Hey geeks. How’s your week been? Entertainment-wise, I’m not much interested in what’s going on right now—the coolest thing I’ve just seen was the trailer for Black Swan, but other than that and a few Glee spoilers, I don’t have much to discuss in terms of breaking entertainment news.
This tiny lull in the switch between seasons allows me to shed light on some fairly recent news I’ve been dying to highlight (if only I hadn’t taken ages with Lollapalooza…):
Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Yup. The creators of the successful Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender (which was subsequently ruined as a film by M. Knight Shyamalan) are doing a spin-off.
Naturally, upon hearing this, I got a tad excited. You geeks know Avatar was my sole obsession over the summer, so a spin-off was good news.
The story will follow the new Avatar, a girl named Korra from the Southern Water Tribe, 70 years after Aang’s defeat of Fire Lord Ozai. Korra has already mastered Water, Earth, and Fire, and is looking for the (new) last airbender to teach her Airbending–Aang’s son, Tenzin.
In the 70 years that have passed since the end of the 100 Year War, changes have been a brewin’. Creators Michael DiMartino and Brian Konietzko are setting this new series in an entirely new setting within the Avatarverse: Republic City, a sprawling metropolis run by steampunk technology where people of all nations are united. Sounds like yin and yang, right? Not quite. One of the main conflicts of the new show will be a thriving anti-bender movement plaguing the still fragile peace of the world. I guess it’ll be up to Avatar Korra to set things right.
As excited as I am to hear about the new show, I’m still a little put out about some of the revelations it brings with it. For example, Aang having a son. More importantly, Aang having a son with Katara. Yeah, yeah, I know they are the official canon couple (Better known as Kataang) but I still can’t help but be, well, frankly, pissed every time I’m reminded that the two ended up together. It’s true that DiMartino and Konietzko hinted at it early on in the series, but here are my five reasons Kataang is just a big disappointment:
1. Aang is a monk. Monks…er…don’t really…have sons. At least, that’s the impression I was under.
2. Aang is the Avatar. I realize other Avatars had human attachments (Roku, for one), but that’s still a lot to handle. We don’t want him going the route of Anakin Skywalker.
3. Katara was always more of a mother figure to Aang than anything else. She rescued him from the iceberg, and yes, he did have a crush on her, but at the time he was a 12-year-old boy. Katara never seemed to really have any romantic inclination toward Aang (except for a few little moments) until the last possible second–she always treated him like a younger brother or even a son.
4. The age difference. A lot of people argue with me about this, especially considering my last and final reason, but think about it. From adolescence until adulthood (sometimes longer), women are mentally more mature than boys. So I find it a little weird that a 14-year-old girl (equivalent to a freshman in high school) would be into a 12-year-old boy (the same as a 7th grader). Yeah, Aang is the Avatar. But he’s still a little kid.
5. I admit it–I’m all about Zuko and Katara (otherwise known as Zutara). Yeah, he’s 16, she’s 14. Sorry, but that’s way more feasible than a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. Who did you have a crush on in high school–the hot junior or your little sibling’s best friend? Not to mention they set them up the whole second half of the first season and even more so in the 2nd and 3rd. Don’t believe me? Please re-watch The Crossroads of Destiny. Please. Just do it.
In addition to that, DiMartino and Konietzko originally wrote Zuko as Katara’s love interest, but decided to scrap it–I’m thinking they did it because Avatar is a kid’s show and Zutara is on fire. Who said fire and water don’t mix?
Yeah, it was the innocent little Kataang supporters.
But I can’t say I blame ‘em. Aang’s not a bad choice. But I’m still for Zuko. In my opinion he’s the real hero of the show–he had to struggle and fight to do the right thing and actually changed throughout the course of the narrative, whereas Aang got validated in nearly every choice he made.
Plus, he took a bolt of lightning for Katara! Come on! That’s scorching. Literally. (For those Maiko fans out there, let me say that I like Mai a lot–but I think she was just thrown into be Zuko’s girl just so us Zutara fans would have something to nibble on.)
