Wait, what?

meggannn:

rain-in-republic-city:

can we agree on the fact that if Bolin ever has a family he’ll be 99.99% like Lieutenant Hughes from FMA

#CAN THE 0.01% BE THAT HE LIVES TO SEE HIS KIDS GROW UP?! #BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE NICE

(via fourofthem)

otomuragakuya:

equalist:

if book 2 doesn’t have equalists in it i’m going to quit the lok fandom

they’re all just going to magically disappear like korra’s character development

(Source: kusakaryuuji, via homoerotics)

ncc1701s:

remember when we were all excited for legend of korra because finally we get to see a female avatar in action and atla gave us such high hopes for how amazing the show could be

and then instead we got a storyline that mostly consisted around a pointless love triangle

remember

(Source: sourwolf, via batmanpanties-stuffedinthedrawer)

sherbeeee:

thanks to this show i can never take the word “spirit” seriously ever again

(via homoerotics)

theshikonjewel:

ok but what if zuko and katara visit korra at the same time and zuko kisses katara’s hand and is like “excuse me i expected an old woman not this beautiful young thing” and katara’s all blushy and aw old people flirting

and korra goes into the avatar state for two seconds and kicks zuko in the leg and he’s like ‘what the heck’ and korra’s like ‘i’m sorry, i have no idea why i did that’

because aang would

(via eggplantcrusader)

homoerotics:

Angry Asian Girls United: Legend of Korra

cielrouge:

sola1839:

angryasiangirlsunited:

Legend of Korra is fucked up in a lot of aspects. The people who were not benders revolted or whatever cause they weren’t treated equally as benders. The goddamn writers wrote it in a way that made the viewers perceive them as unsympathetic. Hell, I…

Ahhhh as much as I enjoyed the show, there were definitely, definitely  problematic elements with it that bothered me, ESPECIALLY with the whole anti-bender/equalist revolution and how it’s portrayed and carried out. I think the writers just really dropped the ball on it, and my biggest problem was the way that the show resolved, or the lack of resolve, regarding the revolution. I specifically think back to “The Voice in the Night” episode where Korra joins an anti-equalist “task force” that carries a raid on a chi blocking class meant for nonbenders to learn self-defense against benders. The scene is pretty brutal to watch, since one equalist is literally SLAMMED to the freakin wall: 

And I thought to myself, “YEAH NO SHIT, KORRA. AND YOU WONDER WHY THESE NON-BENDERS WANT TO TAKE CHI BLOCKING CLASSES IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN THEY LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE SUPERPOWERED INDIVIDUALS EXIST AND DECIDE TO RAID SELF-DEFENSE CLASSES TO EARTHBEND NON-BENDERS TO A FREAKIN’ WALL.”

Though, regarding the scene with the equalist protester, racebending did a great job on deconstructing it and why it was so problematic: http://racebending.tumblr.com/post/39545866600/theawesomesauce93-avatarparallels

As for the rest of the show, this tumblr user breaks it down pretty nicely:

http://chaosthethird.tumblr.com/post/31792875190/the-failures-of-the-legend-of-korra

The Bender Supremacy

The Setup

There is a conflict between benders and non-benders, specifically around the power that benders wield, and often against non-benders, as in the case of the Triple Threat Triads. This was a great setup and it evoked themes of privilege and power that frequent the political landscape in the real world. This wasn’t just about a few bad benders misusing their powers, but practically about bending as an institution, one in which benders always have all the power.

Triple Threat Triads extorting a non-bending shop owner

It wasn’t just the Triple Threat Triads, but the entire United Republic Council, and all 4 nations, are led by benders. Hell, even the delineation of nations - the Avatar world equivalent of ethnicity - was determined by bending, which is a bit strange given that so many people in each nation do not have any bending ability at all. And then, of course, there is the Avatar, the most powerful being on the planet, a real god-figure, by virtue of being the ultimate bender.

The Delivery

Throughout the first season, Korra fights against the Equalists in order to…well, what, exactly? Maintain the power and privilege of the benders? When she first arrived in the city, she gave some Triad bullies a real ass-kicking, showing her interest in defending the weak. Yet she spends the entire rest of the season fighting against the non-benders’ (ostensibly “the weak” in the Avatar universe) one movement to garner some agency for themselves. 

To deny people the opportunity to fight and defend themselves against oppression under the pretext that they should rely upon you as their savior is oppressive in itself. It suggests that these people can’t do anything on their own. Or that the efforts that they have put in place are useless, or worse, a threat. And this seemed to be the point that the show was making in the first episode, through the tongue-in-cheek moment between Korra and the Equalist announcer. 

 

Korra is called out on being an oppressor 

Granted, Amon was the Avatar-world equivalent of a “terrorist”, and his methods were debatably cruel. Though, when I consider the fact that he could’ve killed benders instead of merely taking their abilities away, I have reservations about applying that label to him. There is also a sort of hypocrisy in benders wielding their power and influence against non-benders at every turn, while being critical and aggressive towards the one example where the reverse is true - or at least where it seemed to be. More on that later.

Furthermore, while Korra and her bending allies were presented as the “right side” of the conflict, it was purely by virtue of her opposition to Amon’s extremism, not because she represented any peaceful alternative to solving the conflict. For that matter, there was no voice of reason speaking on behalf of the non-benders at all. Not one person, say, who saw fit to approach the all-bender council, or Korra, or call a meeting on their own, and offer a solution. Not for a lack of candidates, though.

