Why so much hate for Korra?
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Eh, I liked her well enough in the first season. Confrontational and direct but well intentioned and with room to grow. Liked how her attitude became a hindrance that she had to work past when it came to airbending. Made for a fun inversion of Aang's initial inability to earthbend.
She acted pretty bratty for a lot of the second season though. I know they're teenagers, but come on. The cast of the original were younger and they still managed to be good characters without being brats. Mostly.
I expect at least some of the dislike comes from the fact that LoK is not TLA, has not lived up to TLA and pretty clearly never will.
Haven't watched third season.
She acted pretty bratty for a lot of the second season though. I know they're teenagers, but come on. The cast of the original were younger and they still managed to be good characters without being brats. Mostly.
I expect at least some of the dislike comes from the fact that LoK is not TLA, has not lived up to TLA and pretty clearly never will.
Haven't watched third season.
I think it is mainly a blend of Korra not being Aang (or really Legend of Korra not Being The Last Airbender) and internet trend of hating anything new and/or popular.
Though some of the hate is probably from people that honestly don't like the show or the character.
Though some of the hate is probably from people that honestly don't like the show or the character.
Spoilers here, I guess?
I agree that she was fine in the first season.
One thing that is very VERY minor is that she is/was absolutely gorgeous. As I said, very minor personal quibble, but it leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth. Sure, Katara was pretty, but Korra has perfect, like, everything. Not a fan.
As always, the series keeps a good job of clearly defining it's own rules and sticking with them.
As for Korra, I think they did a great job cementing her personality and keeping it consistent. Rebellious teenager it is! Awkward at socialization while remaining outspoken, with a taste for justice and hard love! Well characterized!
The first season was well written, had a definite goal the characters were working towards, good progression of story line and setting, well animated, mostly solid character arches, and some fan shout outs which were great to see but not overly distracting. As always, the bending is just awesome and makes for extremely effective entertainment and watchability. Although it was a bit frustrating at times to see Korra makes blatantly stupid decisions(such as fighting the main bad guy wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too early, by herself), but hey, she's a teenager, and they do a good job of making us understand her motivations and reasons for doing these things, stupid as they may be sometimes.
However, we DON'T NEED more rebellious teenagers. I think we have enough of that in pretty much every genre nowadays, and there is certainly more than enough of it in the american story based cartoon genre that Korra lives in. While the show captures the teenage spirit and behavior well, it just gets really boring really fast.
However, those were not a deal breakers for me. And I definitely don't hate the series as the OP states.
Here were the deal breakers for me:
1. This one is again minor, but is still incredibly distracting; Tenzen. His presence on screen REALLY gets on my nerves. He is just not characterized well. Having a wise and patient teacher break character occasionally to act like a child and say stupid impatient things is funny, and has proven to work well in other movies/shows/etc, but it just. doesn't. work. here. The thing is, they don't set the foundations of his character as a wise patient teacher properly, so instead of "breaking character" to act like a child, he does it so often that it has literally become who he is, and it makes absolutely no sense. It's just telling us again and again that he is so patient and wise only for him to repeatedly do the opposite, way, wwwaaaaaayyyyyyy too often. As I said, very distracting.
2. This is the big one. This is what had me open the first episode for the second season, and then close it after 10 minutes in disgust. A lot of the character clashes are just utterly pointless and contrived. Literally, in the first ten minutes, she uses the avatar state when she's "not supposed to", or frivolously or whatever. So her and Tenzen start having an argument about it. IT IS COMPLETELY FRUITLESS! There is literally no point to this part at all. They are just arguing about stupid s*** for no reason. Instead of her thinking, "Hmmm, maybe they have a point and I should consider it, even if it goes against what I personally believe", she just immediately denies it only to drag out the episode(even though that is well within her established character). And instead of Tenzen, the wise, patient, belligerent child that he is, maybe thinking "Hmmm, she has already proved over and over again that I really have no control over her behavior, and instead of demanding crap from her all the time in a way that would GUARANTEE conflict, maybe I could make suggestions and let her learn from her own mistakes and hubris", he just barks orders at her and scolds her even though that has never worked with her, EVER. This isn't a "problem"! This isn't something that needs to be resolved in the plot! This is contrived nonsense that shouldn't be a problem at all, and a waste of my time.
