thetimethatisgivenus: Best of Uncle Iroh quotes: “You are not the man you used to be. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you ever used to be. And now you have come at the crossroads of the destiny. Its time for you to choose. Its time for you to choose good.” “Protection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.” [Drawing the Fire Nation symbol in the dirt] “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want.” [Drawing the Earth Kingdom symbol] “Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring.” [Drawing the Air Nomad symbol] “Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns, and they found peace and freedom. And they apparently had great senses of humor!” [Drawing the Water Tribe symbol] “Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.” [Drawing straight lines separating the four symbols] “Understanding others, the other elements, the other nations, will help you become whole.” [Drawing a circle around the whole] “It is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful. But it can make you more powerful too.” “It is important to draw wisdom from different places. If you take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale.” “Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.” “Lightning is a pure expression of firebending without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind.” “You’re looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it’s heartbreaking! That, or it’s the white jade bush, which is poisonous.” “I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game.” “Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.” “Euch! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!” “Sick of tea? That’s like being sick of breathing!” “While it is always best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing.” [At his son’s grave] “Happy birthday, my son. If only I could have helped you. Leaves from the vine Falling so slow Like fragile, tiny shells Drifting in the foam Little soldier boy Come marching home Brave soldier boy Comes marching home.” “I was never angry with you. I was sad, because I was afraid you’d lost your way.” “Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don’t know if I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as just more senseless violence. A brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord.” “No. Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart, and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko.” “Yes, you have. You struggled. You suffered. But you have always followed your own path. You’ve restored your own honor. And only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation.” “Goodbye everyone. Today, destiny is our friend. I know it.” “At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I’d just as soon leave it a mystery.” “So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop… How about… the Jasmine Dragon? It’s dramatic, poetic… has a nice ring to it.” “We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.” “There’s nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life, and why.” “And then what?! You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!” “I’m begging you, Prince Zuko!” It’s time for you to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?” [Getting a massage] “Aahh… this is what I’ve been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks, with no food or water, and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver, could make one SO tense!” “So this is how the great commander Zhao acts in defeat… disgraceful! Even in exile my nephew is more honorable then you. Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious.” “Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?” “Be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not always kind to its subjects.” “No! Zuko! You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.” [To multiple enemies] “That’s true. But you are clearly outmatched.” “You should know this is not a natural sickness. But that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying tea.” “Your critical decision – what you did beneath that lake. It was such a conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.” “You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be.” “You sound like my nephew. Always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone’s support.” “There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you, help you. Not that I love you. I just met you!” “I know your not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it’s just so sad!” “Because understanding the struggle between your two great-grandfathers can help you better understand the battle within yourself. Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is in your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now, by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family, and the Fire Nation. Born in you along with all the strife is the power to restore balance to the world.” “A man needs his rest.” “Forgive my nephew; he is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts.” “Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscle!” “Who would have thought that, after all these years, I would return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace… as a tourist!” “There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang — positive energy and a negative energy. Only a select few Firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the postive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning.” “Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope.” “Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?”
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thetimethatisgivenus:

Best of Uncle Iroh quotes:

  • “You are not the man you used to be. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you ever used to be. And now you have come at the crossroads of the destiny. Its time for you to choose. Its time for you to choose good.”
  • “Protection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.”
  • [Drawing the Fire Nation symbol in the dirt] “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want.”
  • [Drawing the Earth Kingdom symbol] “Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring.”
  • [Drawing the Air Nomad symbol] “Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns, and they found peace and freedom. And they apparently had great senses of humor!”
  • [Drawing the Water Tribe symbol] “Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.”
  • [Drawing straight lines separating the four symbols] “Understanding others, the other elements, the other nations, will help you become whole.”
  • [Drawing a circle around the whole] “It is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful. But it can make you more powerful too.”
  • “It is important to draw wisdom from different places. If you take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale.”
  • “Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.”
  • “Lightning is a pure expression of firebending without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind.”
  • “You’re looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious it’s heartbreaking! That, or it’s the white jade bush, which is poisonous.”
  • “I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game.”
  • “Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.”
  • “Euch! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!”
  • “Sick of tea? That’s like being sick of breathing!”
  • “While it is always best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing.”
  • [At his son’s grave] “Happy birthday, my son. If only I could have helped you.
    Leaves from the vine
    Falling so slow
    Like fragile, tiny shells
    Drifting in the foam
    Little soldier boy
    Come marching home
    Brave soldier boy
    Comes marching home.”
  • “I was never angry with you. I was sad, because I was afraid you’d lost your way.”
  • “Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don’t know if I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as just more senseless violence. A brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord.”
  • “No. Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart, and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko.”
  • “Yes, you have. You struggled. You suffered. But you have always followed your own path. You’ve restored your own honor. And only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation.”
  • “Goodbye everyone. Today, destiny is our friend. I know it.”
  • “At my age, there is really only one big surprise left, and I’d just as soon leave it a mystery.”
  • “So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop… How about… the Jasmine Dragon? It’s dramatic, poetic… has a nice ring to it.”
  • “We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.”
  • “There’s nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life, and why.”
  • “And then what?! You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!”
  • “I’m begging you, Prince Zuko!” It’s time for you to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?”
  • [Getting a massage] “Aahh… this is what I’ve been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks, with no food or water, and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver, could make one SO tense!”
  • “So this is how the great commander Zhao acts in defeat… disgraceful! Even in exile my nephew is more honorable then you. Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious.”
  • “Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?”
  • “Be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not always kind to its subjects.”
  • “No! Zuko! You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.”
  • [To multiple enemies] “That’s true. But you are clearly outmatched.”
  • “You should know this is not a natural sickness. But that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying tea.”
  • “Your critical decision – what you did beneath that lake. It was such a conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.”
  • “You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be.”
  • “You sound like my nephew. Always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone’s support.”
  • “There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you, help you. Not that I love you. I just met you!”
  • “I know your not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it’s just so sad!”
  • “Because understanding the struggle between your two great-grandfathers can help you better understand the battle within yourself. Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is in your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now, by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family, and the Fire Nation. Born in you along with all the strife is the power to restore balance to the world.”
  • “A man needs his rest.”
  • “Forgive my nephew; he is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts.”
  • “Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscle!”
  • “Who would have thought that, after all these years, I would return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace… as a tourist!”
  • “There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang — positive energy and a negative energy. Only a select few Firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the postive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning.”
  • “Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope.”
  • “Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?”

(via bitcheslovehistory)

Source: anuradhaedirisuriya.wordpress.com

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

upsettingshorts:

  1. The central conflict creates a situation where the heroes are actually on the side of oppression, counter-revolution, and perpetuating inequality.  At no point is the ideological justification for opposing Amon revealed by any character, it is simply taken for granted that the status quo ought to be maintained. 
  2. Instead of taking advantage of the inherent dramatic potential of the protagonists being on the wrong side - starting by acknowleding, even for a second, that the above just might be true - Amon and the Equalists are just lazily drowned-out by ominous music.  That the show is lacking in any sort of self-awareness on this front is pretty much unforgivable.
  3. It portrays events that escalate the central conflict in wildly inappropriate ways.  Until the latest episode, the Equalists exclusively target Benders who abuse their power and this is seen as extreme.  The Benders/police conduct searches and seizures without evidence, launch paramilitary raids on people just learning how to defend themselves and this is seen as business as usual.
  4. The show draws arbitrary standards as to what constitutes abuse of authority with Tarrlok seemingly going too far, despite his actions being much closer to things Korra, Tenzin, and Lin had already been doing than the characters in the show, and soundtrack, would lead you to believe.  
  5. Arbitrary justifications, ad-hoc powers of authority, vague standards of evidence… and we’re not supposed to buy it when Amon says the Benders are oppressive?  Seriously, bring on the damn revolution.  Where can I sign up to help throw these clowns out of power?
  6. It’s too late to fix any of the above.
  7. Tonally, LoK tries to do too much and it is a mess.  For example the kids’ show antics of Meelo are very unsettling - in the sense that they kill the mood and destroy tension - when they are interrupting scenes that are, in context, incredibly dark.  If this problem sounds familiar, that’s because it’s something George Lucas had issues with in the Star Wars prequels.  You know, that other follow-up to a beloved IP that was a disaster of trying to appeal to too many people at once.
  8. Legend of Korra has the dubious “honor” of being one of the few examples in media where the protagonist is a female action hero yet is full of episodes that routinely fail the Bechdel test.
  9. Speaking of Korra, her character is all over the place. Very driven and badass when she needs to be, totally incompetent and out of her depth when the plot demands it, with motivations for doing things that can only be described as “that’s what was next in the script.”  
  10. On a related note, want to get frustrated? Go watch an early episode and play the “I wonder what happened to that subplot/characterization” game.
  11. Pema’s relationship advice.
  12. It feels like a stretch placing Mako in the section of this post that seems to be talking about characters, since he is - as a friend aptly described - more like “a scarf with a haircut” than a believable person.  But damn is this guy a waste of screentime in every way imaginable.  If he in fact does exist simply to frustrate the audience and reduce everyone’s sympathy for himself and Korra, then mission accomplished.
  13. Seriously, what are they doing with Mako?  He is a scene-killer that torpedoes characterization among his comrades and for what?  Because he can’t figure out who he wants to stick his dick in and keeps choosing “all of the above?”  Not to mention this love-triangle has the drama and sophistication of a Saturday morning cartoon to begin with.  Oh, right.
  14. This excellent post on the love-triangle and how it’s ruining things.

