The Failed Masculinity of Netflix’s Sokka

inventor Warrior leader where these three identities meet you find Saka a boy from a tiny village at the South Pole who learned despite his inability to whip around fire water or rock and stone that he could make a difference far beyond his Wildest Dreams his aptitude in combat his Ingenuity and his ability to direct protect and Inspire others enabled him to do what no one else could even when he was just a regular guy in a world full of fantastic pow however Netflix Saka seems to only fit into one of these three circles and then sometimes in a different one while the writing team did do a much better job with budget Saka than they did with knockoff qara no surprise there modern writers are famously bad at writing women I still have some serious issues with how they handled his first season Arc some concerns about where they're going to take his character and one scene in particular that I intend to tear two shreds but first a word of gratitude to Ian Oley who played plays liveaction Saka and stands out as one of the best actors in the entire show he manages to capture Sak's goofy yet serious demeanor in a way that is reminiscent of the original yet he makes the character his own and pulls it off quite well it's a shame he wasn't given a better script with which to work but he definitely elevates the mediocre dialogue far more than most of his counterparts can all in all where the writing lets him ousley captures the spirit of Saka without simply mimicking the original performance and in the first episode The Script itself also holds true to Saka character the scene of him stepping out to face off against suko and his soldiers is a testament to Saka bravery it's a great example of how to properly adapt a scene from animation to live action make it less cartoonish but keep the thematic and character elements that made the original so meaningful what better way to show the audience the quality of sasa's metal and Zuko's sense of Honor than to have Saka challenge the Fire Nation Prince to a duel and have zko accept this scene made me think that maybe just maybe despite the incredibly clunky Exposition and pointless introductory scenes at the southern air Temple the creators of this show knew what they were doing but having watched the whole season I now suspect that this scene was written by the original creators or at least heavily influenced by them and most everything after this or maybe after the next episode is the reason they left because saga's defense of his home here is very much in line with his established character Saka greatly desires to be the man who defends his tribe is willing to put his life on the line for those under his protection and yet isn't fully able to fulfill that Duty as he would like due to his Youth and inexperience in both the original and the adaptation this gives us an excellent starting point for his character we see the admirable qualities that Saka has we observe their imperfections and we begin to understand how he will need to grow unfortunately for gas station Saka I'm just going to call him Saka from now on the nicknames got old things start to go a bit down downhill after this first episode remember that whole cruffle about Netflix Sak's quote unquote sexism being toned down or rather removed completely well in the second episode we see why that character Choice was a poor one first because it means that obviously the Netflix writing team doesn't understand Saka that they didn't take the time to puzzle out why he would believe that girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that it's just the natural Order of Things gee I wonder why a 16-year-old boy who lives in a society where all the men have gone off to war where he has taken on the role of patriarch could hold such horribly sexist beliefs we can't have our protagonist holding viewpoints that naturally derive from their environment and upbringing if they don't match our modern values after all second and more importantly because in removing SOS there's no way a bunch of girls took us down attitude they also remove his pride and arrogance the cocky self- assured kid who strolled confidently into the Kyoshi Warriors dojo and bragged about being the best warrior in my Village is gone replaced by a muted timid insecure young man to be honest if I didn't have the original I don't know if I would be as critical of this less vibrant version of Saka but when you create a derivative work you're going to be compared to the original story especially when said story was a master class of character work in the animated show Saka had to be broken down humiliated shown to be not half the warrior he would have other believe he was in order to be built back up and to begin his journey of becoming a truly skilled Warrior his prideful declarations about his own skill and ability had to be proven false in order for his humility to emerge and admit that he needed training that's largely missing here oh suuki shows him up a little bit when she takes her fan and slices through all the melons and he's like damn girl your fruit killing skills are remarkable and then she attacks him when he's not ready and he Taps out and runs away in embarrassment we can see the similarity to the original storyline but it's just less it's not necessarily bad but it doesn't live up to its potential simulation Saka doesn't really have to undergo any meaningful character work he never places himself above Suki and her Warriors more just on their level and his discovery that he is not in fact on their level comes in private not in front of the whole Dojo making the experience and his