So, between the whinging (albiet accurate) teenager drama, and the pseudo non-problems they argue about that waste time in the episode in which they could be learning or doing something productive, I just lost interest.
Honestly, it's kind of a shame, because I really wanted to like this show, being a fan of the originals, and there ARE SO MANY THINGS IT DOES RIGHT!
Sigh.
I agree that she was fine in the first season.
One thing that is very VERY minor is that she is/was absolutely gorgeous. As I said, very minor personal quibble, but it leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth. Sure, Katara was pretty, but Korra has perfect, like, everything. Not a fan.
As always, the series keeps a good job of clearly defining it's own rules and sticking with them.
As for Korra, I think they did a great job cementing her personality and keeping it consistent. Rebellious teenager it is! Awkward at socialization while remaining outspoken, with a taste for justice and hard love! Well characterized!
The first season was well written, had a definite goal the characters were working towards, good progression of story line and setting, well animated, mostly solid character arches, and some fan shout outs which were great to see but not overly distracting. As always, the bending is just awesome and makes for extremely effective entertainment and watchability. Although it was a bit frustrating at times to see Korra makes blatantly stupid decisions(such as fighting the main bad guy wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too early, by herself), but hey, she's a teenager, and they do a good job of making us understand her motivations and reasons for doing these things, stupid as they may be sometimes.
However, we DON'T NEED more rebellious teenagers. I think we have enough of that in pretty much every genre nowadays, and there is certainly more than enough of it in the american story based cartoon genre that Korra lives in. While the show captures the teenage spirit and behavior well, it just gets really boring really fast.
However, those were not a deal breakers for me. And I definitely don't hate the series as the OP states.
Here were the deal breakers for me:
1. This one is again minor, but is still incredibly distracting; Tenzen. His presence on screen REALLY gets on my nerves. He is just not characterized well. Having a wise and patient teacher break character occasionally to act like a child and say stupid impatient things is funny, and has proven to work well in other movies/shows/etc, but it just. doesn't. work. here. The thing is, they don't set the foundations of his character as a wise patient teacher properly, so instead of "breaking character" to act like a child, he does it so often that it has literally become who he is, and it makes absolutely no sense. It's just telling us again and again that he is so patient and wise only for him to repeatedly do the opposite, way, wwwaaaaaayyyyyyy too often. As I said, very distracting.
2. This is the big one. This is what had me open the first episode for the second season, and then close it after 10 minutes in disgust. A lot of the character clashes are just utterly pointless and contrived. Literally, in the first ten minutes, she uses the avatar state when she's "not supposed to", or frivolously or whatever. So her and Tenzen start having an argument about it. IT IS COMPLETELY FRUITLESS! There is literally no point to this part at all. They are just arguing about stupid s*** for no reason. Instead of her thinking, "Hmmm, maybe they have a point and I should consider it, even if it goes against what I personally believe", she just immediately denies it only to drag out the episode(even though that is well within her established character). And instead of Tenzen, the wise, patient, belligerent child that he is, maybe thinking "Hmmm, she has already proved over and over again that I really have no control over her behavior, and instead of demanding crap from her all the time in a way that would GUARANTEE conflict, maybe I could make suggestions and let her learn from her own mistakes and hubris", he just barks orders at her and scolds her even though that has never worked with her, EVER. This isn't a "problem"! This isn't something that needs to be resolved in the plot! This is contrived nonsense that shouldn't be a problem at all, and a waste of my time.
So, between the whinging (albiet accurate) teenager drama, and the pseudo non-problems they argue about that waste time in the episode in which they could be learning or doing something productive, I just lost interest.
Honestly, it's kind of a shame, because I really wanted to like this show, being a fan of the originals, and there ARE SO MANY THINGS IT DOES RIGHT!
Sigh.
