Avatar Thinky Thoughts: favourite episode (part 2)
Ok, so I lied. The Beach is also my favourite episode. And, seeing as my sister didn't let me analyse the hell out of it the first time we watched it, I'm gonna do it NOW!!!
Azula
This episode is when we really start to see another side to Azula. Suddenly we see her personality in the real world, and she goes from a fearsome villain to an awkward comedy character. It's fascinating to see her behaviour in a normal situation, and it gives us a great new perspective on her. It inspires sympathy, as we are able to realise what a warped upbringing she's had, and how that has affected her identity. She attacks everyday life like a military campaign, which is amusing but kinda sad at the same time. Plus that vollyball scene is hilarious.
Aside from this particular new perspective, we see another set of sympathetic characteristics in Azula. There have been hints in the previous S3 episodes, like when she warns Zuko to "look out for" himself. Here's a breakdown of what we learn about Azula in The Beach.
- Jelousy and longing for affection: She is jealous of Ty Lee's popularity with boys, which shows that she has a yearning for affection. I think this goes beyond the typical teenage longing for romance. Azula would have never got affection growing up. Her mother had an obvious aversion to her - she abhorred Azula's natural instincts for violence, and I think that biased her behaviour towards Azula from when Azula was a very young age (if she was a selfish toddler and became more sadistic as she developed, I think her mother wouldn't have been very affectionate). It's unlikely Ozai gave Azula any affection - the best she could hope for from him and her grandfather was positive reinforcement (but not through affection, rather through praise and rewards) for her cunning.
Therefore she's obviously yearning for some kind of attachment objective from her previous experience and, indeed, her role as Fire Nation princess. This is why she refuses to tell Chad and that other kid who she really is. She is used to being adored, and she loves it. But there's a part of her that wants to know how people would treat her if they didn't know who she was.
And she soon feels like an outcast. The boys don't pay much attention to her despite her beauty, instead fawning over Ty Lee. This infuriates Azula and she lashes out at her friend (I'll examine this later). As soon as she's got some tips and has got Chad's (was it him or the other one? Who cares?) attention, she attempts to secure a relationship with him in her hilarious outburst. This of course scares him off. We don't really know what her reaction to this rejection is. I'm gonna have to fic in a scene with Ty Lee hehehehehehe.
Anyway, the whole longing for romantic affection is obviously her way of compensating for lack of affection growing up. So it's really ironic that she then accuses Ty Lee of this - maybe she's aware on some level that she's doing this, and as this neediness disgusts her, she projects her feelings onto Ty Lee only to viciously attack them. Interesting.
- Loyalty and compassion: These are two words you're unlikely to use to describe Azula. And yet, in this episode, she demonstrates both qualities. As soon as Azula realises she's hurt Ty Lee with her barbed words, she apologises.
Let me just reiterate that. AZULA APOLOGISES. She has never apologised for anything else in the show, without being sarcastic or having some ulterior motive. She demonstrates genuine compassion for her friend. She regrets what she said and shows remorse. This proves Azula is not an unfeeling evil being. She hurt her friend and apologises. Then she goes on to admit she was jealous, which is almost admitting fault. This is Azula, who you would have thought would never admit to feeling jealous of anyone, as that would mean they were better in some way than her. And yet, here she is, admitting she's jealous. Now, the shipper in me is adamant that all of this is because of who she's talking to. She is able to admit things to Ty Lee that she can't tell anyone else, is able to show another, softer side of herself.
And yet, further on in the episode, she is compassionate again, this time to Zuko. Why else would she go and find him at their old house? She knows he's going through a hard time and, despite the fact that she knowingly caused a lot of his turmoil, she invites him down to the beach so that he doesn't stay at their "depressing" old house. I honestly think Azula cares about Zuko, very very deep down. This affection is obviously buried under years of resentment, disgust, and a mess of other negative feelings towards him. But this episode proves that there is still a sibling bond there, no matter how frail. Earlier she told him to "lighten up" (and her tone of voice wasn't harsh), and there was that moment in the previous episode where she advises him, saying she's "looking out" for him.
