• Great_Leader_Is_Dead
    ·
    10 months ago

    I wouldn't claim ATLA is leftist, but I wouldn't really call it blatantly Lib either.

    • BovineUniversity
      ·
      10 months ago

      I agree. The sequel is mega mega lib though.

      • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        The tankie did nothing wrong until she went aggro on the environment and, for some reason, really hated that the world's capital was in her territory.

        Also after the monarch dies everybody immediately starts burning shit. The anarchists who did do it never bothered to try and make parallel power or really implied they had any theory behind them.

        • BovineUniversity
          ·
          10 months ago

          for some reason, really hated that the world's capital was in her territory.

          Wasn't it literally a former fire nation colony that was made independent rather than rightfully returning to the earth kingdom? It's like the Hong Kong of Avatar if the libs had their way.

          • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
            ·
            10 months ago

            Given that it was Hong Kong , but like a super effectual HK, I guess I imagined it like if everybody had to come to the earth kingdom for the Olympics. You get to control how food and every other logistic gets to them. There's so much upside to having everyone come through the earth kingdom to get to the capital. If cooperation was at all, even a little bit, of your strategy you could cook something.

        • Poison_Ivy [comrade/them]
          ·
          10 months ago

          The tankie did nothing wrong until she went aggro on the environment and, for some reason, really hated that the world's capital was in her territory.

          Kuvira had internment camps too

          • Smeagolicious [they/them]
            ·
            10 months ago

            Yeah the thing that bothered me about Kuvira was that she was very fash coded, had internment camps, was gonna spirit nuke everybody etc., but was treated more sympathetically by the writing than previous designated villains who had way more reasonable and sympathetic causes

      • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
        ·
        10 months ago

        I haven't watched it in a while, granted. Outside of Aangs pacifism, the resolution of which is, I would agree, very lib and one of the weaker parts of the show, I don't recall anything particularly lib. I think it's one of those works where the political messaging in vague enough you could read a variety of interpretations into it.

        Honestly I think this need to label all media either "leftist" or "lib" or what have you, is a weird and time wasting obsession of people these days. Yes there's blatant examples of each, Legends of Korra for example is undeniably Lib, but in between those there's a sea of stuff that's open enough for there to be alternative readings. Plus while you can do political analysis of all media, that doesn't mean all media had explicate political messaging.

      • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
        ·
        10 months ago

        Since we're in the writing comm, I'd like to press you with curiosity. What are lib elements of ATLA? I'm having trouble coming up with examples lmao easily as I could LOK. I know usurping the fire lord's throne with his son is cringe. Aang never questions the monarchy as being central for the earth kingdom. The idea of people being born into bending and your people with this border being the stewards of this art sort of imply a natural separation of people. Though Katara overcoming the cultural sexism on the northern water tribe and Sokka breaking the cycle was cool. Zuko and Iroh go hard in the paint.

        • RNAi [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          10 months ago

          Well you covered most bases,

    • AOCapitulator [they/them, she/her]
      ·
      10 months ago

      I mean it's pretty blatantly lib, zuko would at best be a Bernie sanders replacement of a leader of a horrifying system of violence

      Not to mention the cop out of magically not having to kill the fire lord

      If it wasn't lib that fucker would have been executed for his crimes

      • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
        ·
        10 months ago

        If it wasn't lib that fucker would have been executed for his crimes

        I mean, yeah, but I kinda give that a pass cuz it's a kids show. Idk if 12 year olds really want a whole seasons of Nuremberg trials being held in Ba Sing Se.

        • AOCapitulator [they/them, she/her]
          ·
          10 months ago

          I would agree if it werent for the entire episodes devoted to aang trying to find any way not to kill him and even all his past lives are like kill that fucker, and then its resolved with a deus ex machina of him hitting that rock and unlocking the super state and inventing this power. Could ahve worked, but the show painstakingly set up the OPPOSITE

          • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
            ·
            10 months ago

            No, I agree that I think the way they resolved Aang's pacifism was lazy and seems to contradict everything else the show was telling us up to that point. It's one of the weakest things about the original show, and the most lib. However I get why the network maybe didn't want a kids show to end with the protagonist straight up killing someone, so I'm curious how much of that ending was the writers vs the network.