To echo what I said in a previous post:
I have to give it to Aang because he actually had to go through an Arc. He had to both contemplate and suffer for the decisions he made, in addition to learning how to deal with loss.
When Aang failed to temper himself in his first fire bending lesson, he hurt Katara -and while it all turned out okay, the guilt of doing that and the fear that he might do it again was something he had to overcome.
Conversely, Korra was naturally gifted with Water, Fire, and Earth practically from birth; however she never had to deal with the 'philosophy' of air bending. She was just suddenly able to do it.
Whenever Aang was faced with a threat, he generally tried to execute some sort of plan to deal with it. He made time for fun, yes, but he didn't spend several episodes wasting his time with 'bending ball' when a legitimate threat was looming on the horizon. While S1 tried to introduce the idea that Korra could learn the fundamentals of air bending from 'pro bending', this element is never actually used for that purpose.
While it was convenient that Aang was offered a solution to stop the fire lord without killing him, it was clear that employing that solution was far riskier and required far greater strength of character than the half-dozen opportunities to actually kill Ozai proffered in the fight. Korra was simply GIVEN the solutions to all of her problems without making one single critical decision on her own.
When Aang lost Appa he had to work through his anger, hurt, and self-delusion and finally come to terms with his loss and accept that some things are more important than getting his life-long companion back. When Korra lost her bending except for air bending, it might have been interesting if she had time to come to grips with this 'disability', but she's still wallowing in self-pity by the time she (through no personal effort) gets it back.
Throughout the series Aang learns the values of temperament, courage, sacrifice, forgiveness, and strength of will. The application of these lessons allowed him to complete his quest and realize his destiny as the Avatar.
Korra, on the other hand, doesn't seem to apply anything.
I have to give it to Aang because he actually had to go through an Arc. He had to both contemplate and suffer for the decisions he made, in addition to learning how to deal with loss.
When Aang failed to temper himself in his first fire bending lesson, he hurt Katara -and while it all turned out okay, the guilt of doing that and the fear that he might do it again was something he had to overcome.
Conversely, Korra was naturally gifted with Water, Fire, and Earth practically from birth; however she never had to deal with the 'philosophy' of air bending. She was just suddenly able to do it.
Whenever Aang was faced with a threat, he generally tried to execute some sort of plan to deal with it. He made time for fun, yes, but he didn't spend several episodes wasting his time with 'bending ball' when a legitimate threat was looming on the horizon. While S1 tried to introduce the idea that Korra could learn the fundamentals of air bending from 'pro bending', this element is never actually used for that purpose.
While it was convenient that Aang was offered a solution to stop the fire lord without killing him, it was clear that employing that solution was far riskier and required far greater strength of character than the half-dozen opportunities to actually kill Ozai proffered in the fight. Korra was simply GIVEN the solutions to all of her problems without making one single critical decision on her own.
When Aang lost Appa he had to work through his anger, hurt, and self-delusion and finally come to terms with his loss and accept that some things are more important than getting his life-long companion back. When Korra lost her bending except for air bending, it might have been interesting if she had time to come to grips with this 'disability', but she's still wallowing in self-pity by the time she (through no personal effort) gets it back.
Throughout the series Aang learns the values of temperament, courage, sacrifice, forgiveness, and strength of will. The application of these lessons allowed him to complete his quest and realize his destiny as the Avatar.
Korra, on the other hand, doesn't seem to apply anything.
Wow, that was astonishingly insightful. I didn't think about that way. Thanks for this!senordesol said:
You're welcome!IQuarent said:
I want to also stress that LoK isn't *bad*, but that TLA's protagonist had such a compelling and emotionally complete, journey that the follow-up merely seems flat by comparison.
I think the entire problem stems from TLA being planned as 3 books, and LoK being written as a single book, and then approved for more seasons. Aang had tons of time to change and grow over the series, planned and written that way from the start. Korra just didn't have this, and you can see that between all the action and shotouts of book 1 Korra simply had no time for an arc.
To be fair, I feel like a lot of the complains I see in other threads is actually just people sad it isn't the original, and not anything wrong with LoK. Not that there aren't a lot of things LoK is lacking, just that it is getting more rage (or maybe just the wrong rage) than it should.
