Hot take: Aang hate is forced atp
Some of yall talk about a kid like he's the devil or sum
I actually don't see the screenshot saying Aang's the devil.
What I see is:
1) Implying he will go into the Avatar State if a girl doesn't return his affections (already implied by the show)
2) Implying that he values Katara as only a potential girlfriend and not as a friend (already implied by the show)
Disclaimer: this is long, badly explained, and I repeat myself. If something comes off as agressive, please tell me, this was not my intention.
"If I hadn't blocked my chakra, I'd probably be in the Avatar State right now!"
Out of context, it could sound like Aang is upset about Katara and that he's saying he'd enter the Avatar State if a girl doesn't return his feelings. The problem is that in context, it's more than that.
First, in The Ember Players episode, Aang was already upset with the play before the whole "the Avatar?, he's like a brother to me" scene, because he disliked the way he was portrayed. But then, in addition the play also brings up his uncertainty about Katara's feelings, so he leaves. What I mean to say here it's that his response to Katara with the "I'd probably be in the avatar state" it's not just because the play implies that his feelings are unrequited.
If someone wants to argue the line is awkward or that the writers shouldn't have put it like that, that's fair criticism, not saying the oposite.
"We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together."
You say that it would imply that Aang only values Katara as a potential girlfriend.
But for me, it shows that: Aang has romantic feelings for Katara, he wished that the Invasion kiss could mean they were moving toward a relationship, and he wants clarification because he's confused.
But none of that inherently means he doesn't value her friendship. Aang having feelings for Katara doesn't automatically means that he can't consider her a friend, platonic love and romantic love can coexist.
You can absolutely criticize the way Aang handles the conversation in that episode, (especially the kiss at the end when Katara told her she was confused) That's a valid and common criticism, even among people who like Aang. But "he wants clarification about their romantic status" and "he only sees her as a potential girlfriend" are two completely different claims.
But more importantly
My post was about people who constantly villainize Aang, and I accompanied it with an image of someone saying that Aang is a 'nice guy', which implies that his kindness isn't sincere and that his behavior towards Katara has just ulterior motives.
Aang does have flaws, but saying that he's secretly a "nice guy? For me a "nice guy" refers to someone who fakes kindness (to girls most of the time) just in hope to have a romantic relationship with a girl. It's someone who believes kindness entitles him to romance and only acts this way to people he considers potential partners.
But Aang is a sincerely kind character, he sees good in people, even showing empathy to enemies, which can become a character flaw.
He does gets frustrated, insecure at times, and handles some situations poorly and I don't say people can't criticize him, but my point was that there are people who interpret all his mistakes in the worst way possible and conclude that he'sa bad person.
Again, this is a fandom, so people should have the right to criticize the characters of pieces of media. But I feel like Aang gets a lot of hate for a lot less then other characters, like the same standards are not applied to him. His flaws are exaggerated and then presented as his sole character instead of being just a part of his character.
That's why I made the og post. And my comment "Some of yall talk about a kid like he's the devil or sum" was not meant to come off as a way to excuse all his actions and errors because he's a kid. It wasn't meant to argue that Aang is a flawless character, it was more of a sort of vent post because i don't understand why some fandom interpretations portray Aang in a such negative way, with takes that are like "Aang is a 'nice guy' who only sees Katara as a prize." or the "Aang just used Katara to have children"
I think it's good that you've changed your tune, but your original post did NOT come across as a reasonable counter argument and did not get across that you think people are allowed to critique Aang, it came across as a hate post. You screenshot a post that made a valid critique and then stated that that person was saying Aang was the devil.
I also will push back against your arguments because Katara not returning his feelings WAS a huge part of why he hated the play. Throughout it, he reacts angrily whenever the play implies that Katara does not love him, not just in one scene, and nods when the Zuko actor says that Katara is "the Avatar's girl." That definitely implies the entitlement you've described above associated with the Nice Guy.
It's also wrong to say Nice Guys are faking being nice and therefore Aang can't be one. A lot of guys like this actually believe they are genuinely being nice and that is what makes them believe they deserve a girl's love. While it is true that this behavior is anything but nice, it is counter productive to focus on how nice the guy is, because the point is that niceness does not earn you access to a woman's body, and as we established, Aang DOES think that Katara should be his. Aang DOES nod at the statement that Katara is "the Avatar's girl." Aang DOES get angry when the play implies that he is happy with being just friends with Katara. Aang DOES demand to know when Katara will be his girlfriend and kisses her without her consent when she does not give him the answer he wants.
So I think the screenshot is pretty accurate, and behavior like this deserves to be criticized. Aang may believe he is genuinely a nice guy, but he doesn't really value Katara's friendship and his behavior hurts her when she doesn't become his girlfriend because he wants her to.
Think about this from Katara's perspective. A guy that you thought was your friend makes it clear to you that your friendship is not enough for him and interrogates you asking why you aren't his girlfriend, and blames you for the things an oversexed actress onstage does. Then your friend kisses you without your consent and violates your stated boundary. Doesn't seem very nice, does it?
It's also not very nice to make hate posts about zutara shippers, screenshot their posts, say that their opinions are forced and that they're calling a character the devil, and then say that your "intention" was not to come off as aggressive. Yes it was. You just thought it was okay to dehumanize and attack people for criticizing a fictional character.
