The Failed Femininity of Netflix's Katara

They stripped my girl of her fiery spirit, her passion, her determination and will power, and her never ending love and compassion for people. The original Avatar has some of the greatest female characters to ever be put onscreen, Katara being one of them. This is NOT Katara.

When a "kids" animated show is far more mature than a Netflix adaptation for "adults" you know something went horribly wrong.

best thing about netflix's avatar is how it makes me want to watch the original again

The fact that the original animated ATLA writers WALKED OUT of the development process of this show because they were being forced to go along with changes to the story they could not, in good conscience, support tells you all you need to know. This video was very illuminating, and also very depressing. I'm going to do my best to forget the new live action exists.

“When the focus on the character is just her power, she isn’t a character at all. She’s just a weapon.” Good observation.

As a woman, I am PISSED on how they RUINED Katara’s character. They turned a strong , stubborn, and independent girl who never gave up no matter what anyone said to a soft spoken girl who couldn’t even stand up to her brother. Also it made no sense how she became a master after NO TRAINING ! In the cartoon, she FOUGHT to be trained. In this live action show, they turned her into a master after ONE fight when she went to the Northern water tribe. 🙄

making katara a naturally skilled waterbender is so.... bad. katara was always innately powerful (even since the first episode) but she was never innately skilled. the reason she gets so good in the finale of season 1 is she's actually fighting to learn with pakku and aang is fucking around doing nothing. the reason she's such a fearsome fighter later in the show is because she WORKS AT IT. it's like this show is allergic to the idea that people might have to learn to fight.

Honestly, I think actress for Katara has this drive to her in interviews. She seems genuinely passionate about Avatar, knowing many aspects of the lore and being excited to share it. It was nice seeing her ramble about something she feels strongly about, and I wish they let her show this side of her on the screen, because I feel like she has the potential to show Katara's emotional range. Then again, I feel like the actors are more like their characters off screen, without a script or any restrictions. They have such great chemistry as a cast, and I hope the direction/writing in the future isn't as disappointing as this season.

Katara's mother really said, "One day you'll show the world how powerful you are"? That sounds like something you'd say to a future supervillan.

Modern writers think: Empowerment = character development Agency = growth Winning/Losing = plot

Katara's mother was not a warrior. She was a protector. When the fire nation showed up looking for a water bender, her mother lied to protect Katara. She sacrificed herself for her child without fighting. This is why Katara started mothering Sokka. Because she felt like their mother's sacrifice was her fault, and Sokka still needed a mom. Not once, considering that she also still needed her mom. It shapes who Katara is as a person. They even could've used that to attempt to drive a girl boss attitude, and that still would've been better writing than what they gave their audience.

Katara was already the embodiment of a fullfilled feminist character, you know, dynamic and human. If anything it feels more sexist that her rage and deep emotional capacity is so muted.

Paku didn’t train her in the Netflix version because “you can’t have a woman learn something/be taught by a man” -modern writers

They literally made Katara more passive and quiet, which is even more sexist! OG Katara wouldn't have even bothered waiting for Paku to "give her permission to fight". She would have just already been fighting!

Katara seeing waterbending only as a means of being a strong warrior completely erases the nuances of what bending is. Bending is more than just a power or weapon, it's an art form and a part of a nation's culture. The way Katara in the original show spoke about her desire to learn waterbending felt similar to someone wanting to learn how to speak their culture's native language, or experience their culture's lifestyle. As an Asian American who doesn't know how to speak my family's native language, Katara felt relatable in this way

And it is definitely NOT Kiawenttio’s fault at all, it’s 100% Netflix’s. She is an actor completely capable of playing the animation version of Katara because she plays that same fiery and passionate character in Beans. It’s a shame that she couldn’t put her skills to use in this adaptation, she would’ve done amazing!

Katara’s voice actor has more feelings and emotions than the live action Katara.

"I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too." ~Suki This show was so ahead of its time with feminism you'd think that line was written today. Granted I'm a man but from what I've seen, even women are getting irritated that every "strong" female character is forced to sacrifice her femininity. ATLA demonstrates power in femininity with the Kyoshi warriors; their uniforms are more feminine with the headdresses, makeup, war fans and dress-like armor.

the loss of her feminine rage is such a depressing loss. as a woman i hate this trope of a woman having to lack emotion and femininity to be “strong”. emotion and femininity MAKES us strong

What got me the most is that they stripped her of her anger. In the original, she waterbends Aang out of the iceberg by getting angry at Sokka, but in the remake she does it by stoically waterbending a boat. This is also seen in the Pakku fight, because in the original she gets angry at him and than walks out asking him to fight. But in the netflix she is calmy discussing with Sokka if she should ask Pakku for a duel. Like what? The fight was a spur of the moment decsision made out of anger. And removing her anger might be even more sexist than the original, because anger is traditionally seen as a "masculine" emotion, so cutting out her anger is weird. At first I thought it was an acting issue, but I am more and more starting to think it's the writing / directing. Let 👏 my 👏 girl 👏 be 👏 angry 👏!!Let her make jokes and show her emotions!!!! I am pretty sure her actress will nail it.