To be fair, I feel like a lot of the complains I see in other threads is actually just people sad it isn't the original, and not anything wrong with LoK. Not that there aren't a lot of things LoK is lacking, just that it is getting more rage (or maybe just the wrong rage) than it should.
Let see-
She is arrogant (she think she's hot shit for being the Avatar) which I always view that an Avatar in general are suppose to be humble well most of the time.
She is immatures and rebellious. While that is normal for her age but she is suppose to be more mature for her age aswell when compared to Aang who was just a kid. This was nicely shown when she was turn into a kid when she got lost in the spirit world. She only shown sign of maturity when she gave a good advice to Tenzin in the last episode.
As mention above, this had lead her to making the wrong decisions which she had chosen out of emotion over logical. Example- she picked Unalaq over Tenzin eventhought Tenzin had help and known her for years. She also kissed Mako abruptly eventhought Bolin has feeling for her. Lastly she was willing to have an all out war with the Northen water tribe while she wasn't looking at the big picture, the spirit (ok I may have forgotten how those episodes were played out). Ok I maybe bias on that since I operate on logical over emotion or rather I never let my judgement be clouded on my emotions as the media seen to portray that to be a bad thing most of the time.
EDIT-- This sum up why some people didn't like Korra during season 1 and 2-
http://neoduskcomics.tumblr.com/post/101057106412/how-did-book-3-change-korra-a-thought-comic
She is arrogant (she think she's hot shit for being the Avatar) which I always view that an Avatar in general are suppose to be humble well most of the time.
She is immatures and rebellious. While that is normal for her age but she is suppose to be more mature for her age aswell when compared to Aang who was just a kid. This was nicely shown when she was turn into a kid when she got lost in the spirit world. She only shown sign of maturity when she gave a good advice to Tenzin in the last episode.
As mention above, this had lead her to making the wrong decisions which she had chosen out of emotion over logical. Example- she picked Unalaq over Tenzin eventhought Tenzin had help and known her for years. She also kissed Mako abruptly eventhought Bolin has feeling for her. Lastly she was willing to have an all out war with the Northen water tribe while she wasn't looking at the big picture, the spirit (ok I may have forgotten how those episodes were played out). Ok I maybe bias on that since I operate on logical over emotion or rather I never let my judgement be clouded on my emotions as the media seen to portray that to be a bad thing most of the time.
EDIT-- This sum up why some people didn't like Korra during season 1 and 2-
http://neoduskcomics.tumblr.com/post/101057106412/how-did-book-3-change-korra-a-thought-comic
She's very brash and doesn't learn from her mistakes. With Aang we saw qualities of a hero that grew a great deal throughout the series but Korra just keeps slipping back into her broody angst role which isn't appealing as a hero.
She comes across as totally arrogant and yet seems to regularly fail at anything she tries to accomplish and then cries about it.
Honestly, if this wasn't the same show that had strong and powerful female characters I'd have thought this was a social commentary on women not being able to control their emotions. At least Aang was a kid. But Korra is an adult acting like one. She's basically had everything provided for her her entire life. She's been training all this time and is still incompetent as an avatar whereas look how Aang did after a year of training.
She's broody like Zuko was but without the character development. Frankly, I can't wait for her to get a great big ol' conk to the head so we can get a legitimate hero again. I don't care if it's female or male as long as it's not Korra. Korra is a classic villain archtype in a lot of ways given some failure and sufficient control over people. I have trouble rooting for her while enjoy almost all of the other characters on the show.
Perhaps it's also that she doesn't really seem to have a goal. The story took a nice turn when she had that really huge enemy to fight (not going to spoil it) but then she lost overall direction again. Aang had a pretty stable "learn the elements and get good enough to defeat the fire lord".
Having an aimless hero is frustrating at best. I think LoK is good enough to watch for everything else involved but whatever they tried to do with Korra is a bust at this point. She's the bad guy the hero defeats by making her fight angry.
She comes across as totally arrogant and yet seems to regularly fail at anything she tries to accomplish and then cries about it.
