Any Christian fans of Legend of Korra?

[needmorelight]

It is very sad that you feel deceived by the creators, certainly I will pray for you. I’ll say that I am a bit too old to have really been invested in the ATLA “fandom”, but I found the original series to be amazingly deep and introspective for a “children’s show”, especially Book 2 with its unflinching portrayal of the corruption within the Earth Nation that leads to its downfall, as well as the beginning of Zuko’s redemption after being cast in a much more traditionally villainous role in Book 1.

Thanks for your prayers. I’m not really part of the “fandom” since I’m too old to be really doing blogs plus it can get really nasty with the “shipping wars” but I do check up on some really good tumblr sites. Zuko is actually my favorite character in ATLA

Anyway, I do hope it was helpful to have a place to vent about this. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to have a real, honest discussion these days about any issue involving homosexuality or bisexuality in the secular world without people using words such as “homophobe” to shut down all discussion. Although unfortunately I do think some on CAF find it way too easy to rail against homosexual acts and do border on hatefulness toward homosexuals, I do think that in general, the discussions on CAF are much more civil than most other places on the Net.

Yes, it does help to talk about this things here and get perspectives of other fellow Christians. I’m grateful for the time you took to listen to my whinging . Merry Christmas!

 

[NoDetHabe]

I prefer to think the Korra ending as a bad imitation of the House M.D ending.Maybe the screenwriter thought an open ending is good for the show,but that ending don’t look like an open ending at all.Whether I am right or not,I still love the wedding scene of Varrick and Zhu Li.

 

[NoDetHabe]

I prefer to think the Korra ending as a bad imitation of open endings such as the House M.D ending now.It doesn’t look like an open ending at all,but has some elements of open endings.Of Course,the creators won’t admit the bad imitation.Whether I am right or not,I still love the scenes of Varrick and Zhu Li 's wedding.

 

[bagrad]

Yes, I am a HUGE fan of the Avatar series. I watched it when it aired in 2005 or 4 and have been watching it up until now. It’s been my favorite show for LITERALLY years.

And now a huge chunk of my childhood and favorite show have been forever tainted and obliterated.

I can’t begin to express how angry and hurt I am over the writers taking the route they did. It’s just like everyone else said (the writers even) the hero always has to get SOMEONE.

They were already a progressive show. They had people of all ages that really enjoyed watching a show that was supposed to be for kids.

The worst is that I was one of the few that saw it coming. I just hoped they would do the smart thing and just leave it alone for the fan fiction that would inevitably continue, and they’d just leave well enough alone.

But now, the entire SERIES has been blighted by this completely forced nod to the LGBT community.

The truth is, they DIDN’T need it to go that way. Nothing can be platonic anymore without be labeled as gay. It’s horrible. Girls holding hands? Must mean they’re gay. Asami complimenting Korra’s new hair, to which she blushes? Obviously gay. Saying that you miss your friend in a letter? Clearly gay.

I’m just blown away by this. I’m honestly not in a very good place in my life right now and the fact that I can’t even hold on to childhood memories enjoying a perfectly good show without picturing the end of this series is downright shameful. I have been hurt, and am actually REALLY depressed about it.

If you guys wouldn’t mind keeping me in your prayers, I could use the help. This just felt like a really low blow for me. I’ve never held on to that many things from my childhood, but this was one of the things that I loved. And now it’s gone.

If anyone can give me advice or help… please don’t hesitate.

 

[needmorelight]

Yes, I am a HUGE fan of the Avatar series. I watched it when it aired in 2005 or 4 and have been watching it up until now. It’s been my favorite show for LITERALLY years.

And now a huge chunk of my childhood and favorite show have been forever tainted and obliterated.

I can’t begin to express how angry and hurt I am over the writers taking the route they did. It’s just like everyone else said (the writers even) the hero always has to get SOMEONE.

They were already a progressive show. They had people of all ages that really enjoyed watching a show that was supposed to be for kids.

The worst is that I was one of the few that saw it coming. I just hoped they would do the smart thing and just leave it alone for the fan fiction that would inevitably continue, and they’d just leave well enough alone.

But now, the entire SERIES has been blighted by this completely forced nod to the LGBT community.

