Been a while since I wrote a piece of Korra analysis, so I figured it was high time to get back on the wagon. As a note, this will not be flattering. Just so you know that going in.

I’ve been thinking about it lately, and in my view the failings of “Korra” as a series stem mainly from Bryke’s refusal to problematize or flaw their protagonists in any major way.

Korra’s privileged status is brushed under the rug with a shrug when she basically says “Poverty? What’s that? I got everything handed to me growing up.” Barring one sidelong glance from Mako, it never gets brought up again.

Korra driving a wedge between Mako and Asami’s relationship is painted relentlessly as Korra putting it all on the line in order to lay claim to her “soul mate”, and most all of Asami’s feelings about this are disregarded as being paltry and insignificant. Mako’s pulling of what I like to call a “Scott Pilgrim” is excused as him being a confused adolescent in the ways of love… despite the fact that growing up an orphan on the streets has clearly aged him into an adult in every other possible way, far before his time. But hey, he’s a protagonist, so he gets a pass from the narrative judgment corner.

Likewise, the designation and rigidity of the protagonists leaves little to no room for well-rounded or sympathetic people on the other side of the conflict. All we see from the Equalists in terms of a leader-figure is Amon, and he’s painted pretty starkly as an extremist terrorist. Not once is a moderate faction of Equalists seen in numbers large enough to stand on their own as a political group. And in the same vein, not once is a moderate Equalist political figure seen vying for a seat on the Republic City Council, or at least preaching reconciliation rather than using destructive rhetoric. Clearly, the massive size of the rally Hiroshi presided over in the finale was meant to convince us that all of the Equalists were in attendance, because surely none of them had issues with the fact that Amon was about to brutally murder a large chunk of Republic City’s civilian (and likely also non-Bending) population with a bunch of high-powered explosives. Not once was there a scene of any Equalists looking on in horror at the carnage caused by said bombing attack, or a moment of pathos as a Bender and non-Bender helped each other rebuild their devastated homes.

Because we can’t have our designated antagonists be sympathetic, now can we? The series only comes close to that rarely, and it hedges its bets even then. There’s the moment when Korra is forced to confront the fact that not all Equalists are terrible people when Tarrlok finally decides to go full-on Fascist in the slums. This moment of sympathy from Korra is quickly brushed under the rug and never spoken of again, however, and the scene shifts instantly back to the ongoing power struggle between Korra and Tarrlok, with Mako and Co. being used as the pawns.

Another moment is Amon’s betrayal of the Lieutenant. Which, although poignant, happens simultaneously with Amon’s assault on Korra and, as such, gets backburnered. We don’t even get a flashback from the Lieutenant’s POV, or an apology from Amon. Lieu just gets chucked into a pile of boxes, and then Amon goes back to terrorizing Korra’s soul. And it says something that that moment of betrayal was far more heart-wrenching than anything that happened to the protagonists, period. And yes, that includes Lin’s Bending being taken away, because the Finale completely ruined that moment for me in hindsight.

In order to get to the core of what causes this dissonance in tone that Korra seems to suffer from so badly, I’m going to bring two other series onto the discussion table: “Game of Thrones” and “The Wire”.

These series might seem wildly different at first glance, but they have one incredibly important thing in common with each other that Korra lacks entirely: they’re written more as tragedies than as straight-forward heroic narratives.

I mean that in the sense that they have casts full of flawed, realistic characters, and no demarcated protagonists or antagonists. Their narrative structures don’t force us to judge any given character in a particular way. Nor does the writing itself bend over backwards to excuse or gloss over anyone’s flaws, as “Korra” is guilty of.

In “Game of Thrones”, each House has sympathetic and unsympathetic characters. There are people we like and root for, and people we outright despise— but the people we like and root for often have amoral or unlikable characteristics, and the characters we originally dislike very often redeem themselves through their actions in the narrative. By not forcing a particular view on its audience, the series allows for each of us to interpret the characters as we see them, flaws and all.

