Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2008-11-24 04:41 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2008-11-24 04:41 pm
[ SECRET POST #689 ]
⌈ Secret Post #689 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
CITY STUFF → http://lolbuttsex.myminicity.com/
Secrets Left to Post: 13 pages, 316 secrets from Secret Submission Post #099.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ], [ 1 - personal attack ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Re: 127
The long and short of it was that it was themeatically consistent, and Aang defeats the Fire Lord and ends the cycle of violence by choosing love (Katara) over power (The Avatar State), thus differentiating himself from Ozai. There were lots of Iroh quotes. Uh, yeah.
That's fair.
Then... how is it a plot hole?
Because he doesn't use it, it uses him, in a way. It's not a tool at Aang's disposal, like it is for Roku and Kyoshi and the avatars before him, because he doesn't control it.
The tone of the finale leaves me with the impression that the Avatar State is somehow a bad thing, that Aang rejects it along with the notion that he must kill to save the world. But it's not inherently a bad thing: what matters is how he uses it. Aang's a good kid, and he wouldn't use it for evil deeds or anything like that. If he can control it, he can and will use it judiciously, or never use it at all. Aang's spirit, as the finale points out, is pure: power will not corrupt him. Aang is actually more dangerous when he doesn't master the Avatar State, because he may in the future lose it and cause catastrophic damage, like he has in the past.
Basically, it's a plot hole because it leaves me with the question: "what if Aang needs to use it one day, and can't?" or "what happens if someone threatens the life of someone he loves again?" If he could control it, there would be easy answers, but there aren't.
Re: 127
Isn't that exactly what Roku said would happen?
The tone of the finale leaves me with the impression that the Avatar State is somehow a bad thing, that Aang rejects it along with the notion that he must kill to save the world.
It's been painting the Avatar State as a bad thing for quite a while though, so I think it's fair that you come away with that impression. I don't think the message is that Aang's spirit is pure and so he can "handle" the power - on the contrary, he gets "corrupted" by the power of the Avatar state numerous times. I think that they put the Avatar state in direct opposition to his spirit, and that part of Aang's victory comes in doing things differently from the other Avatars, from learning from their failings and learning to stand on his own. It never says that he won't someday master the Avatar state, but as with all other things, I think he'll do it on his own terms.
Basically, it's a plot hole because it leaves me with the question: "what if Aang needs to use it one day, and can't?" or "what happens if someone threatens the life of someone he loves again?"
That makes it a loose end, not a plot hole.
If he could control it, there would be easy answers, but there aren't.
I think that's the point. The path Aang chose wasn't the easy one. I don't think he's going to stop learning now that the Firelord is gone. Basically, the story of his becoming is complete, and that's one of the burdens he will carry going into the future. I don't think it's a bad thing that it leaves you with those questions.
Re: 127
When was this? (Any implied wankiness not intended, I actually don't remember this.)
I don't think the message is that Aang's spirit is pure and so he can "handle" the power - on the contrary, he gets "corrupted" by the power of the Avatar state numerous times.
"Corruption" is not a term I would use for him being unable to control this power he was born with.
It's hard for me to stomach the idea that the Avatar State is a bad thing. Roku can and does use it for good, and with temperance and judgment, and he is a character we are clearly supposed to look to as a mentor, as a guide, as he is to Aang. Has it corrupted him?
The Avatar State is a part of who Aang is. It isn't going to go away. If it's a bad thing then Aang has a bad side to him, and pretending it doesn't exist makes the problem worse. He may as well turn his back on his airbending. By rejecting it he rejects half of the purpose of the reincarnation cycle of the Avatar and his own role as the Avatar, and my impression was that this show was supposed to be about Aang coming into that role.
I don't mind him doing things a little differently. I have my own issues with how he defeats Ozai, but it's because I think about it a little more realistically than I should for a kid's show, and I am willing to concede this. But one of the big things I wanted to see with this series was how Aang resolves his problems with the Avatar State, and this was apparently to reject it outright, like it's clothing he can shed, and it's not. So yes, I see this as a major plot hole.
I don't think it's a bad thing that it leaves you with those questions.
I'm perfectly willing to be left with questions at the conclusion of a show, or a play, or a book, because sometimes the answer is "we don't know." I just got done doing a production of Company, and there are absolutely no answers anywhere in that musical. This is not a case I can accept. I think it is a major, major problem that I am left with these questions.
Of course Aang continues to learn. But when the whole show gears up to the moment when Aang will work through this issue, and he doesn't, it looks like lazy storytelling. To me, omitting this issue is as glaring as omitting Ursa.
In some cases it is acceptable, but it is not acceptable that Avatar does not properly deal with Aang's full role as the Avatar, Avatar State included.
On this, and on other points, we may have to agree to disagree. It is never not going to bother me.