tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post1787372480449318967..comments2023-07-10T10:52:14.660-04:00Comments on Animated Discussions: AtLA Monday: Heroism, Abuse, and Scenery PornFroborrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782366056731381450noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post-46431276234352831232010-05-13T22:01:52.980-04:002010-05-13T22:01:52.980-04:00Thank you!
On the question of whether the Fire Na...Thank you!<br /><br />On the question of whether the Fire Nation has a sense of honor in warfare, I really think it seems like the ordinary people of the Fire Nation, which would include most of the soldiers and officers, are, well, ordinary people. It's their leaders that range from Smug Snakes to Manipulative Bastards to Complete Monsters. So I would think most of the time, Fire Nation soldiers do fight with at least a limited degree of honor and mercy, though I suspect they're often lied to about who they're fighting and why.<br /><br />Abuse is a HUGE theme in Avatar. I'll talk about it more when we get to "The Storm," which is one of the most important episodes for that theme.<br /><br />I think your explanation of why the Warden left Katara alone is spot-on. Arrogance, cruelty, and stupidity in one neat little package. (How efficient of him.)Froborrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08782366056731381450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post-21933640967780268612010-05-07T18:34:32.002-04:002010-05-07T18:34:32.002-04:00Have I mentioned that I really like this blog?
I&...Have I mentioned that I really like this blog?<br /><br />I'd heard the same theory on keeping the water- and earthbenders captive, that they were trying to capture a nascent Avatar. It makes more sense than the Fire Nation suddenly developing some sense of honor in warfare.<br /><br />I had not thought of abuse as a theme, but now that you bring it up, it fits in and makes a lot of sense. <br /><br />I think it fits just fine that the sadistic warden left Katara with the earthbenders - we've seen how he treats his prisoners, we've seen how he treats his subordinates ("Go get someone I DIDN'T throw overboard!" I love that line!) and it makes just enough sense for him to have picked her out as a waterbender and left her there for the purpose of playing a game with her and his prisoners, then using their predicted failure to further crush their spirits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post-34552765547667222422010-05-04T12:15:52.857-04:002010-05-04T12:15:52.857-04:00@cypsiman: "Impressionistic" is a good w...@cypsiman: "Impressionistic" is a good word for it, and of course they're pretty consistent about approaching the elements that way. I mean, the fire produced by firebending behaves nothing like real fire. And there's nothing wrong with taking that impressionistic approach; this is fantasy, not science fiction. I guess it just struck me as odd because, having never actually *seen* a piece of coal, I'm not used to thinking of them as rocks. I wonder if you could earthbend charcoal briquettes? Or does that count as man-made?<br /><br />@Ian: Hmm, you're right, six weeks really isn't long enough. Still leaves open the mystery of why the sudden jump of quality. I'd be interested to know if there was a gap between the *production* of episodes five and six, even though they aired back-to-back.<br /><br />Of course we can psychoanalyze Katara's motivation to help people. Certainly she gets on power trips at times, and she doesn't always make sure people want her help before she starts helping them. And no, it's not practical. So what? The point is that Katara is motivated to do the right thing, not why she is or whether she'll succeed.<br /><br />I have not heard that theory on the prisoner-keeping. That does make more sense than my theory, seeing that most of the time the Fire Nation doesn't seem particularly interested in rules of war. They're pretty happy to commit genocide whenever the opportunity arises.<br /><br />Oh, and well-played on the Adventure Time! reference.Froborrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08782366056731381450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post-66236863982869859382010-05-04T08:58:20.401-04:002010-05-04T08:58:20.401-04:00Given that this episode airs little more than a mo...Given that this episode airs little more than a month after the pilot, I don't think it's possible for the visual upgrade to be ratings related; unless you're "South Park", that short a creative cycle in a cartoon is a perfect recipe for crap production values, no matter how much money you throw at it. If you're interested, this interview has a nice overview of the production cycle of an action cartoon which I think is of value to anyone interested in the medium--just skip down to the "Could you explain the process of creating an episode of the cartoon?" question: http://www.ninjaturtles.com/cartoon/llyodgoldfine.htm<br /><br />But anyways, back to <i>Avatar</i>: maybe it's because I've been replaying <i>Dreamfall: The Longest Journey</i> lately (where the protagonist's reasons for fighting The Empire turn out to be quite self-centered, even if she herself doesn't seem to realize it), because I find Katara's "help people" tendencies somewhat annoying in future seasons (See: "Painted Lady, The"), or because I'm a cynical git, but I do wonder if there's not another underlying motivation in addition to a genuine desire to help--or maybe I just feel that, unless you live in a world with crying mountains, trying to help everyone isn't a terribly practical life philosophy. But I'm just thinking aloud here. <br /><br />As for the Fire Nation's prisoner-keeping, something I've heard being suggested is that they're not trying to end the Avatar cycle (at least, not at the moment, since killing all Air Nomads assures it) as much as trying to control it in the short term. Capturing Water- and Earth-benders helps increase the chance that hen Aang dies, they'll have the next Avatar on hand and therefore be in a position to raise him/her in accordance to their ways.Ian Perezhttp://nymonsters.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3705216410906868562.post-10975178658574979182010-05-03T22:20:49.335-04:002010-05-03T22:20:49.335-04:00Regarding the 'earthbending the organic coal&#...Regarding the 'earthbending the organic coal' bit, this is certainly not going to be the first time that the show goes for a more...impresionistic sense of the elements over a more 'scientific' sense. See, the next couple of episodes!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com