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Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix) | Rottenwatch
Soodanim
Member
I tuned out for the Omashu story as I know it, so I missed this change. I Googled for confirmation and ended up on a Reddit thread where people said it added so much to the story and that forbidden LGBT love made it better.
Muhfuckas act like Romeo & Juliet doesn't exist.
Kyoshi mode was a nice addition. A stand out moment for the show.
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Insane Metal
Member
WHat?? I missed that. Hahahah
Lambogenie
Member
It's easy to overlook but given it's Netflix geared towards today's audiences, it was obvious it was going to be somewhere. But I'd actually accept this over the BS Korra Asami zero interacton/zero chemistry/zero build up (oh, sorry, I've been writing letters to her this whole time didn't you know?)
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
From what I've been hearing they got the look of the characters correct, the look of the environments correct, the CGI is great, not sure on the fight scenes
It's just the script that people have an issue with
As for me this is an instant skip. I loved the OG Cartoon and it seems like once again this is being made by people who aren't fans of the source material
It's just the script that people have an issue with
As for me this is an instant skip. I loved the OG Cartoon and it seems like once again this is being made by people who aren't fans of the source material
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
From what I've seen, they ARE fans... Including the actors. But they're working with 8 episodes, a set budget and a set episode time count. They can't put everything in.
Fight scenes are genuinely good. Not surprising when the choreography was done by the guy who did Shang-Chi 's.
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Xenon
Member
Secret Sauce...
Its not bad and there are moments I feel like I'm getting sucked in. But without having a love for the original show to fill in the holes I see this being very flat. Azula and co look like cibi versions if their characters.
Soodanim
Member
I had absolutely no reason to think that they walking off together was more than platonic hand holding when I watched it, and nor did anyone else. It doesn't matter if that's what the creators wanted to do and whether or not Nickelodeon pushed back, the final result is (as you say) absolutely zero reason to think it's even a possibility.
In a way it's worse than "Dumbledore was gay", because I don't remember Korra and Azumi being remotely close. At least the creators jumped in ASAP after airing to state intent, instead of years after release.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
That was brilliant.
March Climber
Gold Member
Regarding this, the Korea Asami criticism is something that may never be understood correctly by the creators. The lesbian couple being a lesbian couple wasn’t the issue. Most fans including myself simply wanted better storytelling and an actual buildup for it.
Star Wars made the same ‘out of nowhere’ mistake with Kylo and Rey. Although Kylo and Rey are worse, because they both fell in love literal planets away after a few tiny force conversations and a duel to the death.
Again, two more situations where a romance writer/consultant would have helped immensely, but instead you have the nerds of the crew writing the romance.
The cast and crew are fans. The problem lies deeper in this situation, because it was an easy alley-oop and they still managed to slightly mess up parts, dialogue, and characters.
Something went right with One Piece and something went wrong here. I’ve even seen a youtube reviewer compare both live action shows and I think some people here even owe the cast of One Piece an apology. The One Piece cast didn’t go halfway with their acting. They fully committed to the over the top cartoon-nature of their characters and it managed to work because they were putting their all into it. I really felt like I was watching live action versions of animated characters.
When you watch Avatar you can tell that the actors were being told to reign it in, and that caused some of their performances to come across as more stiff, serious, and muted by comparison. Zuko ends up looking the best because Zuko was a serious character to begin with.
LordOfChaos
Member
I thought it was good. Slightly hammy at parts but hey it was a kids cartoon, albeit a deep one.
There was a lesbian Omashu love story? I didn't even notice the change lol, didn't make any difference at all, wasn't in your face, doesn't matter at all to me. It's not like they were like hey Aang is super into gay orgies now, it's literally a few seconds of cave paintings, touch grass if it really matters that much to you. There were people back in the day getting upset about this, even though it's the original characters and not the excuse of "but they changed the character!"
But where is all the Appa?! Appa was one of the best parts and got very little personality or screen time
There was a lesbian Omashu love story? I didn't even notice the change lol, didn't make any difference at all, wasn't in your face, doesn't matter at all to me. It's not like they were like hey Aang is super into gay orgies now, it's literally a few seconds of cave paintings, touch grass if it really matters that much to you. There were people back in the day getting upset about this, even though it's the original characters and not the excuse of "but they changed the character!"
But where is all the Appa?! Appa was one of the best parts and got very little personality or screen time
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Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
I thought it was good. Slightly hammy at parts but hey it was a kids cartoon, albeit a deep one.
