So, Nickelodeon Made a Studio for Avatar

[Thebestoftherest]

I also feel the idea that it is somehow more in the pop culture domain silly.

[clearspira]

I liked the fact that the LGBT relationship was subtle. Real gays don't scream to everyone around them ''i'm gay, i'm gay, im gay'' just as real heteros don't scream ''i'm straight, i'm straight, i'm straight'' to everyone around them either. You see that with a lot of modern products. The ''we are not being inclusive enough if we don't hit our viewers over the head with a rainbow coloured mallet'' approach.

Y'know what I consider to be the best same-sex relationship in all of media? Ellie from The Last of Us 1. Why? Because the fact that she was a lesbian meant nothing to that game. She was just Ellie. It was only really touched on in DLC and even then in a cute, natural, believable way.

The day that we will have achieved true equality is the day that two gays or two lesbians kiss and then everything else moves on with it unremarked. Just as... oh... it does when heteros kiss.

[clearspira]

As for the film... its up there with Dragonball Evolution and Artemis Fowl as the worse adaption of anything ever. Dragonball probably edges it for me though as at least Aang (Or Ong? as the film calls him) is still kind of the same guy. Film Goku literally could not be more different to Manga Goku. He's a high school boy who is creepily thirsty for Chi Chi - as in - he literally fantasises about her deepthroating a strawberry at one point.

[AquaReggie]

In terms of influence - at least the way I see it, ATLA got a larger place in the pop cultural hivemind, not helped by Nickelodeon deciding to take Korra off television completely during its run. I've talked to a good number of people that at least remember Avatar (and now this is making me feel old), while Korra fandom (mostly) narrowed down to previous ATLA fans who also liked what the new show was doing. While not without its own flaws, Avatar was a well conceived heroic fantasy story with good characters.

As other people in the thread have said, Korra tried things and went in interesting and daring directions, but it also had lower lows because of that. "Beginnings" is an beautifully animated story with a properly mythical feel, but many people including myself disliked the directions it took the ATLA/Korra lore and introduction of pure evil/pure good spirits. Bolin, Mako, and Asami are all pretty clearly Republic City-focused characters and their integration initially feels a bit awkward once the plot moves outside RC (though obviously Asami works MUCH better than the other two). Even the areas where Korra would do well later were sometimes weak earlier on. I.e. PTSD and recovery from the Red Lotus poisoning is given a long time to breathe, but in season 1 we had Korra lose her bending, despair for about 5 minutes, and then get it back to return to status quo ante for the next season.

Ultimately though I think I agree with Winter, I appreciate Legend of Korra's good points and the ways it pushed the envelope. Even if the show itself isn't regarded as the greatest of all time, I think it helped pave the way for other excellent media.

[Winter]

In terms of influence - at least the way I see it, ATLA got a larger place in the pop cultural hivemind, not helped by Nickelodeon deciding to take Korra off television completely during its run. I've talked to a good number of people that at least remember Avatar (and now this is making me feel old), while Korra fandom (mostly) narrowed down to previous ATLA fans who also liked what the new show was doing. While not without its own flaws, Avatar was a well conceived heroic fantasy story with good characters.

As other people in the thread have said, Korra tried things and went in interesting and daring directions, but it also had lower lows because of that. "Beginnings" is an beautifully animated story with a properly mythical feel, but many people including myself disliked the directions it took the ATLA/Korra lore and introduction of pure evil/pure good spirits. Bolin, Mako, and Asami are all pretty clearly Republic City-focused characters and their integration initially feels a bit awkward once the plot moves outside RC (though obviously Asami works MUCH better than the other two). Even the areas where Korra would do well later were sometimes weak earlier on. I.e. PTSD and recovery from the Red Lotus poisoning is given a long time to breathe, but in season 1 we had Korra lose her bending, despair for about 5 minutes, and then get it back to return to status quo ante for the next season.

