People shocked that the Targaryenâs were not liked by the small folkâŠbrother they were colonial dictators with medieval nukes who Habsburged themselves into insanity
At the end of the day, I think that Snyder was always trying to say that humanity doesn't deserve Superman, and that Superman sometimes thinks that himself.
While James Gunn is saying that we do. And that Superman WANTS to help. He loves humanity because humanity is all the best parts of him.
Snyder came in with his idea of what he wanted Superman to be. Gunn KNOWS who Superman really IS. And that's an important distinction.
Ok but like Superman having good rep for punk people that, while brief, shows the ideals of punk culture being rooted in standing up for people being persecuted and fighting against the authorities that attack them was not something I was expecting but Iâm genuinely so happy about it. Punk people and ideals have been treated like a joke by a lot of mainstream media, but to have a highly successful movie accurately capture it means so much to me. Especially coming from Lois Lane.
I absolutely adore how normal Clark's parents looked so normal. I realize the ideal of them is a strong farmer and his wife and that might be a beautiful older woman and her sturdy handsome husband. Nothing wrong with that. But Martha and Jonathan Kent in this movie were the kind of older couple I'd see at the grocery store in my own small-town. The kind of people at the community hall and auction grounds picking up hay bales for the cattle.
They were warm and just so normal it almost surprises you. They also don't resemble Clark at all which I think is important in driving home the fact that they aren't his biological parents. He stands out amongst them it's so clear he's different and special even. And my god do they love him.
The way they call for him and sit on a rusty bench outside the creaky screen door. That feels like home to me having grown up on the prairies. How authentic they feel only grounds Clark even more. It feels less like a dream or idea of a perfect farm family and is more two people who tried their best and will bake apple pie with calloused hands full of love
James Gunnâs thesis statement for his Superman is simple and effective: "Be good. Do good. Be human despite the bad things. That is the most punk rock thing in a world so stoic and cynical."
And thatâs how it should be. Thatâs beautiful, the new Superman movie is beautiful.
excuse me for stating the obvious but like. james gunn outright calling superman an immigrant and doubling down on it when he got backlash (because he IS an immigrant, that's the point of superman) + the in-movie dialogue of "aren't you going to read me my rights?" "you're an extraterrestrial, son. you haven't got any rights to read." + the violence of his arrest and how they torture and mistreat him unapologetically, all under the guise of "protecting america", in a film releasing during the onslaught of violent ICE kidnappings and abuse... yeah it's really no wonder right-wing knobheads are crying about this being woke. they're being forced to look directly at the reasons one of the most well-known and beloved heroes of all time would not be on their side. and that's only ONE of the reasons this movie covers
iâm on the third episode of the erik and lyle menendez show. and this show is doing them SO DIRTY. like this is made by the same guy that made the dahmer show. and many people didnât like how the show perceived dahmer to be innocent and a victim himself so idk, it just feels like they went out of their way to make the brothers even more monsters than they needed to be.
like i get what they done is awful, but they were literally tortured their whole lives??? like the way theyâre happier in prison than with their own family. idk. idk. iâm just a girl with an opinion yall. donât come for međ„°
just the difference between dahmer and the brothers is crazy. like dahmer just⊠liked killing people but he got treated better by his show than the menendez brothers did on theirs is CRAZYYY.
Ok so I decided I am going to post that âatla live action hot takeâ I mentioned
Click below the cut if youâre interested in hearing my take on the whole âtaking away sokkaâs sexismâ thing
1) nobody is glorifying sokkaâs sexism by saying it should be kept in the show. Itâs quite literally the opposite. The original series did a great job using his sexism as a lesson; any time sokka made a sexist remark in the first 4 episodes it was made abundantly clear that he was wrong, and as soon as Sokka was proven wrong he admitted that he was misguided, apologized, quite literally bowed down on his knees to ask for forgiveness, and even asked to learn from the kiyoshi warriors, and excepted wearing their traditional uniforms, further surrendering his flawed perspective of societal gender roles. A wonderfully executed example of writers using their characters to teach viewers a lesson: which was, in this case, that sexism is wrong. Sokkaâs sexism was not left unresolved, so why take away a valuable lesson in the show??