There was a lesbian Omashu love story? I didn't even notice the change lol, didn't make any difference at all, wasn't in your face, doesn't matter at all to me. It's not like they were like hey Aang is super into gay orgies now, it's literally a few seconds of cave paintings, touch grass if it really matters that much to you. There were people back in the day getting upset about this, even though it's the original characters and not the excuse of "but they changed the character!"
But where is all the Appa?! Appa was one of the best parts and got very little personality or screen time
Appa would be pretty expensive to render each time he's on screen.
Soodanim
Member
Then what was the point? You essentially said it was a pointless change.
I don't think it really matters that much to anyone. But they made a point of making an arbitrary change for obviously dumb reasons and people will talk about it.
LordOfChaos
Member
It's below my level of notice, it's a few seconds of paintings on a wall, who cares?
Are you sure about that lol? The Legend of Korra Lesbehonest ending wasn't an arbitrary change, it was the original characters written by the original writers in the original show, yet there were still complaints about that.
It's odd to say it doesn't matter much to anyone while arguing about it. Again this wasn't even remotely a main character change, it was just a few seconds of background illustration, I hadn't even notice it changed until people were up in arms about it.
Soodanim
Member
There's a world of difference between discussing something that comes up in conversation (like this thread) and being affected by something. You're arguing the latter, but I can't say I've seen anything but the former ITT. If you're questioning discussing anything at all without being deeply passionate about it, then forums are an odd place to spend your time. "I don't care so no one should discuss it" is a strange position to take on anything, really.
You didn't answer my question. What story reason did they have for changing the original Oma & Shu story? The only possible answer feeds into something that South Park did an entire special on it not too long ago. There's one reason to discuss it, pointless or not.
Korra wasn't an arbitrary change, but it also wasn't anything at all until the last second where we got a quick hand hold that was so vague that it had to be explained outside of the show. Had the creators not made a public statement it wouldn't have gone the same way. As I said in another post, it's comparable to gay Dumbledore except with less reason to think it's a possibilty and less time before the announcement. Of course there's the people who flat out have problems with lesbians - every everything in the world can have that but there's no point treating it as the majority opinion. There's more than one reason to have a problem with lesbian Korra besides homophobia, same as Omashu.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
There is, IMO, absolutely no reason to be upset at the change in the Omashu story. It makes more sense for their people's to be upset and having one of them killed if they were lesbians (let's not act like violence against LGBT people wasn't a thing) than if they were both straight man and woman.
And it was barely noticeable... If you noticed it, cool. If you didn't, cool. It isn't changing any main characters stories or bios. It's a very minor part of the overall story which leads with Katara and Sokka working through some of their sibling dynamic and, eventually, leaving the tunnels.
And it was barely noticeable... If you noticed it, cool. If you didn't, cool. It isn't changing any main characters stories or bios. It's a very minor part of the overall story which leads with Katara and Sokka working through some of their sibling dynamic and, eventually, leaving the tunnels.
Zephyranthes
Member
Five episodes in. I wanted to like this, and there are some things about it that I do, but overall it's a mess. I'm not fundamentally against mixing things up when making an adaptation like this, but if you do, you better know what you're doing. The writers of this show do not know what they're doing. So much of how these characters are portrayed shows an utter lack of understanding for why they were compelling in the first place. How do you write Aang and remove almost all of his childish wonder and levity? How do you write Azula with zero self-confidence or charisma? How do you write Bumi as a bitter, cynical curmudgeon?
The dialogue also feels stiff and awkward because the characters keep trying to "avatarsplain" while talking to each other.
The dialogue also feels stiff and awkward because the characters keep trying to "avatarsplain" while talking to each other.
stickkidsam
Member
Nobody expected them to put everything in. Not me at least. I just didn’t expect them to butcher what they did keep. 8 episodes (and a $120 million budget) that are 45 minutes each is 16 episodes of the original show’s 20. They can cut the fluff and make it work yet the show still feels rushed.
I’m 5 episodes in and I wouldn’t know this was written by fans of the show. It has the aesthetic nailed down for sure. Absolutely gorgeous at times. Some decent choreography here and there (especially with Aang and Zuko). Most anything else falls flat. It seems like anything they could change they did; and not for the better.
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Toons
Member
I watched the first 4 episodes a week ago at my buddies(currently cant use Netflix because of their stupid 1 per household standard) and I was pleasantly surprised.
It's far from perfect but they put the work in to get across the themes of the original, the bending all looks good and I like the cast. Especially zuko.
