#aang katara and zuko are way too sensitive and earnest for that!!!

[comradekatara]

tags by @peony-pearl on this post that got me thinking about how gene yang writes sokka as if he is the ember island players’ portrayal of sokka (down to literally saying “wack a pow”). of course that episode is as much a parody of how the fans interpret these characters as it is an illustration of in-world colonial propaganda (and im sure the targeted audience being situated in the imperial core has nothing to do with that coincidence…) but surely, you’d think that a writer who was hired to write semi-canon paratext would understand the characters better than the fandombrained masses….

it makes me wonder if because sokka “endorsed” his portrayal in the episode, gene yang thinks that sokka “approved” of this play and it thus ought to lend itself to his characterization?? which doesn’t make sense regardless (a tv character should be interpreted on the basis of more than one singular episode), but it’s especially confusing considering that he doesn’t actually think that eip!sokka is an accurate portrayal, but rather that he finds it amusing. toph doesn’t actually think she’s a big buff man, but she isn’t enjoying the play for its fidelity to their experiences.

sokka and suki literally joking about their trauma during intermission should be an indicator of where they’re at regarding this play. while earnest, sensitive, straightforward aang, katara, and zuko take genuine offense at their portrayals, sokka and suki (the ones who wanted to go see the play in the first place) were always aware that this piece of colonial propaganda would be unflattering, and they approach it with a sense of ironic detachment and laugh (for the most part, sokka’s unprocessed yue trauma notwithstanding) at just how offensive and terrible it is.

while aang, katara, and zuko lament their offensive portrayals, sokka and suki sneak backstage so that sokka can suggest more jokes to the actor responsible for portraying him as shallow comic relief. sokka’s goal is to get laughs, not faithful representation, which he knows the fire nation would never actually grant him. the correct takeaway from that episode regarding sokka’s characterization is not that he acts like his actor counterpart in any way, but that he and suki would go to midnight screenings of the room together and throw spoons at the screen. i do think that faith erin hicks understands this. gene yang clearly does not.

#i mean narratively speaking of course the whole gang had to be there for this episode #but I really do think that sokka and suki should’ve known better than to invite them all to the boy in the iceberg #besides toph they should’ve known that they’d be the only ones to enjoy that #aang katara and zuko are way too sensitive and earnest for that!!! #they lack ironic detachment #which is a good thing overall but means that they truly cannot appreciate bad media at all #unlike sokka and suki whose primary coping mechanism is also the basis for their sense of humor #ember island players #comics crit #sokka