2) if you take away a characterâs flawsâŠthen they donât have development. A character canât learn and grow from their mistakes if they never make mistakes.
If a charecter starts off perfect and unflawed then they are surface level and lack depth or the ability for an arc.
And no, this is not saying that Sokka didnât have many other admirable qualities like his intelligence and adaptability etc.. He 100% had those qualities. But one of the coolest things about the original atla series was their ability to flesh out side charecters and give them depth. A charecter who is simply smart then becomes smarter, or adaptable then becomes even more adaptable, lacks depth and internal conflict.
Sokkaâs sexism was the starting point for his internal conflict. Sokka wasnât just sexist to be sexist, or because the entire southern water tribe was misogynistic (and we know for a fact they werenât, because if they were misogynistic, then Katara wouldnât have been shocked when the North denied her waterbending training). He was misogynistic because being seen/accepted as a âmanâ and a strong warrior was all Sokka wanted after his father left him behind. In reality, we know his father was only trying to protect his son from the horrors of war. But to a young and impressionable child, Sokka internalized this as him not being âmanâ enough, so he dedicated himself to becoming the person he thought would make his father proud. He was always reaching for this unattainable standard he set for himself, which lead to him having a skewed and toxic view of masculinity that he took out on the women around him. He associated being a worthy warrior with being a traditionally masculine man, and leaned way too far into fulfilling the gender roles men and women are told to play in society in hopes of gaining his fatherâs approval. We see him do this by suppressing his feelings of inferiority as a nonbender, along with all the aspects of himself that he thought could be seen as âweakâ or âfeminineâ (ex: his love for shopping and poetry and art that we see develop up until the literal end of the series).
So clearly, the vast majority of sokkaâs charecter development that deals with internal conflict stems from the toxic view of masculinity and gender roles that he adopted after being left behind by his father, which caused him to outwardly lash out toward katara and Suki with misogynist comments. So taking away the sexism we see in the first few episodes eliminates important context that makes sokkaâs character development throughout the entire series significant, not just an âiffy unnecessarily bigoted messageâ, because it was quite literally used to show that sexism was wrong.
I wasnât going to say anything about this at first but seeing so many people display a fundamental lack of understanding for the premise of character development and the usage of charecter flaws to promote positive messages in media set me off. JustâŠWTF????
(Also I know I wrote a summarized version of this in the tags for another post but I wanted to expand upon it more and make this a separate post)
I watched the Netflix adaptation of ATLA today and being a hardcore fan of the OG series who knows every nook and cranny of the ATLA world, hereâs my unbiased and truly honest review (It contains both the negatives and positives of the series, so dear reader please enter to read at your own risk).
Firstly, letâs talk about the wonderful additions to the already magical world of ATLA.
1. The depth of the genocide
Well, I always wanted to know how the air nomads were suddenly wiped out and how it would have been for them? Why didnât they resist? I got my answers in the first episode where we explore how the unhinged power of the comet was âactuallyâ used to create a genocide on a massive level. Before that, I had only heard about it in the OG series. Those few scenes were so powerful that they had left me sobbing uncontrollably and Gyatsoâs concern regarding Aang had me bawling.
2. Sukiâs Characterization
In the OG series, we do find our Suki the fiercest warrior, but here in the live action, sheâs an absolute goddess. She is perfect in every sense. She understands the responsibilities she has being a non-bender and is fearless. Her character is what I believe to be was the strongest one of all.
3. Graphics & Music
We never talk about a film by M.Night (that didnât happen), but this one is really a visual treat for you can readily set yourself up for some mind-blowing bending scenes, plus the fight scenes are quite impressive. It seems that the VFX team had really done their homework this time. Plus, both Momo and Appa are so freaking cute. I loved the fluffy Appa. Good work over there. The revival of the OG theme is also a highlight plus the sun warriorsâ chanting in the end is given a new but intriguing twist. The background music especially in scenes where Aang unravels his Avatar powers is mystical in every aspect.