Ultimately though I think I agree with Winter, I appreciate Legend of Korra's good points and the ways it pushed the envelope. Even if the show itself isn't regarded as the greatest of all time, I think it helped pave the way for other excellent media.

I agree, while I think Korra has had a greater impact on pop-culture Avatar is the more well known series and is more strongly written. Whenever I think of Korra my mind always wonders to how it could be better, what could be changed, added, left out while still keeping what I did enjoy about it. While The Last Airbender also has it's flaws I find myself enjoying re-watching it more then Korra which has a number of scenes, if not full episodes, I tend to skip.

I actually do enjoy Season 2 of Korra but the first 6 episodes are easily some of the worst and I often just skip them altogether. Season 1 has it's strong points but only Asami's arc has any long lasting impact on the series' story while the rest can be pretty much ignored outright. Season 3 and 4 is where the show got really good but still had it's issues (why are Mako and Bolin still here?) and while I ADORE the ending the finale isn't Nearly as good as Sozin's Comet.

That being said, I do still think Korrasami is a MUCH stronger romance then Kataang, Korra IMO is just as well written as Zuko and, again, the ending is just iconic. Much like Avatar, Korra has already stood the test of time as proven by how her series reached the number 1 spot on Netflix's most watched shows back in 2020 despite all it's flaws and being over half a decade old. Flawed but still timeless.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Well, they're unlikely to screw it up any worse than the live action movie, and the comics have been pretty consistently good.

Don't Jinx it.

I stand by my statement. If they manage to make something worse than that, they have earned their place in the halls of power.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I liked the fact that the LGBT relationship was subtle. Real gays don't scream to everyone around them ''i'm gay, i'm gay, im gay'' just as real heteros don't scream ''i'm straight, i'm straight, i'm straight'' to everyone around them either.

Speak for yourself, cishet. I make a point of regularly reminding people that I'm Bi when I feel comfortable and safe enough to do so. B) Right now I'm wearing a shirt that says "BISEXUAL" in two-inch high letters and bi pride colors. As the saying goes, your experience is not universal.

[Muzer]

Also, with all due respect, if you didn't see Korrasami in the build-up or still think it seems surprising, you're wearing hetero goggles.

Nah, I'm just terrible at reading signals. I have the same issue with some hetero relationships

As for the signs, I genuinely interpreted it as just being a special close friendship. I mean those do exist in real life. People often have good friends, with any combination of sexes, people who they can tell things they wouldn't tell anyone else. I mean, sure, it could have been signs of a romance; I suppose it's possible part of me thought it was less likely they'd have a lesbian romance in a kids' show at the time, which could have been part of the reason I didn't see it coming. Perhaps I'm misremembering but all I recall is Asami being more upset than anyone else that Korra was in trouble; and Korra writing to Asami and telling her things she didn't want to tell anyone else. Given both Bolin and Mako at some point had romantic feelings for Korra I don't think the fact that Asami was more upset really says much more about her than it does about Bolin and Mako being terrible characters — and as for the other thing, even leaving aside the possibility of a special friendship, well, some people are more comfortable talking to people of certain sexes. My mum, for example, is bi, but she always told me (even before she came out) that she has always found it much easier to talk to men than she does to women; and this is borne out in the many strong friendships she's had with men, compared to the comparatively few she's had with women.

[clearspira]

I liked the fact that the LGBT relationship was subtle. Real gays don't scream to everyone around them ''i'm gay, i'm gay, im gay'' just as real heteros don't scream ''i'm straight, i'm straight, i'm straight'' to everyone around them either.

Speak for yourself, cishet. I make a point of regularly reminding people that I'm Bi when I feel comfortable and safe enough to do so. B) Right now I'm wearing a shirt that says "BISEXUAL" in two-inch high letters and bi pride colors. As the saying goes, your experience is not universal.

True equality is invisible. Its as simple as that.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

You made an assertion about how gay people "really" act. I contradicted that directly with my firsthand experience as a member of the LGBTQ community.