3rdculturecharacter

[3rdculturecharacter]

Being bilingual is confusing because if any text is written in the same alfabet as my languages, I will struggle to read it for way too long. Just waiting for it to click until I figure out it's in a different language.

#bilingual #third culture #third culture kid

[3rdculturecharacter]

Ok so I'm back with the Amethyst part 2!

Aside from being a very well written character WITHIN the show itself, I would also argue her quiet representation of third culturedness serves an important role in the real world.

(I had been saying third culture-ness until now but I'm pretty sure third culturedness is more correct? Idk let me know)

By no means am I saying "Ah yes! Third culture people! The most discriminated group!". However I would say that third culture people often aren't very well understood by our peers, have trouble fitting in and finding their place in our communities.

Wich is why I think she's so important.

Her third culture identity (detailed in part 1) and irreverent atidute shows third culture people (especially kids), who may be struggling while in many cases, not even fully understand their situation, that yes, there is a good ending.

In the end, Amathyst aswell as her human and gem communities accept, love and respect her.

Amathyst says: It can be a struggle, and it's ok to struggle. You don't have to conform, just live as your whole self and you will find acceptance, both internal and external.

And the subtleness of her representation plays into this. Her main character arc is related to the third culture experience but it never takes center stage cuz it's no big deal after all. If it's ok to exist as a third culture person then why draw attention to it? Let the arc speak for itself and people will still relate to her and find comfort in it's resolution.

I mean sure, I could go on and on about relatable third culture characters, but it's much rarer to find one that is both relatable and beneficial.

Is much as I love him, Spider is very deliberately designed for you to go "wow he just like me fr fr".

Rebecca and the Crewniverse, thought not perfect, created what I can only call a deeply healing stile of storytelling that really sparks joy wich is really what third culture rep needed in my opinion.

For what it's worth, it really struck a cord in me, I was so invested in Amathyst's ar that by the time it was coming to a close, it truly helped me take the last steps in a long journey to accept exactly who I am.

I can only speculate the impact a character like her would of had on me when I was a kid, and the impact it has had on people who grew up with the show and are still growing up with it.

All in all, Amethyst is an outstanding example of third culture representation and a beacon of third culture hope and positivity.

#steven universe #third culture #third culture kid #avatar #amethyst su

[3rdculturecharacter]

Hey guys! Just a friendly reminder that sometimes it IS third culture struggles... And sometimes it's internalised xenophobia. Know the signs.

Dont apologize for any of your cultures or catch yourself raising one on a pedestal above yourself. You have every right to be here and exist as you are.

#third culture #third culture kid

[3rdculturecharacter]

Spider, ik your going through it rn, but idk maybe loose the blue paint around you Na'vi friends? It's giving

✨q u e s t i o n a b l e✨

#avatar #avatar 2 #spider avatar #why are you blue #sus

[3rdculturecharacter]

Hey people, it's been a minute.

Let's talk about one of my favourite third culture characters, Amethyst from Steven Universe.

I'm gonna preface this by saying she in one of my top kins and I am so excited to be talking about her.

So the thing about my girl Amethyst, her third cultureness is very... understated... In that isn't not a major plotpoint.

I'm pretty sure this is because Steven already comes with a fair bit of the usual third culture angst and structurally it wouldnt make sense for them to both have the exact same character arc, especially being so close.

And honestly I don't think it's nesserary a bad thing. As much as a third culture character like Spider from Avatar can complement and enrich the narrative by being third culture, a character like Amethyst can do some pretty tangible good by just existing as she is (wich makes sense cuz that's kinda touched on in her character arc)

Her third cultureness isn't egnored: she's unlike the other Cristal Gems in that she's picked up human habits like eating and sleeping, playing video games, watching TV, having human friends, being the first to use phones (as well as being much more culturally American in general).

Her non human side is shown pretty cleverly. She's a gem of course, does and knows alot of gem stuff, but in particular, because she's immortal and doesn't need basically anything to survive, she can be super disregarding of things humans need to make money and live off, or will take them time and energy they don't always have to fix (just like the other Cristal Gems)

Or

This totally feeds into her immaturity, since she didn't develop under the strict culture of Homeworld like all the other gems, but the chill, flowy environment that is beach city. Pair that with the fact of her having basically no physical chalanges while living on earth and you can see how she would develop an "the whole world is my playground" mentality.

