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equalmeasurefiction · 7 years

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Holy Daddy Issues, Tenzin!

So... after re-reading that piece by Lokgifsandmusings, I had some thoughts...

Okay, I had a lot of thoughts. And I’m going to share them.

"I Am Tenzin” dug into the best parts of the Legend of Korra series--the parts where family and filial strife were on full, raw, emotional display. Those were, unequivocally, the strongest moments.

However, I have to ask why these were the best parts of Legend of Korra? If you look at the entire series, you have to admit that the animation was great, the ideas were great, but the writing and execution was hit or miss. And all the hits were all happening whenever it was about family.

Let’s look back through the seasons...

Even if there wasn’t much lead up to it, that whole Amon/Noatak and Tarrlok bit was f’n beautiful and heartbreaking. I think if we had been given more of a build up, it could have been the perfect ending, but it was rushed. But what we got was, in a way, profound.

In Season 2 we had Tenzin and his family, the Kataangs (we also had a civil war and Harmonic Convergence but that was a muddled mess). Once again, even though we didn’t care for the implications of the Kataang family drama, those sequences had the most depth and emotional complexity. Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi were the strongest characters on the screen during this season.

Fast forward to Season 3. Jinora struggles with Tenzin for independence, Korra’s close relationship with her father is highlighted, Mako and Bolin meet their father’s family, and Lin struggles with her own family (her sister and her lack of a father). These were some of the most emotional, heartwarming, and humanizing moments for the cast.

In Season 4, we get Bataar Jr., a young man who is trying to distance himself and create his own identity separate from his father and his family. We get Kuvira who is trying to ‘protect’ her homeland and family in the wake of a ‘mother/parental-figure’ abandoning them. We have Korra confronting Zaheer (who, now that I think about it, could be considered a kind of Anti-Tonraq) and Asami confronting Hiroshi.

Is anyone else noticing a trend?

Season 1: dad did me wrong and I’m following in his footsteps (Yakone/Noatak and Tarrlok relationship and almost ALL of Korra’s interactions with adult men in Season 1). Season 2: I am not my father and don’t have to perpetuate his myth/continue his legacy/keep making his mistakes (Tenzin/Ang relationship and Korra/Wan relationship). Season 3: the relationship I wanted to have with my family (Korra/Tonraq relationship, Mako and Bolin/father’s family), was not the relationship I actually had with my family (Lin Beifong/Suyin and Toph relationship). I felt restricted trying to exceed/meet their expectations while others got off easy (Jinora/Tenzin relationship and Lin/Toph relationship). Season 4: I need to break away from my family/my father (Bataar Jr/Beifongs), I feel alone and vulnerable (Kuvira/her biological family, Kuvira/Suyin Beifong). I need them to acknowledge that they hurt me so that I can move forward/let go (Korra/Zaheer and Asami/Hiroshi).

And keep in mind, we had similar dynamics happening in Avatar: the Last Airbender.

I know Bryke wanted to write an action adventure, but...

Okay, look. When a writer picks up their pen, or opens up their laptop, or fires up their old PCU, they come at it with an idea of what they want to write. But what they want to write doesn’t always overlap with what they need to write.

We don’t leave our personal problems behind when we sit down and create marvelous and exciting worlds. As my teacher liked to remind me again and again, you’re in your cultural/emotional bubble and you never truly leave it. We bring our problems with us wherever we go and whatever we do and, when we write, we often write these problems into our works. This only becomes an issue when our personal problems don’t jive with the thrust of the narrative.

To use an example from my own original writing (because it’s only fair if I kick my own butt too), I wrote a story back in 2015 about a young woman trying to escape from a dangerous situation. Now, the ideas were great, the characters were unique, the setting was fascinating... but the lead character was ready to jump ship on page one. And there wasn’t really anything to keep her from taking that leap...

And that meant that all the interesting plot developments, intrigue, and drama I had planned were meaningless, because the character had no reason to stick around and wait for the bad stuff to happen. Ironically, at the time I was writing this, I was having one of the worst years of my life. I was in an unhappy situation in my personal life and the only thing that was keeping me in that situation was my own stubbornness and lack of self-confidence... sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?

So, the story I wanted to write wasn’t the story I needed to write. The story I needed to write was one that let me exercise my demons and move forward with my own development as a writer. And let me tell you, there’s no better place to excise your demons than fanficiton...

The point is that sometimes you have get your personal problems off your chest before you can write the stories that you want to write. If you don’t take the time to excise your demons they will hijack narratives and characters and redirect the plot.

All these imperfect parents in Legend of Korra speak to some profound personal issues that Bryke needs to deal with. In the future, I want to see them write a story about dysfunctional families and troubled fathers. I want to see them excise their demons, because works that excise the writer’s demons probably make up the bulk of our great literature.

#HOLY DADDY ISSUES BATMAN!#HOLY DADDY ISSUES TENZIN!#Meta #Commentary #Mine #Legend of Korra #Excising Demons #Tenzin #I Am Tenzin #Lokgifsandmusings #Jumping off Lokgifsandmusings #Analysis #a:lok #Writing #Narrative Thrust #Emotions fuck you up #2015- 3 deaths. Huge changes. Bad situations.

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