Honestly, if this wasn't the same show that had strong and powerful female characters I'd have thought this was a social commentary on women not being able to control their emotions. At least Aang was a kid. But Korra is an adult acting like one. She's basically had everything provided for her her entire life. She's been training all this time and is still incompetent as an avatar whereas look how Aang did after a year of training.
She's broody like Zuko was but without the character development. Frankly, I can't wait for her to get a great big ol' conk to the head so we can get a legitimate hero again. I don't care if it's female or male as long as it's not Korra. Korra is a classic villain archtype in a lot of ways given some failure and sufficient control over people. I have trouble rooting for her while enjoy almost all of the other characters on the show.
Perhaps it's also that she doesn't really seem to have a goal. The story took a nice turn when she had that really huge enemy to fight (not going to spoil it) but then she lost overall direction again. Aang had a pretty stable "learn the elements and get good enough to defeat the fire lord".
Having an aimless hero is frustrating at best. I think LoK is good enough to watch for everything else involved but whatever they tried to do with Korra is a bust at this point. She's the bad guy the hero defeats by making her fight angry.
I'd divide what's "wrong" with Legend of Korra in a few points. (I use quotation because "wrong" isn't really the word that really fits the situation for me).
Point 1. The change of episode format dictates that there's focus on story and less on characters. In TLA, we had 24 episodes per season. Some episodes were filler episodes, but they help develop characters in order to grow them and to make us care. In TOK, we had only 12 episodes. 10 to 12 episodes per season show dictate it pretty much focus on either story or on character pieces. Everything needs to be focused. Season 1 of Korra had a decent story, but it had trouble pacing its characters. In the end, it left little room to polish everything. In other words, it left a certain difficulty to the creators to adapt.
Point 2. The roller coaster that is season 2.
Point 2A: The general story
I can summarize the first part of season 2 has "little build-up, too much pay-off". The first part of the season is all about this mystery plot that leaves little time for a breather. There's too much happening at the same time and leaves us confused. The second part of the season is what I call "the mulligan". The episodes of "Beginning" gives us a break and makes us care about the whole situation. At that point, the story fixes itself, but we've lost the connection with the characters and now its mostly too late to give us a chance to care again.
Point 2B. Season 2 and the characters
Aside from the antagonist, every new characters were a great addition to the show. However, the problem of season 2 is that the characters aren't used to their full potential or they have regressed to their season 1 personality. It creates a disconnection with the audience since there's no clear line of progression. This point is especially true with the character of Korra.
Why is this one of the "key factors" that makes Korra hard to relate to?
Point 3. Difficulty of choosing its theme.
The Last airbender had one clear theme: Growth. The whole point of the show was growing up and taking responsibilities. Aang had to develop from being a simple kid to being the Avatar. TOK isn't really clear on what it wants to choose. Since every season has its own arc, it's difficult to stay consistent. My guess is that they aim for the theme of "Inner conflict" or to put it more clearly: It's the conflict between ourselves. The problem is that they have trouble making a story around it.
However, I think Korra is the best kind of character for this kind of theme. She's brash and quick to judgement. She didn't take the time to analyze the problem. In the TLA, Aang was already a planner and had one clear goal: stop the Firelord. In TOK, we have a chance to learn the lesson of conflict analyzation and resolution. We need to stop and take our time before being brash. It's a great lesson for life.
The reason why Korra isn't well liked is probably because of the regression of her character in season 2. In season 1, we would think she learns her lesson, but she didn't. It makes things regress. However, in season 3, there's growth. Korra finally seems to get wiser and take her time even if she's tempted to resolve things quickly. It's why I love the last season so much. It finally has its grip on the characters. It finally managed to get its proper build-up/pay-off formula. It also managed to establish its theme.
I look at TOK and I finally see the potential transform into a really good show.