Speaking of her development, let's talk about that!

*Proceeds to rant about character design for a while*

Ok so her shapeshisfting powers are super interesting, because as we can gleen from the movie, when she first emerges she copied and shapeshisfted into who or whatever she came across to get her bearings.

(I'm gonna say that's some developmental issue unique to her or maybe all overcooked gems, since we see other quartzes emerge and they don't do that, maybe that's coding for something, not sure).

Her copying is very in character for a third culture kid, and if you look at her formations in order it kinda seems like she's inadvertantly copying the developmental pattern of a human child? (over a much longer time ofc). Then she went through a long pase of partially covering her gem with her shirt and also after a while she gives herself bra straps wich (much like the extra cleavege rose gave herself) she absolutely couldn't have needed, probably copying humans.

Then in future her design speaks volumes! Her top and shoes are that gem-wear seran wrap stuff, ofc with that little unnecessary rip around her gem cuz she gotta. And then those cute frayed jorts with the stars on being so human and organic. It's all really saying, "I'm a bit of both worlds and we all cool with it."

More thoughts on the rip: it could be ripping the gem-wear to say I'm not JUST a gem, highlighting her human side, it could be there to reveal her gem/draw attention to it like "I'm Amethyst, loud and proud", it could be just cuz she really f***** loves ripped clothes. Idc wich any works good 4 her.

It really shows her full journey of self acceptance.

I feel like alot of the emotional pitfalls Amethyst runs into during her character arc are also very relatable to me at least as a third culture person, even if in her case they aren't directly realted.

Feelings of guilt for existing, feelings of not belonging, self isolation, feelings of not being good enough, comparing yourself to others and rebelliousness are all pretty common.

So it makes nothing but sence for her to be quietly third culture.

Also this:

Wich is the lerfect segway into:

My big PSA related rant

This... This will end me. Honestly I'm not even mad about the style rn.

REBECA you could have chosen ANY other Cristal Gem from this one.

The problem here is, I could see a bunch of humans discriminating against Amethyst for whatever reason actually having an impact on her. Amethyst is the ONLY cristal gem who could tangibly be vulnerable to any form of gem racism, garnet and pearl would just pick the haters up and put them back over the fence.

This whole thing is just highlighting how you didn't explore that angle. Not to mention that the whole show established her to be very close to humanity, and then she just turns to the camera and says "wtf, I'm actually nothing like people"? It just feels wrong.

Also you gave my girl the most handfisted one, idk why those two googly eyed toddlers having a detailed understanding of the neuances of racism seems somewhere between unrealistic and straight up bizarre.

(Ok I tell a lie, the guitar dad one was kinda a mess but nobody even remembers that one so whatever)

That aside, this one should have been on Garnet, she is the most detached from humans of the trio (except for pearl, but I think she's better in that classroom scenario), she should have been the one saying "yea, comparing us ist right" and it would have made sence because it's already evident in the show.

Amethyst should have been the one at the playground, she doesn't even have to drop out of the sky, its AMETHYST! she can totally just be hanging there.

They did her so dirty! At the end she even gets pissed off about having to stay longer to fix the thing SHE had a problem with.

Don't get me wrong, ist an invaluable message and Im totally on board but gurl what happened?

Hit the image limit... Gonna make a part 2 and get back on the original point oml

#steven universe #amethyst su #third culture chatacter #third culture #third culture kid #character design #character analysis

[3rdculturecharacter]

I want to talk some more about Spider and see what role he plays in the narrative of Way of Water.

I find that the main theme of Way of water was heratige. Broadly: the significance the past has to the present.

It's present throughout the movie as there are multiple scenes and events that deliberately mirror the first instalment,

or

aswell as the consistent use of objects like jewelry and weapons to symbolise connections to the past.

As such the filmmakers have great interest in exploring how different characters relate to the past (wether that be their OWN past, their heratige, memories, history repeating ect.) and using it as a dimension for character building and development.

So what is Spider's roll in al this?

