» August 17, 2014

Korra draws parallels to real-world march to war

by Kevin Hillman

"The series manages to create a mythical epic while grounding it in an unfortunate part of the human experience. We may never be able to bend the elements, but we can relate to the feelings of helplessness as we watch the world around us descend into war."

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In a recent Nerd/Wise article, I defended the medium of animation as art on par with cinema and modern television dramas by pointing out the incredible social commentary in the first season of Legend of Korra. The program, however, was originally made to be a miniseries, and thus fit an entire story arc into only a dozen episodes, leaving out the filler that was more prevalent in its predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Korra debuted as a big success, and Nickelodeon ordered three more seasons of the show. With over 40 new episodes to produce and no original plan to make any more than 12, the series creators had to get to work, leaving fans reasonably skeptical. But Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino did not disappoint with Korra’s second season and continued to showcase the narrative capacity of animated television.

How were they able to keep the show compelling? Konietzko and DiMartino created a season that expanded on the show’s spiritual aspects while grounding the narrative in a much more human story — the philosophical disputes and reasons that lead to war. And the on-screen machinations reflect real, historical precedents for the march to war.

Legend of Korra’s second season follows the protagonist as the society she knows begins to crumble around her. In the process, she becomes a participant in a dangerous process that almost leads her people into a civil war. The slippery slope begins, as they often do, with a supposed visionary pushing his beliefs on others, convinced he is on a spiritual crusade.

In the real world, when someone is so convinced he is on the one true path, he is often liable to take extreme measures to spread that supposed truth. We see this today, with the unrecognized Islamic State terrorizing Iraq and Greater Syria, as well as al-Qaida and other fundamentalist religious groups operating around the globe. Throughout history, we have seen these same attitudes manifesting in the Crusades, the Inquisition, and hundreds of other times when two distinct faiths have come into contact.

In Legend of Korra, it is Unalaq, Korra’s uncle, who believes the Southern Water Tribe has lost its spiritual way and seeks to rectify the situation. He shows Korra that the evolution and progress of humanity is actually harmful to its well-being, as their lack of spiritual understanding has led to a rising frequency of attacks from the Spirit World. After Unalaq saves Korra from an attack by a wayward spirit, the Avatar begins to trust Unalaq, at the expense of her own father, who suspects deception in his zealot brother.

Unalaq is the Chief of the Water Tribes, and his belief in the South’s spiritual failings leads him to take action. But Unalaq’s actions have consequences, and his attitudes inspire a rebellious attitude among the citizens of the South. Those citizens become convinced that independence is the only answer and begin their planning in secret meetings. In this way, the South’s actions mirror those of the American colonists in 1776, who grew tired of the British Parliament’s tightening grip.

The Sons of Liberty met in secret and began advocating for independence as the rest of the nation slowly became convinced. Troops occupying Massachusetts convinced most of the locals that action needed to be taken, and Parliament’s attempts to maintain control ironically caused them to lose it. Unalaq acts in much the same way, sending soldiers to occupy the South, raising tensions and marching his people closer to war. While Massachusetts delegate John Adams pushed the Continental Congress to declare independence, King George III made his intentions clear by sending in many more troops to quash the American rebellion. Adams was finally able to win over his colleagues by pointing out the obvious: that a state of war already existed between the colonies and their mother country.

The American Revolution tore families apart, and in Legend of Korra, the Avatar’s father and uncle find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict that promises to be destructive and deadly. When Unalaq’s intentions become clear, Korra decides to take action against her uncle and defend her father and people. Korra seeks out the help of a powerful nation to bring down the overbearing Unalaq and his troops.

During the American Revolution, it was Benjamin Franklin who sought a powerful nation, France, to help the struggling rebellion. Franklin used wit and his crafty personality to persuade King Louis XVI to send assistance to the Americans. Korra is a bit more direct — and characteristically abrasive — when asking the president of Republic City for help, and the president is unwilling to help out the independence seekers.

Without the help of the president, Korra tries realpolitik, going right to the Republic military with the request for help. Korra, as the spiritual center of the Avatar world, holds a lot of sway, and her brashness brings to light the problems with autocracy, whether within a theocracy or even a constitutional monarchy. If the decision to go to war lies in the hands of only one person, it could come about simply on a whim while a diplomatic solution is still viable. This is the reason the U.S. Constitution grants war-making powers to the legislative, and not the executive, branch of government.

Of course, in practice, that’s not the only way armed conflict actually takes shape in the United States. Spreading the war-making powers out among hundreds of people does not entirely tie the hands of the commander in chief and doesn’t mean senseless wars don’t happen. Especially not in a world in which war is profitable.

In trying to protect her people, Korra receives help from the character that perhaps best epitomizes American plutocracy in the entire show, Varrick. Varrick is the head of a large corporation with its hands in everything from manufacturing to media. Varrick uses his money to influence the politics of the world, funding the political campaigns of both Republic City presidential candidates, supporting the rebels in the South, and selling the weapons of war. Varrick is so blatant in his intentions that he makes Halliburton and Blackwater look like Girl Scouts, even outright saying, “If you can’t make money during war, then you just can’t make money.”

Varrick represents everything wrong with the current American military-industrial complex. Varrick is amoral, showing none of the traits we would normally associate with cartoon villainy, yet performing some of the most evil actions in the show. Varrick sees war as big business and will do what he has to in order to ensure fighting breaks out. He hires criminals to bomb public spaces to build support for the rebels, and sends them to rob Future Industries to force Asami to sell her company to him. Varrick then plans to profit even more off of the war by selling those same rebels Future Industries aircraft and robots.

Varrick even proves to be a master of propaganda. He enlists the help of Korra’s friend, Bolin, to star in “movers,” the Avatar world’s movies, which show Unalaq as a blatantly evil, Fu Manchu-like villain, ironically playing off the fact that the villains in the Avatar world are often colored with shades of gray. This, too, has its analog in world history.

During the World Wars, both sides of the conflict used movies to propagate their messages, often to a ridiculous degree. The Nazis disseminated their ideology with films such as Triumph of the Will and The Eternal Jew, while in America, Frank Capra released the film series Why We Fight to rally Americans behind the cause. Dr. Seuss was commissioned during the war to draw cartoons supporting the war effort, including some racist depictions of the Japanese, while Batman fought Asian stereotypes in film serials, and Superman made sure to “slap a Jap” in the comic books. Today, movies may not be as blatant in their propaganda, but using the media to spread a message — and even to start a war — is very much alive.

Legend of Korra, despite Nickelodeon’s decision to limit the show to digital distribution, continues to be an impressive work of fiction. The series manages to create a mythical epic while grounding it in an unfortunate part of the human experience. We may never be able to bend the elements, but we can relate to the feelings of helplessness as we watch the world around us descend into war. We can only hope that cooler heads ultimately prevail, but with so many factors constantly pushing the world toward conflict, that hope often seems misguided.

Kevin Hillman works in television and is equally capable of discussing 19th century tax law and Pokemon battle tactics. He lives on Planet Coruscant with an Ewok named Moo.