The Appeal of Zutara (Zutara vs. The Canon Pairings, 1/3)

May. 12th, 2011 09:55 pm
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Zutara. It's a force that can't be ignored in this fandom. It's been well-established that fans who support the Katara/Zuko pairing are more active and vocal, something a simple Google search seems to confirm. "Zutara," as of this writing, turns up about 485,000 results, while a search for "Kataang" turns up about 303,000 results. There is a similar disparity in Fanfiction.net story searches, with filtering for "Katara, Zuko" and "Romance" turning up 4,834 stories and a filter for "Aang, Katara" and "Romance" bringing up 2,735.

So what, goes the refrain. Katara/Zuko fans have always been more active. In some ways they had to be, since their preferred ship was not sanctioned by canon. Plus, simple popularity proves nothing about validity or quality. Just because more people like something doesn't mean it's better. So what am I trying to prove with the numbers game?

( For this essay, I am interested in WHY Zutara is so popular. )
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Reasons I Love Avatar 4: Politics (Part 3 of 3)

May. 3rd, 2011 11:28 am
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In Part 1 of this essay on Avatar: The Last Airbender as a political story, I discussed attempts to resolve the crisis of a worldwide war unilaterally, from the Earth Kingdom side. In that part and Part 2 I talked about the reasons why the attempt failed, and indeed that maybe it was best that it failed--because the solution had to come from inside the Fire Nation. Until a viable alternative rulership presented itself, outside intervention might have done more harm than good. Then I said that such an alternative existed in the Fire Nation due to the history of anti-war dissent starting from Roku onwards, and that the internal movement to end the war found its focus and leadership with Prince Zuko, both Sozin's and Roku's descendant, finding his conscience and his destiny.
 
So all the pieces are in place, and the goal is clear: Zuko would become the new Firelord, replacing his father and vanquishing his sister. He would then end the war and bring peace. His uncle and his Order of the White Lotus cohorts would retake the city of Ba Sing Se, something crucial to stabilizing Zuko's rule. Dissidents to the new Firelord holed up in the world's greatest fortress would be a headache and a nightmare for Zuko, and risked splitting his nation apart. And most crucially, the Avatar Aang would neutralize the current Firelord Ozai.
 
( Reasons I Love Avatar 4, Part 3 (in which we ponder kinslaying for fun and profit) )
 
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Reasons I Love Avatar 4: Politics (Part 2 of 3)

Apr. 30th, 2011 12:32 pm
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Part 1 of this essay on Avatar as a political story talked mainly about the Earth Kingdom and its political attempts to end the war, and the root causes of that failure. Here in Part 2 I will discuss another effort to end the war unilaterally from the outside, specifically the coalition invasion in "The Day of Black Sun." Then I will discuss the Fire Nation's internal anti-war movement and how it was suppressed ("The Avatar and the Fire Lord," "The Headband," and even brief mentions of Book 1 episodes like "The Storm"). Based on that, I will discuss how internal regime change was the only real solution to the war from the start. I will also ramble on about Zuko again, so brace yourselves for that.( Reasons I Love Avatar 4, Part 2 (in which nothing goes according to plan, and that's a good thing) )
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Reasons I Love Avatar 4: Politics (Part 1 of 3)

Apr. 30th, 2011 12:01 am
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Previously in this series, I have discussed the subject of war in Avatar: The Last Airbender. In this post, I'd like to discuss the larger context of the war and how it was handled as a political situation in the show, making it truer to life and more interesting.

At first blush, politics might seem like the polar opposite of what good fiction is made of. All good fiction is about truth, genuine emotion and plausible events. Fiction is the point of the knife where the soul is tested and shows its true mettle... or the lack of it. Politics, on the other hand, is disingenuous and dishonest, all about mouthing insincere slogans that don't mean anything while grubbing for self-gain. Politics, it seems, is about avoiding responsibility, playing it safe and not doing anything meaningful.
 
So how can a story like Avatar be a political tale? Can it even be a good story if (as I believe) so much of it is about politics? For that, I will talk a little about what I think politics is, before I move onto the role of politics at Ba Sing Se, in the Fire Nation, and for the world at large. 
 
( Reasons I Love Avatar 4, Part 1 (in which the Earth Kingdom kind of sucks) )
 
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Reasons I Love Avatar 3: War

Apr. 26th, 2011 12:19 am
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The central subject matter of Avatar is a world-wide war. It is also a show rated for children. Therefor the show is replete spectacular battles with elements and technology where no one is shown dying or even getting hurt, people slamming hard enough into walls to break them down and bouncing back up to fight, and fireballs flung all over the place with remarkably few people getting actually burned.

(I don't fault the creators for the cartoon violence, by the way. There's nothing wrong with working within the rating while bringing important issues to younger audiences. And I realize I'm the weird one here for expecting those otter-penguins to suffer abdominal ruptures every time I watch the penguin-sledding scene from "The Boy in the Iceberg." You're welcome for the mental image.)

But when I think of the treatment of war in Avatar, I don't think of any of those flashy scenes. I think of this guy:

( Reason 3: War (In which I quote Hobbes and otherwise scare people away.) ) 
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Reasons I Love Avatar 2: Relationships (Part 2 of 2)

Apr. 14th, 2011 03:56 pm
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In the first part of the post on relationships in Avatar: The Last Airbender, I discussed how relationships played a role in the change and growth of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. I continue and conclude the discussion with a great deal on Zuko and Mai, and a bit on Azula and Ty Lee.

( Reason 2: Relationships (definitely hazardous to Zutarans) )

So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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Reasons I Love Avatar 2: Relationships (Part 1 of 2)

Apr. 14th, 2011 03:09 pm
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In a previous post I discussed one of my reasons for loving Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was the rich character stories in the series. In this post I'd like to talk about the relationships between those characters and how they enrich and deepen the characters and the story.

( Reason 2: Relationships (may be hazardous to the mental well-being of Zutarans) )

This post was broken into two parts due to its length. The next part is all about the Fire Nation teenagers, mostly Mai and Zuko, with a little about Azula and Ty Lee.
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Reasons I Love Avatar 1: Character Arcs

Apr. 8th, 2011 04:47 pm
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The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Avatar: The Legend of Aang in Britain and Korea) is one of fantasy and adventure. It abounds with heroes, villains, spectacular element-bending and acrobatic martial arts. Oh, and also spirits, monsters, and intrigue. That's what it is, right? An action-packed adventure animation for children.

Which is an accurate description, but it's also true that works don't always stay in their original target audience. Whether it's the Twilight Moms or one of the many, many other examples of periphery demographics (TV Tropes link warning), fiction meant for children or young adults can speak to adults as well. (And I'm not even creepy, I swear!)

The reason Avatar speaks to me in this way is that the world has a lot more depth and truth to it than it may seem at first. I mean it's gorgeously animated, rich in detail, very well written, has good production values, etc. etc.--but even more than that, it's one of those works that really move me and say something about what life is like. I would like to discuss those aspects of Avatar in this and other posts. Call it the grown-up fan's defense of liking a children's animation.

If you want a comprehensive analysis of the show, or if you're interested in any kind of in-depth critique of Avatar, you absolutely must give Alex's Extended Analysis a read. I won't try another full critique of the show, because as far as I'm concerned that wheel has been invented . My goals for this series are humbler: I want to talk about the reasons why the show appeals to me as an adult.

So without further ado, let me start with the first reason: The characters of Avatar, and specifically the way they grow and change.



( Reason 1: Character Arcs (here be spoilers, obviously) )
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