Lukewarm take I guess, but I feel like some people should open their eyes and realize most of the main, recurring characters are kids, teenagers. And not just any kids, but kids who have lived in a world thatâs in a war. Kids who experienced trauma, or abuse, are mentally ill, or lived in harsh conditions. Kids who were forced to grow up way faster because of their tragic circumstances. Circumstances that affected how they act, how they see the world, how they react to things.
And it makes me really sad how some of yaâll are so quick to tear some of these kids apart and demonize them for making mistakes, even though making mistakes is just part of life, especially if they live through so many rough things.
Should characters be taken accountable for doing mistakes? Yes, absolutely! But it doesnât make them horrible people or irredeemable, abusive, and whatever other words some folks like to throw around, because the fact is, they still got their whole lives ahead of them. And often times, it makes their character a lot stronger or believable, beause guess what! People in real life make mistakes too.
And in Avatar in particular, it was amazing to see these kids grow and learn, even if it was in a shown in a subtle way. And it was amazing to see how everyone was different, how everyone deals with problems they have in different ways, and how they cope with things, even if not in the best or healthiest of ways, because again, thatâs just what kids would do.
So please,Â
Stop saying Katara was annoying for bringing up her motherâs death often. She is deeply hurt, she had to step up and take up so much responsibility in her family, and she had a right to have a right time forgiving the people who have made her life so much tougher. And saying Sokka didnât care about his mom as much as Katara does. He is also hurt from it, and is just coping with it and dealing with it in different ways. This goes the other way too btw, itâs okay Katara expressed it in a different manner than Sokka did.
Stop saying Azula is 100% evil and doesnât deserve love. She was weaponized by her father, encouraged to do bad things, when she was just seeking approval of her parent. (which kids simply just do!)
She was just in a very unfortunate position, not being able to realize her wrongs when she lived under the wing of someone who glorified this behavior. She does have feelings too, she even had a moment where she apologized to Ty Lee after making fun of her. She was genuine at that moment.Â
Has she done some awful things? Definitely, but that doesnât mean she going completely insane from losing people she thought were loyal friends was a triumphant moment. It was tragic, sheâs so damaged, and yet sheâs only 14.
Stop saying Mai doesnât care. She does, just because she doesnât show it outwardly like some other characters do, doesnât mean she doesnât care, and doesnât mean she doesnât have feelings. It was very clearly mentioned that she didnât have the best family life, that she was taught to be obedient, quiet, perfect little girl, and it makes complete sense how this affected her later in life. And donât act like her calling Zuko out over his temper tantrums was abusive. Calling people out on their bullshit is so important, because then, they can better themselves.
And just because I said all this doesnât mean itâs not valid to not be a fan of a character. Sometimes something may not be our cup of tea. But to hate them so much and demonize them, and not even take the effort to think about them in a way that isnât unclouded by feelings, and not give them any credit where the credit is due is just so tiring to see for me.
I could go on and on about this and how some folks just get these (and other ones I didnât even mention) characters so wrong, but this post is already long enough so I will just leave this here.Â
jacobvanloon
tangentwithtanner
vaporwave
gracieabrams
prguitarman
