Countdown to the Comet!

[sistermagpie]

Okay, today's the last day before the last Avatar--wah! So I'm watching Ember Island Players, of course, and since this is a reflective ep before the last movie, let's reflect.

Comments

rambles

[shusu]

I have to say that overall I *love* Ember Island. In general. Those shows were totally the "filler" that ought to fail, but it just *works*. I think it's getting to me because it's based on more Pacific Islander cultures, and because I had so many of those late night epiphanies as a teenager, where you're just wandering around under the stars and talking about nothing in particular ... until of course everything changes. And it was so often about confronting your fears, and confronting the truth about yourself. I guess the adult equivalent is walking into that one bar of all the bars in all the world.

I'd be real interested to see how they resolve this tension in Aang. "What are you going to do when you meet my father?" How is Aang supposed to open up his chakra if it means rejecting everything which tethers him to the material world, including Katara? The last few episodes he's just starting to confront this about himself, that he's a boy AND he's the Avatar, that he wants desperately to belong to the world of giant pai sho tables and friends who are like family but he is also every Avatar who ever lived.

Zuko... just kills me. I can't even. I'm not verbal about how much of Zuko's journey and identity is just *getting* to me. Man.

There is one thing, though... I'm disappointed that Toph's been faded out, and not because she's not essential to the storyline. Why is there no tension between her and Suki? Did I miss something? Not that I ship one way or another, but it seems weird to drop the ball on something she desperately wants. It puts her out of place in the episode, when even Suki gets to let loose a little.

Re: rambles

[sistermagpie]

I was such a fan of The Beach too. As you say, they could just not work, but I feel like they definitely do. Partly because the foundation is there for there to be stuff to dig into with the relationships and the characters. The teen stuff in The Beach was sometimes a little close to on the nose with everyone explaining how they aer the way they are, but it didn't imo crossover into totally unbelievable for teenaged conversation at all.

I thought the same thing about Toph with Sokka and Suki. Particularly with the man playing her, which could have been just as hurful to her as Aang being played by a woman. It isn't since Toph isn't physically mannish but small, but still, the play made as much of a point about there being no relationship between her and Sokka by casting her that way.

Re: rambles

[shusu]

Oooh yes. I overlooked that about Toph's actor. I could see that she was clearly the "I love fanfic because it's not canon" voice, and she did spend a lot of time in the wrestling ring so she has that understanding of drama. But yeah, it shoved any tension with her and Sokka into the realm of subtext.

Toph would totally write satiric fanfic heavily-laden with meta! LOL. What a pile of digs at fandom. That aspect was hilarious. It was like the Gaang arriving at ff.net.

Re: rambles

[genarti]

To be fair, though, Toph is a very very different personality from Aang. She wears different things out in the open, and hides different things.

The question of tension with Suki is a separate one, but in terms of the play, I don't think it's at all implausible for her to be gleefully in favor of her legend being that of the BURLY TOUGH EARTHBENDER GUY, and all of those messy private feeeeelings ignored. I think it's perfectly in keeping with the way she acts about, say, her parents and their rules. Persona is one thing, and that's for all the cheering masses or the people you're about to pummel. The private emotional details are private, or at most for your closest friends to know about.

Whereas Aang is a romantic in different ways. And didn't grow up making his own legend in the professional wrestling earthbending competitions.