Discussing Katara in Adaptations of Avatar

[Winter]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

She is passive and timid while losing her motherly moments, her anger, her drive and her, well, general bitchiness that made her an engaging character and somehow they made it even worse. Like they try to make her seem like a badass but this fails because they kept cutting out most of her actually badass moments and replace them with her being a complete wimp.

Like she back down when Sokka tells her to stop waterbending, falls for Jet, fails to talk Aang down when he enters the Avatar State and needs to be around Aang because he makes her feel powerful... Just UGH!!!!!

There are times that Katara does annoy me in the original but I still respect her and understood her reasons for acting the way she did.

The adaptations, especially the show, feel like it was written by people who disliked the character and wanted to "Improve" her by removing what made her an engaging character to begin with.

[Thebestoftherest]

I doubt this is the sole reason, maybe it budget. Water bender is kinda expensive to do right in live action. With air a lot of time you can get away with a fan and a bunch of actors falling down, fire you can get with creative use of squibs, Water and Earth is a bit harder.

[stryke]

I'm not sure we need to single out Katara when Aang and Sokka both aren't doing any better.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

There does seem to be a sense that, despite now being literally three-dimensional, the characters have been run over with a steam-roller.

[Winter]

There does seem to be a sense that, despite now being literally three-dimensional, the characters have been run over with a steam-roller.

Now I have that scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit in my head when Doom is run over by a Steam-Roller in my head.

[CharlesPhipps]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

Scarlet Johansen said something that every single female actress is always praised by a male director by saying, "She can display vulnerability." It is the no. 1 thing that is asked of female actresses, even in action movies.

Never, "Does she look like she can kick ass and take names or get furious?"

But yes, essentially Avatar The Last Air Bender is a show that needed someone to watch Buffy.

Sokka is Xander, Katara is Buffy

[Winter]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

Scarlet Johansen said something that every single female actress is always praised by a male director by saying, "She can display vulnerability." It is the no. 1 thing that is asked of female actresses, even in action movies.

Never, "Does she look like she can kick ass and take names or get furious?"

But yes, essentially Avatar The Last Air Bender is a show that needed someone to watch Buffy.

Sokka is Xander, Katara is Buffy

I would say that Katara is closer to Willow while Korra is more like Buffy while Sokka I would say is more akin to a younger Giles or Spike after he got chipped.

[Nobody700]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

She is passive and timid while losing her motherly moments, her anger, her drive and her, well, general bitchiness that made her an engaging character and somehow they made it even worse. Like they try to make her seem like a badass but this fails because they kept cutting out most of her actually badass moments and replace them with her being a complete wimp.

Like she back down when Sokka tells her to stop waterbending, falls for Jet, fails to talk Aang down when he enters the Avatar State and needs to be around Aang because he makes her feel powerful... Just UGH!!!!!

There are times that Katara does annoy me in the original but I still respect her and understood her reasons for acting the way she did.

The adaptations, especially the show, feel like it was written by people who disliked the character and wanted to "Improve" her by removing what made her an engaging character to begin with.

Katara bad cause she is mean to Sokka and this is the Sokka show

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

Scarlet Johansen said something that every single female actress is always praised by a male director by saying, "She can display vulnerability." It is the no. 1 thing that is asked of female actresses, even in action movies.

Never, "Does she look like she can kick ass and take names or get furious?"

But yes, essentially Avatar The Last Air Bender is a show that needed someone to watch Buffy.

Sokka is Xander, Katara is Buffy

How dare you slander my boy Sokka like that.

[clearspira]

Why does Katara always get the short end of the stick in adaptations of The Last Airbender? Like both the film and the show make her so... weak.

Scarlet Johansen said something that every single female actress is always praised by a male director by saying, "She can display vulnerability." It is the no. 1 thing that is asked of female actresses, even in action movies.

Never, "Does she look like she can kick ass and take names or get furious?"

But yes, essentially Avatar The Last Air Bender is a show that needed someone to watch Buffy.

Sokka is Xander, Katara is Buffy

Every single one of the most popular STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONISTS displays vulnerability. Every last one. That is the difference between what society deems to be the strong FEMININE and the strong MASCULINE. To deny this is to deny reality.

You speak of Buffy? She is the perfect example. She kicks ass better than any man, better than almost any woman, and yet the whole of season 2 and 3 is her broken after being betrayed by her man. Y'know - like a real teenage girl would be?

Is that fair? Oh, hell no. But that is the way it is. And that isn't changing any time soon. You can try and change it but you are going to fail because society is not there yet.

Just as btw, we don't get many vulnerable male action heroes. And when they do, like Fat Thor, they are roundly criticised. It is the exact same kind of sexism just in reverse.