The truth is, they DIDN’T need it to go that way. Nothing can be platonic anymore without be labeled as gay. It’s horrible. Girls holding hands? Must mean they’re gay. Asami complimenting Korra’s new hair, to which she blushes? Obviously gay. Saying that you miss your friend in a letter? Clearly gay.

I’m just blown away by this. I’m honestly not in a very good place in my life right now and the fact that I can’t even hold on to childhood memories enjoying a perfectly good show without picturing the end of this series is downright shameful. I have been hurt, and am actually REALLY depressed about it.

If you guys wouldn’t mind keeping me in your prayers, I could use the help. This just felt like a really low blow for me. I’ve never held on to that many things from my childhood, but this was one of the things that I loved. And now it’s gone.

If anyone can give me advice or help… please don’t hesitate.

Hi bagrad, welcome to the forums. Believe me, I understand how you feel :console: which is why I needed to post in this forum (years after I have been inactive). I was already an adult when I saw ATLA. It was my niece who introduced me to the show. I then followed Korra and even watched it with my niece online. Imagine how I feel now that they’ve taken this route. It’s a good thing my niece hasn’t seen the last 4 episodes and I’m hoping she’s not as invested in this story as I had been to go want to see it through the finale.

I will definitely pray for you that you may find peace. Talking about it in a safe environment like this forum really helps. It is quite hard at first and it may take a little bit of time to get over this sense of betrayal. I’ve asked God for discernment since at first I couldn’t bear the thought of having to let go of the series.

After reading Bryke’s statement that they’ve actually planned this ending (maybe too little too late in Book 4), I knew I couldn’t brush the ending off, which cemented my decision not to buy the DVD’s in good conscience. Maybe you don’t need to go that far but in the meantime, do take some time to think and pray. Zaheer may not have been the perfect imagery for this but I’ve learned to accept that this has happened. We cannot change it if that’s the story Bryke wanted to tell (no matter how inconsistent and deceiving the narrative was). Eventually, you may “enter the void and let go” of Korra . ATLA is still good in my opinion though and I don’t think I’ll have any problems rewatching that.

Offer prayers for the creators of the show and the LGBT community. I will certainly pray for you. Please pray for me too

 

[bagrad]

Thank you needmorelight. I honestly needed to hear that.

What’s worse is that I loved that 3rd season so much. Zaheer was my all time favorite villain in almost anything. I loved that season finale, the writing was excellent. Actually it was at it’s best compared to all the seasons. Makes me wonder if some of the writers left before season 4, because looking back it wasn’t that strong. The scientist mental block right now can’t remember his name marrying his assistant was also way out of the blue. That was almost as forced as this korrasami nonsense.

But yeah. I think I’m just going to have to go back and watch ATLA again. It’s still apart of my childhood. It’s coming up on being almost 10 years old. It was an amazing show… my favorite show. I guess I shouldn’t let this ruin what I had.

I’ll keep you all in my prayers.

 

[UnumCorpus]

I also echo everyone’s frustrations on this too! My husband told me first thing this morning that “Korrasami” has been made canon.

I see someone else has posted a link to this information. It’s maddening that the makers of this show are insulting a good portion of their fan base. So if you couldn’t see the “obvious” hints of Korra and Asami’s alleged attraction to each other, then you must be a biased heterosexual viewer. Asami’s caring attitude towards Korra in the last part of the season 3 finale represented to me the love of a close friend. As others pointed out, I don’t see how Korra choosing to write letters to Asami was meant to foreshadow their romantic connection. Sometimes, a woman may feel more comfortable seeking advice and help from another woman. The only slight indication was Korra blushing at Asami complementing her hair, but that was subtle and understandable if people missed that hint. There was no need for the creators to insult their fanbase and alienate so many of their loyal viewers. There was no reason why Korra could not just simply have remained single, especially since that seems to be the ideal state for an avatar to be in.

Even from a purely narrative perspective, there was no indication that Korra was struggling with her sexuality. I would imagine, being a teenager and then a young adult, that being bi-sexual would cause a lot of internal turmoil, especially if it was compounded with her PTSD. However, her issues with this were not addressed. I suppose one could argue that it is easier for Korra to be bi-sexual as she is a reincarnation of a male Avatar (Aang), but that concept of sexual fluidity was not introduced into the Avatar universe at all. This completely came out of left field. To me, this is signs of poor storytelling. It is akin to J.K. Rowling claiming that Dumbledore was gay. It makes absolutely no sense in the context of the story.

