What I didn't like about Avatar
Jun. 7th, 2009 01:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starzkiTo begin with, let me say that I loved Avatar. Seriously, it's one of the best animated shows out there. There are about a bazillion things that I like about it that I could ramble on about at length. But tons of people who are better writers than me have gone on about the greatness of the show, so I won't do that for this post. Instead, I'm going to pick the two major bones that I have with Avatar: The Last Airbender. They both happened in the last two episodes.
First, WTF happened to Azula?! Seriously. What happened? I loved this show because it subverted sexism and made female characters rich and whole and complex and wonderful. Whenever Azula was on the screen, I found myself rooting for her. She was brilliant and talented and unapoligetically abitious. Then the show pulls a Lady MacBeth trope and ambition suddenly seems to be Azula's downfall. How gross. I think that the final battle between Zuko, Katara, and Azula would have had so much more resonance if Azula had been at 100%. As it played out, it was just... sad. I wholly disapprove. I think it was sloppy writing, which is upsetting to me, because the rest of the series was so stellar. It just sucks as an ending for one of my favorite characters I've seen in animation. *pout*
Second, Katara and Aang? Barfle. I was avoiding OTPing most of the characters because they are so young and I really don't care. But then there was Katara and Zuko and the naughty possibilities just called for fanficking. (But Zuko/Mai is delicious, too.) Katara/Aang? Don't see it at all. Why does Katara need to be paired up? Let her alone for a while. Seriously, not everyone needs a boy/girlfriend.
First, WTF happened to Azula?! Seriously. What happened? I loved this show because it subverted sexism and made female characters rich and whole and complex and wonderful. Whenever Azula was on the screen, I found myself rooting for her. She was brilliant and talented and unapoligetically abitious. Then the show pulls a Lady MacBeth trope and ambition suddenly seems to be Azula's downfall. How gross. I think that the final battle between Zuko, Katara, and Azula would have had so much more resonance if Azula had been at 100%. As it played out, it was just... sad. I wholly disapprove. I think it was sloppy writing, which is upsetting to me, because the rest of the series was so stellar. It just sucks as an ending for one of my favorite characters I've seen in animation. *pout*
Second, Katara and Aang? Barfle. I was avoiding OTPing most of the characters because they are so young and I really don't care. But then there was Katara and Zuko and the naughty possibilities just called for fanficking. (But Zuko/Mai is delicious, too.) Katara/Aang? Don't see it at all. Why does Katara need to be paired up? Let her alone for a while. Seriously, not everyone needs a boy/girlfriend.
