The series Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most popular animated shows ever, and it still has many fans especially with the series streaming on Netflix currently. Its popularity isn’t surprising and is well-earned in many ways because overall it’s a great show. It’s got a great world, interesting characters, and storytelling, and it also was especially diverse for the time it was made.
However, while it might be great and progressive, this doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There are some things about the series that haven’t aged well, and while this doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with loving the show, it’s still worth looking at the places where The Last Airbender fell short.
Sokka’s sexism
Probably one of the most annoying things about Sokka early on is that he’s rather sexist. He clearly thinks that men are supposed to be the protectors while women are meant to stay at home and nurture. He acts entitled and sexist toward Katara and also towards Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors.
Luckily, he quickly grows out of this and gets a broader perspective on the world, but it is still annoying that he was written like that at first.
The episode where Toph gets a makeover
Given that Toph is a female character who goes outside of traditional gender norms in of appearance, it was frustrating that during her “Tales From Ba Sing Se '' story she got a makeover. It seemed like the creators couldn’t conceive of a young girl who didn’t want to feel beautiful or conform at least sometimes to feminine beauty standards. While there’s nothing wrong with doing so, it just didn't feel necessary for the characters.
It's even stranger given that Toph had recently left behind parents who forced her to dress and act in restrictive ways that she never enjoyed.
Lack of diverse voice actors
This point might not be in the actual story content of the series itself, but it’s worth talking about as it points to broader conversations about representation in media. While all of the characters from The Last Airbender clearly draw on a variety of real-world Asian and Inuit cultures, most of the main voice actors weren’t from those cultures. There are some notable exceptions and instances of diverse casting, however.
While the world may be fictional, it would have been a great opportunity to give many minority actors and actresses roles. This is also something that the Legend of Korra struggled with.
Aang likely killed many people before Ozai
When Aang realizes that he will likely need to kill Firelord Ozai in order to restore balance to the world, he is upset and not sure what to do. While it makes sense that the series wouldn't want to show a twelve-year-old killing someday, it doesn’t make sense that this was even an issue given that Aang probably killed many people.
Given some of the ways that he and his friends attacked and defended themselves, it’s very unrealistic to think no one ever died.
Katara’s role as Aang’s er
Whether you are a big fan of the Katara and Aang relationship or not, there are some things about it that feel a bit dated. Since Aang is the Avatar, Katara’s role in his life is very much as a er and nurturer.
While there's nothing particularly wrong with this, it did often feel like she played more of a stereotypical motherly role that felt a bit traditional at times.
The sexist aspects of both of the water tribes
While drawing on real-world issues like sexism and exploring themes in fiction has its place, there’s also something to be said for telling stories that imagine a world free from these constrictions.
So, it was upsetting when both of the Water Tribes seemed to have rather rigid gender roles and expectations even going so far as to not train female water benders to fight. This also seems nonsensical given that there have been female Avatars who were originally water benders.
The air nomads also seem segregated on gender
It’s hard to completely say what the air nomad culture and society was like, so it is a bit difficult to make a total judgment call here. But, as we see in Legend of Korra, men and women in the air nomad culture live in separate dormitories. While this isn’t that out there by any means, if the society was rigidly divided upon gender lines, this seems strange.
Given that their teachings seemed to center around equality and fairness, it would be a bit odd to focus so much on differences between men and women.
Children are allowed to roam the world alone
Since The Last Airbender is a fantasy show aimed at children, the characters are going to do things that real children and teens wouldn’t ever do. This is common for the genre and for stories for kids, but it still seems a bit too far fetched at times.
The amount of freedom and lack of parental supervision that all of the teens in the world have seems really irresponsible.
Ozai’s abuse isn’t shown to be awful enough
Once again, since Airbender is a kids' show, it isn’t going to be able to explore heavier themes completely even though it does touch on many rather mature issues.
Ozai was an extremely abusive father who burned his own son and was going to murder him. Given how awful this is, it’s hard to reconcile the fact that it’s in a children’s show.
There aren’t any LGBT+ characters
While there is a lot of great diversity in the series as far as race and diverse female characters, there aren’t any LGBT+ characters.
The creators obviously changed this in Legend of Korra and especially in comic books, but it does seem a reflection of the time period that not even any side characters were shown to be anything other than straight.