strong woman

Fiction does not exist. By definition, it is fancy; material created by human beings to tell stories, offer escapes, entertain, or teach lessons. It can be argued that the best of fiction does all these things, with only the great examples providing insight to how to approach real life. It is in this spirit that I turn again to Avatar: the Last Airbender, a cartoon that was so much more than (I think) anyone expected. I have already written an article on the real world wisdom to be learned from the character of Iroh. Now let’s examine another character, one who provided drastically different lessons. In the Avatar universe, no villain was more complete, more fully human, and therefore more relatable than Azula.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Azula is a princess of the Fire Nation (the bad guy). She is royalty, born and raised. She is also intelligent, a perfectionist, cunning, and fiercely determined. None of these traits are innately evil, but Azula suffers from being “out of balance,” a condition that all the villains in the Avatar universe share. What this means is that Azula pursues these traits too far, and at the sacrifice of others. This makes her cruel, selfish, and extremely controlling/manipulative. It also makes her incredibly successful, at least to herself. However, in a way that is incredibly relatable to our own non-bending world, Azula’s lifestyle leads to unhappiness, first for others and then herself.

Azula’s biggest vice is her control. Everyone is a little controlling, it reflects a natural desire to feel at peace in the world around you. Some control offers security and a feeling of well-being. Azula drives it negative by turning it to manipulation. She is a character who cannot trust, and therefore cannot understand when people do. She has “friends,” but only so far as people she feels she can keep under her thumb.

Azula’s chief companions are Mai and Ty Lee. Ty Lee only joins Azula after being forced. Both are recruited rather than asked to help.

The show does depict a closer friendship between Azula and Ty Lee. In the episode, “The Beach,” Azula does a rare break in character. She admits feeling jealously towards Ty Lee, namely the male attention her friend is receiving. Yet Azula cannot fully admit a flaw, as it would break from her image of herself as the perfect princess (perfectionist pushed too far). For the most part, Mai and Ty Lee are not treated as equals, but rather as lackeys. Azula does not value their opinion or often listen to their advice.

This might be evil if it weren’t so sad. Through her actions, Azula is isolating herself from other people. She is consumed by her image and perceived identity as “the princess.” She relishes in power over others, even at the expense of feeling genuine connections. These she does not trust and perceives as weakness. Rather than admit a flaw, she lashes out at all of those around her. This ultimately drives her “friends” to turn on her, leading Azula to grow incredibly paranoid and depressed rather than admit she made a mistake.

“Well what choice do I have? Trust is for fools! Fear is the only reliable way.” – Azula

Another tragedy of Azula is her lack of growth. She is a cautionary tale of life spent too long in “the comfort zone.” Unlike her brother, Zuko, Azula never struggled with anything in her life until the betrayal of Mai and Ty Lee. Everything came easy to her. While this earned Azula respect and gained her responsibility, it meant that she was never challenged either, and never was able to grow as a person. Everyone is able to excel in conditions where they don’t feel threatened. Most don’t find out who they really are until they are challenged or broken. They will either grow, learning a new and deeper understanding of themselves (as Avatar Korra did) or they will be consumed by their own mind. Azula met this tragic fate.

When her world collapses and Azula is left alone and with no one to blame but herself, her sanity breaks. Since her mind cannot admit a problem, it is her body that exposes her inner despair.

Azula is the cautionary tale of someone who follows too far in the vein of who she was born to be rather than ever becoming the person she is. Every problem in her life was laid in infancy, from her non-existent relationship with her mother to an abusive father who taught her that manipulation was a way of life and trust was the path of foolishness. Azula grew in this world of propaganda (the Fire Nation being fully justified in the war) and isolation. It only really showed at one point in the show, but it was enough to show the audience just how unsuited Azula was to anything that didn’t revolve around the war.

In a rare moment, Azula’s armor comes down and the audience bears witness to an incredibly awkward, alone teenager who really has no idea who she is in the normal world.

Perhaps there is no better way to illustrate the lesson than in the perspective of Zuko. In the beginning of the series, Zuko is clearly jealous of his sister, and the favoritism she receives. By series’ end however, he regards his banishment as “the greatest thing [that could have been] done for [his] life.” A pity that Azula never was banished. A pity that she could never escape.

As a child, Azula shows fear/regret as her mother chastises her for cruelty. Her mother’s removal meant that all discipline was removed from Azula’s life.

Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko deserve a lot of credit. In today’s world of strong-guy dominated entertainment, the pair are responsible for giving children many positive female role models to grow up with. Their first show, Avatar: the Last Airbender, brought audiences strong protagonists like Katara, Toph, and Suki, while at the same time providing an equally strong antagonist in the character of Azula. When the duo moved on to the Legend of Korra, it was hoped that the strong woman trend would continue. The good news is that, for the most part, it has. Legend of Korra has three main strong female characters, one of them being the titular hero, Korra. The other two, Asami and Lin Bei Fong, also feature significant screen time and well developed character arcs. As the series has progressed, more and more women characters have been introduced, and all of them appear fairly well written. Since Legend of Korra is a sequel show, some of the characters from the original have returned as well: namely Katara and Zuko. The sad news is that, the return has not been great.