subsequent return less impactful this mini Arc of his has good bones but it wasn't fleshed out or given color and flavor like it was in the original seemingly because the Netflix creaters didn't want to make their Saka sexist and thus made his character far more lackluster and without that Dynamic of Saka puffing out his chest only to have Sugi Ram it back down the two are largely missing actual chemistry if there's one thing this adaptation just does not do well at all it's right relationships it has its moments but overall few of the key relational story beats feel earned at all they just kind of happen like when sortas Saka and Suki start training and really they're just dancing because there's no instruction happening here no back and forth the entire point of the scene is for some reason to develop sexual tension between the two point number three why the removal of Saka sexism was stupid it deprived us of the line I am a warrior but I'm a girl too which accurately describes every female character in Avatar because why would Suki say that if Saka never had to admit that he saw her as just a girl right away in the knock he acknowledges that we're both Warriors No shift in his perspective was necessary he never had to realize that this girl was in fact a warrior and then realized that Suki was and is both I mean the entire point of qatar's Arc according to this show is that women can be Warriors they were clearly okay having paku believe otherwise but oh not Saka not our precious Saka and paku changes his mind so why couldn't Saka I just don't understand that writing decision it removed so much flavor from the Kyoshi episode which which is supposed to be a defining story beat for the early stage of Sak's character Arc however in the interest of fairness the Netflix show does not botch this episode entirely I maintain that it mainly fails because it is just so much less than the original despite the Kyoshi storyline runtime being longer than The Originals episode but some bits do genuinely hit home for example when Suki tells clarent Saka that not being a bender means we have to be even better than Benders we have to fight with what we have what matters is not the power inside it's the the will and desire the heart hey that's a that's pretty good that line gets to the core of why Saka is such an incredible character in The Animated show his determination and perseverance drive him to adapt fight and Lead even though he's just the guy in the group that's regular Suki's line here is reminiscent of p and DA's comments creativity versatility intelligence these are the traits that Define a great swordsman it suggests that Saka can learn to become a great Warrior despite his natural disadvantage if he fights for a worthy cause and applies himself with all the fervor and dedication he can muster and the next scene is even a nice little payoff for this setup what Avatar fan doesn't want to see Suki and Saka working as a team to take down some fire Benders Saka even pulls off a fireball deflection with a borrowed fan and steps out to face down Xiao boomerang in hand before Ang Koshi arrives so at this point yeah the show has stumbled and is significantly less than the original in its character work but has still been holding somewhat true to soccer's original character and even seems to be going in the right direction but in the next episode things begin to go arai the mechanist comments how zero Sak's dad must be proud of his Ingenuity but Saka replies dad doesn't really pay attention to stuff like this he's got more important things to worry about he's a warrior of engineering Saka says this is just a hobby my role is to protect the village and be a warrior just like Dad did I miss something here was there some World building that escaped me that explained why one could not be both an engineer and a warrior why has this show suddenly taken on this simplistic single track vision of Sak's character the stuff like this that hakot apparently doesn't pay attention to was a design to make the tribe's ice doing ships more maneuverable surely the leader of a tribe whose very existence depends on their ability to catch fish while avoiding ice flows would see the value in enabling their ships to more easily avoid icebergs or you know Fireballs why paint hakot as some stodgy single-minded whose only occupation is fighting as if being the patriarch of the Southern water tribe wouldn't require him to be far more than that the false dichotomy of warrior versus engineer that this scene brings up is just Flatout unnecessary there's no reason for this conflict to exist Saka can be a warrior and an inventor SL engineer because people can be more than one thing Netflix Katara was not supposed to just be a waterbender and Saka can be more than just an engineer and more than just a warrior you just told us in the previous episode how Saka can develop into a great warrior if you want to have him struggle with seeing the worth in his inventive side that's fine just don't present this nonsensical either or situation so that scene was kind of weird and didn't follow from Saka previous scenes but it could get better from there right well I'm skipping over the next episode entirely because there's no point in talking about his journey through the cave of Two Lovers with qara because nothing meaningful happens and I really wish that wasn't the case the original show Absolutely dripped with meaning and basically every scene clearly that is not an easy feat to replicate oh I guess qara does yell you're not Dad at Saka during their argument that is happening for reasons I can't explain because these two characters don't