attackfish (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
attackfish) wrote2013-09-27 10:49 pm
attackfish) wrote2013-09-27 10:49 pm
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So I'm all Caught up With Korra... (Oh, God, Eska)
I don't usually like writing meta in the middle of a season, because I'm an insecure person who hates it when the show publicly destroys my theories, but here goes...
So there are a whole bunch of interesting things here to talk about, like the fact that they pretty much ripped Tonraq and Unalaq's backstory straight out of Thor, or I really hate Varrick, or that I think I'm in the minority here in that I like this idea of Aang as an imperfect father, who didn't always respond perfectly to his children's varying talents and cultural identities, and has kids that sometimes feel a little resentment because of it, but who was a good man, and with Katara raised a loving family, full of wonderful, flawed people. Or the fact that we have as of yet met two Northern Water Tribe chiefs and their children, but never met or heard referenced a single chief's wife (except possibly a little bit in flashback when Yue's hair turned white). Or that the writers really seem to have a thing about pairs of siblings, (all of whom are pairs of brothers, exept one brother sister pair) were the elder is more straightforward, and the younger is more manipulative, Iroh and Ozai, Zuko and Azula, Noatak and Tarlok, and now Tonraq and Unalaq. Interestingly, in Korra, the siblings who fit this pattern have all been Water Tribe, but the Water sibs from Airbender didn't fit this pattern. Or there's the fact that I really really want to know who the barbarians that Unalaq paid to attack the North were. Are they ethnically Water? Earth? Fire?, Heck, are they Air? Are they none of the above? What would that mean? What's their history as a people? Have they always been in the North, or did they come there recently? World building wonks like me want to know!
No, though, what I'm going to talk about is Eska, and a little bit about Desna, but mostly Eska.
In Avatar: the Last Airbender, the writers did a truly superb job of portraying an abusive girl, in Azula, and showed that neither masculinity, nor adulthood were required for such a person to be a threat, or to cause damage to their victims. I've talked a little before here about just how affirming it was to see a person much like my abuser and first stalker portrayed as a serious, terrifying villain, and how seeing her minions' rejection of her being portrayed as heroic helped me come to terms with my own guilt for "running away."
This is part of why Eska feels like a massive step back for the show to me. Superficially, I think Eska is supposed to remind us of Mai. They both have a similar "goth" sensibility, and both are cool and outwardly unemotional. This is further highlighted when Eska calls Bolin her feeble turtle-duck after Airbender symbolically associated Mai's boyfriend with the same animal. However, Mai's emotionless facade is explained in universe as a psychological defense, whereas, at least for now, it only serves to add to Eska and Desna's creepiness. And there's the fact that Mai isn't an abusive control freak, like Eska, Desna and Azula.
The narrative treats Eska's abuse of Bolin, her attempts to isolate and control him, the way she persistently overrules his objections, or twists his displays of emotions, as a joke. Whereas Azula was treated utterly seriously, and I doubt that a male character doing what she does to say Korra or Asami would be treated in any way but seriously, Eska is funny.The fact that she almost succeeds in dragging Bolin all the way across the world, far from his friends and family is funny.
I'm not laughing.
The humor picked up another distasteful element with the portrayel of Eska as a "crazy (ex) girlfriend." There's a lot of really well written stuff out there about how "crazy" is thrown at women in relationships for daring have emotions and needs that don't jive perfectly with their boyfriend/spouse's desires. Eska's threat being downgraded to that, and used to reinforce that stereotype is just gross.
Then there's the way Eska and Desna's androgyny is used to enhance their creepiness. This is an old, old trope, it's lazy, and like the "evil cripple" trope which associates disability with creepiness, reinforces the idea that there is something wrong with being nonbinary in one's gender presentation. There is in fact a piece of me that given Bolin's apparent attraction to both Eska and Desna mourns for the bisexual, gender binary smashing poly relationship that could have been if Eska and Desna weren't both incredibly abusive, and Nickelodeon were somehow convinced it wasn't inappropriate for kids.
The one thing even I laughed at though, was that betrothal necklace. It looked like something Eska picked up at Hot Topic.
So there are a whole bunch of interesting things here to talk about, like the fact that they pretty much ripped Tonraq and Unalaq's backstory straight out of Thor, or I really hate Varrick, or that I think I'm in the minority here in that I like this idea of Aang as an imperfect father, who didn't always respond perfectly to his children's varying talents and cultural identities, and has kids that sometimes feel a little resentment because of it, but who was a good man, and with Katara raised a loving family, full of wonderful, flawed people. Or the fact that we have as of yet met two Northern Water Tribe chiefs and their children, but never met or heard referenced a single chief's wife (except possibly a little bit in flashback when Yue's hair turned white). Or that the writers really seem to have a thing about pairs of siblings, (all of whom are pairs of brothers, exept one brother sister pair) were the elder is more straightforward, and the younger is more manipulative, Iroh and Ozai, Zuko and Azula, Noatak and Tarlok, and now Tonraq and Unalaq. Interestingly, in Korra, the siblings who fit this pattern have all been Water Tribe, but the Water sibs from Airbender didn't fit this pattern. Or there's the fact that I really really want to know who the barbarians that Unalaq paid to attack the North were. Are they ethnically Water? Earth? Fire?, Heck, are they Air? Are they none of the above? What would that mean? What's their history as a people? Have they always been in the North, or did they come there recently? World building wonks like me want to know!