Anyway, geeks. I’ve been itching to rant about that for ages. If you haven’t watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, NETFLIX it! It really is very good. I know what you’re thinking–kid’s show–yeah, I did too. Then I got past the first two episodes and now I’m pumped for the next big adventure. Avatar Korra, I wish you the best of luck. See you in 2011.
May the geek be with you,
Lindsay
Loved this post. I agree on a lot of things you said – especially about Aang having a son with Katara. Not my cup of tea.
What you said about Zuko – which I also agreed with – reminded me of Snape from Harry Potter. He’s my favorite character from the HP-verse. Not very relevant, but I thought I’d mention it.
Anyway, the metropolis-scenery will be interesting to see…but I think many people will be disappointed. It sounds much darker – especially with the anti-bender movement – and I think that it’ll surprise a lot of Avatar fans with the huge difference.
Hopefully, after a few episodes, it will still be as well liked. Great post!
We might be meant to be best friends. Snape is my favorite character too! I’ve always loved him. And it’s totally relevant.
I’m thinking it might be a bit of an adjustment for a large sector of Avatar fans, but I think the creators were surprised how much older kids were into it, too, and decided to up the ante this time and target a slightly older demographic with a darker tone.
So, I guess we’ll see! Needless to say, I’m excited. Thanks for the comment!
I’ve only just figured out the “follow-up comments via email” so I didn’t really know you had replied to this. Harhar.
Anyway, I do believe we are supposed to be best friends. I was referred to your blog by my cousin (who is one of your friends). She said that we’d probably be good friends.
I feel like this paragraph is creepy – moving on!
Definitely. I’m actually surprised by the older audience as well. Myself, I’m into Disney and cartoons and have never grown out of it. However, many of my friends who *aren’t* into those seem to like Avatar.
Also, looking at your other comment below, I have to say I agree with a lot of what you’ve said about the show. Except, I am not a fan of Zutara at all. I don’t like Kataang or Zutara. Although, my slight annoyance with Katara might be a small factor.
Who says monks can’t have sons/daughters?
Air Temple monks aren’t the same as Christian monks. Besides how else can the Air Benders repopulate?
Age difference especially with two years-why is it ok for boys to be older than the girls and not the other way around? One thing alot of these “shippers” forget is that Aang won’t be a cheerful twelve year old boy forever. By the time he and Katara marry and produce children he’ll be wiser, more mature-in fact he’s displayed more wisdom than most people his age. The age difference won’t even be an issue anymore at that point. I know a couple-the woman was five years older than her husband and they’ve been happily married for ten years.
Aang and Katara have shown signs of flirting and romantic interest in season 2 and 3-Katara blushing when bringing up the cave kiss, being more nervous and touching her hair when speaking to him in The Headband in season 3. She even gets jealous when Aang hug out with the girl from his class. It’s baffling when people say their love came out of nowhere. True she was more maternal towards him in the beginning, but feelings change.
Katara and Zuko are good friends and personally I think they work best that way. Just because he took a lightning bolt for her doesn’t mean they’re in love. He sacrificed himself because he cares for the people he’s close to and Azula knew this too. So she aimed for Katara-a spectator and someone who was obviously Zuko’s ally. Besides Mai got herself captured by Azula’s guards despite the fact Zuko broke up with her, only proving that she truly loves him. For some reason people (not necessarily you) ignore this.
Katara and Aang’s personalities work well together and they have mutual love and trust that is found in all stable marriages.
But I don’t want to go on a huge rant. I’m just confused why Zuko/Katara shippers still bring up these points about Katara/Aang.
You raise some really good points. You’re definitely right about Aang needing to repopulate the Air Nomads, but there is no way of knowing if the Air Temple monks are the same as Christian monks. It is never explicitly stated. Not to mention, throughout the series Aang strives to eliminate all other attachment, but then has a problem detaching himself from Katara, which I found strange.
