#gilak

That’s why I’m loving the North and South comic because it’s that same mentality. What Gilak wants, to preserve traditional Southern Water Tribe values and not allow the SWT to fall victim to more powerful nations, is a good goal at its core.

But Gilak falls into the same trap as Amon, Unaloq, Zaheer and Kuvira. They fall into extremist methods of obtaining their goal, and become obsessed with reaching an impossible, idealized version of the world that only exists in their heads.

What I especially love is that Katara has always been a traditionalist, especially when it comes to her tribe. So when the Northerners come in and start putting their noses in the South’s business, you can definitely understand, and side with Katara being upset.

But Gilak provides a very interesting counterpoint to Katara’s traditionalism. He’s basically what Katara could become if that traditionalism went unchecked.

See, take Sokka as the other extreme. Sokka has always embraced change when it comes to modernity. He sees his village becoming a city, and he’s ecstatic. He sees his father falling in love again, and he’s nothing but supportive.

But, then again, that leaves Sokka blind to the larger problems of changing so much, so quickly.

We can hold on to our past. We can hold on to our stories, our traditions. But we cannot be enslaved by them.

I also didn’t like his new relationship with that lady from the north. She and her brother seemed fake from the start. Especially since she admitted that her plans were to take over the south for oil and thought they were less than the north. I didn’t like the comics at all.

Thank you! Malina and Maliq were boujie as heck. It wasn't unrealistic, how they looked down their paternalistic noses on the Southerners, but that they were portrayed as having a point got to me. Oh, nothing to worry about, we'll just turn you into oil rig workers and erase your traditions because we know better than you rubes.

I don't think Hakoda was being a bad chief, I think he was doing his best. The South had been poor and sidelined for so long, he must have thought it was necessary to keep up with the rest of the world. And he had experience in war, not intrigue. The Northerners were taking advantage of him (Though keep in mind my own judgement may be clouded by a crush.)

(I will say nothing about the romance aspect, I don't want to think about that picture any more than I have to. Oogie!)

My main complaint of North and South was how progress was treated as better than tradition. New buildings (except Gran-Gran's bc she's awesome), new projects, and a complete disregard for the locals' way of life.

I'm not saying "progress" is always bad, but it has to come from working with people, not over them.

Gilak used some bad methods... but meta-ly, he didn't have to be written that way. Wanting your culture preserved and your people respected is not villainous.

North and South did a number on me for a few days when I read it. Gentrification was sticking its sickly nose into my hometown, and Thod, in particular, made me painfully aware of the real-life fact that stories have been lost, traditions forgotten, languages relegated to the past, because someone came in and decided that all that was backwards.

Drilling for oil is a very real problem. DAPL and the Alaskan wildlife reserves come to mind. Cultural loss is also pretty painful! You can miss what you've never had.

ATLA was great. LOK was great. The comics were growing pains. Real heavy, all of Yang's.

https://barsoom.fandom.com/wiki/Gilak