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

ljlee

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

Jul 12, 2012 23:58

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 ( Read more... )

politics, legend of korra, fandom

Comments 15

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ljlee July 12 2012, 23:26:54 UTC

Yeah, the murders as a distraction makes sense, too. I can imagine people at a KKK rally, for instance, pulling up unsolved murders they say are committed by stereotypical menacing black men as a justification for their hatred. Korra Book 1 didn't really deal with the Equalist issue (other than the bucketful of Unfortunate Implications that social unrest is the product of deceitful agitators working out personal issues, a line people used on me with a straight face over at the forum THANKS BRYKE), lending itself to different interpretations but in a "why the hell didn't they talk about this" rather than a "wow, this is so multifaceted" way ( ... )

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ljlee July 13 2012, 08:59:06 UTC

Hahaha awesome point about Poland! Yeah, I get the impression that the council structure on UR is sort of like wearing outgrown clothes. Zuko and Aang set up this system almost a century ago, and Aang is really from the century before that. UR should have been left free to find and evolve a governing structure that suits its needs, but with the council in place it looks like outside interests didn't give it the freedom to do that ( ... )

Thread 5

hymnia July 12 2012, 22:24:05 UTC

I don't really fall into either view A or view B. I enjoyed LOK, but didn't love it, mainly because if felt a bit rushed and didn't develop the characters enough (that is, it didn't give them the right kinds of challenges). But I'm not really that troubled by how easily the bender/non-bender conflict was resolved because my gut feeling is that it *is* going to come back into play again in the next season, so I'm willing to give that storyline the benefit of a doubt for a little longer.

Anyway, I like your analysis here, and I do think it fits the situation pretty well; however, I think the evidence is a little thin at this point for me to commit to a particular view of the situation. So...I'm holding out to see what future episodes show us.

ljlee July 12 2012, 23:37:18 UTC

Yeah, both views are extremes that I don't subscribe to. My disappointments with Book 1 are many and deep, to the extent that I'm scared to hope Book 2 will deal with any issues that matter. For now I'm assuming that the series will end the Equalist plotline on the note that there are no social problems, only deceitful agitators with mental issues. Then if I'm proven wrong (and how I hope for that) I can be pleasantly surprised, and even if I'm right I won't have my heart broken again because my expectations are so low.

In that context the analysis is an attempt at an alternate explanation to clear out the bad taste Book 1 left in my mouth, since I'm assuming the creators won't pick this up again. At the same time I wanted something more complex, and to me more believable, than deliberate systematic oppression. I'm glad you liked it!

amyraine July 13 2012, 18:11:12 UTC

A quote from MovieBob:

"Now that the mass audience has caught the continuity bug, it feels more and more like all any film has to do is announce early on that it's the beginning of a franchise or the first in a planned trilogy and suddenly all traditional criticisms of bad narrative are no longer supposed to apply. After all, it's not fair to judge this poorly fleshed-out character or that awkwardly-forgotten plot point when the whole story has yet to be told, right?"

He's talking about the movie "The Amazing Spiderman", but replace 'film' with 'TV show' and it fits here.

I personally don't think Book 2 will focus on these issues again at all, but even if they do, that doesn't excuse a poor first season that was developed and written as a complete story in and of itself (unlike Season 1 of AtLA, which had a little more leeway because it was only Part 1 of a three part story --and it still had a better story arc than Season 1 of LoK did).

ljlee July 13 2012, 23:52:26 UTC

Yes, the flaws of Season 1 can't be explained away. At best a good Season 2 could salvage the overall story somewhat. I'm not holding out hope though, I don't want to be disappointed again.

amyraine July 13 2012, 17:33:44 UTC

There are two possibilities for how the Equalists arose as a movement. If non-benders started organizing as a response to bender gangs and then Amon co-opted them for his own goals, your theory works well. If Amon actually organized the Equalists himself, on the other hand, then one can make the argument that non-benders accepted their lot in life, whether it was oppressive or not, until he manipulated them.*

This comes back to how much of Republic City was left undefined. Were one or two details made more solid, we could be more sure about our interpretations.

But you know what? I can forgive weak world-building if the basic tenets of Creative Writing 101 are followed. And they weren't. M & B (Sorry, I dislike the term "Bryke" and am trying not to use it) are excellent artists and have great ideas, but they clearly have no training in writing and it shows. After seeing this video I want to sit the two of them with Trey and Matt and have them learn a thing or two. Korra is a beautiful show with no substance. South Park is a hideous ( ... )

ljlee July 15 2012, 01:12:26 UTC

I have no trouble imagining a preexisting peaceful non-bender organization being co-opted and extremized by someone as charismatic and disturbed as Amon, especially if the authorities repressed or ignored them. Hell, maybe they were even called the Equalists, a name Amon twisted into his idea of "equalizing." *fanfic idea ( ... )

amyraine July 15 2012, 14:35:08 UTC

I agree with you about many uprisings being in response to failures of government, but let me throw out an alternative interpretation to weakness and incompetence ( ... )

ljlee July 15 2012, 23:30:22 UTC

Yeah, UR's isn't a total failed government, not like, say, Somalia's. Their incompetence seems almost a matter of choice because they're not constituted to be responsive to local needs. The only nation not represented in the Council is the UR itself. The Air Nomads are the closest to local representation, which may partly explain why Tenzin seems to be the only one who even thinks of what the citizens need. Except even that is blatantly undemocratic because the Air Temple makes up, what 0.1% of the city yet gets 20% on the Council ( ... )

fairladyz2005 July 15 2012, 06:22:25 UTC

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 ( ... )

ljlee July 15 2012, 13:53:33 UTC

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 ( ... )

fairladyz2005 July 16 2012, 02:14:49 UTC

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 ( ... )

ljlee July 16 2012, 03:24:39 UTC

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 ( ... )