LOK Review: Episode 1 Part 1 of ?

puzzlegirlsandpoprocks:

Episodes one starts with the White Lotus members coming to Korra’s home when she was a child. She shows great bending skill even as a toddler. From a child it is easy to see she has been defined both by herself and those around has as a bender and the avatar.

Her flaw as the Avatar is set up early in the story as she lacks physical restraint, seriousness and has little to no spiritual side of her bending.

This set up an excitement side arch of the story of Korra learning to master both air bending and her spiritual side. [Plot 1]

Korra is set up at a disadvantage as the Avatar though. She grew up in the White Lotus compound without her parents. There is a chance that the only people her ages she meets are either the younger White Lotus Guards or the children and grandchild of the old crew.

She is not allowed to explore as it’s seen by the skeptical look of Howl (The fan name for the White Lotus Guard that opened the gate for her) when she request to just take her Polar Dog on a walk and because of that she is only ever in mock battles and simulations where she is in no real danger. There is no need for restraint, skill or thought when one’s life does not hang in the balance. Her dependence on the white lotus is only addressed once and not for her lack of bending skill but the fact she has no spending money of her own. For that I’ll label this [Plot 2]

One of the biggest problems with Episode 1 is the appearance of Master Katara. She has been lightened up from her original show. There are many fan speculations as to why. 1)Because she was on the road with Aang she got a tan. 2) Because of Age 3)Coloring Mistake. 4) Light Source.

I’m labeling this [Problematic 1] as this is a problem that comes up many times in the show.

All of these can be fought rather easily.

1. Tan


If the character designers wanted her skin to be the result of a tan and no her natural brown skin tone her stomach, an area that is covered most of the trip, would be visibly lighter.

2) Age

Many people attribute the lightening to her aging. And while many POC elderly change shades as they get older from staying inside, the natural thinning of the skin. There is only a slight change that’s almost unnoticeable as it really only goes from vibrant youthful skin to a much duller tone.

There are many times in the original show when dark skinned characters were shown in their youth and in an elderly state and their skin tone does not change as drastically as Katara’s does. 

Example:

Both Hama and Bumi are both still their same skin tone, Hama even a little darker and Bumi only lighter because of the red over tone of the flash back. (Note that Bumi is 112 years old. In 100 years his skin doesn’t light as much as Katara’s does)

But Katara grew much lighter with age

Even when there was a light source almost on her face, she still is much darker then her older self.

3. Coloring Mistake

This one, if they colored her ear wrong a few times I’d understand. But they had to draw her over and over and over and over again, and color her over and over and over again without anyone anywhere seeing this mistake.

4. Light Source


The sun on that reflective snow is the light source in the picture.

Katara and Korra are in the same light source with the light hitting them the same way and Korra, who is only a shade darker than the original Korra is so much darker than Korra that would think she was Hama, one of the lightest white tribes people with a name. 

Even with that. The reflective snow that many say gave her a “tan” as a child would have kept the tan as she lived in the Southern Water Tribes and was Korra’s water bending master for many years.

[End of Review Part 1]

Deedee:

Reblogging my own Korra Review because it has a huge chunk of whitewashing information on Katara.

I’m writing Korra Reviews so any that have to do with whitewashing, there will be two more for Noatak and Sokka, I’ll post them here.