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a good show:

  1. The animation and art style is really fantastic.
  2. Avatar: The Last Airbender was great.
  3. The animals in the Avatar universe continue to be cute.
  4. Some characters make the most of their criminally-limited screentime (e.g. Bolin).
  5. ???

Edit:  This post seems to be very popular on Google, so I felt like I should add a note that the bulk of this post was written sometime before the end of the first season.  The last episode, by itself, deserves an entirely new rant…

And I thought about updating this after the finale with things like the incredibly awful reset button ending, and Tarrlok’s 11th hour Exposition Bending, and the complete erasure of the Equalists’ ideology…

…but you know what? It’s not worth the effort.  Enough bad writing is enough.

ley de gravitación universal: Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

fromthebalrogsmouth:

From what we’ve seen of the Bending Elite:

- The Council: bar Tenzin, a bunch of patsies. We don’t know that they’re Benders, but we can safely assume that they are (since the ruling elite in Avatar are nearly always benders, with few/no exceptions: citation needed so I could be wrong). This isn’t a misuse of Bending, per say, but it’s a showcase if any were needed that non-Benders are pretty much excluded from positions of power in government (and have to advance in industry; a key theme of the series is how power is shifting away from tradition and is falling into the rulers of industry- see Marxism theory, I suppose). They’re fall guys.

- The police: probably the biggest case to be made. The police are -all- Benders, which makes them an incredibly strong force to be mismanaged, and this is showcased pretty well. If I had a city of two ‘types’ of people, I wouldn’t staff the police entirely with one of those ‘types’. Again, this is due to the established power structures which are present in the Avatar universe. Call me out on political bullshit again, but Benders = power in government and power in executing the law. I’m not bloody surprised that people want to learn Chi blocking when essentially the non-Benders are being watched by people who’re on the level of Superman in comparison to them (well, maybe not so much, but you get my meaning).

- Tenzin: the most debatable point. I love Tenzin to bits, but he’s incredibly inflexible and his hands are tied. He understands that nothing the Benders can do is exactly correct- they ‘crack down’ and they’re oppressors, they relax and they’re incompetent. You could technically argue that Tenzin’s position on the Council is entirely due to dynastic ties to Aang, though Tenzin’s pretty much shown that he’s worth being on the Council and we haven’t really seen any other mature Airbenders.

What I’m definitely -not- saying is that the non-Benders are all cool. That’s what I’ve found so appealing about the show. Not only do I find myself sympathising heavily with the Equalists, despite the fact that largely I find their methods contemptible, it’s that the Benders have also been shown in a fair light. There’s good guys, bad guys and the ones stuck in the middle who’s hands are tied. I can see why this isn’t appealing, but what I like about LoK the most is that it’s an inevitable slide into conflict which nobody can really stop or slow down- an unstoppable train of revolution and conflict. And hey, call me morbid, but I like that. I like that sometimes, shit just goes down and the heroes have to pick up the pieces. They’re heroes- they’re good at that. Sometimes things have got to go wrong before they go right.

Good post.  I agree with the bulk of it, with one exception.  I don’t really feel like Amon’s methods are contemptible at all.  From my point of view, where he’s facing an incredibly powerful establishment, his methods are downright restrained.  First, there was nothing stopping him - aside from Kids Show - from simply executing anyone he de-Bends, but he doesn’t.  Second, his choice of targets is not arbitrary or casual.  He starts out cherry-picking Benders who, by even the most forgiving definitions, abuse their powers.  That he’s escalated to Lin seems like a dramatic departure from the audience’s point of view, for sure, because Lin is awesome.  But Lin is also a high profile former head of the all-Bending police force, who had vowed to go outside the law - laws that didn’t restrain her much in the first place, but whatever - to strike back at Amon.  She was a persistent threat and not just some innocent Bender on her way to the grocery store. As much as - if not more than - anyone else, Lin was one of the most zealous and effective in preserving the Benders’ authority.  

