#avatar criticism

[plutomoth777]

So on the subject of "Fire and Ash," when are we going to talk about how Jake offered more affection, compassion, patience and grace to Spider than he was ever depicted offering to Lo'ak. When are we going to talk about how the vast majority of Jake's scenes with Lo'ak showed Jake speaking to him with damn near contempt and that he looked at and spoke far more gently to and about Spider than he ever did to and about his own flesh and blood son.

When do we have that conversation, or do we just completely disregard and make excuses for it because god forbid we do anything other than revere, worship and coddle the white boys?

[colorfulstudentllama-thethird]

I think I am generally of the opinion that the James Cameron Avatar movies aren't really good, but they have really cool and interesting ideas, and I like to engage with them.

The Na'vi culture(s)? Cool as fuck. The biology of the world? Awesome. The way they make the different Na'vi races distinct, and then further distinguish between different tribes using just character design? That's good shit right there. Their religion and how it connects to the whole planet's ecosystem? So very interesting. Neytiri and the kids? Compelling basically across the board. The way the kids struggle with being a mix of human and Na'vi? How they struggle to make their parents (adoptive and biological) proud? I really do feel for them. Varang's whole deal? I wanna see more!

Like, the writing is effective in that I am interested in the world and I do care about at least a few of the characters as I watch them on screen. But also, James Cameron makes (or at least approves of) some incredibly stupid and weird choices in these movies, and I do need to make fun of them sometimes.

The children did not need to be kidnapped that many times in a row Jimbo! Find a new way to drive the plot forward! Tuk said "not again!" And so did I! Either kill the Colonel or don't, but stop with the fake outs! Why did you give that white boy dreads? The teenagers do not need to call each other "bro" every other sentence to sound young 😭! Why can't we take 5 minutes out of one of these 3+ hour movies to let Spider talk about some of the trauma he has undoubtedly acquired? Why do these teenagers keep attempting to kill each other as a "prank"? Why does Kiri call Spider "monkey boy"? She has not seen a monkey! Pandora doesn't have monkeys! Why can't anyone babysit Tuk so she's not getting kidnapped or dragged into war zones? "SuLLyS sTiCk TogEthEr" I don't care, leave that 7 year old with her Grandma! Why do the humans seem intent on wiping out the tulkun? They can't get more of the space whale miracle drug if they kill all the space whales! So on, so forth.

All in all, I have mixed opinions on this franchise. Some very cool ideas! Some very iffy execution.

[soulstutters]

a lot of people misunderstand the disdain for spider. at least from the people who feel similarly to me.

to preface, i love the avatar movies very much and that's why i feel so strongly about their flaws.

i don't hate spider because he helped quaritch; that's his dad, sure whatever. i don't hate him because i blame him for neteyam's death - i don't. i don't hate him because he's with kiri. i could not care less about that.

i get that spider is integral to the plot of the avatar movies at this point. that's the problem. i don't hate spider as a person, i hate him as a character.

his role in the movies just reinforces the white savior trope they're built on (a white person does not have to explicitly save other characters to fit the trope or to fulfill the same role. that's a shitty refutal).

along with jake, so much of the movies center around spider as this central character. he is a major factor in the movies' two sides, jake and quaritch. the way the movies are written, the non-na'vi (read: white) characters remain at the center and on the right side of every conflict, personal and systemic.

this is not a problem with spider, the boy. this is a problem with the writing of spider, the character. if the movies were written differently, spider could act with the same exact intentions and consequences and there would be less controversy.

calling people "illiterate" or "racist" (the far more stupid of the two accusations) for not liking spider or his role in the movies isn't fair if you don't take the time to understand why.

[paintedladys]

hm I feel like sandbenders were poorly designed compared to the other cultures in Avatar. it just felt like a racist stereotype. unlike all the cultures in the avatar world, the only impression you got from sandbenders was that they were either traders and thieves. I literally cannot recall anything positive about their culture at all. it wasn't that great considering how sandbenders clearly reflected nomadic groups in the middle east.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

After looking at @gd2go2′s post about Legecy Of The Fire Nation I gotta say that I’m disappointed but not surprised. It’s very clear to me that they’ve reduced Azula to just her mental illness. Which is a damn shame because she’s more than that. She’s much more. 