4. Life in motion
I donât know about others, but I have always been a sucker for animation as well as live-action where characters are operating even in the direst of the circumstances. Life is there and even after they know what happened a hundred years ago, they are still trying to believe and regain their past confidence. This is beautifully portrayed and I was very much impressed by the way people are continuing their day-to-day activities even in the middle of a crisis.
Overall, the series serves the purpose of an adaptation carrying its unique colors (at least better than the previous live-action disaster that didnât happen).
Now letâs move to the bad side, and when I say itâs honestly what I felt, you need to take my word on it being a hardcore Atla fan.
1. Weak writing & lots of exposition
ATLA remains at a 9.2 IMDB rating even after years because of its writing, strong plot, and very few plot holes. This time, the writers are the real amateur ones. Despite addicting more to the already flourishing universe of ATLA, sadly, they killed the quest of the viewer to find answers. There is too much exposition. It seems that every character just wants to see the end of the war and keeps on revealing things after things. Plus, some of the OG moments that were the soul of the series are not even included. The way Aang finds Momo and then decides to keep it with him as a last remnant of their bygone air nomad civilization is nowhere to be found. In fact, the replacement of Roku with Kyoshi is the biggest disappointment. I love Kyoshi like no one else but that was unnecessary as per the cycle.
2. Bland acting
Even the worst writing shots can be digested only if the acting appears real good. Sadly, this is another issue that I found with the NETFLIXED version. No doubt the characters must have done a lot of hard work for this, yet, they lack the expressive power. Gordon as Aang is super cute but the goofiness is not even there. Katara seems a nerd who doesnât like to talk much even when itâs necessary and Sokkaâs jokes are forced. Meanwhile, Dallas seems to save the day at one point, but again his over-the-top angry young man attitude ruins it for me. Maybe the actors will learn from the criticism in the upcoming season (if Netflix plans to go with it).
3. Major changes
Yes, itâs okay to change the narrative while you are working on an adaptation, but targeting the loyal viewers who are OG fans of ATLA means that you have to be very careful when you are trying to implement your changes in scenes that are the real soul of the OG. You canât change the Omashu myth as if itâs nothing when we actually see even the cute animated version of the folklore. You cannot portray Roku more as a perpetrator of the genocide and Bumi as the evil king when in truth heâs the mad king whoâs known for his genius ways of teaching. I hated that. Plus, reducing Zhaoâs authority and taking Uncle Irohâs sarcastic attitude is just meh. Mai again doesnât even seem perfect as a cast. Jet is good as far as the aesthetics are concerned but Jet being in Omashu doesnât even sit right with me. The amalgamation of multiple storylines creates so much confusion and this persists till the end.
4. Bending at convenience
We all know how Kataraâs bending progressed throughout the first season and itâs little effort each day. However, in series, one day sheâs unable to bend even a droplet of water and the next day she is capable of producing ice crystals. This was unacceptable for me because I was anticipating her learning strategies. Besides, Aang doesnât learn much water bending throughout this season and in the end, itâs him being the savior in Avatar state. Thoughtless bending sucks despite the great VFX and thatâs one thing at which you canât convince me otherwise.
5. Forced friendships
We all know how it took some time for Sokka to embrace Aang as a chum. However, here Sokka keeps on calling him âthe kidâ and remains mostly alienated from Aang. Talking to Katara, then she also seems more interested in helping Avatar fulfill his goal than being with a friend. I hated the scene where Aang comes into the Avatar state and instead of hugging him just like in the OG series, Katara runs along Sokka and keeps on calling his name. How is that going to build any organic friendship? I think the first mistake began right from the very moment when Aang was taken back to Wolf Cove on a boat in his unconscious state. Upon opening his eyes, the first person he finds near him is neither Katara nor Sokka but a tribesman whoâs playing guessing games. Writers were really high when they wrote that.
6. Lack of the four nationsâ biodiversity
Maybe in live action, itâs difficult to create all the marvels of the four nations when we talk about their natural biodiversity. In the OG series, it is indicated by Aang that even after 112 years, he has still not forgotten the animals that define different regions in the four kingdoms and thatâs exactly why he wants to finish those âimportant tasksâ alongside saving the world. His important tasks included keeping a check on the natural biodiversity of the lands and exploring whether the Hundred Yearsâ War had not damaged the majestic animals. Actually, his first dialogue right after regaining consciousness is to go for an otter penguinâs ride with Katara. When I thought about that I felt that somewhere in Aangâs mind he was always connected to nature and thatâs why he wanted to regain that connection by being an avatar. Sadly we never see much of the biodiversity but I hoped that maybe they will.