Pretty much nothing Amon has done has made me think he or his methods are particularly extreme.  He’s played his cards about as well as anyone in his position could.  The revolution is not nice.  Nothing the heroes have done has given me any confidence, in the sense that I’d rather - if the world existed - live in one where Amon wins than one where Korra and Tenzin do.

Source: upsettingshorts

ley de gravitación universal: Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

thighhighdalish:

Reading all of this, one thing keeps popping into mind: When in the show have the “Bending Elite” been actually shown in the course of the episodes?

If you’re asking this question, I don’t think you really get what I mean by the term.  I will elaborate:

The Council?  Entirely Benders.

The police?  Entirely Benders.

The traditional hero-by-default?  Bender.  There’s also a huge statue of the last one in the harbor.

The military, as seen in the latest episode?  There’s almost no chance they aren’t entirely Benders, too.

Every scene of people in a room making decisions has been populated exclusively by Benders.  The one exception, when Sato is on the phone with his co-conspirators in the revolution, has the ubiquitous ominous music.  Oh no, they‘re getting organized!

Benders have abilities normal people do not, and they use those abilities all the time, and while those examples above ostensibly use them for good, plenty use them for outright evil.  Amon makes examples of them first.  Over the course of the season, even the “good Benders” are completely oblivious to the implications of their own activities.

That there are “normal” Benders too doesn’t change this.  That Benders exist at all and are exclusively represented in any organization that has political authority makes them a power elite.  They are effectively the noble and warrior class, and there’s no social mobility into this class.

When chi-blocking is portrayed in a wholly negative light, presumably for what it represents to Benders, that’s revealing.  Every time a Bender beats the crap out of a non-Bender, despite tools such as chi-blocking or mechanized warfare, Amon’s argument is proven correct.

So to answer your question:  Every time you’ve seen any Bender doing anything at all, they’ve been representatives of the privileged class.  Every time.

wadebramwilson:

But there is always stepping back and realising that it is a children’s show, trying to deal with some very adult issues. I don’t blame them for simplifying everything. Actually, I commend them for trying it to begin with. 

Would you give them credit for doing a season that focused on say… racial issues, or gender politics, and simplifying it for the kids, to the extent it’s very likely said kids would learn the very wrong lessons?  That’s what Legend of Korra is doing.  I’ve been hesitant to break out any argument that could be interpreted as “think of the children” but there you go.

There are some themes you really, really shouldn’t touch if you can’t do them justice.  This is one of them.  Maybe I’d buy this argument if the principle characters among the good guys ever really thought about anything, but they don’t.  They’re just a bunch of reactionaries fighting against a populist challenge to their authority whose ideology they don’t even entertain as being legitimate for a single moment.

Source: upsettingshorts

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

khatman:

Tbh, it’s all of the “bad” traits that makes me want to watch it. It’s a great storyline that focuses on revolutions, a change of governance, things that we all have witnessed going on around the world for the past few years.

What’s wrong with seeing that metaphor being put into a show? There are some points I greatly disagree with but in general all of the “bad show” points makes it stellar to me. But to each his own.

Are you sure you read my post?

To carry over the “this is what’s going on around the world for the past few years” argument of yours: I’m saying that Legend of Korra is painting the established regimes that faced rebellions (Gaddafi in Libya, Assad in Syria, Mubarak in Egypt) as being the sympathetic “good guys.”  The comparison fails when enough specifics are brought up, but it’s your comparison.

In Korra, Tenzin and his fellow Benders on the Republic City council represent what amounts to an oligarchy (that becomes a one-man government-in-exile in the latest episode.)  The revolutionary underclass is made up exclusively of non-Benders who are never shown in a position of political authority.  The show portrays the former as being the good guys with no justification whatsoever other than the soundtrack and Amon’s menacing voice.  That’s the problem.

The idea of using the themes and metaphors of revolution in a show is fine.  In fact, early on I was excited to see what developed.  That Legend of Korra completely dropped the ball (see points 1-5) is what motivated this post.  At no point do I argue otherwise.  