I do plan on finishing it soon, I've heard that the finale kinda sucks but IMO the finale to S1 kinda sucked in the original too.
It's far from perfect but they put the work in to get across the themes of the original, the bending all looks good and I like the cast. Especially zuko.
I do plan on finishing it soon, I've heard that the finale kinda sucks but IMO the finale to S1 kinda sucked in the original too.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
I thought that the finale, barring a few headscratching moments, was actually really great. The series ended on a high at least.
For me the show really started grating and meandering when it got to Omashu. And the limited screentime with Roku (Mizuka from Dexter of all people too), was also disappointing too. I can't believe they cut out Roku's big reveal to the fire sages, which was such an epic moment in the cartoon.
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Soodanim
Member
I'd like to offer an alternative approach.
Avatar's world isn't our world. It doesn't share the same history or religions, and that means it doesn't have to share the persecution of homosexuals. The end goal is equality, and Avatar's world could have by default in this aspect.
The only "problem" with this is that you don't get to showcase how inclusive you are by treating it as just a normal thing, and there's no situation where lots of couples are standing together and one happens to be gay/lesbian or other real situation where it's normalised.
It's a shame that the only way to show that the Netflix adaptation approves of gays is to show them being persecuted first. But I guess that's what happens when you want to retrofit something into a show that doesn't need it and changing the core relationships isn't an option - you aren't left with a lot of places to add it in without adding an entirely new element.
DelireMan7
Member
Done with my rewatch of ATLA and LoK so I watch the first episode of the live action.
Pleasantly surprised by the fact it shows directly what happen 100 years ago.
Overall it works nicely as a live action (less goofy and combat less dynamic than the cartoon but this can't be translating in live action).
The only thing so far that I am not so sure is Katara portrayal. Let's see ...
Pleasantly surprised by the fact it shows directly what happen 100 years ago.
Overall it works nicely as a live action (less goofy and combat less dynamic than the cartoon but this can't be translating in live action).
The only thing so far that I am not so sure is Katara portrayal. Let's see ...
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
Books 2 and 3 just got picked up!
Soodanim
Member
I will follow your progress on this one
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
Soodanim
Member
It's a bold move, but it makes sense and I think only a complete failure would have stopped it. It's all been done with the clear intention of seeing it through, with them putting things (and by extension cutting) from B2 in B1 to make room for more to happen.
I very much doubt the key concerns will be addressed, but I'll see it through regardless. Maybe there will be some things that explain the changes that right now look arbitrary and bad.
DelireMan7
Member
So episode 2 done.
Overall still works for me. But Katara is not xD. Too much cliché "weeping powerless girl" vs the anime version which shows quiet some character (miss the argues with Sokka). I know this an adaptation and should not be a 1:1 but Katara feels like a different character to me here. In the cartoon she's a pretty strong headed female character, now it feels quite the opposite
I found Sokka to work great. I found the relation with Suki a bit unnatural. They tried to keep him not losing his face in front of her but removed all the mockeries (but I see why. Can't make a joke about woman nowaday...)
Or maybe too much focus on their relation. But this is a minor complaint.
Suki is working great on screen (and damn she's beautiful).
Interesting interaction between Aang and Kyoshi. Especially when Aang mentioned his power being too strong and were dangerous in the past for his training partners. Also Kyoshi telling "harshly" the "truth" to Aang was great (love when Aang says he was scared to hurt people and she answered "Do you know how many people suffered by you not being there for them?").
Loved that they kept Iroh with his comic relief.
Overall still works for me. But Katara is not xD. Too much cliché "weeping powerless girl" vs the anime version which shows quiet some character (miss the argues with Sokka). I know this an adaptation and should not be a 1:1 but Katara feels like a different character to me here. In the cartoon she's a pretty strong headed female character, now it feels quite the opposite
I found Sokka to work great. I found the relation with Suki a bit unnatural. They tried to keep him not losing his face in front of her but removed all the mockeries (but I see why. Can't make a joke about woman nowaday...)
Or maybe too much focus on their relation. But this is a minor complaint.
Suki is working great on screen (and damn she's beautiful).
Interesting interaction between Aang and Kyoshi. Especially when Aang mentioned his power being too strong and were dangerous in the past for his training partners. Also Kyoshi telling "harshly" the "truth" to Aang was great (love when Aang says he was scared to hurt people and she answered "Do you know how many people suffered by you not being there for them?").
Loved that they kept Iroh with his comic relief.