attackfish | So I'm all Caught up With Korra... (Oh, God, Eska)

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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.

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Are cut tags not a thing any more?

Apparently not when I'm overtired and angry. Fixed.

I'm sorry I was snappish. There's a person on my LJ friends list who thinks that, because she hates Elementary, it doesn't need spoiler cuts, and I think I was taking my annoyance out on you.

And I'm sorry I forgot all about spoiler cuts. I'm not sually so thoughtless.

I've been away from things for a while, but just stopped by to say thank you for writing this! I feel like I'm in a minority both for liking where the cloudbabies story is going (especially the idea that Aang was a good man and father, but wasn't necessarily perfect) and disliking Eska and Desna (and Mako, but that at least comes in waves). While most viewers I've seen find the dynamic between Eska and Bolin funny, I find myself angry at her treatment of Bolin. It's become a horrible cycle of hating a scene between them and then reassuring myself that I dislike Eska because she is being abusive, not just because Bolin is just being turned into comic relief, reading other fans' reactions who are either neutral or find it funny and questioning why I dislike their dynamic all over again.

I do feel like the show is heading in the right direction since the season premier and I'm especially enjoying the focus on family, which was a great part of AtLA. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm liking Mako better in the second season, probably because there's less of him. Now that the Krew is back together, I wonder how long that will last.

Eska and Bolin funny This. It was portrayed as funny, and everybody seems to go along with that, and I'm just like, no, please no, she's abusive, somebody other than Bolin notice this.

I do feel like the show is heading in the right direction since the season premier and I'm especially enjoying the focus on family, which was a great part of AtLA. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

Yes, very much this. Eska is/was a blot for me on a season I am otherwise enjoying much more than the previous one.

I think I wouldn't have a problem with him as much if he was treated more like Zuko, ie a good guy that makes some (sometimes really) bad choices and faces consequences for it. However, Mako wasn't called out on his behaviour towards Asami and it seems to be a non-issue this season. I just feel like the creators have made their "perfect male character" with a few intended flaws to keep him edgy and seem to ignore the issues that make fans dislike him. The "blood-sucking-leech" comment was such a throw-away thing, but I imagined Asami hearing that and it hurt.

Back to Bolin/Eska: I just worry because, in general, guys in abusive relationships are usually laughed at rather than taken seriously in media.

It might be that now they know they have a couple more seasons to play with, they're going to develop the characters better. That would be a real improvement from last season.

I'm not actually sure, I'm picking up hints that Korra and Mako's relationship might not last, and that they have at least a little been listening to fans some on that front. Also, we got to see him be a total dweeb in the premier. I do think though that Mako isn't Zuko, and that a huge part of the fannish response is because he isn't Zuko 2.0. I want to see his issues dug into, but he doesn't need the kind of redemption arc Zuko does. I also am hoping, given that Korra this season seeps to be examining her need for male mentors, may be gearing up for confronting why she wants a man with a protector complex.

Oh the bloodsucking leach comment. On one hand, I was like, Mako, no, and on the other, I was going, well at least advising brutal honesty is better than his stringing girls along? Progress?

I just worry because, in general, guys in abusive relationships are usually laughed at rather than taken seriously in media.

Every time. And worse when the man is being abused by a woman, because women being a threat is seen as inherently amusing. It's a major step backward after Azula.

Here's hoping. I do like a lot of what they're doing.

Although there also seem to be plenty of Makorra fans, so we'll see. I definitely agree Mako isn't Zuko, which is a good thing, and you're right, he doesn't need a redemption arc (he hasn't done anything that bad). I just wish it had been clearer that Mako's actions were in the wrong and that there had been a bit more solidarity between Korra and Asami. I do realise I hate Mako more than I should, but I'm tired of male characters getting away with things that female characters get vilified for.

I wish we got to see more Asami and Korra interacting period. I mean lots and lots of them interacting, and being friends that don't let Mako come between them.

There seem to be two camps, the Mako can do no wrong camp, and the Mako must die camp, and for me, I want to see him get called out on his jerky behavior, and maybe learn something from it, and have the show maybe explore a little bit how his and bolin's childhoods molded them to be as they are now, but I also wish fandom would look at his behavior and remember he's a teenager with minimal dating experience, and we all do stupid, selfish, cowardly things at that age, and hurt people, and get hurt ourselves, and then learn better. I want him called out, sure, but I don't want him vilified for it. Girls shouldn't be vilified for it either, and vilifying boys for it won't help matters. I think you and I are caught in an uncomfortable middle there.

There's a segment of the fandom that isn't treating this as a laughing matter either (http://masterarrowhead.tumblr.com/post/62364985101/asami-and-mako-better-step-in-and-help-bolin-in), so you're not alone there. Although comparing her to Mai just makes Eska's shortcomings more forthright. In her first episode, Mai showed a lot more emotion, and variety of it, than Eska has. Honestly, before that gag at the end of Episode 4, I half-expected the twins to be revealed as Spirit abominations in flesh suits or something, considering their flatness so far.

Bolin is in a weird spot this season. He's getting a lot more screentime than he did in Season 1, it feels like, but he's still consistently comic relief. That worked well enough when he was a bit player in the mini-series that was Season 1, but in a continuing series he's starting to feel at odds with the wider universe. Asami has the same issue, but in a different way. Bolin at least has a purpose as comic relief. Asami is just... there. Like a more prominent, flatter Suki. The only thing she's done this season is to introduce Bolin to Varrick, and otherwise hasn't had any character interaction with the rest of the cast. I get the sense that the writers just don't know what to do with her, or at least don't know how to use her in this storyline.

