MOUNT FUJI – Viewed Through the Pines of Suzukawa, at a Rest Stop Along the Tokaido. Probably photographed by KIMBEI KUSAKABE in the mid-1880s, this beautiful view of Fuji is listed in his 1893 Albumen Image Catalog as image # 890. [text and image from Okinawa Soba Flickr]
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can you explain how the avatar the last air bender characters are caricatures or explain what kind of stuff i should research to learn on my own why they are caricatures? thank you for your time and i appreciate your insight/help
Hi, first of all thank you so much for your interest in learning more, I really appreciate your curiosity and compassion! I’m going to basically break down your question as if I’m going to write a paper on this topic to show you resources that explain in depth how a character like Aang is an orientalist caricature of Tibetan spirituality.
Its a little difficult to explain the theory of orientalism, as its an extremely extensive subject with academics all over the world contributing to the constantly-evolving conversation surrounding it. The theory was born from Palestinan professor Edward Said, who was mostly analyzing how the Western World projected their desires onto the Middle East. His book is the very foundation of the theory, but I’ll warn you that its extremely dense and full of academic jargon. There is a boatload of comprehensive guides and summaries online though!
From Said, academics from nations beyond the Middle East were able to utilize his theory of orientalism and apply it to how the West views and represents their respective culture. To narrow it down to how contemporary Western media like Avatar the Last Airbender participates in orientalism in regards to East Asia, I would say Jane Iwamura, a leading academic in the field of Asian Relgious Studies, is the woman for the job. Virtual Orientalism: Asian Religions and American Popular Culture is a great read for understanding the Western World’s fascination and fetishization of Eastern religions. Her book is also significantly shorter and easier to read then Said, haha!
In her book, Jane Iwamura coined the term “Oriental Monk” to explain how the West romanticized Eastern spirituality into a character trope. Aang and the Airbenders are a very significant manifestation of this trope, as they completely misrepresent Tibetan religion while also appropriating cultural traditions without understanding the weight of its significance (ex. the “Avatar selection process” and the Dalai Lama reincarnation tradition). Iwamura also has the essay "The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture" which delves even further into its analysis.
I already mentioned this in my post, but in relation to Tibet specifically, Prisoners of Shangri-La by Donald S Lopez is an essential work in Tibetan Studies that connects how orientalist depictions of Tibet by the West negatively impacts Tibetan politics and the fight for autonomy.
I googled Jane Iwamura and Avatar and found some people who already discussed this topic!
Heres a fansite who discuss how orientalism contributes to creating the specific atmosphere of the show:
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Dema, you've drawn a lot of Zuko. I can't 'see' Zuko in the images I've seen from the upcoming movie. Other than the scar, he looks like a new character to me.
Can you explain what are some of the main visual elements of a Zuko? I'm wondering if the bangs are making his face shape look different, or if I'm being thrown off by the insane muscles.
I...might have gone a bit overload.
Extra Zukos + character design comparison between ATLA Zuko and Movie Zuko + long ramble about the danger of beauty conventions under the cut!
So, a little rant to complement...whatever this is.
I genuinely think that, out of all members of the Gaang, Zuko's the one who resembles himself the most in the new movie. Aside from the Ozai-bulk (which, yes, it does serve to distract you from everything else—except for his lack of lightning scar whereisthelightningscar); Movie Zuko looks like an adult Zuko would.
Compare his new design to, I don't know, Katara's (which I'm SO salty about), and you'll quickly notice which character is more identifiable as themselves.
(I'm adding my reference board for Zuko + a comparison between ATLA Katara and Movie Katara. You know. For evidence.)
See what I'm talking about? The sheer difference is asinine, but the explanation behind the change in design is both fairly simple and insultingly predictable:
Attractiveness.
Or, rather, what is believed to be found attractive by certain audiences.
Listen, I'm not saying anything new. Certainly nothing that a thousand other people haven't already explained far better than my uneducated self ever could. But it goes like this: the new art style draws a lot from westernized anime, not only in the animation itself (which is awestriking), but also in the character design. But that influence carries its own vices.
In other words: the new Avatar movie, gorgeous as it is, has been infected with Same Face Syndrome.
Why? Because, in anime-inspired art styles, the less identifiable facial features your MC has, the more attractive they seem. Wide noses, thick lips, or small eyes are a big no-no, especially if you're the female deuteragonist in a coming-of-age story written for male audiences. Or any kind of audiences, really—it has less to do with open misogyny than it does with artistic conventions.
Make an experiment. Remove all openly identifiable characteristics from each Gaang member (I'm talking hair, scars, skin tone, etc) and compare them to one another. Would you be able to differentiate Aang from Sokka? Toph from Katara?
The erasure of distinct facial features comes from a place of "beauty equals perfection", and what is perfection if not the lack of flaws? What is a wide nose or full cheeks if not a flaw?
Now, I don't mean to come across as snippy or judgemental—these are just my observations on what this kind of art style entails given its characteristics, and the effect it has on the facial design of characters so widely known and loved. Especially characters with identifiable ethnicities.
The new style affects characters like Katara, Sokka, and Aang more than it does others in the series because some of their features simply don't fit with what's considered attractive here. That's the reason they look so alien and out of place—because what made their design so organic has been watered down or erased to fit a beautiful mold.
So, you may ask, what's the deal with Zuko?
Why has no one complained about his design (other than the missing lightning scar)? Why does he resemble himself the most? Why—characterization problems aside—does he still feel like Zuko?