It’s annoying as well because Asami was one of my favourite characters. She, unlike the grumpy Mako or the goofy Bolin, was wise and mature. Prior to their “coming out” as a couple, Korra and Asami’s friendship reminded me of my own friendship with another wise and mature woman.

Overall, this is very sad and I am sorry to those of you who feel hurt and betrayed. I feel this way too. It is nice though that we have a safe place where we can vent about this without being sneeringly called “homophobic”. It’s frustrating that from this absolutely amazing show, literally the last 2 minutes destroy so much of what we love about it. I don’t want this to ruin all of LoK for me personally, especially since I loved Book 3 and the first part of Book 4 so much (especially the episode “Korra Alone”). I found it inspirational from both a personal and storytelling perspective.

But if you cannot see the show without the ending bothering you, then it makes sense if you wish to distance yourself from it. But at least we have ATLA!

I will pray that you both find peace over this, needmorelight and bagrad. I’m sorry this affected both of you so much.

 

[system]

Frankly, I’m rather disgusted that so many of my fellow Catholics could be so very illiterate in scripture as to openly display their homophobia (yes, that is how you are all acting).

All serious historians of the scripture and linguists know that it wasn’t until relatively recently (King James and his ilk) that the scriptural condemnation of pederasty was widened to include homosexuals. To argue otherwise is to simply be ignorant of the mistranslations that occurred.

More on point, the show demonstrated an excellent show of support for marginalized groups around the board. Positive media representation of disenfranchised groups is crucial to working towards alleviating their suffering that has been caused by those in power. Normalizing non-heterosexual relations should be the norm. Queer people should not remain invisible, nor should they be treated like lepers.

Catholicism doesn’t support homophobia.
Scripture doesn’t support homophobia.
Every rational-thinking person doesn’t support homophobia.

 

[louisak]

I had been watching Korra originally but had lost interest by the beginning of the third season (it just seemed to me that the writers were running out of ideas) and I never even knew there was a fourth season. Did it run on TV or was it Internet-only like the last few episodes of season three? My kids watch Nick and I never saw ads for season four at all.

It’s disappointing to learn of the direction the show took; in the first season I was amazed that they gave a positive depiction of a large family… Tenzin and his wife had three children already and the arrival of the fourth was depicted as a cause for rejoicing. It is so rare in popular media today to see a married couple with more than three children; especially to see a large family shown in a positive light.

All the same, there is tremendous pressure in the world of the media today (movies, TV etc.) to give a positive depiction of homosexuality. Unless the writers of the shows are practicing Christians (or some other religion, Orthodox Jews perhaps although they are very few), they are usually going to give in to the pressure, even if they don’t agree with the gay agenda themselves. Expect to see more and more of this in the future.

 

[Kmon23]

Frankly, I’m rather disgusted that so many of my fellow Catholics could be so very illiterate in scripture as to openly display their homophobia (yes, that is how you are all acting).

All serious historians of the scripture and linguists know that it wasn’t until relatively recently (King James and his ilk) that the scriptural condemnation of pederasty was widened to include homosexuals. To argue otherwise is to simply be ignorant of the mistranslations that occurred.

More on point, the show demonstrated an excellent show of support for marginalized groups around the board. Positive media representation of disenfranchised groups is crucial to working towards alleviating their suffering that has been caused by those in power. Normalizing non-heterosexual relations should be the norm. Queer people should not remain invisible, nor should they be treated like lepers.

Catholicism doesn’t support homophobia.
Scripture doesn’t support homophobia.
Every rational-thinking person doesn’t support homophobia.

I definitely agree that Catholicism, scripture, and people as a whole should not support homophobia. If anyone in this thread or in the real world is being homophobic, then yes that is a problem. However, I think everyone in this thread would also agree that not being homophobic is not the equivalent of it being completely acceptable on moral grounds.I have a friend who is a queer and a huge supporter of LGBQT rights and representation, and I consider her to be a friend. Yet that does not mean I support her views that homosexual relationships are a good thing.

 

[cena]

Yes, I am a HUGE fan of the Avatar series. I watched it when it aired in 2005 or 4 and have been watching it up until now. It’s been my favorite show for LITERALLY years.

