The Legend of Korra (Spoilers ITT)

[vonFiedler]

It always felt to me their break up was a way to appease the fanbloggers, who don't always have the right idea on how to do things. This is especially obvious in season 2:

You don't like Makkorra?: Fine we'll have them break up, and then let Mako dick around Asami some more
One location is boring? (no it isn't): Fine here is a lot of the Southern Water Tribe
Not spiritual enough?: Here all the spirit you can handle

It's going to be a herculean and ultimately thankless task to write up all the ways in which letting the mob write the show ruined season 4 (which actually had potential), but lemme stop you there. By the time they were making season 2 season 1 wasn't out yet.
Those first two points also didn't "address" fan consensus in the way they would in season 3, the first with all relationship stuff just vanishing, the second with the plot moving around to new locations every other episode. No, season 2 was definitely a story told by the writers and not the fans.

 

[Layell]

By the time they were making season 2 season 1 wasn't out yet.

A quick wiki search for you:

As of June 2012, Book Two 's writing had been completed and the episodes were in the process of being storyboarded and animated.

Season 1 finale air date: June 23, 2012


The article they say they finished writing on was June 19, so even if some fans couldn't complain about the finale ending with Mako + Korra it would have still been very obvious at the time that pairing did not work for everyone.

 

[vonFiedler]

The article they say they finished writing on was June 19, so even if some fans couldn't complain about the finale ending with Mako + Korra it would have still been very obvious at the time that pairing did not work for everyone.

Had been completed AND were in the process of storyboarding and animation. Writing is a LONG time consuming process, especially for seasons as continuity structured as seasons 1 and 2. The Korra/Mako problems cropped up continuously from episode 1 to episode 5, and in episode 5 they were the major focal point. And of course if he didn't break up with Korra he wouldn't also get scenes where he is with Asami again, which also need to be written. It's far too big of a focus in season 2 to be snuck in at the last minute, I mean what was there in the first place?

Besides which, again, fans wanted Mako to be with no one (and dead, which I'm honestly a little pleasantly surprised they didn't just do in this finale), and they didn't get their wish until season 3. It's only reasonable to assume that feedback about season 1 impacted season 3, and season 2 impacted season 4.

 

[chimpact]

Seasons 3 and 4 were written together.

The last scene was definitely influenced by the fans.

 

[Solace]

i'm korrasami af

 

[Pancham]

That finale was one of the best finale's in the Avatar's series, ever. Including Avatar the Last Airbender's series. I think it was pretty much perfect, though I think having that extra episode lost would have made everything a lot smoother. Not to say I'm I am dissatisfied - I think this finale was pretty much what I had expected. I think Korra not letting Kuvira die pretty much sums up her development to a T.

 

[TheValkyries]

I still maintain that season 3 was not about pandering to the fans, but that last scene was the realest pandering I've ever laid these eyes of mine upon.

 

[vonFiedler]

I still maintain that season 3 was not about pandering to the fans, but that last scene was the realest pandering I've ever laid these eyes of mine upon.

Oh believe me Valk, the ATLA callbacks of season 3 paaaaaaaale in comparison to some of the shit in that episode

"And what happened, then? Well, in fanville they say – that Mako’s small fedora grew three sizes that day."

this also got out of hand

do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing do the thing

 

[TheValkyries]

You know, I spent the better part of my night last night not being able to sleep because I was too busy thinking about why the final shot bothered me so much. In reality, it's a beautifully played moment, where Korra after a season (technically 3 in canon years) of struggling with depression and feeling disconnected from her friends feeling neither "wanted or needed". Over time she resolves her issues and in a cathartic conflict is able to show compassion to someone in a similar state (Kuvira). And after all that she decides its time to reconnect with her friends and the world that she left, so when Asami has an idea, Korra runs with it. And then you can see them both literally and figuratively reconnecting and moving on together going to the spirit world, a place of unknowns that effectively represents "future adventures". And it's a really powerful moment where the queen of all benders is able to emotionally reconnect with her best friend, who by the way, is a non-bender. And this story is powerful, and compelling in a lot of ways for me and I absolutely love it.

And then it's ruined, by a group of fans who literally cannot cope with just watching a show without eroticizing every passing glance, every brief smile that comes with simply developing a relationship of any kind. What started as an ironic callout of poor male love interests in season 1 turned into a rabid following and ultimately turning into a perverse sexualization of two strong female characters. It's as if we literally could not help ourselves as we turned so vapid and vacuous as to reinforce the idea that women only exist as sexual objects, even if unintentionally. And when doing that about a show like this, with these characters who are so iconic for being exactly the opposite of that sentiment I felt revolted. Not by what happened on the screen per se, but by how I knew people would react, and ultimately how they DID react.