I dunno. I feel like Season 2 would've been a lot tighter if they'd dropped Bolin and Asami, and had a Korra/Mako vacation to the South Pole blow up into this civil war thing, maybe introduced more Southern/Northern cast members to take their places. Because neither character really feels like they work outside of Republic City, while Mako can at least coast on his boyfriend status as an outsider to this "family business" stuff.

Edited 2013-09-29 01:51 (UTC)

I kept waiting for it to turn out that Eska and Desna were playing a not-very-funny practical joke on Bolin, because the flatness was just way too over the top.

Yes, I get the real impression that the writers want to have the Krew together because reasons, but don't want to take the time out of the plot to develop Mako, Bolin, and Asami as they really need to be developed, and because of this, they're just sort of there. The thing is, I don't wish the writers had left them behind in Republic City, but I do wish that the writers were actually using the characters and giving them their own story arcs. Asami's interactions with Varrick and her issues with being a business woman on her own now that her father is out of the picture (and why he is out, oh boy!) could really underline the false mentor theme, and Bolin and Mako could have little subplots like Tenzin and family, and all in all, they could structure things a little more like A:tLA, even with the shorter seasons and make better use of their sprawling cast.

Eska is hitting a lot of really negative notes for me. If Desna was doing this to a female character, (calling her his slave and possession, using bending to threaten her for speaking to a male character, socially isolates him, ignores his needs, forcing her to carry him around in a rickshaw, demanding she move to his home for him, threatening to ice her up and feed her to dolphin piranhas if she left him, demanding she bow when he leaves the room and commenting on enjoying her groveling, forcing her to marry him, and changing her clothing to suit him and then angrily chasing after her when she tries to leave) this would not be allowed on children's television. It would be an episode of Avatar Law and Order, Special Victim's Unit. It's not funny on any level, and especially given the power imbalance (she's clearly a more powerful bender than him, and she's a princess with an army), it's incredibly unfunny.

And yes, the creators even say "androgynous, creepy twins" as in the androgyny is directly connected to the creepy factor. I can't speak more on gender issues, since I'm still learning. But sadly based on what I've seen with Nick, it will be a blizzard in Eilat before "a bisexual, gender binary smashing poly relationship" is allowed on a Y7 show. Heck, we haven't had an explicitly gay character on a children's show. A few hints, a few nods, but no American show has actually shown it more than "best friends," "in the same room" and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animated_television_programs_with_LGBT_characters

Most people aren't as educated as you on gender issues. I have two graduate level degrees and I barely scratched the surface, most of my education has been Professor Google.

The power imbalance is really dramatic. It's not just a personality type she shares with Azula. She's also the daughter of an evil monarch, and since she is clearly used to getting her way, I bet she has had those resources, including the army, at her disposal for years. At the very least, he seems to turn a blind eye to her behavior. Which is another thing. Kids are not tabula rasa, and a bad person can have good parents, yes, I know, but when a parent has kids doing what Desna and Eska are doing, and has witnessed it and isn't making an effort to stop it, there's something way wrong with the parent. Korra should take note.

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.

The weakness in the Krew has a lot to do, IMO, with the lack of thematic buttressing among the characters. Everyone has their own little subplots this season, but those subplots are all different in theme from each other.

Yes, exactly. As I said, it wouldn't be that hard to tie Asami's especially into the main theme, but they're just not doing it. I find it frustrating from a storytelling point of view.

Korra should have taken note her dad is the older brother of the chief, and not chief and not in the North Pole. And that amount of shame would travel, no? She's obviously met her cousins, and members of the WT, no one ever let it slip? No?

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.

Korra has a really difficult time judging adults' intentions, and a habit of establishing her independence from one adult by going to another one. Clearly Unalaq was bad news. Maybe if she's that bad at reading people, she can talk Lin into teaching her the lie detector thing?

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".

I too am deeply troubled by the Bolin/Eska relationship and the way it has been used for laughs. I posted something about it over on tumblr here (http://redrikki.tumblr.com/post/62378329591/bolin-eska-its-really-not-that-funny). I agree that it's really a large number of steps back considering their previous portrayals of both gender issues, abusive relationships and power dynamics. Over all, so much of Korra has just fallen flat compared to the original series.

Personally, I agree with you that the idea of Aang as a less than perfect parent feels right to me. The guy was raised by monks and has seriously traumatic cultural baggage. Of course he's gonna screw up. It's what parents, even ones with the best of intentions, do. It makes for interesting storylines and fanfic fodder. Like this (http://redrikki.livejournal.com/58663.html)

One of the major themes of A:tLA was abuse. Seeing them step back from that is okay, new show, new themes. But seeing them go and directly contradict the good, powerful, deeply affirming message of A:tLA with the Bolin and Eska plot is another thing entirely.

Fandom likes to think in black and white, so I've been seeing this attitude that if Aang wasn't the perfect father, he was as bad as Ozai. It's part of what has made me take a big step back from fandom. That and seeing a huge amount of criticism of Korra the character for acting in ways a guy character would be forgiven for. She's become my new Zuko. the character that I'm like, "no, Korra, don't, oh Korra baby, you poor thing, oh no, please don't do that, have you learned nothing? Why do I love you so much? Oh yay, you learned something! But now you're making all new mistakes, oh wow, that has to hurt, come here, Korra, baby let me give you a hug." So I feel a little hostile in her defense. Actually, I think the show's been doing a really good job with her character. It's the rest of the Krew they're not doing enough with.

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So I'm all Caught up With Korra... (Oh, God, Eska)

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