Point 1. The change of episode format dictates that there's focus on story and less on characters. In TLA, we had 24 episodes per season. Some episodes were filler episodes, but they help develop characters in order to grow them and to make us care. In TOK, we had only 12 episodes. 10 to 12 episodes per season show dictate it pretty much focus on either story or on character pieces. Everything needs to be focused. Season 1 of Korra had a decent story, but it had trouble pacing its characters. In the end, it left little room to polish everything. In other words, it left a certain difficulty to the creators to adapt.
Point 2. The roller coaster that is season 2.
Point 2A: The general story
I can summarize the first part of season 2 has "little build-up, too much pay-off". The first part of the season is all about this mystery plot that leaves little time for a breather. There's too much happening at the same time and leaves us confused. The second part of the season is what I call "the mulligan". The episodes of "Beginning" gives us a break and makes us care about the whole situation. At that point, the story fixes itself, but we've lost the connection with the characters and now its mostly too late to give us a chance to care again.
Point 2B. Season 2 and the characters
Aside from the antagonist, every new characters were a great addition to the show. However, the problem of season 2 is that the characters aren't used to their full potential or they have regressed to their season 1 personality. It creates a disconnection with the audience since there's no clear line of progression. This point is especially true with the character of Korra.
Why is this one of the "key factors" that makes Korra hard to relate to?
Point 3. Difficulty of choosing its theme.
The Last airbender had one clear theme: Growth. The whole point of the show was growing up and taking responsibilities. Aang had to develop from being a simple kid to being the Avatar. TOK isn't really clear on what it wants to choose. Since every season has its own arc, it's difficult to stay consistent. My guess is that they aim for the theme of "Inner conflict" or to put it more clearly: It's the conflict between ourselves. The problem is that they have trouble making a story around it.
However, I think Korra is the best kind of character for this kind of theme. She's brash and quick to judgement. She didn't take the time to analyze the problem. In the TLA, Aang was already a planner and had one clear goal: stop the Firelord. In TOK, we have a chance to learn the lesson of conflict analyzation and resolution. We need to stop and take our time before being brash. It's a great lesson for life.
The reason why Korra isn't well liked is probably because of the regression of her character in season 2. In season 1, we would think she learns her lesson, but she didn't. It makes things regress. However, in season 3, there's growth. Korra finally seems to get wiser and take her time even if she's tempted to resolve things quickly. It's why I love the last season so much. It finally has its grip on the characters. It finally managed to get its proper build-up/pay-off formula. It also managed to establish its theme.
I look at TOK and I finally see the potential transform into a really good show.
That regression bit is huge. It makes all of her negative personality traits look like stable characteristics rather than something to grow out of. I do hope it has something to do with the show being picked up for more seasons than the writers anticipated but I don't know if that's the case. Hope is a fickle mistress of course. It's weird but I sometimes feel like they could have made this show work with almost any other female character type too. Brash and incompetent is a terrible hero quality.Random Argument Man said:
If I weren't at work I'd give your post a real clap.
I didn't think season 1 Korra was bad. She was headstrong and a bit arrogant but I thought this was intentional so she could 'grow' into her role as Avatar. Her romance with Mako was tedious as fuck, but by the end of the season I thought she would actually become a decent Avatar.
Then season 2 happened. I think most of the hate for Korra and the show as a whole stems from this season. Allegedly Korra was supposed to only last 1 season. The second one was ordered on such short notice that the writers had less time to fine tune everything and it shows. Korra is more irrational and angsty than before and keeps making dumb decisions. Season 2 largely act as if season 1 never happened and Korra never grew at all. She isn't the only victim mind; Bei Fong was seriously on an all-stupid diet. Thankfully she ditches the Mako romance, but everything she 'learns' in the second season is almost a retread of the first.
Season 3 is shaping up to be pretty good actually. Korra has yet to do something that I consider stupid and is actually proving to be pretty capable this season. She tries to mediate in conflicts, takes her banishment surprisingly well and doesn't seem to act half as rash as before. I really hope this trend continues....
