Some kind of awards show + your random Avatar thought for the day

[lizbee]

Every year I'm surprised all over again that people actually watch the Oscars. Although I have to confess that the random expressions of SHOCK AND OUTRAGE from Americans, that an overweight, middle-aged Australian actress they've never heard of got a best supporting actress nomination for an Australian movie they've never seen. Okay, it's not so much SHOCK AND OUTRAGE as confuzzlement, but I'm amused when the cultural bubble is stretched a bit.

(On a related note: Shaun Tan - Australian, not New Zealander.)

ANYWAY, here is a thought that has been following me around for a couple of weeks:

Li and Lo: most underrated female characters in Avatar, or most underrated female characters in Avatar?

I say this because I read a bunch of essays about the lack of older women in the series. Which is a serious problem, and really the major *ist failing in the whole series. Only, they tend to go on and on about Hama and totally forget Li and Lo.

AND THIS MAKES ME SAD! For I love Li and Lo, with their creepy talking together and finishing each other's sentences and general state of Old Lady Crazy. And considering that they're associated with the Fire Nation royals, and more particularly with Azula, they seem pretty benevolent. Which is to say, they're the only people who actually try and help Azula when she's having a psychotic breakdown. (And they make Zuko and Mai sleep in a room full of chintz, which is an hilarious affront to their gothling emo souls.)

It is therefore my personal canon that Li and Lo are members of the Order of the White Lotus, trying to look after Azula in the same way that Iroh did for Zuko. And failing, because Azula learns much too late that, when your father is a raging sociopathic abuser, being his favourite is actually worse than being the kid he doesn't like that much. But, y'know, trying. This to me makes a lot more sense than Hama, the woman who tortures civilians and children, being a member of the Order, which is something I keep seeing people proposing in apparent actual seriousness.

Anyway, here's a fun question for you to ponder: who are Li and Lo? They're subordinate to the prince and princess, yet powerful enough to criticise Azula. They can also critique her firebending, despite not being benders themselves. And though they own their own house at Ember Island, it's plainly a lot smaller than the royals are accustomed to.

So, not servants. A lot of people assume they're Azulon's sisters, which makes sense, only we see a portrait of them when they're young, and they don't have any of the genetic traits that mark the royal family, ie, hairline, ears, etc.

My guess is that they were Azulon's concubines when they were young, putting them on the outer edge of the royal family. Just close enough to help raise Azula after her mother left, and far enough removed as to not remotely be objects of filial piety. (Not that Azula bothers with respecting anyone in the family who isn't her father.) More personal canon, yes, but it makes so much sense in my head that I practically have to twirl with glee.

Comments

[sqbr]

I am, or was, totally one of those people who complains about the lack of older ladies without thinking about Lo and Li and lo! You have converted me. I will have to ponder this white lotus thing, I tend to see them as somewhat deliberately cut off from all that powergame stuff, but maybe, like Iroh, that's just a facade. HMM.

[lizbee]

I am, or was, totally one of those people who complains about the lack of older ladies without thinking about Lo and Li and lo!

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!

And it's totally still an issue, although I think I get less ragey about it than a lot of other fans. Maybe because I came to AtLA after reading a whole lot of Tudor biographies, so it made sense that a pre-industrial society (or, in the case of the Fire Nation, a heavily militarised one) would have a high fatality rate among women of child-bearing age. So I think I looked at the absent/missing mothers and older women and assumed it was an intended consequence of the war, and not an oversight on the part of the creators.

(Also, I don't get the rage re: Azula's breakdown. It's not a fable about WOMEN CAN'T HAVE THE POWER, because it's being confronted with her own powerlessness in the face of her abusive father that breaks her.)

[sqbr]

I'm not ragey about it, but it is a lack, in my opinion, even if it is vaguely accurate for the time period. And Azula's breakdown bothered me less for it's depiction of gender and more for it's depiction of mental illness (I guess you could see Bumi as a mostly positive depiction in the other direction? Sort of?). But I think the group that really doesn't get the chance to change or control things is the lower classes, ALL the main characters were to some extent born to power, and look what happens to poor old Jet.

[lizbee]

Agreed. Even Sokka and Katara are the children of their tribe's chief, even though (a) the Southern Water Tribe seems a lot more egalitarian and (b) if anyone tried arguing they came from a background of fabulous privilege, I'd probably have to laugh.

For me, the defining moment is when the Fire Nation troops are storming through Ba Sing Se, and you see Jin watching from the tea shop. Like most feudal wars, the common people are trapped beneath an ever-changing wave of lords.

[tree_and_leaf]

I am beginning to think that I must watch Avatar...

[lizbee]

That is in no way the goal of my evil plan.

*eyedart*

(Seriously, though, it's a good show. The first half of the first season is very much a kids show, and then it kicks into high gear and -- some pacing issues aside towards the end -- doesn't really stop.)

[rj_anderson]

Yes, you really must.

[rydra_wong]

Oooh. You should link in white_lotus -- this is juicy meta.

[krazykitkat]

They obviously don't take much notice of the supporting categories. They always tend to be full of actors/actresses in non-mainstream films, some of whom are pretty unknown.

Mum went to high school with Jacki Weaver. But I'm thrilled about Melissa Leo, I've loved her for years.

[myniamh]

I'm terrible with names and had no idea what is going on with Oscars and the like so I had to google both names to see where I should have knows them from and all I could see on google for Melissa Leo was OMG SHE SWORE AT THE OSCARS OMGOMGOMG! NOOOOOO! SHOCK! SCANDAL! XD

I have loved her for years too. She has such an 'oh! it's her!' face. :)

[crossedwires]

I like your personal canon!

And Melissa Leo! Yay, Kay Howard!

[yukinoomoni]

I like the idea of their being former concubines, actually. I've always wondered how they got stuck teaching Azula firebending when they themselves aren't firebenders - that always struck me as odd. Plus I love the idea of them driving the tank during The Chase - Mike and Bryan joked about it, but it's my head-canon.

[lorax]

I like the idea of Li and Lo as White Lotus ladies who were trying to watch over Azula, and failing. I'd kind of love to see that fic now.