Avatar: The Last Airbender – 7 Mistakes The Netflix Remake MUST Avoid

Among the more prominent criticisms of Shyamalan’s 2010 film was the “whitewashing” of several characters. It was quite the slap in the face to a property which thrived on its representation of East Asian and Inuit culture. Katara and Sokka, siblings who inhabited the Southern Water Tribe, were respectively played by Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone. It was pretty jarring to have two caucasian actors smack dab in the middle of a native setting, where their surrounding extras were all racially-accurate.

Moreover, the denizens of the Fire Nation, who in the original show were meant to hearken back to Imperial Japan, are all Indian, with notable Skins actor Dev Patel portraying Prince Zuko. The degree to which Shyamalan messed up these characters’ ethnicities is absurd. But more egregious was the sheer lack of talent on display. With a few exceptions (Noah Ringer’s Aang considered a passable performance), the actors in The Last Airbender were all about as charismatic as blocks of wood.

At a bare minimum, the remake needs to cast actors of the correct racial background for each character. In 2020, such blatant disregard will not be looked upon too kindly by viewers. But perhaps the greater challenge will lie in bringing the exaggerated characteristics of Aang, Sokka, and co. to a live-action version. It’s not impossible, but it would take some truly energetic actors.