And now a huge chunk of my childhood and favorite show have been forever tainted and obliterated.

I can’t begin to express how angry and hurt I am over the writers taking the route they did. It’s just like everyone else said (the writers even) the hero always has to get SOMEONE.

They were already a progressive show. They had people of all ages that really enjoyed watching a show that was supposed to be for kids.

The worst is that I was one of the few that saw it coming. I just hoped they would do the smart thing and just leave it alone for the fan fiction that would inevitably continue, and they’d just leave well enough alone.

But now, the entire SERIES has been blighted by this completely forced nod to the LGBT community.

The truth is, they DIDN’T need it to go that way. Nothing can be platonic anymore without be labeled as gay. It’s horrible. Girls holding hands? Must mean they’re gay. Asami complimenting Korra’s new hair, to which she blushes? Obviously gay. Saying that you miss your friend in a letter? Clearly gay.

I’m just blown away by this. I’m honestly not in a very good place in my life right now and the fact that I can’t even hold on to childhood memories enjoying a perfectly good show without picturing the end of this series is downright shameful. I have been hurt, and am actually REALLY depressed about it.

If you guys wouldn’t mind keeping me in your prayers, I could use the help. This just felt like a really low blow for me. I’ve never held on to that many things from my childhood, but this was one of the things that I loved. And now it’s gone.

If anyone can give me advice or help… please don’t hesitate.

This is actually me. I loved ATLA, I loved Legend of Korra now I can’t even think about it.

Even people who support LGBTQ “rights” thought the pairing was strange.

In Book 1 Korra has a crush on Mako. Asami almost hits Mako with her motorcycle. She pulls off her helmet, he realizes how pretty she is and they start dating. Korra confesses her feelings to Mako knowing he is dating Asami. Later he tells her he is confused about his feelings and he doesn’t know if he like Korra, Korra kisses him knowing he is dating Asami. Eventually Mako breaks with Asami and pretty soon tells Korra he loves her. They start dating

Book 2 Korra and Mako have been dating for 6 months. Things get tough and Mako breaks up with Korra. Soon Asami finds out and she kisses Mako when she gets sad and he comforts her. Less than a week after Korra has left Mako and Asami are dating again. When Korra comes back she conveniently got all her memories back EXCEPT that Mako broke up with her, Mako never tells her and he is not shown apologizing to Asami. Korra remembers later on and they break up for good.

Book 3 two weeks after book 2 Asami tells Korra. They become friends in this book.

Book 4 Somehow writing your friend when she is the only person you can talk to (when your only other options are your ex boyfriend or his immature brother) means she is gay.

Somehow going on a trip after your friend’s father is dead somehow becomes gay.

Somehow after everything, Korra still needed a romantic interest. Apparently no one can be single.

 

[cena]

Frankly, I’m rather disgusted that so many of my fellow Catholics could be so very illiterate in scripture as to openly display their homophobia (yes, that is how you are all acting).

All serious historians of the scripture and linguists know that it wasn’t until relatively recently (King James and his ilk) that the scriptural condemnation of pederasty was widened to include homosexuals. To argue otherwise is to simply be ignorant of the mistranslations that occurred.

More on point, the show demonstrated an excellent show of support for marginalized groups around the board. Positive media representation of disenfranchised groups is crucial to working towards alleviating their suffering that has been caused by those in power. Normalizing non-heterosexual relations should be the norm. Queer people should not remain invisible, nor should they be treated like lepers.

Catholicism doesn’t support homophobia.
Scripture doesn’t support homophobia.
Every rational-thinking person doesn’t support homophobia.

Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is [r]unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in [t]their own persons the due penalty of their error

St. Paul seemed to be against homosexual relations.

 

[needmorelight]

I definitely agree that Catholicism, scripture, and people as a whole should not support homophobia. If anyone in this thread or in the real world is being homophobic, then yes that is a problem. However, I think everyone in this thread would also agree that not being homophobic is not the equivalent of it being completely acceptable on moral grounds.I have a friend who is a queer and a huge supporter of LGBQT rights and representation, and I consider her to be a friend. Yet that does not mean I support her views that homosexual relationships are a good thing.

