The Equalists as a Non-Bender Gang: Failures of Government and Community

[ljlee]

The gist of it: The Equalists did not arise out of a vacuum, but the show also has no evidence of systematic oppression. Rather I argue that the Equalists were a non-bender gang that gained power because the United Republic failed as a government and as a community, leaving non-benders without protection and support. This flaw in the UR is a

Comments

[fairladyz2005]

After reading LavavaniaSix's essay, I've come to realize that it was indeed one of the lenses I have been viewing this show though and haven't been able to articulate. It doesn't solve all the problems and you point out some really good ones in your own essay, but it has helped me to rally my own frustrating thoughs in my desire to express what I like about the show. Still, whichever way you slice it, I think we all keep running into this wall of not enough information yet when it comes to RC's identity.

I have mixed feelings about judging a show before it is complete. On the one hand it doesn't matter what might have been if a show is cancelled, but rather a matter of dealing with what does exist up to this point. It certainly helps that we now have a definate endpoint - four "books" of Korra, 52 episodes. So at this point in character and world development we're still about where TLA was in mid season 1. How developed was Aang as a character around say The Storm/Blue Spirit? How much of a clue did we have of what Zuko would become? Not that I want to get into that really, but my point is while criticism of a narrative is important at all stages, it's like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. It's hard to understand the scope of a story while you'e still living inside it as a viewer. It seems pointless to get so worked up over supposition and speculations, but it's ironically those very things that carry us through our time as fans in the periods of hiatus, be it as short as next week, seven long months, or four long years. This is why if the cannon doesn't give you the ending you want, or worse yet, does, but then gives you a retcon, then a fangirl must take matters into her own hands and decide where the ending is for herself. I guess this may be a different way of saying one most reconcile the jump the shark moment within one's own headcannon otherwise the fangirl within will never find true peace where a story is concerned. (Oh, X-Men comics how you've TORTURED me with you dangling carrots of continuation for years. The AGONY of being a Scott/Jean shipper! Where will it all end?! WHY, GOD, WHY!?) Ahem, where was I? Oh yeah. Korra. :-)

Acording to SDCC - There will be new writers on the show. Bryan misses art direction. We will see more of the NWT/SWT divide play out in the dynamics of Korra's own family. We will see Asami struggle to maintain her family's company despite no one wanting anything to do with Sato Industries anymore. We well see Mako and Bolin struggling with a new career(s). And we'll get to see Korra deal with mastering the Avatar state, visiting the Spirit World, even the promise of stuff that will deal with the origin of the very first Avatar which honestly is a huge risk that could either break or reinvigorate the franchise depending on how it is handled, imho.

My expectations are lower than last season, but each new episode is an opportunity to learn more about this world and fill in those currently annoying gaps. 12 down, 40 chances more to go, which is still a lot. I hope the writers use them wisely.

[ljlee]

I think there are two differences between ATLA's first season and LoK's. First, ATLA was always going to be three seasons while LoK started out to be one season. The greenlight for additional seasons did not come until late into the show, if I remember correctly. Therefore LoK Book 1 should be considered a complete story and judged on its own merits.

The second major difference is that ATLA Book 1 was actually competently written, especially past the midpoint. And even before "The Blue Spirit" and other episodes that gave the show its maturity and depth, the main problem with the first half of Book 1: Water consisted of things like filler episodes and being a bit immature.

Also, even at this arguably low point in ATLA as a whole Book 1: Water never ever pulled the kind of things Korra Book 1 did--like setting up and then blatantly ignoring issues like discrimination and social justice, then obliterating the complexities inherent in the issue by not only failing but pretty much refusing to explore the setting.

So evidently according to Book 1: Air, bending was The Most Important Thing in the World. I didn't like that tack, but I assumed at least bending was at stake and it was supposed to be important. And then they made even that focus pointless by trivializing the threat and the loss.

