Vid: Azula's Jar of Hearts

[attackfish]

Disclaimer: The music for this vid is Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts". The footage in this vid comes from Avatar: the Last Airbender, which belongs to Nickelodeon, as well as to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

Summary: This is what Ty Lee wishes she could say

Creator Commentary:  This vid is about the relationship of Ty Lee and Azula, but it does not celebrate that relationship.  I have previously talked about my own experiences with abuse within a supposed friendship, much like Ty Lee and Azula's and as such, I will always portray Azula's relationship with Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko as the abuse it absolutely is.  Mai and Ty Lee's actions at the Boiling Rock were tremendously brave, and a true triumph.

Azula's Jar of Hearts

Comments

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

Thank you for giving me the link to this!

When I was watching The Boiling Rock for the first time, I wasn't really surprised by Mei's actions, but I wasn''t expected Ty Lee's initiative and I wasn't sure where it came from. Then I gave it more thought and realized that it was all there from the beginning. The abusive side of Ty Lee and Azula's friendship is obvious from the very start when Azula sets the net on fire after Ty Lee's initial refusal to join her again. Still, I don't think I really appreciated Ty Lee's courage in standing up to Azula until I saw this vid and something just clicked for me.

Great choice of music and a really good job at showing Ty Lee's POV on the dysfunctional relationship with Azula.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you for watching it! When I first watched Avatar: the Last Airbender, I was absolutely amazed at the sensitivity and realism with which they portrayed the abusive relationships between Azula and her victims. There was absolutely no judgement leveled against her victims, and they were portrayed as strong, capable, brave people, who were under Azula's thumb through no fault of their own, and Azula is shown over and over again as a credible abuser, who is no less capable of being an abuser and causing great harm to her victims just because she is a fourteen year old girl. This is astonishingly rare, and as the victim of long term abuse by a female peer in childhood, I can tell you that in the real world, a whole lot of people don't believe that this sort of abuse is real, or damaging, or as valid as the more stereotypical abuse of a father, husband or boyfriend on the women and children in their power. Given that victims of even the most normative abusive situation face huge amounts of denial and victim blaming...

Yeah, I might be a little passionate about this. I hadn't realized until I started making this vid how very much the camera loves Azula. It's always looking up at her, deliberately framing her as intimidating and powerful.