So, why does establishing a potentially compelling premise and then doing everything possible to ruin it make the show stellar?  Are we giving participation medals for their having tried to do a plotline they’ve demonstrated they’re unable to handle?

Source: upsettingshorts

Leave censorship out of ██████.: Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

prehistoricdanc:

upsettingshorts:

  1. The central conflict creates a situation where the heroes are actually on the side of oppression, counter-revolution, and perpetuating inequality.  At no point is the ideological justification for opposing Amon revealed by any character, it is simply taken for granted that the status quo ought to be maintained. 
  2. Instead of taking advantage of the inherent dramatic potential of the protagonists being on the wrong side - starting by acknowleding, even for a second, that the above just might be true - Amon and the Equalists are just lazily drowned-out by ominous music.  That the show is lacking in any sort of self-awareness on this front is pretty much unforgivable.
  3. It portrays events that escalate the central conflict in wildly inappropriate ways.  Until the latest episode, the Equalists exclusively target Benders who abuse their power and this is seen as extreme.  The Benders/police conduct searches and seizures without evidence, launch paramilitary raids on people just learning how to defend themselves and this is seen as business as usual.
  4. The show draws arbitrary standards as to what constitutes abuse of authority with Tarrlok seemingly going too far, despite his actions being much closer to things Korra, Tenzin, and Lin had already been doing than the characters in the show, and soundtrack, would lead you to believe.  
  5. Arbitrary justifications, ad-hoc powers of authority, vague standards of evidence… and we’re not supposed to buy it when Amon says the Benders are oppressive?  Seriously, bring on the damn revolution.  Where can I sign up to help throw these clowns out of power?
  6. It’s too late to fix any of the above.
  7. Tonally, LoK tries to do too much and it is a mess.  For example the kids’ show antics of Meelo are very unsettling - in the sense that they kill the mood and destroy tension - when they are interrupting scenes that are, in context, incredibly dark.  If this problem sounds familiar, that’s because it’s something George Lucas had issues with in the Star Wars prequels.  You know, that other follow-up to a beloved IP that was a disaster of trying to appeal to too many people at once.
  8. Legend of Korra has the dubious “honor” of being one of the few examples in media where the protagonist is a female action hero yet is full of episodes that routinely fail the Bechdel test.
  9. Speaking of Korra, her character is all over the place. Very driven and badass when she needs to be, totally incompetent and out of her depth when the plot demands it, with motivations for doing things that can only be described as “that’s what was next in the script.”  
  10. On a related note, want to get frustrated? Go watch an early episode and play the “I wonder what happened to that subplot/characterization” game.
  11. Pema’s relationship advice.
  12. It feels like a stretch placing Mako in the section of this post that seems to be talking about characters, since he is - as a friend aptly described - more like “a scarf with a haircut” than a believable person.  But damn is this guy a waste of screentime in every way imaginable.  If he in fact does exist simply to frustrate the audience and reduce everyone’s sympathy for himself and Korra, then mission accomplished.
  13. Seriously, what are they doing with Mako?  He is a scene-killer that torpedoes characterization among his comrades and for what?  Because he can’t figure out who he wants to stick his dick in and keeps choosing “all of the above?”  Not to mention this love-triangle has the drama and sophistication of a Saturday morning cartoon to begin with.  Oh, right.
  14. This excellent post on the love-triangle and how it’s ruining things.

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a good show:

  1. The animation and art style is really fantastic.
  2. Avatar: The Last Airbender was great.
  3. The animals in the Avatar universe continue to be cute.
  4. Some characters make the most of their criminally-limited screentime (e.g. Bolin).
  5. ???

I’m reblogging this just to say that you spent way to much digging into a cartoon. lol.

Some of the negative responses boil down to this.  Normally, I’d agree:  The notion of spending any kind of serious thought analyzing and being critical of a Saturday morning cartoon is typically a silly one.

However - and this is critically important for the first few - the creators opted to cover what are often described as “mature themes.”  They made a choice to go political, and they got it about as wrong as anyone can.  

Portrayals of uprisings, rebellions, and challenges of political authority in media are important.  This is especially true when they come down so casually and unapologetically in favor of the state/established elite.  Therefore, it doesn’t matter that it’s a cartoon.  

That I’m bored by Mako, find the love triangle tiresome, or Meelo’s antics a pretty solid example of how not to release narrative tension, are more matters of personal taste.  They also contribute to, you know, the show being bad.

