Canon Pairing Rant
Maybe I'm weird, but I have never been one to "ship" characters. Romances can be fun if they're interwoven into the plot, but I'm not rabid about X and Y needing to be together. Of course, I also refuse to pay money to see romantic comedies unless the movie also involves gratuitous explosions. (Note to self: Write that movie.)
That being said, A:tLA has some unbearably cute canon pairings that... I just can't get behind.
Aang/Katara - Admittedly, they made me go "awww" on multiple occasions. These two are ridiculously cute, and I love that Katara is taller. But... Aang is twelve. Twelve. I know some 12-year old is going to rebut this, but at that age you are not capable of having a complex, emotional, romantic relationship. Sorry. Your brain is literally not developed enough. (Don't make me get all Piaget "Concrete vs. Formal Operational" on your ass.)
Sokka/Suki - In theory, I love this pairing. I love the one-upmanship and the "anything you can do I can do better" nature of their relationship. I love that they save each other as equals. In practice, it feels like the show's writers were trying to tie the characters into neat, tidy little couples so that they can submit to the patriarchal oppression that is marriage. [/feminism rant]
Zuko/Mai - Yes. Put the emotard and the kindergoth together. They're not going to run a nation. They're going to sit in their room and listen to Dashboard Confessional and Linkin Park, and talk about how they have feelings that nobody else understands. And then they're going to have an awkward fight over something insignificant, break-up, and write angsty poetry. Why no, I do not know this from experience...
Honestly? I love all of these characters. They're brilliantly developed (particularly Zuko, the little emotard...) The girls are actually strong and capable. But television needs to stop giving in to the societal belief that combining almost every character into a heterosexual pairing equates a happy ending. Particularly when the characters are between 12 and 16-years old.
That being said, A:tLA has some unbearably cute canon pairings that... I just can't get behind.
Aang/Katara - Admittedly, they made me go "awww" on multiple occasions. These two are ridiculously cute, and I love that Katara is taller. But... Aang is twelve. Twelve. I know some 12-year old is going to rebut this, but at that age you are not capable of having a complex, emotional, romantic relationship. Sorry. Your brain is literally not developed enough. (Don't make me get all Piaget "Concrete vs. Formal Operational" on your ass.)
Sokka/Suki - In theory, I love this pairing. I love the one-upmanship and the "anything you can do I can do better" nature of their relationship. I love that they save each other as equals. In practice, it feels like the show's writers were trying to tie the characters into neat, tidy little couples so that they can submit to the patriarchal oppression that is marriage. [/feminism rant]
Zuko/Mai - Yes. Put the emotard and the kindergoth together. They're not going to run a nation. They're going to sit in their room and listen to Dashboard Confessional and Linkin Park, and talk about how they have feelings that nobody else understands. And then they're going to have an awkward fight over something insignificant, break-up, and write angsty poetry. Why no, I do not know this from experience...
Honestly? I love all of these characters. They're brilliantly developed (particularly Zuko, the little emotard...) The girls are actually strong and capable. But television needs to stop giving in to the societal belief that combining almost every character into a heterosexual pairing equates a happy ending. Particularly when the characters are between 12 and 16-years old.