A couple days ago I finally finished watching Nickelodeon's "Legend of Korra", a year after it already ended. And I'm conflicted, to say the least.
Michael Dante Dimartino made a statement that very clearly and explicitly said that Korra and Asami were a romantic couple at the show's ending. He notes in his statement, "For the most part, it seems like the point of the scene was understood and additional commentary wasn’t really needed from Bryan or me. But in case people were still questioning what happened in the last scene, I wanted to make a clear verbal statement to complement the show’s visual one."
I think the reason people (including myself) needed clarification was because it came as such a shock:
A lesbian couple, in a children's cartoon?
I spent much of my weekend contemplating this ending, and wondering if it was appropriate to the story, and wondering if my vexation stemmed from any moral objection I have over homosexuality. It's led me to some interesting places.
First, in western culture, woman are typically seen as symbols of sexuality, virtue, and fertility. Assami's character has always been exquisitely feminine; if we were to label rage and general aggression as "masculine", (as far as I can recall) she has never behaved in that way; she's always been gentle, kind, giving, and prone to be hurt (read: be victimized) over lashing out. Even when she discovered her father's darker side her initial reaction was dismay over vengence. That's not even addressing her physical portrayal: soft features, long hair, delicate and slender body, always has on a little eye shadow.
Bearing all this in mind, I asked myself, "Would it be possible for Assami to be romantically interested in women?"
If Assami were an archetype of feminity, and intrinsic to that archetype is sexuality, then the answer is yes, Assami could be interested in women. I say this because I've heard far more stories of women having sexual encounters with other women (of various degrees) than men. I think this is because western men tend to solidify their sexual identity by being romantically interested only in women, and any undermining of this reputation has traditionally been labelled as "unmasculine". Women, however, are more free to express their sexuality just to express their sexuality, and are capable of crossing this border with impunity. (Indeed, even men tend to encourage this behavior.) So it is entirely possible that Assami, as an archetype of feminity, could be romantically interested in Korra.
Which led me to the next question: "Would it be possible for Korra to be romantically interested in women?"
This question was harder to substantiate, as while Assami was definitely feminine, Korra didn't have her feminine qualities as sharply expressed as Assami. But that didn't mean it would be impossible for Korra to have romantic feelings for women.
The masthead theme behind season four was Korra's reminisence of all of her experiences, and how she has adapted and learned to overcome each one. Some writers say that a story isn't a story unless a character changes, and as we've explored the Avatar universe with Korra, we've seen her grow and adapt. As far as a character goes, she's undergone so many subtle and major changes in a short while that I'm hard pressed to think of a character who is more dynamic. Switching her interest from men to women (if indeed there was a switch) then, wouldn't be that great of a jump.
Then again, technically speaking, if Korra's identity is a cumulation of her past lives, which included both men and women, then it would make sense that her affections would transcend her gender or the gender of her romantic partners, even if (or despite that) she lost her connection to her past lives.
So the answer to that question is also a yes. But neither one of these questions were the first that I asked myself.
My first question was "Was this the right ending?"
In my gut I knew that this was not the most convenient ending for the writers, but the most appropriate ending to that story. I had to say that this was the best and most satisfactory ending the series could've had: somehow, some way, it just made sense. A little sad, a little timid, but ultimately very hopeful. I don't know if it was the perfect ending, but I'm hard pressed to think of a better one.
I'll continue my discussion and critique of Legend of Korra in next week's post. See you there.
Photo cred: http://www.dailydot.com/geek/bryan-konietzko-korrasami-date-fan-art/
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