This is the reason why I generally stay out of forums. It only takes one person posting to completely derail the thread. Look @Jellyfish_Panda, I can see you are probably new here but don’t you think you are being judgmental here calling us homophobes? We are all called to be compassionate and charitable with one another (not just in this forum). If you want to discuss whether disapproving homosexual relationships is homophobia then I’m sure there are plenty of threads under Moral Theology where you can freely debate with other people. There are so many opportunities to learn about what our faith teaches and I say go for it. I just hope you didn’t sign up here just to go attacking us who are clearly upset over a TV show we grew to love. This is not the reason why I made this thread so I would kindly ask you to be more charitable and respectful instead of making ad hominem attacks. I would also recommend that you watch The Third Way by Blackstone Films. That’s as real a representation you can get for the LGBT community.

I felt that the creators of the show sabotaged their story by deciding to pair up two female characters too little too late in the narrative without giving any hints of their development throughout the remaining two Books. I agree with the other poster who said that the two women were not even shown “questioning” their sexual attraction with one another, which is often part of the struggle that people with same sex attraction have and the reason why I think the ending was token representation at best. It’s not just me making those arguments, even some people from the LGBT community if you look in tumblr! There were plenty of narrative flaws in the last Book 4 in this show that made me so confused but the fact that the creators “planned” the ending for the sake of a “ship” just hammered the final nail in the coffin for me. I was blindsided by the ending in LoK and that really ruined the show for me. At least I knew the premise of “Modern Family” and I still watch it from time to time when I get the chance but that doesn’t mean I approve of same sex marriages.

 

[cena]

This is the reason why I generally stay out of forums. It only takes one person posting to completely derail the thread. Look @Jellyfish_Panda, I can see you are probably new here but don’t you think you are being judgmental here calling us homophobes? We are all called to be compassionate and charitable with one another (not just in this forum). If you want to discuss whether disapproving homosexual relationships is homophobia then I’m sure there are plenty of threads under Moral Theology where you can freely debate with other people. There are so many opportunities to learn about what our faith teaches and I say go for it. I just hope you didn’t sign up here just to go attacking us who are clearly upset over a TV show we grew to love. This is not the reason why I made this thread so I would kindly ask you to be more charitable and respectful instead of making ad hominem attacks. I would also recommend that you watch The Third Way by Blackstone Films. That’s as real a representation you can get for the LGBT community.

I felt that the creators of the show sabotaged their story by deciding to pair up two female characters too little too late in the narrative without giving any hints of their development throughout the remaining two Books. I agree with the other poster who said that the two women were not even shown “questioning” their sexual attraction with one another, which is often part of the struggle that people with same sex attraction have and the reason why I think the ending was token representation at best. It’s not just me making those arguments, even some people from the LGBT community if you look in tumblr! There were plenty of narrative flaws in the last Book 4 in this show that made me so confused but the fact that the creators “planned” the ending for the sake of a “ship” just hammered the final nail in the coffin for me. I was blindsided by the ending in LoK and that really ruined the show for me. At least I knew the premise of “Modern Family” and I still watch it from time to time when I get the chance but that doesn’t mean I approve of same sex marriages.

Asami and Korra went from fighting over the same guy to liking each other romantically? Even supporters of LGBTQ questioned it.

 

[needmorelight]

Asami and Korra went from fighting over the same guy to liking each other romantically? Even supporters of LGBTQ questioned it.

Yeah, like how weird is that?

 

[needmorelight]

I also echo everyone’s frustrations on this too! My husband told me first thing this morning that “Korrasami” has been made canon.

I see someone else has posted a link to this information. It’s maddening that the makers of this show are insulting a good portion of their fan base. So if you couldn’t see the “obvious” hints of Korra and Asami’s alleged attraction to each other, then you must be a biased heterosexual viewer. Asami’s caring attitude towards Korra in the last part of the season 3 finale represented to me the love of a close friend. As others pointed out, I don’t see how Korra choosing to write letters to Asami was meant to foreshadow their romantic connection. Sometimes, a woman may feel more comfortable seeking advice and help from another woman. The only slight indication was Korra blushing at Asami complementing her hair, but that was subtle and understandable if people missed that hint. There was no need for the creators to insult their fanbase and alienate so many of their loyal viewers. There was no reason why Korra could not just simply have remained single, especially since that seems to be the ideal state for an avatar to be in.

