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Post by "Cane Dewey" Johnson on Jul 15, 2012 15:01:48 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't think "A:TLA" as a show really makes race as a social difference that visible. It's more a mater of national allegiance. So people from the Fire Nation are perceived as being inherently 'bad' because they're from the Fire Nation, and not because of their skin colour, although the show does take pains to represent that there are good characters from the Fire Nation (Iroh, Jeong Jeong, Piandao) as well as bad characters from other nations (Long Feng and the Dai Li, June). Perceptually, are Katara or Sokka THAT much more racially 'different' than Aang, Toph, or Zuko? Or do differences come from the cultural contexts. But, even then, if someone were to say that the lead characters of the show all 'look the same', would this be a good or a bad thing? Good, because race as a social difference is no longer 'seen' so that it will no longer be evaluated or judged (racism and discrimination), but inversely is also no longer 'seen' and therefore mutes social difference altogether (homogeneity and effacement, i.e. does the show frame representations of the range of Inuit, Chinese, and Pan Asian cultures through a 'white' lens as informed by the show's creators?).
Honestly, I don't know. I think "A:TLoK" is much more explicit about difference on one hand but also much more subtle with being explicit. When Korra lands in Republic City, one of the Triple Threat Triad members asks her if she's "fresh off the boat." Mako is a firebender and Bolin is an earthbender, meaning they have bi-national backgrounds (since we never saw a firebender born in, say, the Earth Kingdom). Even Republic City as a space bears the resonances of post-colonial convergences of race and culture. And all this is said without noting the the representations of class given appearance of material labour (like the firebenders who conjure lightning to power the city) and poverty (Gommu and the underground slums).
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2012 18:46:46 GMT -5
See! I was right all along! Now all we need is for them to lose all their interesting character quirks and M Night will be entirely vindicated! Also most of them need to change their names.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,161
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Post by Mozenrath on Jul 31, 2012 19:46:29 GMT -5
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Post by aka Cthulhu on Sept 28, 2012 6:56:50 GMT -5
Way late to the party, but the Asian TV premiere of Korra is now on here, and I'm going to watch this for the first time ever.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 28, 2012 7:03:35 GMT -5
I just started dating a girl who really liked A:TLA, but hasn't seen Korra yet.
Showed her episodes 1-3 the other day, and I think she's already hooked.
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Arrow
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,122
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Post by Arrow on Sept 28, 2012 7:14:36 GMT -5
Looking back, I really wish this could have been the usual 20 episodes instead of 12. Just watched through some of the show again, and it's still a fun series, but it could have been great had it been paced better.
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Post by horsemen4ever on Sept 28, 2012 7:19:18 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't think "A:TLA" as a show really makes race as a social difference that visible. It's more a mater of national allegiance. So people from the Fire Nation are perceived as being inherently 'bad' because they're from the Fire Nation, and not because of their skin colour, although the show does take pains to represent that there are good characters from the Fire Nation (Iroh, Jeong Jeong, Piandao) as well as bad characters from other nations (Long Feng and the Dai Li, June). Jun is not bad. She neither good or bad, she is neutral. Which further adds another layar that world is not black and white things you were talking about.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Sept 28, 2012 12:58:36 GMT -5
Looking back, I really wish this could have been the usual 20 episodes instead of 12. Just watched through some of the show again, and it's still a fun series, but it could have been great had it been paced better. I initially preferred the run of 12 over the typical drawn-out method of US series that clock in at around 20. That being said, LoA never really felt saddled with filler, and any non-arc material was always well used on characterization and backstory, making the actually meat of the series seem that bit richer when it came. LoK, while great, I felt got into it a bit swiftly and, at times, I felt as though I'd watched a little bit too much in a little too short a time.
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Arrow
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,122
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Post by Arrow on Sept 28, 2012 13:39:40 GMT -5
Looking back, I really wish this could have been the usual 20 episodes instead of 12. Just watched through some of the show again, and it's still a fun series, but it could have been great had it been paced better. I initially preferred the run of 12 over the typical drawn-out method of US series that clock in at around 20. That being said, LoA never really felt saddled with filler, and any non-arc material was always well used on characterization and backstory, making the actually meat of the series seem that bit richer when it came. LoK, while great, I felt got into it a bit swiftly and, at times, I felt as though I'd watched a little bit too much in a little too short a time. Once you get past And the Winner Is..., it's just one big plot point after another, and you're never given time to let any of that settle in. And the series has to spend so much time building up to those things that certain stuff like character development, Korra's airbending training, her growing connection to her spiritual side, get less focus. By the finale, certain things that are supposed to be the big payoffs either don't feel as special as they should (confirmation of the Korra/Mako relationship, Korra's connection to the past Avatars) or come straight out of nowhere and feel forced because of it (Korra learning airbending).
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