Katara Is My Hero
Many thanks to dotfic for pointing me to this amazing music vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YrcHR_G8-Y
There are a lot of reasons to hate the live-action Last Airbender movie, not least of which being the switcheroo of brown heroes and pale villain to pale heroes and brown villain (that whole issue literally makes me sick). But I was warned about that part--I knew it was coming. Since hearing more details of what the movie changed from the series, there's another difference that actually makes me grit my teeth with rage, and that is the reduction of Katara.
No, I have not seen the movie, but I read plenty of reviews and analysis and talked to people who have seen it, both fans of the series and not. I know enough to make a judgment without wasting my time or money on a movie that ruined something I love. (And oooooh, I love this series so much. It's one of my favorite things in the world and they blew a golden opportunity and I am angry and disappointed and grief-stricken.) If you're going to tell me that I can't judge it without seeing it for myself, just...don't.
If you have ever trusted my advice or my judgment, believe me when I say that you should not watch that movie. Don't waste your time and resources. But you should definitely watch the series. I don't care who you are, I don't care if you think you're too old for cartoons or you don't like anime or fantasy or you're just not interested. Every time someone says they haven't watched the show for any of those reasons, something cute and fluffy dies. I am so serious about this. Stop killing cute and fluffy things and go watch this series. It is so unbelievably amazing, I can't even tell you.
The women of Avatar: The Last Airbender are a beautiful and diverse lot. They are young, old, heroes, villains. They come from a variety of cultures and backgrounds and classes. They are traditional, free-spirited, defiant, cheerful, sweet, bitter, emotional, tough, crazed, brave, quiet, strong, retiring, talkative, meek, and loud.
Of the six girls showcased in the video I linked above, half are heroes and half are villains. Half have mystical powers (bending) and half have only the power of their personalities and kickassery. Each has her own journey and emotional arc, each has moments of grief and triumph, joy and pain. Every time I rewatch an episode, I vacillate between which character I love the most (and I love the boys, too, OH, Zuko and Sokka and Aang and Uncle Iroh!). They all fill me with so much glee.
But let me tell you about Katara, in particular. In many ways, Katara is the hero of the first season, Book One: Water, which was the season adapted for the recent movie. It's because she's chewing Sokka out for being sexist that the ice berg holding Aang cracks in the force of her water-bending, so they can discover him. She is the first (and for a time, the only) one to believe in Aang's power to bring peace to the world. With no one at the southern pole to teach her waterbending, she learns on her own, with great dedication and patience, and she also teaches Aang. When they finally meet a waterbending Master, he refuses to teach her because she is a girl. Katara does not put up with that, and duels him until he agrees to teach her. With this resource, she completely masters the discipline in a very short time.
She is strong and brave and very heroic. She can also be frustrated and annoyed and mean, and not everything she does is the right thing. She is complex and three-dimensional and I love her a great, great deal.
The movie reduced her. In many ways. But the moment that really, really ticks me off is the part where they rescue the earthbendes. In the movie, the earthbenders are being kept in dirt enclosures, and Aang comes along and makes one short inspirational speech, and they start fighting right away. Not only does that make the earthbenders look like idiots, not only is it facile and weak storytelling, but THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE KATARA.
In the series, the earthbenders are being held captive by the Fire Nation on a metal ship in the ocean, so there is no earth for them to bend, no weapons for them to use. And they've been held in subjugation for years. Katara befriends a young earthbender named Haru, and when he is captured and taken to this prison, she follows. By pretending to earthbend so the Fire Nation soldiers will capture her, too. Then, when she gives her inspirational speech, at first the earthbenders don't respond. It was an important and heartbreaking moment in the series, showing just how difficult it can be to stand against oppression. Later, the others manage to get some coal to the earthbenders to fight with, and again, Katara is the one who urges them to fight, who stands with them and helps them. She put herself in danger; she was persistent and compassionate and heroic. It was one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen.
Katara is my hero, especially in Book One. I hate that they took that moment away from her.
I'm very glad that Avatar: The Last Airbender exists. Not only because I love it and I enjoy watching and rewatching it, but I'm also glad that my little sisters have such a quality show in their lives. They love this show, they watch it over and over and over, and I enjoy watching it with them. I'm glad they have these examples of amazing women, women who are strong and capable, but also free to be themselves, sometimes weak and sad, sometimes making bad and wrong decisions, but finding the strength to stand up again and do the right thing. I'm glad for entertainment like this to show young girls that they can be anything they want to be.
And my geeky friends love it too. More than once, before sitting down to play RPG or other nerdy games, we've watched an episode (or more) of Avatar together. And these are mostly people in their mid to late twenties, geeks, yes, but hardly children, and we all agree that this show is one of the best we've ever seen.
I despise the very existence of the movie. Everything about it is just wrong. But I'm so very, very glad that the show exists.