Thus Book 1: Air became a story with nothing at stake, where all it took was the heroine being really really sad for everything bad that happened in the show to be okay again. Of course there are the people who died in battle under Iroh II's command trying to save the all-important bending, but that's not important since the cool characters' bending is way more important than mooks' lives.

Ugh, I'm sorry. You don't deserve to have all my frustrations dumped on you. I'll wrap it up: Bitter ranting aside, my argument is that Water and Air are not really comparable. First, Air was supposed to be a complete story, and second, Air failed as a story in ways that Water never did even when it wasn't particularly good.

The angles to be explored in Book 2 look interesting, but Book 1 started out with even better ideas and I didn't like where it ended up. I'm not getting my hopes up again, and won't be watching Book 2 until maybe it's ended and the verdict is in. I don't generally even watch shows before they're done airing; I made an exception for LoK and got burned big time.

P.S. As for Jean Grey, I thought she'd died in an act of self-sacrifice? Or maybe that was just the movie. The movie at least seems to have gone pretty much Jean/Wolverine, but it's been a long time since I saw it.

[fairladyz2005]

No harm done. It was really late when I posted last night too. It is kinda hard to compare to uncomparable - Books Water and Air - since I have even argued myself before that Korra's structure is different than TLA. But I would argue that Amon and Equalists are just one part of the larger whole of RC's problems. Korra doesn't have one whole over arching villain but the problems she faces, while different each season, may have some unbrella theme that will tie into Korra's journey as a whole once the show is over, imho.

I keep going back and forth about whether I want to do a essay defending the show or not. I feel the need to at least makes some comments for the sake of closure of doing a full season review, but I may not get around to it for a while yet.

Sorry you got so burned. It is a different experience watching a show as it unfolds on air as opposed to catching up later. It's wonderful when it's a rare gem that was worth it (DS9 was one for me) but it's definately safer to watch something a few years after its over. When did you get into TLA exactly? Was it within the pastt couple years like I did? Or was it a case of over in America but just starting to air in Korea?

And have you see the SDCC pic of the Gaang in their 20's/30's yet? They look awesome, but especially Zuko as you can sorts see from my fuzzy new Avatar um avatar. Even if it season 2 of Korra sucks, I'd kill to see a flashback of the Gaang all looking like that in it.

P.S. As for the X-Men thing. Jean did die a noble death. Then they brought her back. Then they killed be again, but before they killed he a second time in a bad story that more or less rehashed the first time it happened, Scott started cheating on her with a character called Emma Frost. To put it in Avatar terms it would be like if after 13-15 years of marriage Aang cheated on Katara with a reformed Azula and then after Karata died saving the world the first thing Aang and Azula do is make out on Katara's grave. Not even Jean/Wolverine which is like the Zutatra of X-Men ever came close to something that discusting.

[ljlee]

I certainly hope they define the setting and the character better from Book 2 onward. Republic City was a big blank in Book 1, and Korra as a character had no character arc--she went from believing that superior force solves all problems and that bending is the coolest thing in the world to... believing that superior force solves all problems and that bending is the coolest thing in the world. Character-wise it was just a wasted season and it could very well have been a wasted show. As you say, the creators had better start using their extra seasons wisely.

I'd be interested in seeing your essay, and I'm sure we'll have a vigorous debate. :) My flist is generally disappointed with Book 1, and it'll be nice to see different perspectives.

I got into ATLA in late 2010-early 2011, long after it was over even in Korea, and only because my boyfriend got me into it. I am always a Jenny-come-lately to these things. :) The exceptions were Harry Potter and Korra.

I saw the poster in your SDCC post, and it looks awesome. Interesting to see that Zuko seems to have gone fully two swords in a look that's reminiscent of the Lieutenant. I had thought he might have given up on the dao since he hardly ever used it past "The Firebending Masters," but it's nice to see him look every inch a swordsman.

Ouch, looks like the X-men writers came down with a case of being too clever for their own good. Always sucks when you get invested in characters and they turn into crazy versions of their former selves, courtesy of bad writing.