That side by side pic of her with Zuko; he had the glorious/proud portrait and even in that one she was portrayed with the disheveled hair and what have you. I mean come on now...

I’m trying to be optimistic about Azula’s story but that’s becoming difficult with stuff like that. 

EDIT: I think that one of the things that disappoints me the most is the contrast to the show. By this I mean; one of the reasons I loved the final Agni Kai so much is that it (very uniquely) used music and atmosphere to portray the downfall of Azula, the antagonist, as sad and sympathetic. It actively acknowledges that it is sad and not celebratory that a 14 year old abuse victim finally broke. Whereas Legecy of the Fire Nation both paints her breakdown as something to be happy about (at worst) or as a way to prop up Zuko and make him look good and/or as a plot device.

In my personal opinion, this is a very disrespectful portrayal of mental illness as well as the depth of the impact of child abuse and that's what bothers me the most about this.

[brightmenace1]

My blog is not dedicated to Avatar but...I just thought about something. Sometimes I forget that jake was human. Maybe it would be better if instead of jake, the story followed native na'vi man. This would avoid white saviour trope and make the story a bit easier? He trusted a human and was kind to them but they betrayed him (it would be quaritch? We think about him as someone who accidentally used an avatar (or not accidentally), but then we find out that he was not the ordinary soldier but the general. He was building a trust with na'vi to know their weaknesses and to know how in the future humans would exploit Pandora, it's population and nature) After this, the na'vi man was having a hard time trusting humans (the narrative doesn't portray it as wrong. It portrays it as understandable) when Grace warns about something or tries to help. Grace doesn't become one on the na'vi. She stays human... but she tries to change humans' ideology.

[silver-sphere]

I watch LoK: book 2 ep 3

So spirit portals are like wormholes? If those portals had been open 150 years ago getting to the North Pole would’ve been a lot faster for Aang & Katara. Wow.

Aang only took Tenzin on vacations? That’s not very nice.

NOT EVEN THE ELEPHANT KOI? How can Aang not take his children to ride the elephant koi? Why did he hate them? Not even building sandcastles with them on the beach? You don’t have to be an airbender to build sandcastles!

Ahh, but sweet Tenzin has family trouble as well! Surely this is completely comparable and after a search together they’ll all make up.

Bumi is the uncle for Meelo I hope Sokka was for him.

Varrick is annoying as hell but he sure knows how to play a crowd.

Wow, that sure is good brotherly advice on how to deal with abusive girlfriends. “Just break up with her!” Thanks, Mako.

…is Korra blind? Unalaq is just power-hungry! How can she not see that? She saw through Torlak! Why are so many Water Tribe men evil nowadays? They used to be the good guys T.T

Southern Waterbenders! Yay!

“His precious little airbender…” I don’t want to imagine Aang like this. I don’t like Kataang, but this is NOT what it would’ve been. Aang and Katara are both such loving people, they would’ve been the sweetest family. Aang loved kids! He would never neglect his own!

Bolin is literally begging for help. This is scary. And they’re just.. making fun of him?

Wow, Bumi sounds awesome! He’s just like Sokka <3 and Kya inherited Katara’s “gets shit done”-genes.

Wow, now Kya is mean to Bumi as well. So she's hating on Tenzin ‘cause he’s an airbender, and on Bumi ‘cause he’s not a bender at all! Low. Very low. She can’t have learned that from her mother who told Sokka how much the group needed him when he felt left out. Was Sokka even there in their youth? Or did only non-bending Bumi get to spend time with him? Apparently children get sorted by their bending now :/

At least Korra’s mom tries to heal her family. This sure is the episode with all the family drama, isn’t it?

Sure, fight the Avatar, that’s a great idea!

“Who’s going to carry on Aang’s legacy?” “How about all of us?””Yeah, we’re his kids too!” Tell ‘em, Kya and Bumi! If anything, they’re half air nomad, and Tenzin is half water tribe too (even though he looks nothing like it. Hell, Bumi looks like he’s Earth Kingdom! So Katara did have a secret thing with Haru?)

Well, at least one family is reunited again. Pretty sure that won’t last long.

[swan2swan]

Huge props to Mai for actually being a female character from the original series to actually expand her agency and character (even if she lost some of it beforehand).