Then season 2 happened. I think most of the hate for Korra and the show as a whole stems from this season. Allegedly Korra was supposed to only last 1 season. The second one was ordered on such short notice that the writers had less time to fine tune everything and it shows. Korra is more irrational and angsty than before and keeps making dumb decisions. Season 2 largely act as if season 1 never happened and Korra never grew at all. She isn't the only victim mind; Bei Fong was seriously on an all-stupid diet. Thankfully she ditches the Mako romance, but everything she 'learns' in the second season is almost a retread of the first.
Season 3 is shaping up to be pretty good actually. Korra has yet to do something that I consider stupid and is actually proving to be pretty capable this season. She tries to mediate in conflicts, takes her banishment surprisingly well and doesn't seem to act half as rash as before. I really hope this trend continues....
True, but like I said, if the theme of the show is inner conflict and learning to take your time instead of being brash. Let's not forget that Avatar was aimed for kids at first. The creators went to great length to make a story that doesn't insult the notions of a kid show and help its audience grow as well.Lightknight said:
If we ignore the regression within season 2, Korra's character growth can be aimed from the negative traits of being "brash and incompetent" to being "thoughtful and competent". Now that I think about it, the show could be also be about the theme of "maturity".
When we think about it, Korra is the Avatar. Sure, she's the protagonist. However, does the title of Avatar automatically makes you a hero ? Are you born with a magical sense of responsibility, the abilities and the skills? I'm pretty sure there's a big no for this question.
I see this similar to how we often see the title of "adult" when we grow up. We imagine it's this magical state in life where we're responsible and we have it all figured out. It's actually not the case. We're still brash and incompetent in a lot of things. The whole concept of adulthood is one where you need to learn towards to. You don't just get it.
Although, I'll doubt my own response to this for 3 reasons. A. It's probably me reading to much into this since I over-analyze things. B. We would need to watch the entire show if this would be the focus. 3. Season 2, at least for the first half, makes these theories a bit hard to believe in.
Sorry no, it's not mainly because "she's not Aang". My favorite characters from ATLA aren't Aang, they're in fact Toph and Kitara.twistedmic said:
Korra is disliked by a lot of people, myself included, because she's poorly written. Every season she comes off as a whiney, angry, headstrong brat who would rather solve all her problems by yelling at them, and throwing a fireball at it.
This is in fact, pointed out on her first day in Republic City. She uses her bending as a leverage tool to get what she wants, and then she's surprised when people around her aren't happy with her bullying ways, and the damage she's caused.
Now, having that being the starting point for a character, and then have them learn and grow from it into something better is perfectly fine. That's a great story tool to use. The part about Korra that irks me the most, is that she never actually seems to learn anything. At the end of season 1, she's still just as headstrong and belligerent. She's still prone to try and solve everything with yelling and fire bending, and when season 2 rolls around, she's in the exact same mental state. It's like they hit the reset button on her character growth. What miniscule development she made in season 1, was basically wiped clean, and she just kept acting the same as always.
By the end of season 2, she was marginally better, but not much. And by the start of season 3, she's still acting that way. I will admit that she's improved slightly, but not much. The best parts of the show, are the episodes and scenes that don't include her. Because for the most part, she's just an annoying, loud, obnoxious teenager that thinks she knows everything, and yells at everyone who tries to tell her differently. And yeah, that's basically what a teenager is, but god is it annoying to watch in a show on a weekly basis.
I started a thread a while back, where I explained this in more words, but that's basically the gist of my complaint about her.
I love the Avatar-verse. I love what's changed and evolved in the world since the original show. I love the cultures and kingdoms and...well pretty much every other element of the show, except the title character. She's slowly, sloooooowly getting out of her season 1 & 2 mold, and for that I am very happy, but at this point, I think the dislike might be too deeply rooted. I want to like Korra herself, but as she presented on the show, I just can't. I hope she makes some huge improvements in her presentation, because I'd really like to like her.
I have to disagree with you on that one. The tomboy aspect of Korra's character was played pretty heavily and I thought the sole purpose of Asami Sato was to show how not-pretty and unladylike Korra was.IQuarent said:
The way her character was tossed to the side at the end of the first season cemented that thought for me. I became too disinterested to continue onto the 2nd and the 3rd seasons to see if she's still around with a purpose.