I love Korrasami, not as a couple, but as a beautiful relationship between two great characters. I cannot fucking stand Korrasami fans.

/endblog

 

[Jebus McAzn]

It seems like the entire argument of that second paragraph is that a lesbian relationship is, by nature, sexual and perverse, which is flat-out wrong and plain offensive. Had Asami been a man, every interpretation of her growing romantic relationship with Korra over the last two seasons (not so much the first two, as you said) would have been accepted as completely legitimate. I think that the problem lies with people pairing the two together because they're beautiful women and that lesbians are inevitably fetishized by much of mainstream culture, but many Korrasami fans (and even those who aren't fans of it) recognize that their relationship hasn't been sexual at all in the show - hell, they've never even kissed.

I absolutely agree with the ending to that first paragraph - that Korra is finally able to reconnect with the rest of the world after being alone for three years, and starts by connecting with her best friend. There's no reason that being in love with her somehow "ruins" the significance of that relationship; by saying that, you're saying that the very nature of a lesbian relationship contaminates whatever friendship is possible between two women, which isn't true.

As for the fans seemingly objectifying the two, I also disagree on that front. A great deal of Korrasami fans (myself included) are simply excited to see actual queer representation on a media that sorely lacks it - children's animation, where the closest thing to actual representation so far is Marceline and Bubblegum on Adventure Time. Many people on Reddit / Twitter / Tumblr / etc rejoiced during the finale even if they weren't necessarily fans of Korrasami simply because it was so important to see an actual bisexual protagonist (who also happens to be PoC!). I agree that there's a problem with fans who ship the two because "hurr sexy lesbians", but that is, as with any fandom, a problematic minority.

 

[TheValkyries]

We do not live in a post-sexuality world where you can say "if you replace asami with a man she'd look like a real love interest", that's simply not the case. This is patently a fetishization of lesbian relationships, and believe me, I'm not arguing that a lesbian relationship itself is perverse. I'd be fine if Korra and Asami eventually got together. But there is nothing in their relationship that shows anything beyond platonic feelings. Every argument for a "romantic" involvement is a perversion of what happened. Seeing sexuality where it isn't present. That's why I used those words. I'm not opposed to the idea of them being lesbians. I'm opposed to people insisting that they are based on what was shown. I mean think about what you're saying "their relationship hasn't been sexual at all" and yet you're ASSUMING that they're queer? How do you make that leap? Where did the cross the line from being in an intimate friendship into a mutual sexual attraction. The thing about sexuality is that it is inherently sexual.

Also, let's not kid ourselves, you're talking about WESTERN children's animation. Japan has been doing shoujo and shounen ai for a very long time.

 

[vonFiedler]

I can't believe I have read a post by Valk where every single word was true and poignant and even succinct.

In a sense I too enjoyed the final moment. It was intense, nerve-wracking, and part of me loved it. But then a bigger part of me hated it, and hated everyone who was responsible for it, and responsible for Mako's inexplicable friend zone moment, and responsible for the ridiculous over saturation of Varrick, and the general increase of bland waifu characters in the series, and the strange insane flanderization of bolin.

Yes, sometimes the goals of feminism and lgbt clash, we really don't acknowledge this enough. But there isn't a "minority" of shippers who treat lesbians as more than sexy furniture. And I can say that as a fact because there isn't a minority of shippers who treat any couple as more than sexy furniture. Yes, I do think that couch would look good next to that table. That's shipping. And it sucks ass whether it involves straight or homosexual couples, and no, I would not have thought that korrasammi the straight relationship was legit anymore than I thought korrabolin/asamibolin/kyalok was real (but a professional writer friend and I are working on makya and we think we're onto something ;) . Hell, if you asked me whether they were great friends before the finale I'd have been like "I guess". Like, shit man, Valk's last sentence is so spot on, even a hentai doujin would have provided some sort of story linking these characters. And I dunno, if the guy writing the excellent ATLA comics ever makes Korra comics, maybe he will and neither Valk or I will have any problems with that. But as is it's an impossibly, absurdly extradiagetic moment in a season already filled with bad extradiagetic moments.

 

[Spacewizard]

Woah crazy finale
I can't believe Korra and Asami are together now. It was a nice surprise. +1 for the LGBT community!

