Pre-finale Korra thoughts

[dolorosa_12]

So, I sat down to write about Korra on my Wordpress blog, and a couple of thousand words tumbled out. Not particularly complimentary words, either. I should say that while I'm frustrated with the writing, I don't hate the series, and have been enjoying watching it. My overwhelming emotion is frustration. Because, having seen ATLA, I know it could've been so much better.

I really didn’t want to be that fan. You know, the one taking creators of a spin-off to task because the spin-off is nothing like its parent text. But the problem is not so much that Korra isn’t ATLA but rather that Korra lacks the ingredients that made ATLA so successful. As I see it, ATLA’s quality rested on the interplay of four elements (see what I did there?). These were:
1. A cast of rounded, complex, human characters whose actions made sense in relation to their characterisation, who changed over the course of the series and who drew us into their world;
2. A completely three-dimensional, endlessly fascinating setting that reflected the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of the people who lived in it;
3. An engaging narrative which kept you watching and kept surprising you; and
4. Themes and real-world analogies that resonated but could be interpreted in multiple ways and on multiple levels.

Korra lacks all of these things.

I would really love to hear the opinions of people here who are Korra or ATLA fans. You can post either here or on the blog itself. Just a warning - I'm going out to yoga class in about an hour and won't be back online after that until tomorrow morning, so don't expect any replies until at least then.

Comments

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

Oh, it looks pretty, that's for sure. I get the impression that writers got carried away with all the awesome things they imagined to expand the series ('wouldn't it be cool if there was a police force of metalbenders? in airships?' 'what if there were pro-bending tournaments?' 'how much early 20th-century technology do we want to put in?') which is fine when you're writing fanfic - and in fact would've made awesome fic - but not so good when it's original writing. It's frustrating, because there are so many things that, if they'd been explored further or better, could've made the series wonderful, but as it is, it is a disappointment and a wasted opportunity.