No, though, what I'm going to talk about is Eska, and a little bit about Desna, but mostly Eska.
In Avatar: the Last Airbender, the writers did a truly superb job of portraying an abusive girl, in Azula, and showed that neither masculinity, nor adulthood were required for such a person to be a threat, or to cause damage to their victims. I've talked a little before here about just how affirming it was to see a person much like my abuser and first stalker portrayed as a serious, terrifying villain, and how seeing her minions' rejection of her being portrayed as heroic helped me come to terms with my own guilt for "running away."
This is part of why Eska feels like a massive step back for the show to me. Superficially, I think Eska is supposed to remind us of Mai. They both have a similar "goth" sensibility, and both are cool and outwardly unemotional. This is further highlighted when Eska calls Bolin her feeble turtle-duck after Airbender symbolically associated Mai's boyfriend with the same animal. However, Mai's emotionless facade is explained in universe as a psychological defense, whereas, at least for now, it only serves to add to Eska and Desna's creepiness. And there's the fact that Mai isn't an abusive control freak, like Eska, Desna and Azula.
The narrative treats Eska's abuse of Bolin, her attempts to isolate and control him, the way she persistently overrules his objections, or twists his displays of emotions, as a joke. Whereas Azula was treated utterly seriously, and I doubt that a male character doing what she does to say Korra or Asami would be treated in any way but seriously, Eska is funny.The fact that she almost succeeds in dragging Bolin all the way across the world, far from his friends and family is funny.
I'm not laughing.
The humor picked up another distasteful element with the portrayel of Eska as a "crazy (ex) girlfriend." There's a lot of really well written stuff out there about how "crazy" is thrown at women in relationships for daring have emotions and needs that don't jive perfectly with their boyfriend/spouse's desires. Eska's threat being downgraded to that, and used to reinforce that stereotype is just gross.
Then there's the way Eska and Desna's androgyny is used to enhance their creepiness. This is an old, old trope, it's lazy, and like the "evil cripple" trope which associates disability with creepiness, reinforces the idea that there is something wrong with being nonbinary in one's gender presentation. There is in fact a piece of me that given Bolin's apparent attraction to both Eska and Desna mourns for the bisexual, gender binary smashing poly relationship that could have been if Eska and Desna weren't both incredibly abusive, and Nickelodeon were somehow convinced it wasn't inappropriate for kids.
The one thing even I laughed at though, was that betrothal necklace. It looked like something Eska picked up at Hot Topic.
no subject
That power imbalance is also highlighted when Bolin needs some seriously expensive toys to get away from her at the end of episode four. That is scary bending, and the way she flips out when he leaves? Classic abusive behavior. The thing is, they ticked all the boxes, as you said if he had been a girl dating Desna, no one would have questioned that it was extremely abusive. The only way this works is if a male victim and a female abuser as a concept is seen as inherently funny.
Damn it, now I really need an episode of Republic City Law and Order SVU. *weird crossovers it never occurred to me to want before*
It never ceases to amaze me the way that a same gender romantic relationship is seen as adult content by the network (usually justified that it implies sex, or that sexual orientation implies sexual feelings) when relationships between a boy and a girl are not, even though that implies sexual feelings just as much as a same gender relationship does, and neither implies sex, thanks, unless the writers write it that way, like they did with Zuko and Mai and Sokka and Suki, or every time any married couple has a kid. And that's not even getting into the whole issue that would be poly on kids TV, or bisexuality, which is somehow even more risque than gay or lesbian characters.
no subject
What bothers me is the idea that a woman isn't abusive comes from the idea that a woman cannot ever be a threat. As wrong as that idea is on its face, it's not even relevant here. Eska is a clear physical threat to his safety and life, she's actually made death threats to him and is capable of carrying them out. Do the writers not see that?
Haha, Law and Order: Republic City. In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the Bending council, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.
Given the positive feedback other shows have gotten, I'm not sure advertising would be a problem for a same gender romance. Any loss revenue would be easily made up by buzz. More buzz, more advertising.
no subject
Eska is a clear physical threat to his safety and life, she's actually made death threats to him and is capable of carrying them out. Do the writers not see that?
I'm not sure they do, which is absolutely bizarre to me. She's a girl (I think, is she a woman yet?), and therefor not really dangerous, even if captivity, isolation, and waterbending tsunamis manifestly are. Therefor if captivity, isolation, and waterbending tsunamis come from a girl, they're not dangerous. Especially after Azula, this attitude is really disheartening.
CHILD MOLESTER: I didn't touch that kid
TOPH: *singsong voice* I can tell you're lying!
I don't think it would be a problem either. The only problem right now is hidebound risk adverse often themselves bigoted television execs who feel uncomfortable with anything "unproven".