Exactly. There was no narrative value of turning the two characters bisexual. The ending diverted too much attention away from Korra’s arc.

Even from a purely narrative perspective, there was no indication that Korra was struggling with her sexuality. I would imagine, being a teenager and then a young adult, that being bi-sexual would cause a lot of internal turmoil, especially if it was compounded with her PTSD. However, her issues with this were not addressed. I suppose one could argue that it is easier for Korra to be bi-sexual as she is a reincarnation of a male Avatar (Aang), but that concept of sexual fluidity was not introduced into the Avatar universe at all. This completely came out of left field. To me, this is signs of poor storytelling. It is akin to J.K. Rowling claiming that Dumbledore was gay. It makes absolutely no sense in the context of the story.

Agreed. When I saw the ending, I felt like it was done for cheap shock value. If they wanted to be inclusive to the LGBT community they could have went for a secondary character and portray this struggle in a more relatable way to the viewers. It would still be jarring for me to see it in a children’s show but at least plenty of others wouldn’t be so hung up on this imo unlike the out of the blue revelation finale ending.

It’s annoying as well because Asami was one of my favourite characters. She, unlike the grumpy Mako or the goofy Bolin, was wise and mature. Prior to their “coming out” as a couple, Korra and Asami’s friendship reminded me of my own friendship with another wise and mature woman.

Mako is now my favorite character and I was disappointed with the way they closed his arc. He at least deserved an explanation from Korra as to why she cut off from him. Hearing that the reason she wrote to Asami was because she was “in love” with her doesn’t seem to cut it.

Overall, this is very sad and I am sorry to those of you who feel hurt and betrayed. I feel this way too. It is nice though that we have a safe place where we can vent about this without being sneeringly called “homophobic”.

Apparently we’re wrong but thank you for your understanding.

It’s frustrating that from this absolutely amazing show, literally the last 2 minutes destroy so much of what we love about it. I don’t want this to ruin all of LoK for me personally, especially since I loved Book 3 and the first part of Book 4 so much (especially the episode “Korra Alone”). I found it inspirational from both a personal and storytelling perspective.

But if you cannot see the show without the ending bothering you, then it makes sense if you wish to distance yourself from it. But at least we have ATLA!

I wish I can compartmentalize the finale ending and reinterpret it as Korra providing support for Asami after losing her father but I don’t think that’s an honest way of dealing with the creators’ intentions. I think I’m ready to move on from this series. Maybe I’ll rewatch them again and excise the ending from my understanding of the narrative. At the moment, I don’t want to shell out my money and buy the DVDs, not after the creators’ bungled their narrative and proceeded to insult and blame their viewers for their reactions.

I will pray that you both find peace over this, needmorelight and bagrad. I’m sorry this affected both of you so much.

I do think it’s the right time for me to reflect about showing compassion for others without compromising the message and the truth from Jesus. With this, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope that you continue to pray for me and bagrad.

 

[carebear1130]

I am do glad to see that there are other christian fans of the show that are upset and disappointed with that ending. I have watched and loved the show since ATLA and I am so disgusted by where they took the ending. I loved that the show stood out from all of the garbag on TV and was somewhat innocent and clean. Why did they have to ruin my favorite show of all time?! Not only does it upset me bc it is contradictory to my moral beliefs, but it was just a stupid and terrible ending to a great story. In no way did it fit with rest of the show. It was just the writers trying to force their agenda on the audience!

 

[bagrad]

Exactly. There was no narrative value of turning the two characters bisexual. The ending diverted too much attention away from Korra’s arc.

Agreed. When I saw the ending, I felt like it was done for cheap shock value. If they wanted to be inclusive to the LGBT community they could have went for a secondary character and portray this struggle in a more relatable way to the viewers. It would still be jarring for me to see it in a children’s show but at least plenty of others wouldn’t be so hung up on this imo unlike the out of the blue revelation finale ending.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. I really like this one post I read awhile back when I was actually starting to suspect that direction or at least undertones.

The post was from a bisexual girl who said that if they did actually take that route, not only would it not make sense at this point, but it just makes girls feel like the only kind of people tomboy like girls can be with is another girl, because they’re just too much like one of the guys.

