I'm tired of the drama in one of my fandoms, so now I'm distracting myself with the drama in another one. The kind of rest I ✨deserve✨ So I figured I'd throw my two cents in on the whole Netflix remake discourse.
For some reason, several of my social media feeds have started showing me posts from the other side of the fandom saying things like, "Zutarians should have fought evil instead of joining it!" in reference to the recently released NATLA Season 2. Along with, of course, even more insulting variations of the same sentiment about how terrible NATLA is and how people dare enjoy it for even a second.
Well... It actually got me thinking.
I really do see less criticism of NATLA coming from Zutara fans - or at least criticism that's more structured and measured - compared to the tidal wave of outrage coming from everywhere else. Why is that? Is it really just because we got some shipping bait? I honestly doubt it.
I think I finally realized why: Zutara fans simply don't treat the original animated series like some sacred, untouchable Holy Grail.
We've spent the last twenty years criticizing the original show, dissecting it piece by piece, acknowledging its flaws (and, occasionally, its strengths too, lol). We know how shallow and problematic some aspects of it were, and how Aang's characterization often fell into the cliché wish-fulfillment fantasy for young boys (personally, I'd say the entire series does this, but I know a lot of people don't share that opinion and genuinely like Aang as long as the conversation isn't about his relationship with Katara, so I'll be tactful.)
Meanwhile, the rest of the fandom still treats any discussion of those flaws as heresy.
Seriously, every now and then I stumble across posts from unfortunate people who wandered into, for example, the main subreddit and wanted to share some doubts or interesting observations, only to get torn apart for daring to criticize the show or any aspect of it (especially Aang. God help you if you say anything about Aang, because he was twelve!!!) And these people aren't even committing what the fandom considers the greatest sin imaginable - not shipping Zutara. They're simply daring to be even slightly critical of a twenty-year-old children's cartoon.
It's honestly wild that, after twenty years, the only socially acceptable criticism of ATLA is still "the lion turtle and the rock at the end were lazy writing."
That kind of conservatism is exactly why so many people were completely unprepared for any new interpretation of the canon or for changes that are inevitable in any remake.
Not that NATLA is beyond criticism - far from it. There are plenty of legitimate complaints to be made, and God forbid I'd ever tell people what they're allowed or not allowed to criticize. At the end of the day, it's a Netflix remake. Seriously, who expected perfection?
The problem is that so much of the criticism ultimately boils down to the fact that... it's not the cartoon. That, twenty years later, someone dared to look at these characters and events a little differently. Seriously, I've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of the most absurdly nitpicky complaints about this show, complaints I genuinely never expected to see, and it's honestly baffling.
Sometimes it feels like these people would've only been satisfied if the original cartoon had been recreated shot-for-shot with actors who looked exactly like the animated designs (seriously, have you seen the disgusting comments about the actress playing Mai?) and, naturally, with endless glorification of Aang as a character.
Meanwhile, we have the leaked animated movie from this year, which, in my opinion, treated its main cast (everyone except Aang, of course - Aang is Bryke's golden boy, he always gets special treatment) far worse, featured a questionable script and a highly unoriginal conflict. The only thing I genuinely wanted to praise was the visual style, though even that wasn't without its issues, since it completely erased what made some characters visually distinctive (yes, my poor Katara, I'm looking at you)
And yet it never received anything close to the level of hatred NATLA gets. People shrugged, called it mediocre, and moved on. NATLA, on the other hand, isn't afforded that luxury. Every single minute of it gets dissected, and every attempt to deviate from canon is treated like a crime.
So if you want Zutarians to join in that kind of criticism of NATLA...
P.S. If you think I don't particularly like Aang, you're right. I've grown so exhausted by the constant glorification and idealization of him that I judge him far more critically than I do the average shonen protagonist he reminds me of.
I'm not going to apologize for that.
Hopefully I attached the images correctly so the credits display properly🫰🏻
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