Don't mistake me. I'm not saying Azula's not a villain - she is. But the best villains have sympathetic aspects to them too. What makes them great villains is that they are human, and we see a little of ourselves in them. I see a bit of myself in Azula, and I love this episode for showing us she's human, not some ice princess.
- Morality: What? Azula, moral? Oh yes. Now we get to the confessions around the fire, and Azula's infamous lines "my own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt."
THERE
Think of this. Azula is the perfect Fire Nation princess. She is everything her father and grandfather wanted her to be. She is the product of innate agression and conditioned sadism. She is cold, cunning, a powerful firebender, and has the nation's, and her own, interests at heart. And she's been brought up to regard all of these qualities as good and, therefore, moral. In this way, why would she call herself a monster? All of these qualities have been subject to positive reinforcement, and are in keeping with her father's expectations. In this way she should see herself as perfect. And she does. She calls herself perfect on several occasions. In this episode she agrees with Ty Lee's description of her as perfect.
SO WHY WOULD SHE CALL HERSELF A MONSTER?
Or, more to the point, WHY WOULD SHE AGREE THAT HER MOTHER WAS RIGHT?
Azula has obviously been subject to the worst mixed signals and condradictory parenting while growing up. Her mother obviously tried to punish and repress the very qualities her father applauded. Therefore, Azula both percieves herself to be perfect and thinks she's a monster. The battle between these opposite opinions is obviously unbalancing her psychologically, and it's why she descends into paranoia and deranged behaviour in the finale.
The scariest thing is, this implies she got her opinion of morality from her mother. When she says "she was right of course", it implies that she is deliberately immoral, maybe to spite her mother. For, not acting like a "monster" would give her mother the victory, as that's what she wanted. Azula has no desire to do that. Her father, her Firelord, her nation want her to act this way. And by doing so, she both wins their love (or at the very least respect), and has a victory over her mother.
Yet she admits that it hurt to have her mother believe this about her. She still wants her mother's love and approval. And that is the saddest thing of all.
Holy crap. This psychoanalysis of Azula took a while and I think I'm too tired to write about the others in this episode tonight. You guys will have that to look forward to tomorrow!
~Lili
Azula
This episode is when we really start to see another side to Azula. Suddenly we see her personality in the real world, and she goes from a fearsome villain to an awkward comedy character. It's fascinating to see her behaviour in a normal situation, and it gives us a great new perspective on her. It inspires sympathy, as we are able to realise what a warped upbringing she's had, and how that has affected her identity. She attacks everyday life like a military campaign, which is amusing but kinda sad at the same time. Plus that vollyball scene is hilarious.
Aside from this particular new perspective, we see another set of sympathetic characteristics in Azula. There have been hints in the previous S3 episodes, like when she warns Zuko to "look out for" himself. Here's a breakdown of what we learn about Azula in The Beach.
- Jelousy and longing for affection: She is jealous of Ty Lee's popularity with boys, which shows that she has a yearning for affection. I think this goes beyond the typical teenage longing for romance. Azula would have never got affection growing up. Her mother had an obvious aversion to her - she abhorred Azula's natural instincts for violence, and I think that biased her behaviour towards Azula from when Azula was a very young age (if she was a selfish toddler and became more sadistic as she developed, I think her mother wouldn't have been very affectionate). It's unlikely Ozai gave Azula any affection - the best she could hope for from him and her grandfather was positive reinforcement (but not through affection, rather through praise and rewards) for her cunning.
Therefore she's obviously yearning for some kind of attachment objective from her previous experience and, indeed, her role as Fire Nation princess. This is why she refuses to tell Chad and that other kid who she really is. She is used to being adored, and she loves it. But there's a part of her that wants to know how people would treat her if they didn't know who she was.
And she soon feels like an outcast. The boys don't pay much attention to her despite her beauty, instead fawning over Ty Lee. This infuriates Azula and she lashes out at her friend (I'll examine this later). As soon as she's got some tips and has got Chad's (was it him or the other one? Who cares?) attention, she attempts to secure a relationship with him in her hilarious outburst. This of course scares him off. We don't really know what her reaction to this rejection is. I'm gonna have to fic in a scene with Ty Lee hehehehehehe.