Korra was by no means a shapely overly glamorized sex symbol. If anything Asami was and she was modest. The fact that people thought they had chemistry simply because of behavioral characteristics is ironically incredibly closed minded.

I can’t decide if I can go back and watch the Last Airbender or not without this series ruining it for me. I don’t want it to, and I’m hoping I can just separate the two, but it’s really hard knowing that some of the writers pushed that so hard.

Not to mention every season except for season 3 was pretty sloppily written. The whole love triangle in season 1 felt incredibly forced, season two’s breakup between Mako and Korra also seemed really forced for plots sake, just a lot of different threads didn’t make any sense. I remember people thinking that Amon had somehow lived when he clearly bit the dust.

Season 3 was perfect. It was concise, smart, incredibly clever, and didn’t deal with any relationships besides Bolin and Opal. Which worked because Bolin has the emotional depth of a sponge… Or maybe the opposite?

The writers that made the statement even went on to say that they felt Katara and Aang’s relationship at the end of The Last Airbender was forced… What? You mean a relationship that started from book one was forced? How else could you have POSSIBLY ended it that wouldn’t have made fans confused? Aang had CLEARLY shown interest in Katara from the moment he left the iceberg. The fact that a relationship between the two felt forced from the two most obvious characters that could be together really makes me question how well the writers that made the statement felt they knew their own characters.

They went on to say that after awhile your characters begin to write themselves. That you end up just writing what you know they’ll do… Clearly they were biased when saying this because the fact that they knew people would be confused about it is just ludicrous. These characters didn’t just write themselves. If people are in unison about Katara and Aang making sense, then making a character bi just for the sake of “supporting all our friends and family and cousins of the LGBT community” is about as effective as saying “we hate homophobes or people that don’t agree with us”.

They shot themselves in the foot with this one. Now NO ONE is going to remember the show for what it was. They’re only going to talk about that one moment in a show that ran for 2 years. And what a shame.

 

[louisak]

But anyway, it seemed that in general, the tradition was indeed that the Avatar would not only remain single in terms of not having romantic relationships, but refrain from personal attachments in general, which is in keeping with Eastern monastic traditions. In the Guru episode from the original series, it is clearly stated that Aang’s love for Katara is holding him back from reaching his true potential. Now I realize that Aang and Katara wind up married anyway but this really seemed to be portrayed as an exception to the norm.

I realize I am a bit late to respond to this, but I want to point out that monasticism in the Eastern religions (which essentially means Buddhism) is a temporary state - at least in some traditions - and is not connected with the idea of permanent celibacy. A person will live in a monastery for a few years as a way of gaining wisdom and maturity, before getting married and proceeding to raise a family. In some traditions a person can even be married and live in a monastery at the same time.

 

[system]

It was previously stated that this is not a Moral Theology sub, so I will refrain from expounding on that further. I will simply reiterate that homosexual relationships are not condemned in the original language scripture was written in. Those who say otherwise are ignorant of the mistranslations that occurred.

In regards to who is shutting whom down with blanket terms like “homophobia”, this needs to be discussed. I’ve seen the converse occurring: “Oh, they’re all labeling us as homophobes for seeing plot holes! Isn’t that ridiculous!” Give me a break.

What isn’t homophobic:
-Not interpreting Korrasami’s interactions as romantic
-Seeing them as friends

What is homophobic (and making an effort to silence queer voices):
-Telling others that Korrasami’s interactions are platonic and can’t be interpreted another way.
-Acknowledging that subtext in Makorra could be romantic, while ignoring the subtext in Korrasami as romantic.
-“Why do they have to be gay?”
-“They both dated boys, therefore they’re straight.”
-“The portrayal of Sisterhood/Female Friendships are more important than/just as important as queer representation.”
-“Telling Korrasami shippers that they read too much into things.”
-“Telling queer shippers that you “get it” when they call you or someone else out on heteronormativity or homophobia, or telling them that you’ve heard enough of it.”
-Comparing being called homophobic to experiencing homophobia.

The subtext behind Korrasami was there since the beginning of season 3. Most of you are baffled because you watched the show through a heteronormative lens with which you view social interactions. It’s really that simple.

autostraddle.com/korrasami-queer-representation-and-saying-goodbye-to-the-legend-of-korra-270141/