The answer is...pretty simple, actually. A bit dumb, if you will.
The new over-beautification of the Gaang doesn't affect Zuko because he was already designed to be conventionally attractive.
Yes, I said it. And I'll say it again.
Zuko, Azula, Ozai, Ursa—they were all, canonically, gorgeous people. The Royal Family was intentionally designed to fit traditional East Asian beauty conventions. The long faces, the delicate, narrow features... It's a perfect, immaculate beauty, dutifully in line with the perfect, immaculate image royalty is meant to project.
So.
So.
All of this to say that:
A) most of the misgivings we have with the Gaang's adult designs can be blamed on the new art style/direction.
B) ethnic erasure for the sake of abiding by westernized beauty conventions is not alright. Nor does it work, so just. Stop it.
C) having distinctive features is awesome, actually. Plastic-perfect "attractiveness" can go check the #BanTheSameFaceSyndrome tag and learn a thing or two.
And ultimately:
D) Zuko has always been, canonically, the poster boy for Conventional Beauty. So we have permission to draw him as gorgeous as we damn well please.
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I haven't drawn fanart or adult (anime) anatomy in 6+ years so please excuse my inconsistency. The movie leaks activated me like a sleeper agent and I've been getting lots of practice lately... lol
I haven’t watched the leaked AtLA movie, and there are plenty of reasons why people might decide to wait to watch the new movie until when it officially releases in October. Me? Well, from the screencaps and gif sets I’ve seen, I’ve noticed something incredibly important is missing - Zuko’s lightning scar! There have been claims that the leaked version isn’t 100% complete, so obviously if I wait until October to watch it the final version of the movie will have Zuko’s lightning scar in its full glory, right? …right?
But seriously where is Zuko’s lightning scar? At best, it was a careless mistake, but at worst it was a purposeful decision to erase the physical representation of the culmination of Zuko’s character arc. Why would you choose to erase Zuko’s big hero moment??
After all, from pictures, I know adult Aang still has his lightning scar, and his scar was treated with Spirit Water (!!) and weeks of intensive healing by Katara. If Aang still has his lightning scar after all that, then adult Zuko should absolutely have his too. Aang and Zuko are supposed to be lightning scar buddies!
But hey, the leaked version isn’t the final version supposedly. Zuko’s lightning scar will definitely be there in the final release (a girl can dream…). In the mean time, I’ll be enjoying all the wonderful new fanart available, where luckily many artists do remember Zuko’s lightning scar.
(Disclaimer: I did not draw the Zuko here, it’s official art) #WhereIsZukosLightningScar
The fact that his team ended up dead was a consequence of not listening to them, but as the movie progresses, there isn't really a moral lesson that lets us know that Aang learned from his mistake and won't... trust a complete stranger again.
If people love Zuko, it's not because of his cruel acts, but because he stopped being cruel and learned from them.
Something that Aang lacks in this movie.
In Book 1, Chapter 12, something similar to the movie happens, but with Zuko. It turns out that at the beginning, Iroh warned Zuko to change the ship's course from north to south because a storm was approaching.
Zuko doesn't listen, he insists on continuing on the same course because it's known that the Avatar is flying around there. Iroh insists it's for the crew's safety, and Zuko directly tells him that he doesn't care about their safety.
What's happening? Indeed, just as Iroh said, there's a storm and they're in danger now.
The first difference comes here: his crew doesn't feign ignorance even though they already know the reason why Zuko insists so much on capturing the Avatar, because that doesn't excuse him from putting their lives at risk, they claim Zuko every time it is necessary, and with that, Zuko realizes his mistake. Something that the Avatar team does not do, they confronted him once and when Aang insists, they resign themselves to helping him because it is something that he needs even if he pays for it with their lives.
And then comes the second difference: when they manage to get to safety, Zuko does something that Aang did NOT do in the movie—he apologizes. Can you imagine?! Book 1 Zuko actually showing remorse and character growth?! Amazing, never seen before.
And then the third difference! In the midst of the storm, Aang appears with Appa and Katara because they need to rescue Sokka. Zuko sees them and knows he has a new opportunity to capture him and thus be accepted back home. Yun asks him, "What do you want to do, Sir?" Zuko knows that any order will be obeyed, he knows that the moment he shouts "Chase him!" his crew will have no choice but to obey.
Which brings us to the cherry on the cake: Zuko, having made up his mind, simply says, "Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety." He immediately knew he had to learn from his mistake, he couldn't risk the lives of his crew again. He put aside his own desire to capture Aang in order to keep those who support him safe. Even when capturing him could represent a significant change in his life AND HIS NATION.
Zuko understood the consequences of his actions and how they could affect those around him in just one episode. Aang is immediately forgiven without a single "I'm sorry," and his team joins him to repair HIS mistake. Sure, I don't expect them to yell horrible things at him and abandon him mid-mission, but we can't ignore how vulnerable the team was because of Aang's demands. What I would have liked was Aang being regretful and apologizing, hell, just apologizing to Katara alone would have been enough for me.
I knew there was something wrong with Zuko just silently steering that ship into a huge raging storm. And then silently standing there while Aang yells at everyone about how his mission is more important than everyone's safety. These are actually the kinds of parallels and switcheroos that would have made a compelling narrative considering the Zuko/Aang parallel the show and many fans seem to want...if it had been intentional and if Aang had actually learned anything from it.
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