Yue's Netflix Look Has Avatar: The Last Airbender Fans Wigging Out
Netflix's "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has been having a tough time when it comes to critical consensus. Some professional reviewers are calling the live-action series a pale counterpart to the far superior animated show. The show's been similarly dragged on social media, with fans of the original Nickelodeon cartoon nitpicking seemingly anything about the new series. This includes "The Last Airbender," which has an innocuous example of the Gilligan cut as well as one character wearing a pretty noticeable.
Princess Yue, played by Amber Midthunder in the new series, appears in a few Season 1 episodes. However, all anyone can talk about on X (formerly known as Twitter) is her "hair." X user and Hollywood leaker @MyTimeToShineH shared a screenshot where the wig is painfully apparent, along with the caption, "The hell is that wig." That shot and others like it make it clear that it's not the actor's actual hair. And considering plenty of productions have great wig work, viewers aren't forgiving the show, as they know something better could've been used.
Of course, memes and gifs have materialized to summarize people's feelings about the character's look. For instance, @LinkachuHQ wrote, "Me ignoring princess yue's wig so I can enjoy her character," alongside a clip of singer Adele at a sporting event looking nonplussed. People don't have anything against Midthunder's performance, but it's clear that the faux hair isn't doing anyone any favors.
Fans prefer Princess Yue's look from M. Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender
For years, fans held up M. Night Shyamalan's live-action "The Last Airbender" film as a disgrace that was a poor adaptation of the source material. In the aftermath of Netflix's "Last Airbender," some fans are finding positives in the director's version, with many pointing out how Princess Yue's wig in Shyamalan's movie was far better. Seychelle Gabriel played the character in the movie, and X user @KaylaAncrum offered a side-by-side comparison, explaining why the film's wig looks more natural. "Yue's wig in Netfilx's adaption is a hard top, synthetic blend, like a more expensive version of the kind of hat-like wigs made for Disney Theme Park Princesses," they wrote. "M. Night Shyamalan's Yue is in a full human hair HD lacefront."
Getting a lesson in wigs is nice, but even ignoring her hair, people aren't feeling Princess Yue's appearance. As @Euphraxio points out, it's not exactly great when people are complimenting a movie with a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. They wrote, "Why did the 2010 'Avatar the last airbender' do something better? This new Yue is NOT eating."
And this isn't strictly a "Last Airbender" issue. X user @Jack_Fetch pointed out that the streamer has a reputation for this sort of issue. "It was so distracting. Netflix has a history of terrible wigs. Look at Jupiter's Legacy." Maybe Netflix needs to invest in some better wigs for all of its productions if this is a recurring problem. Either way, if Princess Yue returns for a prospective "Avatar: The Last Avatar" Season 2 on Netflix, one thing is certain: she needs an upgraded hairdo.