Also, how come Aang had that silent whistle for one hundred years when in the series he only discovers that accidentally? I missed the OG Yip Yip for our Appa. There are lots and lots of problems with the Netflix version, and no I am not being a nitpicker. I appreciate how the current creators credited the original ones, but now I know why Bryan and Michael bade farewell to this project. On a scale of 10, itâs a 4 for me or 4.5 if I am being too generous.
If I am asked to review the live action in a single line, I would only say this:
âThe Netflixed ATLA makes you go back to the OG series and you end up watching the animation to give your mind a much-needed respite from a carefully crafted artistic disaster aimed at the sensationalized generation.â
Doesn't Aang acknowledge beauty in only two people? First Katara, and then...well, what do you know, Katara in disguise? Doesn't Aang fall head over heels for Katara THE MOMENT he sees her? Isn't Katara the ONLY person in the entire world who would go penguin sledding with him? Isn't Katara the ONLY one who can get Aang out of the Avatar state?
Yeah.
That's what I thought.
I better not see any petitions for Zutara to be the endgame for the Live Action version. They deserve to be with each other in EVERY UNIVERSE.
the sexism thing??? we all know it's fucking stupid and purely performative to take out sokka's feminism arc, but can we talk about the fact that He Is Still Sexist????? he still thinks that what he does (running the village's defenses, which they've never needed) is vastly more important than what she does (wash the clothes, cook, etc). and yk what?? the live action reboot AGREES with him. it doesn't show or even mention katara doing any work around the village. all we see katara doing is practice waterbending - the only interesting thing that original episode 1 sokka seems to think katara ever does.
the live action show depicts sokka "doing all the work", fulfilling his traditionally masculine role of warrior/protector, and COMPLETELY DISMISSES whatever "women's work" katara does, as if she does nothing. seems pretty clear to me that the showrunners would love to absolve themselves of sexism by not talking about sexism, while in actuality being pretty sexist themselves
and don't even get me started on sokka not wearing the dress/makeup of the kyoshi warriors' uniform
Netflix, I donât know how to tell you this but a woman doesnât have to be self taught to be a strong female character. Itâs ok to let her know her limitation and ask for help. Itâs ok to let her get angry, itâs ok to let her be jealous, itâs ok to let your female character have flaws and WORK on them. Your female character doesnât have to become a master on her own to be memorable, it just makes her accomplishment feel unearned.
so. i watched the trailers for the A:TLA live action netflix series. i went in expecting nothing, and I gotta admit some parts look intriguing. the casting, the set, the bending, the costuming, all look pretty cool. not a big fan of the cgi or how it always seems to be the dead of night in the fire nation, but i was considering watching the first episode at least, out of curiosity and mild respect.
then I saw Zuko's scar.
I thought well, it is really dark, I should wait to get a better look at it before totally freaking out.
are. are you kIDDING ME?
[important: I know nothing about this actor, this aint a dunk on him, I doubt he had a lot of input into his makeup.]
for reference, here is zuko in the OG show.
zukoâs scar isnât a fucking bad eyeshadow job. His ear is half-melted. It takes up like 1/4-1/3 of his face. Itâs not just his eye - itâs his cheekbones, itâs his forehead, itâs all down the side of his head, boy should not have a second eyebrow! I swear to god if they spend their money animating each individual hair on appa but donât bother to get something as iconic and central to the series as zukoâs scar right? it'd be like messing up Spock's ears, except real-life people don't have Spock ears and struggle with how they are perceived by society because of it.*
*that I know of. maybe there's a secret Spock ears genetic condition I don't know about in which case I apologize
also... there was this bit. we get a quick flash of this shot
ok, we know this shot. we've seen this shot. it's the agni kai where zuko gets his scar. note the relative positions of the two people, and what the floor looks like.