“The Wire” is also quite similar, in that there are cops and politicians on the anti-drug side of the war on drugs that act just as corruptly and lawlessly as the drug dealers whom they fight against. And there are drug dealers who’re literally just kids, forced into life on “the corner” by social circumstances that they had no way of directly influencing themselves. Anyone who’s seen the show will understand what I mean when I hold up McNulty, Prez, Wallace, Stringer Bell and D’Angleo Barksdale as proof positive that “The Wire” lets its characters tell their stories, and leaves judgment solely up to you as the viewer.

So, why did I mention those two other series, and particularly in a tragic context? Because “Korra” is a series that tries— and fails— to fit a tragic story inside of a heroic mold. It shies away from moral complexity and ambiguity at the same time its core narrative demands a multi-faceted approach. The only time it comes close to embracing a tragic stance on its narrative is in the resolution of Tarrlok and Noatak’s narrative arcs, but even then the conclusion rings false and empty. Are we supposed to get pathos out of Tarrlok’s murder/fratricide/suicide? Is that really a convincing way to wrap up their “sad story”? Wouldn’t a flash-forward scene of the two of them, years later, having a short conversation to show that they’d put their demons behind them have been much more fulfilling?

The closest parallel to this I can think of is Achilles’ reconciliation with Priam at the end of the Iliad: how much emptier would that scene have been if Achilles had chosen to kill himself as penance for his mistreatment of Hector’s body, as opposed to coming to the recognition of what he had done, what it had truly cost, and weeping alongside his enemy in shared knowledge of war’s horror and inhumanity?

The failings of “Korra” stem from Bryke trying to grapple with concepts that the confines of their story doesn’t allow them to properly express. Be it an executive decision from Nick’s overlords not to make things too dark, or Bryke’s own decision not to over-complicate their narrative, the poignancy of the story suffers for it either way. Yes, “Game of Thrones” and “The Wire” are more adult-oriented series than “Korra”. But the fact remains that “Korra” still tried to deal with concepts on that more mature level, and botched it.

If you know going into writing a story that you won’t be able to treat a certain kind of plot point with the gravitas and respect it deserves, the answer to that quandary is simple: leave that plot point out, rather than trying to take the middle road between two choices and ending up with a 7-10 split at the end of the day.

This is the last major piece of “Korra” analysis I’ll be doing, unless someone takes the time to send me an ask specifically requesting my opinion on something.

Thanks for reading!

Hahahaha ever since Saturday the Korra finale seems to make me angrier and angrier. As a storyteller and as a fan of solid storytelling, it is an atrocious mess! I stand by the creators are amazing directors, amazing concept artists, amazing producers, but wow are they terrible writers. They have absolutely no understanding of dramatic convention, and so the first season of The Legend of Korra suffered greatly from terrible execution, and the core ideas were so good it should’ve been a gamechanger. It should’ve been the most brilliant thing on television and instead we were given a 12-week narrative case of blue balls.

Disclaimer: if you enjoyed/love/fanatic about Korra, by all means continue to do so! I enjoyed a lot about Korra. In fact that is why I am so frustrated. But that aside, this is meant as a critique and a dissection and as such you can take it or you can leave it. Nothing I have to say will change the show, nor will anything I have to say will have any effect on what season 2 will bring. Mostly I have been ranting about it to everyone on a daily basis since Saturday and this is my way to finally just. get. it. all. out. So this is me shouting into the ether for my own cathartic glee.

Cool? Cool.

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boltthebadass:

myotherblogisntaboutkorra:

So, like most of you Korra fans out there, I saw the Season 2 animatic from the Comic-Con panel. And since then I’ve been thinking: it really doesn’t make sense for Mako to be a cop. No, not because of the massive fandom headcanon for Metal Cop Bolin. Not even because Mako decided he was justified in burning up parking tickets (though I’d be lying if that bit of hypocrisy didn’t cross my mind). No, the reason it doesn’t make sense for Mako to be a cop….is because he’s a firebender. 

Now, before you cry out “discrimination!”, let me say this: I’m not saying that every single cop in Republic City has to be a metalbender. Heck, if Mako just had a desk job, or even just didn’t bend while on duty, that’d be fine by me. But it doesn’t make sense for a beat cop to be a firebender, using firebending in the pursuit of criminals.

