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groundramon · 6 years

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Ok just for clarity im gonna compare how SU and ATLA are treated by this website, obviously this isn’t a one-size-fits-all since I’ve seen someone say “why do the creators of LOK hate brown women so much” but I digress:

ATLA: ATLA is often praised as a perfect, amazing, near-flawless show. However, there are people who have legitimate complaints with it. Many people dislike how Ozai’s defeat was handled and others still have problems with the het couples in the show, among other things. The Fire Nation is generally compared to nazi germany to a certain extent, in that Ozai is a hitler-like figure and many fire nation civilians don’t know the truth, HOWEVER, they are still to blame/the enemy even if they’re good people deep down. Either way, most people say that this show is pretty good, with people pointing out various flaws here and there.

SU: The diamonds are not perfectly comparable to Ozai in that the diamonds have very emotion-driven motivations (with the exception of White) while Ozai has always just been Bad. Having said that, having emotions doesn’t immediately redeem you. We learn more about Ozai and his motivations for why he does the things he does in the ATLA graphic novels, but that doesn’t condone or redeem him. The Diamonds, thus far, have shown no signs of being redeemed; Steven is just working with them because it was basically “reveal you’re pink diamond or die” so he chose to reveal himself and now they won’t leave him alone, so he decided hey, maybe he should use that to fix some shit? Basically Steven is using them, but obviously that’s not to say he’s doing anything wrong to the diamonds or anything. I mean, they’re slave owners.

There is most certainly a difference between many things in SU and many things in ATLA. For example, ATLA’s “morally gray” character isn’t exactly like Pink Diamond. Zuko doesn’t fit the bill at all and the only closest character I can think of is Iroh. Iroh I think is an okay comparison, especially when you consider that he didn’t step down from the Fire Nation until his son died, and then he pledged himself to try and keep balance in the world. You could even argue that him leaving the army prevented him from becoming fire lord, which in turn would’ve let him save more people - just like if Pink stayed Pink instead of turning into Rose. However Rose’s role as Pink Diamond is a bit more complex than Iroh’s when you consider Pearl and the extent of Rose’s powers. In my eyes, I think it’s obvious that Rose and Pearl had a toxic dynamic, even if Rose didn’t mean to be abusive. Pearl’s behavior feels very in-line with a trauma/abuse victim to me; a lot of that behavior WAS over Rose, but the reveal paints it in a whole new light imo. Additionally, we don’t know how much Rose could’ve done if she stayed Pink, and/or how many people she could’ve saved from the blast if she wasn’t most focused on Garnet and Pearl. Iroh had nothing like that; Zuko was in a very similar situation of being semi-disowned from his family for being “too soft” and Iroh was only ever a positive influence on Zuko’s life. Iroh didn’t really have power over Zuko (not any more than a weird uncle normally has over their emo nephew anyways) and their relationship couldn’t become toxic because of that. No one was inherently on a plane above the other besides seniority. Pearl was programmed to always listen to Rose; Zuko basically never listened to Iroh but also they’re both humans so that would be weird if it was the case.

Ergo, there is certainly something more worth critiquing in SU over ATLA’s story. I for one found ATLA’s handling of Aang’s pacifism pretty good overall, since it was presented (in my eyes) as HIS choice, HIM being SELFISH. I can’t really tell you which direction SU is leaning in, however I think the worse thing you can say (accurately) atm is that the tone/message is muddled/confused. That’s an opinion, and a fair one to have. Like you can say it’s nazi apologism but maybe think for like 2 seconds considering 1. the show has done nothing except have three-dimensional villains that the hero is only “friends” with because he wants something from them and 2. the creator is literally jewish (white, but jewish)

None of this is to say either show is perfect, that you can’t critique SU, ect. If you think the show is heading down a dangerous path, say it! If you have problems with smaller things like potential racial stereotypes peaking through, critique it and say what a better personality would be! If you have problems with lgbt stereotypes, well maybe shut your face because Rebecca is a bisexual nonbinary woman but you can still give constructive criticism, just be nice since she’s literally a trans wlw! Be! constructive! Be! normal! It’s normal to have gripes with a kids show, especially one as gutsy as SU! You can have an opinion without acting like finding a few things here and there makes everyone involved with and who likes SU a shitty person!

#stormy speaks

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