Legend of Korra: 1, 2, 3
I lied. This wasn't the post I wanted to make after THE HUNGER GAMES, this is. But then the first post just got super long and I had to cut out my thoughts on the first two episodes. So here they are:
EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL. I was watching some the old episodes and the quality difference is stark. They've stepped up for Korra.
Episodes 1 & 2: Welcome to Republic City, Leaf in the Wind
A 1-2 punch introduction. Almost literally considering Korra. I just love her so much. I love that she's a strong tough brown young woman with muscles and boobs and a take-no-prisoners, even cocky personality. But she also warmly and enthusiastically embraces life. And is naive.
The attempts to make Korra out to be a white-privilege type savior is so weird. On the one hand, people do recognize that she has privilege but on the other, don't seem to understand that there are different forms of privilege other than white. Korra has bending privilege, though what that means exactly is up for debate. While there doesn't seem to be explicit privileges to being a bender (there isn't any "you can't bend therefore you're inferior" talk) in the Avatar world, there are simply things that will come easier to benders, particularly on the matter of physical violence. The Avatar is capable of making her own damn island-- that is a power non-benders can never have.
I don't know why people were mad about Korra being so shamelessly naive in the first episode. I'm excited about how much she's going to grow in the next few months.
I like that the tension between non-benders and benders was introduced subtly, with Korra clearly coming off the worse in her argument with the protester, the appearance of the gangsters, and the amount of damage Korra caused in the subsequent fight. It does feel like bending is better suited for wider open spaces than the city. Mike and Bryan picked a very rich theme to mine.
Oh Tenzin. I love how much of a stick in the mud he is, always trying to do the proper, grown-up thing while constantly being undermined (for the better, let's face it) by everyone: his mother, his children, his wife, Korra. Bless him.
I also really liked Lin. I think she and Korra are similar enough that they'll clash but would be utterly amazing for the brief times they're on the same side. I think they'd be a pair of people who would find their similarities to be annoying in a "I can't be anything like her!" sort of way. More please!
Then in episode 2 we get introduced to the brothers and pro-bending. The brothers are mostly sketches at this point. Bolin's the fun-loving, mischievous, flirty one with the nose. Mako's the responsible, more cautious, handsome one with the eyebrows. THOSE EYEBROWS. They're so epic. And for all that Mako is pretty, he looked more like his brother than the Comic Con pictures suggested-- and I love that.
I kind of love and hate all at once that Mako's so pretty. He's standing in guilty pleasure territory for me and that's always annoying. It's interesting that they decided that Mako Iwamatsu's namesake would be a bishonen... and the main love interest. Mako's character (Iroh) was so venerable with just a sliver of hedonism brought about by seeing enough of life to be ok with it. That's how I thought of Mako the actor, so to find his namesake to be none of these things has been jarring. But I'm sure Bryan and Mike know him better than I do. I wonder what the actor would've thought of his namesake.
Makorra is so unsubtle, it's almost nauseating. I've already checked out of this ship-- I'm way more interested in everything else.
Pro-bending's all right I guess. I watched the entire behind the scenes pro-bending explanation with Bryan and I knew it was less complicated than what he made it out to be. I still prefer the open field battles because it seemed to require more creativity, but I don't hate it.
Episode 3: The Revelation
CHILLS, you guys, CHILLS.
First off, we finally got more of the brothers. I love them so much, I love them as a trio with Korra. I still feel like we're not getting enough Bolin-- Mako (and Makorra) are sucking up all the time! :P (I have to rewatch this section though.)
I have this feeling that between Mike and Bryan someone (or both) is quite political. Not in any overt way on the show, but the politics is approached with such thought and contemplation, they clearly know their stuff.
I suspected before hand (like most people) that Amon could energy-bend like Aang could, but I was not prepared for how chilling that rally turned out to be. First, there was all the savior stuff Amon was going on about, which is terrifying to find in politics. There isn't any one person who can bring about a revolution, so the notion of saviors in politics always strikes me as a bit mad and out of touch with reality. Then again, Amon can get rid of people's bending so he has a superpower to back up his claim.
He also probably feels like the "Chosen One" since he explains that the spirits talked to him about how the Avatar was no longer necessary. And that's an interesting angle. He's clearly lying for political gain, but I wonder if the older spirits that Aang spoke with are indeed trying to make a power play, not to unseat the Avatar so much as to gain more influence in the world.
On the one hand, the conflict is supposed to be tradition (ie bending) versus modernity (ie technology) and it made me so sad to hear Amon say how the world didn't need the Avatar spirit anymore, with the implicit meaning that we had technology now and that was an equivalent substitute. I'm not very spiritual myself and that got me really thinking...
There is also the possibility that he's not energy-bending at all and is just able to do a prolonged form of chi blocking. I always got the impression that energy-bending could go both ways: it could create non-benders AND make benders at HIGH COST. After all, Aang almost lost himself taking it out of Ozai. Amon doesn't seem to be paying much for his energy-bending so it might not be as effective as Aang's energy-bending.
At least we can put to rest, I think, the idea that Amon is actually Bumi.