 

Amon’s Lieutenant, a legitimate representative of non-benders 

By the end of the first season, all that happened was that the Equalist revolution was crushed, and with it, any discussion of equality between benders and non-benders, which you’ll recall from the setup was the main conflict of the show. There was never any discussion of Amon’s ends, rather only his means, thereby leaving the main arc of the show unresolved.

The Meaning of “Balance”

The Setup

Korra is a bender, but her foremost role is to maintain “balance” in the world. And as one non-bending citizen pointed out to her, she’s “their avatar, too”. Korra scoffed at the idea that bending itself was oppressive, until she saw it being used overtly to oppress non-benders during the episode “When Extremes Meet”. The setup here was that Korra was coming to the realization that in spite of her opposition to Amon, non-benders really had legitimate grounds for complaint.

“You’re our Avatar too!”

The Delivery

Korra, in spite of being the quintessential representative of the institution of bending, had a strong sense of right and wrong, and did on at least two occasions stand against benders on behalf of non-benders. However, she only acted in the most extreme cases, and failed to address the systemic power discrepancy inherent to the relationship between benders and non-benders. 

 

Korra kicks a Triad gangster in the face! 

There is a parallel here with the tendency of real world people of privilege to only address the extreme “isms” (of race, gender, etc) without looking at the structures that give rise to those extremes in the first place. And so long as people of privilege aren’t carrying out extreme acts, they delude themselves into thinking they are free of responsibility for any power disparities. The extremists become for them the “proof” that they are not a part of the problem. 

For Korra, so long as she is not using her bending to hurt non-benders, she is in the clear. Or so she seems to think. And except where she blatantly uses her power to oppress non-benders, as she does when she silences and bullies the Equalist announcer. By the end of the first season, Korra has done nothing to address her own complicity within the oppression of non-benders, or the problem at large. 

 

Korra manhandles the Equalist announcer 

On top of that, there is an implicit statement that underprivileged people shouldn’t have a hand in their own liberation, but instead wait for those in power to decide to act on their behalf. 

veridianvixen:

If you go back and examine the general personalities of previous Avatars, you begin to understand why certain incarnations act the way they do. Each Avatar incarnation is an individual, but they share the same general spirit — the sins of one Avatar come back to haunt another. Memories of past lives are buried just underneath the surface, influencing an incarnation’s behavior. Continually seeking atonement.

This will also touch on Korra’s “Avatar entitlement complex,” which is often a part of critiquing her character.

• Yangchen (Sacrifice)
• Kuruk (Selfishness)
  
• Kyoshi (Decisive Responsibility)
  
• Roku (Indecision)
  
• Aang (Avoidance)
  
• Korra (Bravado)
  

Read More

(Source: jlbrady, via homoerotics)

pugletto:

pulpofiction:

thelegendofmouse:

prolicide:

ueeyasu:

no guys you are so right

a confused teenager acting like a confused teenager

is way worse than any of the stuff amon has done in the last two weeks

this is v. good

man, i forgot about how much people hated mai. personally, i liked her. 

Actually no.

This isn’t a comparison.

Because Mai’s development was not equal to the egregious amount of bullshit they wrapped around Mako’s storyline. Beyond disregarding his brother’s feelings, cheating on his girlfriend, and acting like a complete and total idiot in regards to Korra’s being the Avatar ‘n all, there’s a very, very, awful message that comes with Mako’s character, and it astounds me that people still aren’t seeing that.

If maybe redemption was a part of that character and he somehow realized he was being a jerk and apologized to the parties involved, then yeah, mabe I can find a bit of sympathy for his stupidity in the course of the series. But y’know what? That didn’t happen. Mako’s major flaws were never addressed as not being okay - it’s an ugly dismissal of an ugly behavior that shafts everyone.

The only character who ever called him out on his bullshit was Asami - who, unfortunately, was used as a plot device put in by Bryke to give their ~canon ship~ momentum.

Mai’s so-called “fandom hate” stems from a lack of consistent development. Mako’s “fandom hate” just stems from consistently bad development

The comparison is not there, and never will be there, because these characters underwent two completely different arcs and Mako’s can never, ever, ever be justified just because he was a confused teenaged boy.

That is bullshit.

(via powergirl)

#even though he lied about his identity #he was telling the truth about non-bender oppression #which the avatar and all of her friends need to realize

 #THE ONES WHO REALLY NEED TO REALIZE THIS ARE THE WRITERS #SORRY BUT ‘OH THE GUY IN CHARGE WAS A LIAR’ DOES NOT MEAN THE REVOLUTION HE STARTED IS SUDDENLY INVALID IN ITS PURPOSE #if anything korra exposing him as a fraud just opens up the leader spot for a person better qualified for it #a non-bender who’s taken the message amon spread to heart #cue the lieutenant taking over and crushing republic city with a loyal army and a just cause #IF THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN I AM STARTING MY OWN REBELLION AND OVERTHROWING NICKELODEON OKAY I WILL NOT ACCEPT LESS

(Source: madderreds, via homoerotics)

ave-aria:

*why does the picture shriiiink make it stopppp*

(via fourofthem)