have a relationship that follows any sort of sensible order but I thought I'd mention that line because it ties into the next scene which we'll discuss the one which I intend to tear into tiny little shreds I am of course referring to Saka spirit world induced flashback to the day he passed his ice dodging trials even though he in his own words lost control and B had to step in and save them from Death by shipwreck but Saka is granted the mark of the wise in recognition of his having passed the trial by his own father so let me get this straight the leader of this tribe that lives in The Frigid conditions of the South Pole and only survives through their ability to adapt to the harsh conditions is willing to let Saka pass because it would hurt his feelings if he failed why is hota letting Sak's failure go even if the past fail thing is just symbolic why not keep teaching the kid I'm not sure exactly how old Saka is supposed to be in this flashback I guess maybe 12 or 13 and he couldn't be much older than that since their dad went off to war a good bit ago so why act like this failure is final what kind of terrible leader and terrible father tells their kids you did great when in fact he almost got them all killed and then doesn't even bother trying to teach him anything to rectify his mistakes hota is not supposed to be a LAX and uncaring father he's a loving father thrust into an impossible situation whose decision although seemingly necessary still causes a rift between himself and his kids this decision by hoax hota just makes no sense even if this is right before he leaves for War and the tribe needs an appointed leader though that's probably not the context the writers had in mind otherwise they would have had someone exposit such facts this just seems completely unnecessary no good parent is ever that fake with their children it's bull it's [ __ ] but oh it gets worse Saka overhears hota tell B the truth is not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands well that's it great job show you had something at least kind of good going for you but youing ruined it okay so there are two ways to view this scene knowing what we know about this flashback which As Told by Wan Chong reveals the truth that is too heavy a burden for humans to Bear first Viewpoint The Awful Truth that Saka must face is that his father doesn't believe in him doesn't think he can be a leader like hakot is but of of course this scene has just shown us that hota himself is a truly terrible leader because he's willing to lie to his son's face about his abilities in order to not hurt his feelings or something option number one sucks mostly because it assassinates hakoda's character but at least it allows room for saku's growth for him to prove that what his father believes about him is false that he is worthy of having people entrust him with their lives the second Viewpoint would be that hakoda is correct that Saka is not meant to have people's lives in his hands is not meant to be a prote is not meant to be a warrior is not meant to be a leader which [ __ ] off show Saka is the leader of Team Avatar he's not the most skilled or the most important or the strongest or any other superlative but he is their leader he's their guiding force he is the one in whom they trust the most you want proof watch Toof the most independent of them all totally trust him as she dangles hundreds of feet in the air the idea that he somehow isn't and never will be worthy of safeguarding the Li lives of others is simply ludicrous if that is the truth which the show wants us to believe Saka must accept then I simply do not trust it to do anything right from now on until forever Saka whole Arc is him learning how to grow into the warrior The Protector the man he desperately wants to be but doing so in ways that surprise Challenge and humble him this whole not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands completely undermines the entire point of the original character but that is assuming that Point number two is true and hakot isn't just a bad father he's a bad father no matter what according to this show but at least he's wrong about Saka according to one interpretation of this scene either way this scene is terrible it takes the originals ice dodging trial in which Saka used his natural Ingenuity and the power of teamwork to pass and flips it on its head crushing Sak's character Arc in the process of all the missteps taken by the adaptation this one feels the most mean-spirited however let's consider Viewpoint one again is that how this show wants us to perceive this scene does it want us to believe that Saka merely needs to face the truth that his dad doesn't believe in him well hakot quite literally says the truth is not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands in a flashback presented to us as Saka having to face an uncomfortable truth the adaptation isn't exactly subtle in its messaging telling Saka you'll hear a truth that will destroy you and then having his father say the truth is might be square on the nose but that's entirely in line with this Show's storytelling style okay but Counterpoint at the North Pole UA tells Saka that she remembers how in the spirit world he was worried about his friends your heart she tells him that's what sets you apart that's what makes you a warrior I have a feeling if your father saw you now he would agree putting aside the fact that Saka mentions his friends once during that spirit world conversation and his own mild injuries twice this suggests that Saka is meant to be a warrior and a leader kind of a weird road to get here but okay fine I guess I can work