 

[Destiny Device]

Why can't they just be best friends lol
Just because they are really close it doesn't mean they are in a romantic relationship

 

[Spacewizard]

They fucked.

 

[Jimbo]

One of the creators of avatar posted the link to the vanity fair article discussing how powerful and subversive the ending was in terms of LGBT .... so I think they kind of confirmed in a la Adventure Time creators with Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.

anyway, loved it!

Also: I think it's somewhat important to note that Korra and asami aren't necessarily lesbians (bisexuality~~~)

 

[TheValkyries]

Also: I think it's somewhat important to note that Korra and asami aren't necessarily lesbians (bisexuality~~~)

And with that, my point about the fetishization of a lesbian relationship is crystallized.

 

[Jimbo]

And with that, my point about the fetishization of a lesbian relationship is crystallized.

I'm not sure if you're commenting on something someone else said (that I didn't read) or something in my post?? I am discussing bisexual erasure in the media and by people in general ...

Edit: I read some of your posts, and while I see what you're saying, I don't think this is a fetishization... If anything it's representation. While, yes, fans may exaggerate certain things like subtle glances, but that's just how fandoms work. Would you rather everything be compeltely spelled out always? Part of the fun in TV/movies is subtley and inference.

 

[Karxrida]

One of the creators of avatar posted the link to the vanity fair article discussing how powerful and subversive the ending was in terms of LGBT .... so I think they kind of confirmed in a la Adventure Time creators with Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.

anyway, loved it!

Also: I think it's somewhat important to note that Korra and asami aren't necessarily lesbians (bisexuality~~~)

Would you mind posting a link to this please?

 

[Jebus McAzn]

Would you mind posting a link to this please?

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDanteDiMartino/posts/742679445801043

 

[Nightingales]

I saw this thread, and I'm now going to say a few short words.

THEY DID THE THING.

That is all.

 

[TheValkyries]

Edit: I read some of your posts, and while I see what you're saying, I don't think this is a fetishization... If anything it's representation. While, yes, fans may exaggerate certain things like subtle glances, but that's just how fandoms work. Would you rather everything be compeltely spelled out always? Part of the fun in TV/movies is subtley and inference.

No you're absolutely right, subtlety and inference are key things, and subtext is a very powerful tool for building any kind of relationship between characters in stories. But let's be real here, this is an exaggeration of subtext. This is reading between the lines that are between the lines. There is no REAL substance to the idea of a sexual relationship between the two characters, but everyone has gone off the handle declaring it so. And while I understand that fandoms like to sexualize all character interactions ever in accordance to rule 34, the rampant and almost viral nature of this sexualization is unsettling in its implications of fandoms.

 

[tofucocoa]

all i have to say on the matter is that:

1) like korra as a whole, i would've liked to see the finale drawn out more.
2) i guess we know why nick pulled the show from TV. avatar LOK is gay.

haven't read the rest of the thread and frankly i wouldn't have watched it so soon if my facebook feed wasn't full of subtle spoilers. that's just my worthless opinion tpth

 

[Aldaron]

is avatar done as a series?

as in, are they not going to get money to do it anymore????

i heard some of the episodes this season were affected by budgetary concerns so im curious if they're just scrapping the series in general as well

 

[Solace]

is avatar done as a series?

as in, are they not going to get money to do it anymore????

i heard some of the episodes this season were affected by budgetary concerns so im curious if they're just scrapping the series in general as well

yeah this was the series finale

also TheValkyries and other people annoyed by korrasami in the finale: you can go ahead and interpret it as friendship if that's what you want and let other fans enjoy the show the way they want. how other people react to it shouldn't influence the way you feel about the finale whether it's "fan pandering" or not. if people want to interpret it as a romantic relationship then it shouldn't change that you think it's platonic. but to say it's a "perversion" or whatever seems kind of over the top -- at best it's a subtle throw in to fans and people who aren't looking for romantic connotations won't really notice it. it's a kids show funded by a network that doesn't really push the envelope, so they couldn't explicitly develop their relationship but it was clear that they were close, whether you see that as close friends or romantically is up to you.

it isn't perfect as far as representation (i don't even know if you could call it representation) but if people can connect to the characters more because of the final scene then i can't see anything wrong with that. and fan shippers are gonna do that regardless of whether the ending was mako/korra or korra/asami or anything else.

tl;dr let people read into it what they want to because it shouldn't affect your enjoyment of the show that some people think that the end scene was romantic if you only see it as a friendship