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About Legend of Korra
I think I might be giving up on this show.
So, in the first couple episodes of the season, we had domestic abuse being played for laughs.
This week, Bolin sexually assaults a woman (kisses her on the mouth, when they're doing something unrelated and she's totally blindsided by it) and then both Bolin and the narrative seem to think she's being the unreasonable one when she objects. (She's portrayed throughout the whole episode not as a sympathetic human being but as a stuck-up pretty girl who looks down on Bolin because she thinks he's not good enough for her, and when she tells him that she doesn't like him in that scene, I think the writers intend our sympathy to be with him rather than her, which is just -- WHAT THE HELL. HE JUST KISSED HER WITHOUT PERMISSION, on the MOUTH, when she's made it very clear in previous scenes that she's not into him! THAT IS ASSAULT!)
And yeah, Bolin is clearly confusing Ginger the character with Ginger the actress, but first of all, he's 17, not 7, and also, his reaction when she is obviously angry and upset is not to apologize but to keep pursuing her. Bolin has been portrayed all season as a sort of comic-relief man-child, but this episode it went from being pathetic to pathetic and horrible.
This is a fucking awful scene and I'm furious about it, not only because I really liked Bolin last season and I very much do not like him now, but also because it's a hideously irresponsible thing to have in a show aimed at kids.
I just don't know what happened here. Last season, I was frustrated with the focus on love triangles and some of the statements the show seemed to be making about relationships, but it was nothing like this. It's as if, rather than improving this season, they've decided to take it to a whole new level of squick. And I think I might be done. The things I still like about the show aren't making up anymore for the things I'm starting to hate.
ETA: Regarding what Bolin does in this episode, I've had that happen to me -- a total stranger at a bus stop kissed me on the mouth without permission or warning. For extra ick, he grabbed my head with both hands and pulled me in so that I couldn't get away -- of course, Ginger in this scene was lying down and Bolin, who's much larger, was on top of her, so she couldn't really get away either. In that case, I shoved him in the chest as hard as I could and screamed, "No!", and he got the idea and wandered off. He was really drunk. It wasn't super traumatic -- though I don't have touch or assault issues, which I'm sure makes it much easier for me to shrug off the emotional aftermath than someone who does -- and yeah, not the worst thing BY FAR that could've happened under those circumstances. But it was very unpleasant and disgusting and scary, and not cute or funny in the slightest.
So, in the first couple episodes of the season, we had domestic abuse being played for laughs.
This week, Bolin sexually assaults a woman (kisses her on the mouth, when they're doing something unrelated and she's totally blindsided by it) and then both Bolin and the narrative seem to think she's being the unreasonable one when she objects. (She's portrayed throughout the whole episode not as a sympathetic human being but as a stuck-up pretty girl who looks down on Bolin because she thinks he's not good enough for her, and when she tells him that she doesn't like him in that scene, I think the writers intend our sympathy to be with him rather than her, which is just -- WHAT THE HELL. HE JUST KISSED HER WITHOUT PERMISSION, on the MOUTH, when she's made it very clear in previous scenes that she's not into him! THAT IS ASSAULT!)
And yeah, Bolin is clearly confusing Ginger the character with Ginger the actress, but first of all, he's 17, not 7, and also, his reaction when she is obviously angry and upset is not to apologize but to keep pursuing her. Bolin has been portrayed all season as a sort of comic-relief man-child, but this episode it went from being pathetic to pathetic and horrible.
This is a fucking awful scene and I'm furious about it, not only because I really liked Bolin last season and I very much do not like him now, but also because it's a hideously irresponsible thing to have in a show aimed at kids.
I just don't know what happened here. Last season, I was frustrated with the focus on love triangles and some of the statements the show seemed to be making about relationships, but it was nothing like this. It's as if, rather than improving this season, they've decided to take it to a whole new level of squick. And I think I might be done. The things I still like about the show aren't making up anymore for the things I'm starting to hate.
ETA: Regarding what Bolin does in this episode, I've had that happen to me -- a total stranger at a bus stop kissed me on the mouth without permission or warning. For extra ick, he grabbed my head with both hands and pulled me in so that I couldn't get away -- of course, Ginger in this scene was lying down and Bolin, who's much larger, was on top of her, so she couldn't really get away either. In that case, I shoved him in the chest as hard as I could and screamed, "No!", and he got the idea and wandered off. He was really drunk. It wasn't super traumatic -- though I don't have touch or assault issues, which I'm sure makes it much easier for me to shrug off the emotional aftermath than someone who does -- and yeah, not the worst thing BY FAR that could've happened under those circumstances. But it was very unpleasant and disgusting and scary, and not cute or funny in the slightest.
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Thank you!
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Which is sad, because I loved Aang and the Gaang.
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... on a side note, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's had trouble with the streaming! It's not irredeemably glitchy for me, but I do have trouble, especially when I have to pause and restart. It took me awhile, actually, to notice that the animation is a little less fluid and dynamic this season (still frames of people with just their mouths moving, that kind of thing) because my playback keeps freezing up anyway ...
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