OT: I can't really put it into many words but I just find the series boring. It has interesting things in it but I don't find it interesting overall. Until the reveal I thought the villain was awesome.
I feel as if the creators played Korra as "this is totally and completely not Aang" too much. I don't care much for characters that only exist as opposites to other characters. In a vacuum, she's fine. Compare her to Aang and she is the opposite. Her appearance, her demeanor/personality and even her lifestyle along with the situations she is in depict this. She never feels like her own character, just all the things that Aang isn't.
I also feel like the heart of the creators isn't entirely in this series. I can't really describe it but some amount of, well something, feels like it's missing in The Legend of Korra. No, that something isn't Aang. My favorite characters were Sokka, Zuko(Sasuke done right) Iroh and Azula. I loved the first series but all things must come to an end. Sometimes I wonder if they were done with the avatar concept and wanted to do something new but Nickelodean persuaded them to keep it going.
I agree with most of your points here. It doesn't mean I think Korra's series is particularly bad, it's just not as well written or characterized as the first series. Despite people complaining about filler episodes in ATLA (The Great Divide, anyone?) I think those few that did occur were useful in fleshing out the characters and helping to demonstrate their growth as characters. Additionally, to touch on your point about Aang's loss of Appa, there are a few episodes that take place between the loss and the recovery, including the episode showing what happened to Appa the whole time. I feel like this allows the viewers to get a better sense of the time that passes and difficulties the characters experience. In Korra, because the seasons are trimmed to 13 episodes or whatnot, there's not as much room for these kinds of characterization episodes.senordesol said:
With me it's season 2. It's clear the showrunners weren't properly prepared to do a second season, so they had to cobble together whatever they could, and ended up making Korra almost completely unlikable, with her repeating all her previous mistakes, amplifying all the worst aspects of her personality and not having her learn from anything in season 1. Good thing then that season 3 is making up for it and then some. It feels like even the showrunners acknowledge how bad season 2 was, and seem to hardly ever mention it.
I reiterate: It's not a bad show, it's just that I was expecting a little more from the folks who brought me TLA.Nigh Invulnerable said:
While I recognize that TLA was written as an epic (in the classical sense of the word), they had PLENTY of time with Korra. 240m (not counting credits or commercials)leaves plenty of room to tell an engaging, compelling story. Unfortunately, they engineered Korra's character to be a consistent brat and wasted a good deal of time on episodes that developed nothing.
Arguably, there was more filler in LoK than all of TLA, as most of the things established in TLA paid off at some point later (Jet, Suki, the Prisoners, the Boulder, the swamp benders, the Machinist, etc.). So we have a situation where they spent *more* time faffing about when they anticipated a *shorter* run. Very irritating.
What I appreciated about TLA; truly, truly appreciated, was that it was an opera. Everyone, every character essential to the story was fleshed out with their motivations and personality. It would take several minutes for me to describe each one in due detail -even just for S1. For Korra's characters, except for Wan and the eponymous heroine, I could do it in a few words.
Conversely, what frustrates me so about LoK is that the premises for its books are so good and -subsequently- so wasted. The conflict between benders and non-benders was an incredibly interesting one. It could be easy to imagine how a non-powered human would feel increasingly marginalized in a 'bender's world'. But they scuffed it.
The conflict between maintaining spirituality in an increasingly industrialized world was an interesting one. How do we maintain the balance of nature while pursuing the promise of technology? But they scuffed it.
My problem with the show isn't that it's 'bad' -it's NOT bad at all- it's just that there was so much willfully wasted potential that it's infuriating.
A great deal of it comes from it not being the Last Airbender. People like focusing on Korra's faults just because of that fact and condemn her for them by bringing up the argument that, "Aang would have done this better" and blah blah blah. It's probably also the fact that she is a teenager and thus has alot of qualities people just don't like even though it is normal for someone her age. Personally, I thoroughly enjoy Korra, just like I enjoyed Last Airbender. Both of them have their own unique set of identities and I respect the show forging it's own identity instead of trying to be like Last Airbender, which is once again, one of the major problems alot of these so called fans have.