#and they both have daddy issues stemming from failure to meet expectations and both play dumb to fit in

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

i love how rodney keeps calling john "kirk" when hes very clearly tom paris

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I think my biggest issue with the live action atla is how all the issues the characters had were so... individualistic? They were issues primarily connected to their own self or disagreements with family members, and mainly conquered through finding their own power and learning badass bending and being a prodigy who learns things all by themselves.

I'm not sure how to phrase this properly but in the original, each character was influenced by the world they grew up in. Aang's denial, rage and occasional selfishness stems from him being an outsider to this world - he's a kid from 100 years ago with fresh grief from an event long past, no understanding of what living through war is like, and the weight of everything on his shoulders. Katara's anger and mothering comes from being cut off from her culture, having to step up and be her mother, and being treated as inferior to the men for being a woman. Sokka's sexism is a young boy's limited understanding of the role that men and women play in his tribe, and his consistent feelings of failure to live up to expectations or contribute to the group is a result of, again, having to grow up to take the position of leader far too quickly; trying to be his father. Everything about Toph is a pushback against the way she was smothered and restricted - the way the world makes assumptions about her because of her blindness. And for all that Zuko has daddy issues and whatnot, the core of his character is actually him wrestling with his upbringing, what it means to lead and serve a people, and questioning the nationalistic propaganda that was a fact of life for not just him, but everyone in the Fire Nation.

Atla is essentially one big road trip story. The detours are important, because it's on these that the cast find the limitations of their worldviews both broadened and challenged - and it's through others that their development occurs for the most part. Sure, they become stronger power-wise too - but that's not what actually resolves their internal issues. Their flaws are a product of their natures meeting their environments, so it's only by being in new environments and learning from the new people they meet that they grow, change, and adapt - all things that are absolutely pivotal for the cast to impact the world in turn in the way they all eventually wind up doing.

And I don't know, I just felt that wasn't there in the live action. Shades of it, sure, but, like I said, it was very self-contained, and didn't feel like a product of the world they grew up in. And the solution was usually just. Talk a few things over. Learn a cool new skill - without a master? You... you need a master, because bending is a martial art, not a superpower. No one in Avatar is supposed to learn everything alone... that's the whole point, and why one nation cannot rule all of them - they are all necessary, and all have something of worth to teach to others. Anyways, it was weird idk idk...

Feel like I could've explained this a lot better but this is the gist. Hope it somewhat came across?