His arc, thought not concluded, focuses on his relationship with Na'vi and Human culture. He struggles to accept his human side, body and heratige while also trying to connect with Na'vi tradition he is not physically able to fully connect with.

(ngl, I just included this one cuz cool pic of my boi)

He doesn't fully belong to either, and while he aligned more with the Na'vi, he is is therefore a unique lense established early in the movie through wich to view the event's unfold.

We follow his conflict around his fellow human colonizers and recombinants, we are able to see them through his eyes, adding depth and intrigue to what would otherwise be a pretty flat and underwhelming set of villains.

We get to see nuance in Quarich that we otherwise wouldn't (or at least wouldn't be able to appreciate as much) as he has warm interactions with his teammates/friends, finds himself deathly afraid of the person who killed a version of him and start bonding with his son figure.

All of these things could still have been covered by the movie, but as one of our main characters really considers and gets to know him, we allow ourselves to sympathize and relate to SOME aspect of his character and see him as a person as opposed to the previous version who was fun to watch, but was essentially just a big angry stand in for colonialism.

(It also makes me wonder about his past, as this is a capture of a younger Quarich, what character development did he undergo to arrive at the Quarich from the first movie? What was he like when he was much younger?)

In this way, Spider is a walking talking representation of the movie's central theme and a very good example of a third culture character being used to flesh out the world, other characters and enrich the narrative.

#third culture #third culture kid #third culture chatacter #spider avatar #avatar way of water #avatar 2

[3rdculturecharacter]

I love how it looks like all I ever did here was write an essay about Avatar then drop off lol

[3rdculturecharacter]

Spider from Avatar, Way of the Water was the character who first gave me the idea for this blog, so it's only fitting he be the first up.

There is so much to unpack with his character.

Firstly I found it heartwarming to see how the human immigrant community and the Omatikaya Clan had overlapped between movies. Both adopting some cultural elements from the other without loosing their unique traits.

I loved to see how they were able to respect and embrace eachother and work together, allowing for a super diverse set of characters to explore

(It would have been so easy to just make them hate eachother. It's not flawless, but as it stands it's one of the best fictional cultural exchanges I have seen, in my opinion.)

One of these characters being Spider.

He is a human boy, brought up first by humans and then also by Na'vi on Pandora.

He is a third culture kid in the purest sence.

He has this interesting conflict around his identity, as many third culture people do. In his own eyes, he is clearly Pandoran, culturally aligning more with the Na'vi that with the Humans.

He has no bad feelings towards the other humans and avatars who raised him, but there is this strong resentment for his heratige and for his own body.

It's something I have found very relatable as a third culture kid: like sure he is able to partake in a MOST of the day to day activities, but he has a physical inability to truly connect to the culture and even the world itself that he belongs to.

Its always in the background of his character. As we the audience see him going about his life we ask "Umm ok so how would that work...?" And the answer is simply that it wouldnt. And every time it's kinda heartbreaking.

Not ten feet tall and blue?

Ok well, so ur slower, less agile, more likely to fall to your death, will always be the odd one out.

No queue?

Well sorry son, no riding, no flying, no fun girlfriend times (I mean like later ok), no right of passage, no connecting to the planet, no ancestral wisdom, no force ghost, no Eywa.

Our guy can't even breathe the air of his home plannet.

I have described one of the downsides of being third culture being "it sometimes feels like your separated from everyone else by a layer of glass".... He is literally behind a layer of glass!

And of course we see him trying to compensate by painting himself and saying how the animals trust him as if he was Na'vi.

And later we see him actually exploring his humanity and his heratige and what those things do or don't mean to him.

We see him curious about how different human operations function, find personal connection within the colonist side, grapple with the temptation to have a farther figure who seems to care for him.

The extent of his takeaway from his time spent with the colonists is still unclear, but his consideration was a very effective showcase of his yearning for belonging amongst two sets of people who he doesn't fit in with, as well as the fact that he wasn't COMPLETELY happy amongst the Na'vi and was therefore intrigued by the alternative.

(They did a really good job at balancing his loyalty to the Na'vi with his curiosity towards the colonist without letting us forget that he was in fact the colonist's prisoner at the time btw)

He is sort of a distilled version of all of the problems that come with being third culture and I'm super interested to see what they do with this conflict going forward in the franchise.