As for the age difference, I have no personal problem with older women dating younger men, especially once everyone’s reached adulthood–in fact, two years is nothing then. But I still find it slightly hard to swallow that a 14-year-old girl would be sexually attracted to a 12-year-old, Avatar or not, especially when she constantly has to mother him. However, Katara could just be more innocent than most 14 year old girls on the cusp of exploring their own sexuality. I do not forget for one second how mature Aang is for his age a lot of the time–he’s the Avatar. And I understand he will grow up–I’m just saying that in the series, in the moment, it’s a slightly odd coupling, despite how sweet it is that Aang has such strong feelings for Katara. I mentioned in my post that we do see her reciprocate the tenderness Aang shows, but I think her overall countenance is indifferent/oblivious to both Aang AND Zuko. The creators seemed to make a conscious choice in making Katara somewhat ambiguous in her romantic feelings, with the exception of Jet. I just took more to her masked feelings towards Zuko later in the series to be more plausible than her much purer feelings for Aang.
I’m no Aang-hater. I think a lot of Kataang shippers make Zutara fans out to be. The only time I truly felt irritated with Aang as a character was when he neglected to mention to the rest of the group his putting them into danger by not mastering the Avatar-state due to his inability to let Katara go. That was a choice that didn’t just affect him, but the entire world, and though he ultimately made the right choice, I initially saw it as selfish for someone who is the Avatar, despite his young age. But that makes him a good hero–children can relate to him and he’s flawed. But other than that, I think Kataang makes a lot of sense, and it was built up to. But so was Zutara, and if it had turned out the opposite way, wouldn’t you be surprised as a Kataang shipper? The reason I supported Zuko and Katara and ultimately felt slightly cheated was because of that–I felt that it could have gone either way, but probably as an older viewer new to the series way after it had finished on Nickelodeon, I was more attracted to the idea of Katara with Zuko.
I will say, though, that there is just as much evidence pointing towards a Zuko/Katara pairing as there is for Aang and Katara. The creators themselves mentioned it was their initial intention, and in addition to the Crossroads of Destiny episode, there are numerous “moments” between the two of them, though they are more subtle and, yes, “adult” than the romantic moments between Aang and Katara. If there wasn’t any of those moments, I doubt there’d be such a large following for Zutara. I personally am not usually a non-canon shipper, so it’s strange for me to be in favor of something non-canon. I think it went down something like this: Aang and Katara was always a plausible option, but Mike and Bryan thought, hey, why not throw in the banished prince for some drama? But as the series went on, they decided not to head in that direction and thus wrote in Mai as Zuko’s love interest (who I like quite a bit. I did not forget of her betrayal of Azula for Zuko for one second). However, to keep the many Zutara shippers interested, they forged a platonic friendship easily mistaken for attraction between Zuko and Katara to keep the audience guessing and the ending ambiguous. My reference to the Zuko taking the lightning bolt for Katara was not a reference to how obviously they must be in love with one another, just a fangirl moment of my own in which I thought, “Wow, this guy’s awesome. Come on Katara, pick him!” And, like I mentioned, I think a lot of the Katara/Zuko interaction in season 3 was written to keep the audience guessing at how Katara would end up with. Ratings, anyone? I perfectly remember what took place in that scene and why Azula aimed for Katara. I was simply admiring Zuko’s bravery in that scene, especially for a former enemy who made it clear she wasn’t his biggest fan.
And I wouldn’t say I’m “still” bringing up anything. The series was new to me, I was geeking out over it, so I chose to write about it on my personal blog. But I appreciate your points–it’s always great to get feedback. Thanks for your comment!
Aang only had to detach himself from Katara becaus ehe was the Avatar it’s kinda of like jedi’s in a way. Air nomads on the other hand i guess can repopulate because well they’re not the avatar.
Good point. Still, though, I think there was some mention of the air nomads living a life of detachment. But you’re right, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t get married/have kids. However since none of the air nomad kids seen in the show seem to have parents, I’d be curious to see how they do repopulate, if it is traditional or not.
Thanks for your comment!
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