Anyway, the whole longing for romantic affection is obviously her way of compensating for lack of affection growing up. So it's really ironic that she then accuses Ty Lee of this - maybe she's aware on some level that she's doing this, and as this neediness disgusts her, she projects her feelings onto Ty Lee only to viciously attack them. Interesting.
- Loyalty and compassion: These are two words you're unlikely to use to describe Azula. And yet, in this episode, she demonstrates both qualities. As soon as Azula realises she's hurt Ty Lee with her barbed words, she apologises.
Let me just reiterate that. AZULA APOLOGISES. She has never apologised for anything else in the show, without being sarcastic or having some ulterior motive. She demonstrates genuine compassion for her friend. She regrets what she said and shows remorse. This proves Azula is not an unfeeling evil being. She hurt her friend and apologises. Then she goes on to admit she was jealous, which is almost admitting fault. This is Azula, who you would have thought would never admit to feeling jealous of anyone, as that would mean they were better in some way than her. And yet, here she is, admitting she's jealous. Now, the shipper in me is adamant that all of this is because of who she's talking to. She is able to admit things to Ty Lee that she can't tell anyone else, is able to show another, softer side of herself.
And yet, further on in the episode, she is compassionate again, this time to Zuko. Why else would she go and find him at their old house? She knows he's going through a hard time and, despite the fact that she knowingly caused a lot of his turmoil, she invites him down to the beach so that he doesn't stay at their "depressing" old house. I honestly think Azula cares about Zuko, very very deep down. This affection is obviously buried under years of resentment, disgust, and a mess of other negative feelings towards him. But this episode proves that there is still a sibling bond there, no matter how frail. Earlier she told him to "lighten up" (and her tone of voice wasn't harsh), and there was that moment in the previous episode where she advises him, saying she's "looking out" for him.
Don't mistake me. I'm not saying Azula's not a villain - she is. But the best villains have sympathetic aspects to them too. What makes them great villains is that they are human, and we see a little of ourselves in them. I see a bit of myself in Azula, and I love this episode for showing us she's human, not some ice princess.
- Morality: What? Azula, moral? Oh yes. Now we get to the confessions around the fire, and Azula's infamous lines "my own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt."
THERE
Think of this. Azula is the perfect Fire Nation princess. She is everything her father and grandfather wanted her to be. She is the product of innate agression and conditioned sadism. She is cold, cunning, a powerful firebender, and has the nation's, and her own, interests at heart. And she's been brought up to regard all of these qualities as good and, therefore, moral. In this way, why would she call herself a monster? All of these qualities have been subject to positive reinforcement, and are in keeping with her father's expectations. In this way she should see herself as perfect. And she does. She calls herself perfect on several occasions. In this episode she agrees with Ty Lee's description of her as perfect.
SO WHY WOULD SHE CALL HERSELF A MONSTER?
Or, more to the point, WHY WOULD SHE AGREE THAT HER MOTHER WAS RIGHT?
Azula has obviously been subject to the worst mixed signals and condradictory parenting while growing up. Her mother obviously tried to punish and repress the very qualities her father applauded. Therefore, Azula both percieves herself to be perfect and thinks she's a monster. The battle between these opposite opinions is obviously unbalancing her psychologically, and it's why she descends into paranoia and deranged behaviour in the finale.
The scariest thing is, this implies she got her opinion of morality from her mother. When she says "she was right of course", it implies that she is deliberately immoral, maybe to spite her mother. For, not acting like a "monster" would give her mother the victory, as that's what she wanted. Azula has no desire to do that. Her father, her Firelord, her nation want her to act this way. And by doing so, she both wins their love (or at the very least respect), and has a victory over her mother.
Yet she admits that it hurt to have her mother believe this about her. She still wants her mother's love and approval. And that is the saddest thing of all.
Holy crap. This psychoanalysis of Azula took a while and I think I'm too tired to write about the others in this episode tonight. You guys will have that to look forward to tomorrow!
~Lili