then a little later, we get this shot
it's clearly the same scene. it's ozai burning zuko. but. why is there fire on both sides of zuko? it looks like he's deflecting it. like he's fighting back.
it. it is so so so important for zuko's arc and character growth that he refuses to fight his father in his first agni kai. he shows mercy when ozai does not. he is a child - he does not think to defend himself against his own father. throughout his whole arc, the whole show, but most especially season 1, it is so important to remember that the last time he showed mercy and humility, he literally got burned. that's why he's so aggressive and angry and scared and defensive.
so. why is he defending himself? is this why his scar is less pronounced? because they decided to mess with established history?
maybe we can give them the benefit of the doubt and say this is a different agni kai, or zuko re-imagining how it could've gone, or something, but like. why choose to show this then?
further rant below the cut bc its very long I haven't felt righteous fury this strong in a while
I just. I personally donât have a facial scar or birthmark or anything, but when Hollywood sugarcoats or makes them look less âgrossâ or âobviousâ itâs a real fuck you to people out there who do have obvious scars, birthmarks, differences, that donât fall into the neat lines of what is considered âpresentableâ by the film industry. Itâs important that itâs not downplayed bc then the people who see themselves in the original get betrayed by the adaptation that tells them theyâre not pretty enough or that theyâre âtoo muchâ to be seen on tv in live action.
Excuses I have seen thus far (mostly on reddit admittedly)
âThey didnât want to make it look too gruesome so that kids would want to watch it too"
Think about that sentiment for 10 seconds, and tell me what it says to people out there who have scars like this. Are they too âscaryâ to be seen by children? Is their existence automatically PG-13? Something horrible and uncontrollable happened to zuko, and because of that, his life and body are irrevocably changed. People with scars like his who related to and felt seen by his representation and the way he struggles with acceptance, both by himself and by others, will receive the message that can only happen for people with less âgruesomeâ scars than that. Seriously.
âOf course itâs going to look different in real life vs in animationâ
Yes, it will. Iâm not talking about the appearance of the burn necessarily, but the extent of it. The new series has it limited mostly to his eye. His ear and eyebrow are unaffected, as are his cheekbones and forehead. That is not the case in the animated show. Iâm not expecting a big monochrome pink and purple blotch like there is in the OG show - animated visual shorthand is different from live action. But it should look like burned skin. And it should be as extensive as it was - it goes over his ear and eyebrow, and partway down his cheek. the whole point of it is that itâs big and unavoidable and horrifying, and that zuko was a 13 year old kid who didnât deserve it, but now is stuck with it. Thatâs war. Thatâs what ozai is capable of.
âThe makeup would be too hardâ
It really wouldnât, especially not for something as important to the series as this. Zukoâs scar is central to ATLA as a whole - a symbol of the cruelty of his father and the fire nation, and more importantly his survival and eventual resistance to it. Even if it did take extra time to apply, which I donât think it would, Iâd say itâd be worth it. Iâve seen cosplays and Halloween costumes [and this excellent fan film] without access to a professional makeup and prosthetics team that looked closer to show accurate than what theyâve currently got going.
Let me also point you to examples of both comparable and much more dramatic makeup/prosthetics used regularly (as in every episode, every week, for many years) on 2 shows with smaller budgets, older technology (as in, from the 1990s), and many more seasons: Star Trek: the next generation & ds9
trust me. they can do it. this is a choice.
âWhat it if made it hard for him to act?â
See above for examples of other actors in much more dramatic prosthetics crushing it.
"Well at least it's better than the other live action adaptation"
that CANNOT be the bar we measure things by. standing still and doing nothing is also better than getting brained with a shovel: that doesn't mean it's good.
"He has darker skin than the animated Zuko. the burn probably blends in more."
that's not how burn scars work. it's not just a darkening of the skin - the skin itself is fundamentally changed in texture and color. and again, even if the burn has a different general appearance, it should at least be as big and extensive as it is in the OG show, and it's clearly not.
âThey probably didnât want to shave his eyebrowâ
No, really I saw this as a point on a Reddit post. Drag queens and cosplayers have been making their eyebrows disappear and reappear for decades without access to a professional makeup and prosthetics team. Heâll be fine I swear.
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