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Uncertain Futures: Tradition, Balance, and Change in The Legend of Korra “Book Two: Spirits” Premiering on April 14, 2012, The Legend of Korra (LOK, 2012-2014) was the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA, 2005-2008), created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Though the shows take place in the same fictional universe, DiMartino and Konietzko are not retreading the same narrative ground. Where ATLA is a fantasy-adventure more akin to Star Wars in tone and structure, LOK is “a show about big ideas”, placing a greater emphasis on the nuances found in sociopolitical and philosophical conflicts (Hyden). LOK is also set approximately 70 years after the first series and offers viewers a new main cast, new locations, and, most importantly, a new Avatar protagonist. Described early on as the only person who “can master all four elements and bring balance to the world”, Korra is markedly different from her predecessor-Avatar Aang (DiMartino & Konietzko). As Avatars cyclically reincarnate through the four element-themed nations, she was born into the Southern Water Tribe. In ATLA, water is described as “the element of great change” and it’s no surprise that change is one of the “big ideas” that factors heavily in LOK (DiMartino & Konietzko). We would argue that in LOK, because of her duty to “bring balance” to a world constantly in flux, change is simultaneously Korra’s greatest adversary and her greatest strength in way not explored in the first series. This presentation focuses on the show’s second season, “Book Two: Spirits”, which largely takes place in Korra’s homeland and features a conflict born from her own family history, casting her paternal uncle as the chapter’s main antagonist. Through this conflict, the book plays change against core series concepts: tradition, legacy, and balance. Furthermore, two episodes mid-chapter chronicle the history of the first avatar, highlighting the above three tenets and creating a significant connection between the inner and outer narratives. By having these four ideals in conversation, DiMartino & Konietzko reach beyond the world of Avatar to address the complexities and anxieties of past’s role in a fluctuating present and uncertain future. .

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Avatar the Last Air Bender Powerpoint
Ashley Williams, Ginny Nordeng, and Mayela Milian-Hernandez Overview of Presentation ● Anthropology ○ Confucius ○ Filial Piety ● Psychodynamic Theory ○ The younger years of Katara/Sokka, Aang, and Zuko/Azul ● Social Learning Theory ○ The Journey of Sokka, Zuko/Azula and Aang Anthropology is how different cultures view gender(Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017) https://www.biography.com/scholar/confucius Four nations: Earth, Fire, Water, and Air http://avatar-the-last-airbender-online.blogspot.com/2010/08/avatar-last-airbender-airbender-world.html Filial Piety is the confucius belief of respecting one’s parents, elders and ancestors.(Bedford et al 2019) https://www.bookofdaystales.com/confucius/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/346495765052132139/ https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Iroh https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Oza Filial Piety Favoring the intimate, the people closest to you and Respecting the superior; the people with higher authority to you. (Bedford et al 2019) Men and Women represent Yin and Yang In order to keep balance men and women must have separate roles. Men Lead, Women Follow…(Ebry 2019) https://www.deviantart.com/karinart8/art/Ying-and-Yang-283381659 Yin and Yang In the Northern Tribe, the master/teacher refuses to teach women how to bend. It is not their place.. In the southern tribe, All the Men left to fight a war with the fire nation. Women only allowance of leadership Psychodynamic is the first relationship one has to define their gender identity (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017) http://thatanimatedotaku. blogspot.com/2013/07/a nimated-role-models-girl s.html http://audreymgonzalez.com/2012/book-three-fire-chapter-twelve-the-w estern-air-temple/ Katara and Sokka Katara has a close relationship with her grandmother.
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Avatar: the Last Airbender
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Animating Race The Production and Ascription of Asian-ness in the Animation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra Francis M. Agnoli Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of East Anglia School of Art, Media and American Studies April 2020 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 2 Abstract How and by what means is race ascribed to an animated body? My thesis addresses this question by reconstructing the production narratives around the Nickelodeon television series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-08) and its sequel The Legend of Korra (2012-14). Through original and preexisting interviews, I determine how the ascription of race occurs at every stage of production. To do so, I triangulate theories related to race as a social construct, using a definition composed by sociologists Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer; re-presentations of the body in animation, drawing upon art historian Nicholas Mirzoeff’s concept of the bodyscape; and the cinematic voice as described by film scholars Rick Altman, Mary Ann Doane, Michel Chion, and Gianluca Sergi. Even production processes not directly related to character design, animation, or performance contribute to the ascription of race. Therefore, this thesis also references writings on culture, such as those on cultural appropriation, cultural flow/traffic, and transculturation; fantasy, an impulse to break away from mimesis; and realist animation conventions, which relates to Paul Wells’ concept of hyper-realism.
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