To the casting department of Netflix’s live action Avatar: The Last AirbenderI would like to make a formal complaint: Why did you make Fire Lord Ozai so damn hot by casting Daniel Dae Kim?
Fire Lord Ozai is not a nice guy. Not only is he an imperialist and perpetrator of several war crimes; Also a shitty father who literally burned his son’s eye and banished him. As if that wasn’t enough, he caused his daughter to have a nervous breakdown. The guy is a total scumbag! And the original animated series made him look like a guy, with a shitty little beard and malevolence in his eyes. Perfect!
But they all had to cast the great Daniel Dae Kim, with his chiseled jaw, soulful eyes and cheekbones that could cut through metal. He makes that little beard look Good, somehow! How am I supposed to be normal?
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Image: Robert Falconer/Netflix
I don’t want to shame anyone who likes villains. I get it. I wrote a whole essay about Namor. I understand the appeal of characters like Anakin Skywalker, the Dark One, and Jareth, the Goblin King. Hell, Zuko was a crush for many young viewers back in the day Avatar: The Last Airbender
But Fire Lord Ozai is not that kind of villain! It’s specifically designed to be irredeemable, to juxtapose Zuko’s story of redemption and Azula’s tragedy. Even if you’re the type who can handwave fantasy imperialism (I’m looking at you, Kylo Ren girl), the fact remains that he’s the worst father in the world to the more sympathetic villain characters. Other villain crushes have me twirling my hair and whispering I can fix you. But I don’t even want to fix Ozai. I want to give Azula and Zuko the tight hug they desperately need, stand between them and their father, and then spray Ozai with a small water bottle and scream NO, STAY AWAY.
But Daniel Dae Kim? I fight the urge to fix it.
I have full confidence in his acting skills. After all, this is not his first visit to the Avatar world. He voiced Hiroshi Sato, Asami’s corrupt industrialist father The Legend of Korra. This character was also an asshole, and I was completely sold on it. If anyone can overcome the appeal of Daniel Dae Kim, it’s Daniel Dae Kim himself. Don’t let me down, man.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Premieres on Netflix on February 22nd.
