Fans defending the titular character from the animated television show The Legend of Korra have caused it to trend on Twitter. The Nickelodeon show, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, originally aired from 2012 to 2014 but was added to Netflix just last year. Since its addition to Netflix, Avatar and Korra have been on-again-off-again trending topics on social media.
When Netflix added both Avatar and Korra to its repertoire last year, audiences didn’t hesitate to watch them, both of them becoming some of Netflix’s most popular shows years after their initial release. This more recent exposure gave the franchise new fans and invited them to partake in the Avatar discourse, which is vast, covering both TV shows, the ongoing comic series they inspired, and M. Night Shyamalan’s infamous live-action film, The Last Airbender. Additionally, Netflix had announced plans to create a live-action television show based on the original Avatar series, though it has faced some controversy. The overall Avatar fan discussion and debates inevitably include many comparisons and contrasts between the two shows. With Avatar being a male-led saga and Korra having a female protagonist, the two Avatar’s are often evaluated against each other, sometimes with complex gender norms in the mix.
After CBR posted an article on Korra to Twitter, fans such as @karazrell were quick to defend the titular character, their defense then causing The Legend of Korra to trend on the site. Particularly, their defense was calling attention to the double standard of uplifting characteristics such as “arrogance, stubbornness, [and] being hotheaded” in male characters, but then decrying female characters for harboring the same traits. While the Twitter user acknowledges that the article wasn’t entirely bad, they do point out that the headline and overall use of rhetoric such as “annoying” to describe female characters is disappointing.
Korra’s character has been an inspiration for many fans due to her strength, resilience, and bravery. Additionally, Korra is beloved for the show’s allusions to her possibly belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, showcased when signs of her developing a romantic relationship with her female best friend Asami appear. Their relationship was confirmed in the canonical comics that continue beyond the show. However, it is no secret that Korra is often criticized for being a lesser Avatar than Aang, the protagonist of the original Avatar, exemplified by many of the Twitter users debating this…again.
The constant debate of Korra vs. Aang, showcases the voracious nature of the Avatar franchise’s fans. However, it does often invoke problematic gender-based double standards, sometimes disregarding the plethora of similarities and differences between the two characters and the two shows as a whole. Additionally, in these debates, some of the shining traits of the secondary characters can be lost. However, as long as shows like The Legend of Korra with strong female-leads continue to be made, audiences can continue to squelch the gender norms that constrict them.