Katara was one of the main characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender. She is the first character introduced to the audience Throughout the intro it is her voice narrating. She is quickly established as someone who rebels against established gender roles. Within five minutes of the show starting, Katara is calling out Sokka (her brother) for his sexism and dismissive mature towards women. This character trait continues throughout the series as Katara encounters several situations, most notably her training in the North Pole, which try to place restrictions on her because of her gender. In the face of every challenge, Katara remains defiant. She continually proves the established order wrong and demonstrates that she is as capable as any man.

Katara’s fighting abilities grew as the show progressed. By series’ end, she was the strongest waterbender present.

As strong-willed as Katara is, it goes hand in hand with her generosity. Simply put, she is written as a character with an incredible sense of moral responsibility. There are several instances in the show where Katara goes out of her way, sometimes at hindrance to herself, in order to help those in need. In her words: “I will never, EVER turn my back on people who need me.”

Wow, you can see why she’s a positive role model. What helps keep Katara balanced is the strength of her nurturing side. In the world today, there seems to be a misconception that a “strong” woman has no maternity instincts, that caring for another only takes away from personal goals. Avatar: the Last Airbender may be one of the first shows (definitely first cartoons) to showcase the strength of caring and being there for another person. There is a power in Katara’s scenes that does not exist in any of Aang’s or Zuko’s.

In my opinion, this is one of the most powerful scenes in the series.

All right, so far I’ve been talking up Katara a lot. I wanted to write out the strengths of her character creation. Partly to again give credit where credit is do, and partly to contrast this Katara from the older version that the audience sees in Legend of Korra. Katara, now in her eighties, returns as a minor character in the new show. This would be terrific… if she was anything like the Katara from the first series. No, the strong fighter appears to have traded in her chops for an order of elderly grandma. Good for taking care of toddlers and the sick… but not much else.

This is not an attempt to say that Katara should be more involved in Legend of Korra. She states herself at the beginning of the series that her time as a hero of the world is over. Yet there are two instances in particular where Katara’s involvement is strangely limited.

Katara hands off the primary responsibility to a new generation… before vowing to do nothing.

The first occurs in season two, when the South Pole is invaded by the North. Many of the Southerners revolt and there is open fighting in the streets. The North have come on the claim of ‘restoring culture’ and ‘bringing balance.’ The audience watches as many Southern Water Tribe characters fight for their personal freedom and their right to be independent. Sound familiar?

On one level, this is the same conflict that Katara faced in the first series, just on a larger scale. Here is how she reacted in the first show:

Wow, that’s really spirited, and she is just trying to prove her worth against an idiotic custom. I can’t imagine how fiercely she fights for her freedom and the freedom of her entire nation. Here is how she fights back in Legend of Korra:

Yeah, there is none, and time is devoted to showing the Southern rebellion. The audience knows that Katara has stepped out of the spotlight but seriously, the battle is on her front door.

“Well she’s old.”

Yes, Katara is old… and it’s not like old people ever do anything cool or active in these shows…

Except of course for the entire society of cool older people who are actively involved in shaping world events.

Yeah, that excuse does not fly in this show. Writers DiMartino and Konietzko have done too much with the older generation for “I’m old” to be anywhere close to a valid excuse. Katara did not have to win the battle single-handedly for the South, but it is against her character that she would do nothing.

Instance Two occurs in season three with the appearance of Firelord Zuko. While Zuko’s involvement is little more than fan service, at least he is seen being active (he is supposed to be at least a couple of years older than Katara btw). The head scratcher comes when Korra requests Zuko’s guidance. She is desperate for council from someone at least familiar when a past Avatar and claims that “he knew Aang better than anyone.”

Sure, cause what would Katara know really?

Now there is the argument to be made that Zuko is the person who best knew Aang who is in the immediate facility. This is true, they are not at the South Pole. It is more of a bizarre line than anything else, but it does draw attention to a weird observation: why is Katara staying at the South Pole? When did she get so passive? Her children are actively working to rebuild Aang’s culture… and she’s at home?

Katara is pictured as very frail in the new show. It is a bizarre development that does not seem to come from anywhere, outside the fact that she lost her husband.

“Sorry kids, grandma needs to watch her stories.”

It’s just sad. Somewhere in the script writing, a decision was made that Katara would not be involved. Honestly, as harsh as it would be, it would be easier to believe that Katara had died rather than just become an old grandmother sitting by herself at the South Pole. When the audience is introduced to her, she is directly watching over Korra’s development. What happened to Katara? It is a sad day when one of the most powerful role models for young women is told to go sit quietly in the corner… and actually does so.

While I’m not for this level of involvement, it would be nice to see a happy medium.

"You Should Have Feared Me More!": The Cautionary Wisdom of Azula

Yeah Korra's Great, but What Happened to Katara?