I can't shake the idea that Korra needs female friends her own age. Jinora and Iki are fabulous, but I feel like we need Asami... like, yesterday.
EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL. I was watching some the old episodes and the quality difference is stark. They've stepped up for Korra.
Episodes 1 & 2: Welcome to Republic City, Leaf in the Wind
A 1-2 punch introduction. Almost literally considering Korra. I just love her so much. I love that she's a strong tough brown young woman with muscles and boobs and a take-no-prisoners, even cocky personality. But she also warmly and enthusiastically embraces life. And is naive.
The attempts to make Korra out to be a white-privilege type savior is so weird. On the one hand, people do recognize that she has privilege but on the other, don't seem to understand that there are different forms of privilege other than white. Korra has bending privilege, though what that means exactly is up for debate. While there doesn't seem to be explicit privileges to being a bender (there isn't any "you can't bend therefore you're inferior" talk) in the Avatar world, there are simply things that will come easier to benders, particularly on the matter of physical violence. The Avatar is capable of making her own damn island-- that is a power non-benders can never have.
I don't know why people were mad about Korra being so shamelessly naive in the first episode. I'm excited about how much she's going to grow in the next few months.
I like that the tension between non-benders and benders was introduced subtly, with Korra clearly coming off the worse in her argument with the protester, the appearance of the gangsters, and the amount of damage Korra caused in the subsequent fight. It does feel like bending is better suited for wider open spaces than the city. Mike and Bryan picked a very rich theme to mine.
Oh Tenzin. I love how much of a stick in the mud he is, always trying to do the proper, grown-up thing while constantly being undermined (for the better, let's face it) by everyone: his mother, his children, his wife, Korra. Bless him.
I also really liked Lin. I think she and Korra are similar enough that they'll clash but would be utterly amazing for the brief times they're on the same side. I think they'd be a pair of people who would find their similarities to be annoying in a "I can't be anything like her!" sort of way. More please!
Then in episode 2 we get introduced to the brothers and pro-bending. The brothers are mostly sketches at this point. Bolin's the fun-loving, mischievous, flirty one with the nose. Mako's the responsible, more cautious, handsome one with the eyebrows. THOSE EYEBROWS. They're so epic. And for all that Mako is pretty, he looked more like his brother than the Comic Con pictures suggested-- and I love that.
I kind of love and hate all at once that Mako's so pretty. He's standing in guilty pleasure territory for me and that's always annoying. It's interesting that they decided that Mako Iwamatsu's namesake would be a bishonen... and the main love interest. Mako's character (Iroh) was so venerable with just a sliver of hedonism brought about by seeing enough of life to be ok with it. That's how I thought of Mako the actor, so to find his namesake to be none of these things has been jarring. But I'm sure Bryan and Mike know him better than I do. I wonder what the actor would've thought of his namesake.
Makorra is so unsubtle, it's almost nauseating. I've already checked out of this ship-- I'm way more interested in everything else.
Pro-bending's all right I guess. I watched the entire behind the scenes pro-bending explanation with Bryan and I knew it was less complicated than what he made it out to be. I still prefer the open field battles because it seemed to require more creativity, but I don't hate it.
Episode 3: The Revelation
CHILLS, you guys, CHILLS.
First off, we finally got more of the brothers. I love them so much, I love them as a trio with Korra. I still feel like we're not getting enough Bolin-- Mako (and Makorra) are sucking up all the time! :P (I have to rewatch this section though.)
I have this feeling that between Mike and Bryan someone (or both) is quite political. Not in any overt way on the show, but the politics is approached with such thought and contemplation, they clearly know their stuff.
I suspected before hand (like most people) that Amon could energy-bend like Aang could, but I was not prepared for how chilling that rally turned out to be. First, there was all the savior stuff Amon was going on about, which is terrifying to find in politics. There isn't any one person who can bring about a revolution, so the notion of saviors in politics always strikes me as a bit mad and out of touch with reality. Then again, Amon can get rid of people's bending so he has a superpower to back up his claim.
He also probably feels like the "Chosen One" since he explains that the spirits talked to him about how the Avatar was no longer necessary. And that's an interesting angle. He's clearly lying for political gain, but I wonder if the older spirits that Aang spoke with are indeed trying to make a power play, not to unseat the Avatar so much as to gain more influence in the world.
On the one hand, the conflict is supposed to be tradition (ie bending) versus modernity (ie technology) and it made me so sad to hear Amon say how the world didn't need the Avatar spirit anymore, with the implicit meaning that we had technology now and that was an equivalent substitute. I'm not very spiritual myself and that got me really thinking...
There is also the possibility that he's not energy-bending at all and is just able to do a prolonged form of chi blocking. I always got the impression that energy-bending could go both ways: it could create non-benders AND make benders at HIGH COST. After all, Aang almost lost himself taking it out of Ozai. Amon doesn't seem to be paying much for his energy-bending so it might not be as effective as Aang's energy-bending.
At least we can put to rest, I think, the idea that Amon is actually Bumi.
I can't shake the idea that Korra needs female friends her own age. Jinora and Iki are fabulous, but I feel like we need Asami... like, yesterday.