Why Avatar: The Last Airbender's First Swear Word Feels Unnecessary
"Maturity" is a word that gets tossed around a lot when discussing television and film. Live-action projects are often seen as more "mature" than their animated counterparts. Gruesome deaths, visual violence, and swearing — these are the things that make a story "mature," according to some. But do they really?
In the instance of Netflix's live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" adaptation, the answer is no. Early on in Episode 1, Lieutenant Jee (Ruy Iskandar), a member of Prince Zuko's (Dallas Liu) crew, complains about the frigid places the banished prince decides to "drag our asses to." In most shows, that line wouldn't even register, but it feels out of place in an "Avatar" adaptation. It's like a kid puffing his chest up and asserting how tough he is, only to mumble whatever he's saying.
The next time this kind of language pops up is at the end of the season when Katara (Kiawentiio) fights Master Pakku (A Martinez) and Sokka (Ian Ousley) tells her to "kick his ass." Both are brief, innocuous lines — perhaps not even worth harping on. Only an absurd prude would complain about the use of "ass," after all, right? However, this small change is indicative of a larger issue with the live-action "Avatar." It's trying to be a more mature show than its predecessor, but it only ends up being a louder one.
More adult content is not the same as maturity in storytelling
There's a difference between "adult" content or "dark" storytelling and "maturity." Netflix's "Avatar" adaptation shows firebenders setting enemies ablaze. It depicts the genocide of the Air Nomads in grave detail. It does a lot of things that wear the clothes of "mature" writing, but when it comes to the actual themes of the show, it's often less mature than the cartoon.
Part of adding nuance to a story is spending enough time to develop ideas piece by piece. Because it's in such a rush to get to Kyoshi (Yvonne Chapman) yelling, Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar) eating lettuce, and the "Secret Tunnel" song, the Netflix series struggles to build out its characters or world in ways that feel grounded. A lot of people yell at Aang (Gordon Cormier) about how hard things have been in his absence, but we don't get "Imprisoned," or "The Deserter," or the totality of "Jet." It's tragic to watch Monk Gyatso (Lim Kay Siu) die firsthand, but is that more "mature" than the heart-wrenching animated scene of Aang stumbling upon his broken skeleton?
"It was about striking that right balance, of making sure you were true to the DNA of the original," Showrunner Albert Kim said in an interview with IGN. "But at the same time, we had to make it a serialized Netflix drama, which meant it couldn't just be for kids. It had to also appeal to the people who are big fans of 'Game of Thrones.'" The live-action "Avatar" gets a number of things right, and it has a lot of promise if it continues. But are there really adults who wouldn't watch it if characters didn't say "ass"?