Is there anything else I can say to convince you? You should watch this series. You really, really should.
Click to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YrcHR_G8-Y
There are a lot of reasons to hate the live-action Last Airbender movie, not least of which being the switcheroo of brown heroes and pale villain to pale heroes and brown villain (that whole issue literally makes me sick). But I was warned about that part--I knew it was coming. Since hearing more details of what the movie changed from the series, there's another difference that actually makes me grit my teeth with rage, and that is the reduction of Katara.
No, I have not seen the movie, but I read plenty of reviews and analysis and talked to people who have seen it, both fans of the series and not. I know enough to make a judgment without wasting my time or money on a movie that ruined something I love. (And oooooh, I love this series so much. It's one of my favorite things in the world and they blew a golden opportunity and I am angry and disappointed and grief-stricken.) If you're going to tell me that I can't judge it without seeing it for myself, just...don't.
If you have ever trusted my advice or my judgment, believe me when I say that you should not watch that movie. Don't waste your time and resources. But you should definitely watch the series. I don't care who you are, I don't care if you think you're too old for cartoons or you don't like anime or fantasy or you're just not interested. Every time someone says they haven't watched the show for any of those reasons, something cute and fluffy dies. I am so serious about this. Stop killing cute and fluffy things and go watch this series. It is so unbelievably amazing, I can't even tell you.
The women of Avatar: The Last Airbender are a beautiful and diverse lot. They are young, old, heroes, villains. They come from a variety of cultures and backgrounds and classes. They are traditional, free-spirited, defiant, cheerful, sweet, bitter, emotional, tough, crazed, brave, quiet, strong, retiring, talkative, meek, and loud.
Of the six girls showcased in the video I linked above, half are heroes and half are villains. Half have mystical powers (bending) and half have only the power of their personalities and kickassery. Each has her own journey and emotional arc, each has moments of grief and triumph, joy and pain. Every time I rewatch an episode, I vacillate between which character I love the most (and I love the boys, too, OH, Zuko and Sokka and Aang and Uncle Iroh!). They all fill me with so much glee.
But let me tell you about Katara, in particular. In many ways, Katara is the hero of the first season, Book One: Water, which was the season adapted for the recent movie. It's because she's chewing Sokka out for being sexist that the ice berg holding Aang cracks in the force of her water-bending, so they can discover him. She is the first (and for a time, the only) one to believe in Aang's power to bring peace to the world. With no one at the southern pole to teach her waterbending, she learns on her own, with great dedication and patience, and she also teaches Aang. When they finally meet a waterbending Master, he refuses to teach her because she is a girl. Katara does not put up with that, and duels him until he agrees to teach her. With this resource, she completely masters the discipline in a very short time.
She is strong and brave and very heroic. She can also be frustrated and annoyed and mean, and not everything she does is the right thing. She is complex and three-dimensional and I love her a great, great deal.
The movie reduced her. In many ways. But the moment that really, really ticks me off is the part where they rescue the earthbendes. In the movie, the earthbenders are being kept in dirt enclosures, and Aang comes along and makes one short inspirational speech, and they start fighting right away. Not only does that make the earthbenders look like idiots, not only is it facile and weak storytelling, but THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE KATARA.
In the series, the earthbenders are being held captive by the Fire Nation on a metal ship in the ocean, so there is no earth for them to bend, no weapons for them to use. And they've been held in subjugation for years. Katara befriends a young earthbender named Haru, and when he is captured and taken to this prison, she follows. By pretending to earthbend so the Fire Nation soldiers will capture her, too. Then, when she gives her inspirational speech, at first the earthbenders don't respond. It was an important and heartbreaking moment in the series, showing just how difficult it can be to stand against oppression. Later, the others manage to get some coal to the earthbenders to fight with, and again, Katara is the one who urges them to fight, who stands with them and helps them. She put herself in danger; she was persistent and compassionate and heroic. It was one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen.
Katara is my hero, especially in Book One. I hate that they took that moment away from her.
I'm very glad that Avatar: The Last Airbender exists. Not only because I love it and I enjoy watching and rewatching it, but I'm also glad that my little sisters have such a quality show in their lives. They love this show, they watch it over and over and over, and I enjoy watching it with them. I'm glad they have these examples of amazing women, women who are strong and capable, but also free to be themselves, sometimes weak and sad, sometimes making bad and wrong decisions, but finding the strength to stand up again and do the right thing. I'm glad for entertainment like this to show young girls that they can be anything they want to be.
And my geeky friends love it too. More than once, before sitting down to play RPG or other nerdy games, we've watched an episode (or more) of Avatar together. And these are mostly people in their mid to late twenties, geeks, yes, but hardly children, and we all agree that this show is one of the best we've ever seen.
I despise the very existence of the movie. Everything about it is just wrong. But I'm so very, very glad that the show exists.
Is there anything else I can say to convince you? You should watch this series. You really, really should.