (especially recently with Disney). When you do this, you need to give the viewers a reason to watch your show. If it’s just a reskin of the animation, why not just watch the animation? (I call this the Lion King Conundrum.) So, you make changes. But you have to be careful not to go too far, or else it won’t resemble the original show being adapted anymore and at that point, why not just watch the animation? It’s a delicate balance, one that very few people have managed (I maintain that The Jungle Book (2016) is one), and one that Albert Kim and the show runners for the Netflix show fail to do.
There are several changes made from the original show. A number of them were made to facilitate a more condensed show (~474 minutes for the animation to 430 for the Netflix show). The offshoot of this is that several aspects that were in the animation have to be cut out or drastically reduced, and this hampers character development, which was one of the major strengths of the animation. We spent time with these characters, and we saw them mature and change as they went on their adventures. We don’t get this in the show. There’s very little growth or even time for such things because the plot is goal driven. Aang has to get to the Northern Water Tribe to avert a disaster and little else matters, except those little things are what prepare him for his trials in the North. Those things act as connective tissue for the bigger points in the story, and it is much worse off without it.
Other changes were made, as far as I can tell, just to change things. And these are the types of changes that don’t go over well. Like the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Having Sokka and Katara follow Aang into the Spirit World is an example of a change that exists for no other reason than they wanted to. Putting Azula in the first season where she did not belong (she wasn’t in the first season of the animated show) becomes problematic because she really doesn’t contribute much to the overarching story. The plot seems to grind to a halt every time we cut to Capital City. Choosing to show moments like the Fire Nation Assault on the Airbenders and Zuko’s Agni Kai with his father, while both look immensely cool, add very little to the story. We already know how it goes. Seeing it doesn’t do much for anything other than shock value.
The condensation of multiple episodes and plotlines into one wasn’t something I was on board with. Taking bits and pieces from multiple disparate episodes across the season and even (like with episode five Spirited Away) multiple seasons disrupts the flow of the story. Having the Gaang meet characters out of order, or in the wrong place, wreaks havoc for the story because whatever is taken from one place leads to issues when you get to where they are supposed to be, like with Koh the Face-Stealer.
Final point, characterization. Despite the performances that the actors give in the show, they are not helped by the writing. The characterization of various characters is so far off from their animation counterparts that they might as well not be the same people. Bumi, Hakoda, even Azula and Ozai all suffer from this, but perhaps the main culprits are the Avatars. Aang being portrayed as an airheaded child who doomed the world by running away from his responsibility as the Avatar is a problematic point that is brought up on several occasions. Even the very role of the Avatar is badly misunderstood. A person said to be a force for balance in the world is turned into a stoic ultra-powerful loner akin to Batman, with Kuruk even saying that the Avatar has to walk his path alone. Because of the condensed plot and the lack of adequate character development, the several characters just jump from where they were to where they need to be without any clear route as to how they got there.
Little addendum, Sokka. I have never disliked a character more than I do with this version of Sokka. A character with none of the charm or humor or emotional growth of the original, stuck to the most punchable face I’ve seen on screen since Galley in The Maze Runner.
Netflix’s Avatar had its warning signs. Such as when the original creators left the project, and with almost every single press snippet leading up to its release. But it also has its teachable moments. Specifically, animated projects do not need live-action remakes, recreations, or adaptations.
