And Legend of Korra went back on so much of that; turns out anybody who wants to make society more equal is just jealous of the super special individuals who dictate it, and anyone who pretends to represent you actually just wants to be the only super-special individual. Also it’s fine to work with fascists as long as they’re nice to you.
The jealous people are actually the only antagonists with a good point, which was undermined when it turns out they were unknowingly led by an ultra super special guy. And then they were essentially ignored after the ultra super special guy was out of the picture.
Of course this was partially an artifact of the show’s production history. The first arc was supposed to be all there is, then the network started adding and subtracting seasons at random. It’s hard o tell a nuanced story in one season and even harder to tell a coherent one when your life expectancy fluctuates wildly.
In my opinion LOK would’ve been a bit more interesting if they’d spent more time examining social tension in the city instead of focusing on the actions of a few people. Explore what it takes to turn several mutually antagonistic factions in a confined area into one functioning society and discuss the effects of long-term social tension.
Of course there would still be some bad guys to punch. Can’t have an Avatar show without good fights.
there’s also the option of not insisting that there must be some grand plot, and instead just coming up with cool shit that can exist in an industrialized world filled with benders.
Like fire benders working at a power plant just zapping the shit out of a battery, they could have done more of that.
True, although in the context of “hey, here’s some money to make a one-season ATLA sequel” you’re probably expected to have something that feels ATLA-ish – which means that a dramatic overarching plot is hard to avoid. This is especially so since a single-season show needs to establish its setting and characters, give them some room to breather, and set up and conclude an interesting storyline all in a handful of episodes. Action plots are easier to do under those constraints.
These days there’s more freedom; Avatar has ascended to cult franchise status and the purse strings are no longer held by a network hellbent self-sabotage. We could totally make Avatar: The Next Generation, where people spend most of their time standing around and discussing philosophy. You can do that in animation, as Orb has just demonstrated, and the universe has plenty of space for it.
You fucking troglodyte. The original avatar is one of the most woke cartoons to ever air in America
Thatsthejoke.jpg
And Legend of Korra went back on so much of that; turns out anybody who wants to make society more equal is just jealous of the super special individuals who dictate it, and anyone who pretends to represent you actually just wants to be the only super-special individual. Also it’s fine to work with fascists as long as they’re nice to you.
The jealous people are actually the only antagonists with a good point, which was undermined when it turns out they were unknowingly led by an ultra super special guy. And then they were essentially ignored after the ultra super special guy was out of the picture.
Of course this was partially an artifact of the show’s production history. The first arc was supposed to be all there is, then the network started adding and subtracting seasons at random. It’s hard o tell a nuanced story in one season and even harder to tell a coherent one when your life expectancy fluctuates wildly.
In my opinion LOK would’ve been a bit more interesting if they’d spent more time examining social tension in the city instead of focusing on the actions of a few people. Explore what it takes to turn several mutually antagonistic factions in a confined area into one functioning society and discuss the effects of long-term social tension.
Of course there would still be some bad guys to punch. Can’t have an Avatar show without good fights.
there’s also the option of not insisting that there must be some grand plot, and instead just coming up with cool shit that can exist in an industrialized world filled with benders.
Like fire benders working at a power plant just zapping the shit out of a battery, they could have done more of that.
True, although in the context of “hey, here’s some money to make a one-season ATLA sequel” you’re probably expected to have something that feels ATLA-ish – which means that a dramatic overarching plot is hard to avoid. This is especially so since a single-season show needs to establish its setting and characters, give them some room to breather, and set up and conclude an interesting storyline all in a handful of episodes. Action plots are easier to do under those constraints.
These days there’s more freedom; Avatar has ascended to cult franchise status and the purse strings are no longer held by a network hellbent self-sabotage. We could totally make Avatar: The Next Generation, where people spend most of their time standing around and discussing philosophy. You can do that in animation, as Orb has just demonstrated, and the universe has plenty of space for it.
also god battles satan as kaiju-mechas because NO PLEASE KEEP WATCHING OUR SHOW
Or: fascists with a grudge found a real issue to exploit. Nope, no relevance there