(via damianrules)

Source: upsettingshorts

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a bad show

  1. The central conflict creates a situation where the heroes are actually on the side of oppression, counter-revolution, and perpetuating inequality.  At no point is the ideological justification for opposing Amon revealed by any character, it is simply taken for granted that the status quo ought to be maintained. 
  2. Instead of taking advantage of the inherent dramatic potential of the protagonists being on the wrong side - starting by acknowledging, even for a second, that the above just might be true - Amon and the Equalists are just lazily drowned-out by ominous music.  That the show is lacking in any sort of self-awareness on this front is pretty much unforgivable.
  3. It portrays events that escalate the central conflict in wildly inappropriate ways.  Until the latest episode, the Equalists exclusively target Benders who abuse their power and this is seen as extreme.  The Benders/police conduct searches and seizures without evidence, launch paramilitary raids on people just learning how to defend themselves and this is seen as business as usual.
  4. The show draws arbitrary standards as to what constitutes abuse of authority with Tarrlok seemingly going too far, despite his actions being much closer to things Korra, Tenzin, and Lin had already been doing than the characters in the show, and soundtrack, would lead you to believe.  
  5. Arbitrary justifications, ad-hoc powers of authority, vague standards of evidence… and we’re not supposed to buy it when Amon says the Benders are oppressive?  Seriously, bring on the damn revolution.  Where can I sign up to help throw these clowns out of power?
  6. It’s too late to fix any of the above.
  7. Tonally, LoK tries to do too much and it is a mess.  For example the kids’ show antics of Meelo are very unsettling - in the sense that they kill the mood and destroy tension - when they are interrupting scenes that are, in context, incredibly dark.  If this problem sounds familiar, that’s because it’s something George Lucas had issues with in the Star Wars prequels.  You know, that other follow-up to a beloved IP that was a disaster of trying to appeal to too many people at once.
  8. Legend of Korra has the dubious “honor” of being one of the few examples in media where the protagonist is a female action hero yet is full of episodes that routinely fail the Bechdel test.
  9. Speaking of Korra, her character is all over the place. Very driven and badass when she needs to be, totally incompetent and out of her depth when the plot demands it, with motivations for doing things that can only be described as “that’s what was next in the script.”  
  10. On a related note, want to get frustrated? Go watch an early episode and play the “I wonder what happened to that subplot/characterization” game.
  11. Pema’s relationship advice.
  12. It feels like a stretch placing Mako in the section of this post that seems to be talking about characters, since he is - as a friend aptly described - more like “a scarf with a haircut” than a believable person.  But damn is this guy a waste of screentime in every way imaginable.  If he in fact does exist simply to frustrate the audience and reduce everyone’s sympathy for himself and Korra, then mission accomplished.
  13. Seriously, what are they doing with Mako?  He is a scene-killer that torpedoes characterization among his comrades and for what?  Because he can’t figure out who he wants to stick his dick in and keeps choosing “all of the above?”  Not to mention this love-triangle has the drama and sophistication of a Saturday morning cartoon to begin with.  Oh, right.
  14. This excellent post on the love-triangle and how it’s ruining things.

Some reasons why Legend of Korra is a good show:

  1. The animation and art style is really fantastic.
  2. Avatar: The Last Airbender was great.
  3. The animals in the Avatar universe continue to be cute.
  4. Some characters make the most of their criminally-limited screentime (e.g. Bolin).
  5. ???

Edit:  This post seems to be very popular on Google, so I felt like I should add a note that the bulk of this post was written sometime before the end of the first season.  The last episode, by itself, deserves an entirely new rant…

And I thought about updating this after the finale with things like the incredibly awful reset button ending, and Tarrlok’s 11th hour Exposition Bending, and the complete erasure of the Equalists’ ideology…

…but you know what? It’s not worth the effort.  Enough bad writing is enough.

thedailywhat:

TV Show Promo of the Day: IGN has just released a brand new trailer for The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra — Nickelodeon’s long-awaited follow-up to Avatar.

The new trailer is chock full of new footage, including a scene of Korra destroying a 2,000-year-old treasure that probably shouldn’t have been used for airbending training if they didn’t want to risk it being destroyed jus’ sayin’.

Though no official premiere date has yet been set (coming soon? Thanks for nothing), it has been confirmed that the first episode will air sometime in 2012 — possibly as early as this summer.

[ign.]

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