Here’s the thing. It makes sense that the majority of RC cops are metalbenders.  They can efficiently restrain criminals without necessarily harming them using cables, can traverse the streets easily without disrupting traffic, either by ‘spidermanning’ around or grinding on the metal lines set up throughout the city, and aside from the obvious exception with the Equalist shock gloves, their armor severely decreases the chance of an officer getting harmed in the line of duty. 

Of course, I’m not saying that EVERY cop has to be a metalbender. Beyond any mundane non-bender cops, I’d say it also make sense for waterbenders and earthbenders who can’t metalbend to be part of the force. Once again, they can quickly restrain criminals, either through the use of ice or earth manacles, respectively, without necessarily harming the suspects through doing so. Additionally, most, if not all of the collateral damage caused by these two types of bending can be easily repaired, either by remelting the ice, or by repairing the ground with fairly simple earthbending.

Now, lets look at firebending. As cool as it is, its use is fairly limited to destruction, which doesn’t work well for an officer of the law. I’ll lay out my problems with it in two main points:

1. Restraining Criminals: The only real way for a firebender to restrain a criminal is blasting them until they can take no more. This means that whenever a firebender attempts to bring in a suspect, that suspect will almost assuredly be injured, or in a worst case scenario, even killed(causing a serious issue with civil liberties). Additionally,  because firebenders, unlike the other types of benders, have no way to quickly restrain criminals, other than blasting them with more fire, this would greatly increase the likelihood of cops, or even civilians, being harmed during these (if you’ll excuse the puns) firefights that would occur while capturing suspects. 

2. Collateral Damage: Any blast of fire that does not hit a suspect has a chance of hitting a civilian or building. And, given how close together the buildings in RC are, and how most of them have wooden components, if a blast actually starts a fire, it fairly good chance of spreading and burning down quite a few buildings, costing a fortune in repairs(and causing a huge outcry by the citizens affected). Also, in case the throng of people killed by firebenders didn’t make this obvious, firebending is pretty clearly the most deadly element of bending. If a civilian was hit by a stray blast, it’s pretty likely they’d be badly injured. That’s not even considering what would happen if they got hit by a stray lighting bolt. Additionally, let’s not forget that firebenders don’t have a huge amount of directional control over their blasts. Once they shoot it, it’s pretty much going where it’s going. There’s no reaiming it to hit a suspect who moves out of the way. This just increases the likelihood of collateral damage.

For an example of this, lets look what happens in the animatic. Mako is chasing down a  truck on his motorcycle. He eventually overtakes it, blasts the engine, sending it reeling, end over end, until it comes to a stop, the baddies fall out dazed, and he gives his silly one-liner. Now, what’s the problem with this? Well, firstly, the fact that Mako needs his ‘totally rad’ motorcycle. That costs the department money, for purchasing it, maintaining it, fueling it, etc. Money that  wouldn’t need to be spent on metalbenders. Secondly, while it doesn’t seem like it happens in the animatic, sending a truck end over end like that is EXTREMELY dangerous to anyone in or around the truck, and could EASILY cause a large amount of collateral damage, much like Korra caused in the first episode. Thirdly, if any of those baddies weren’t just sent into shock by Mako’s one-liner, and intended on resisting arrest, as he doesn’t have a good way to restrain them(as mentioned above) he would be forced to engage in a fight on the city streets, once again, increasing the chance of collateral damage.

Now, what if this matter was handled by metalbenders? Well, if you’ll allow me my interpretation, I see it happening much like what happened with Korra in the first episode. The truck races down a few streets, then cables are deployed from the police airships, wrapping around the truck and lifting it off the ground. The suspects, unable to flee or fight back, are then detained by more cables, and taken into custody. There is no dangerous car crash, no chance of collateral damage, and no chance for an all-out bending battle on the city streets.

The police are there to serve and protect the citizens of Republic City. Having active firebenders on the force would only put them in greater danger. Firebenders just aren’t cut out for defending the peace.

I rather like this commentary. 

I did look at the animatic and I was like, “Okay, so if someone was in the way of the truck currently careening out of control… what would happen?”

Look, I think Mako possesses the traits of a cop but I think being a firebender maybe a bit of an issue. Of course, he could use his lightning and “taze” the suspects, like he did in the car chase… *shrug*

This is a really freaking good point. Putting firebenders on the front lines of police duty is dangerous for citizens.