less worry, more yuri

One of my favorite ATLA cosplayers posted a video about NATLA cautioning people not to watch and listed a couple of main reasons to avoid the show, one of them being that Aang chokes Azula during the Crystal Catacombs battle.

Now, I know that Netflix!Aang is not my Aang (see here for how they completely butchered his character in season 1). But I still have a very hard time hearing about and watching any version of my comfort character/my favorite character of all time committing an act of violence that was inflicted on me by my abuser.

Having your main character who is a pacificist choke someone is an absolutely wild choice, regardless of him being in the Avatar State when it happened. Even if this act wasn't completely and utterly antithetical to Aang as a character, I don't know why Netflix would ever choreograph a male protagonist choking a female character given the statistics on IPV and strangulation on top of the fact that Gordon Cormier is a person of color who is already having to navigate weird, racist comments and internet vitriol from people who can't separate the person from their role.

There is a lot of violence in the original series, but it was extremely well-choreographed to toe the line and not dip into controversial territory. And the fact that it was animated allows much more suspension of disbelief in characters being thrown around and falling and getting hit with objects, etc. without getting seriously hurt. The same thing cannot be done in live action without it being altered significantly, and adding more physical violence to the show feels ignorant at best.

It justifies Azula killing Aang. She's no longer shooting him down during a moment where everyone else stands in awe, reverence, and fear of the Avatar State while she doesn't hesitate to destroy the link between the spirit and physical world/the last hope for balance and peace. Netflix!Azula kills Netflix!Aang in what I would argue is self-defense, even if he does ultimately show mercy.

The writers did the same thing with the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko in which Netflix!Zuko started throwing hands instead of refusing to fight his own father. Netflix!Zuko fighting back gives Netflix!Ozai an excuse for harming him in return. Goodbye to Zuko's really interesting and complicated relationship with his father in which he forwent his motto of 'never give up without a fight' to put his faith in someone who was meant to love him, only to be betrayed in the worst way possible. Goodbye to Ozai's unambiguous abuse and imperialist mindset in his willingness to permanently scar his own flesh and blood to teach him a lesson without any justification.

This moment also completely negates Netflix!Aang's need to master the Avatar State. He is already conscious enough to spare Azula instead of needing someone to physically anchor him and pull him out of his pain and rage. It was an integral plot point in the original series that Aang couldn't control his powers and spent a significant amount of time learning how to become a fully realized Avatar while agonizing over whether he should even use said powers as the only Air Nomad left whose cultural values clashed with the Avatar's duties. Maybe I could forgive NATLA for having Aang choke Azula if they explore the whole angle of him being ashamed for what he did when he wasn't fully in control, but this show has given me zero indication that it can handle that type of complex and sensitive subject matter. And AGAIN, he was able to snap out of it long enough to not murk Azula! NATLA has really muddied the waters and made Aang's mental state IN the Avatar State way too nebulous.

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