with it but wait remember the mechanist conversation how does that fit in here this seems to provide evidence that Viewpoint 2 is correct that Saka is meant to be an engineer rather than a warrior regardless of how silly that dichotomy is and now that I think about it Saka being an engineer inventor and idea guy only really comes up in the omashu episode when he makes a couple of suggestions to the mechanist he doesn't do anything else remotely inventive in the rest of the season by comparison in book one Saka has ideas for the Earth brender Prison Break he shows Ingenuity in his ic/ Rock dodging trial and then he helps the actual mechanist with his hot air balloon and explosive gas problem in the Northern Air Temple if this show wanted to have this engineer Warrior Mutual exclusivity then you could have at least shown Saka to be inventive at any point after he leaves omashu but that scene just kind of hangs there and to further pile on in Viewpoint 2's favor after the battle is over the northern Chief tells Saka you don't have to be a warrior to be a hero this happens after Saka watches UA sacrifice herself and apparently him being there was a big Comfort to UA even though though she clearly didn't need him at all since she froze his feet to prevent him from stopping her she waited into the pool I feel like the writers went crap people are going to want us to have Saka do something significant uh quick have someone tell him he did something good which is appropriate considering that most of what serves isa's character growth in this show is just people saying things the mechanist tells him he's a gifted engineer Saka tells the mechanist hota doesn't care about his Ingenuity his dad tells him though indirectly that he's not meant to be trusted with the lives of others UA and Suki tell him that his heart is what makes him or can make him a great warrior and the northern Chief tells him he doesn't have to be a warrior as with the lack of actual inventing or engineering Saka also doesn't do much fighting if you're going to have saku's critical character Choice be am I or am I not a warrior you should probably show him fighting or trying to fight more than twice after the second episode's fight scene which was actually quite good he doesn't have any occasion to whoop out Boomerang even when team Avatar assaults the Fire Nation ship at the beginning of the finale SOS would be opponents in the ship's Bridge just leave for some reason right before he gets there because you know how ship captains leave the helm unattended when they're being attacked I guess they didn't want to have Saka actually fight anyone because they knew they were about to tell him that he doesn't need to be a warrior so to quickly recap Saka is brave but untrained in episode one is mildly humbled but not really broken down it doesn't have to do much character growth but still receives some training and encouragement in episode two appearing to continue along the Warrior's path then he takes a step off that path and toward the destination of engineer Hood in episode 3 doesn't do a damn thing in episode 4 gets completely derailed from the warrior path in episode 5 isn't even in episode 6 receives more encouragement regarding his warriorhood in episode 7 reminiscent of that he received in the second episode as if the third and fifth episodes hadn't happened and then in the finale he gets told he doesn't need to be a warrior after all and then he immediately turns around and tells Ang This Is War yeah genius it is and do you know what war needs I'll give you a hint I've said the word like a hundred times in this video I honestly don't think Netflix had any real idea what to do with Sak's character the writers seem to want him to have this Arc where he realize that his father's Warriors ways need not be his that he can contribute to the World by more than just protecting others by fighting fire Benders but that's undercut pretty severely by his scene with Suki his scene with UI and you know the fact that he very much does need to be a warrior because that's what the situation demands just like hakoda had to be a warrior neither of them chose to go to war they were thrust into into it by events outside their control having someone choose to reject the path that has been laid out for him only makes sense if his very Duty doesn't lie along that same path I get the sense that they wanted him to have this Arc because you know subverted gender roles and all that qara can be a warrior but Saka doesn't have to be because here at Netflix we have truly original ideas and if you're going along the route of saku's character Arc being that he can learn to be a great warrior engineer leer even if his dad doesn't believe in him you need to do more work to establish hota and saku's relationships then that one line in the omashu episode and this atrocious flashback you know maybe show how and why their relationship struggles but as I've noted this show just cannot write relationships which is unfortunate because the characters and their varied and complex relationships with each other form the very core of the original show while Netflix managed to capture the essence of Saka in a few brief moments it's clear that the writers just didn't understand or want to understand his character this story of a boy becoming a man through the development of virtue the aid of his friends and a healthy relationship with his father apparently wasn't acceptable to them gee I wonder why

Channel: Master Samwise

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Id: 9l0fIjGEwZo

Length: 20min 40sec (1240 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024