The Legend of Korra Book 1, Episode 4: The Voice in the Night

Fear is a powerful motivator.  Those who would exploit the fears of others can amass dangerous levels of power.  Outlaws can use it to rally others to their cause.  Politicians can use it to convince citizens to give up their rights.  And on an individual level, savvy fear-mongers can manipulate others into making poor decisions.  The citizens of Republic Citizens are all living in a constant state of terror regardless of bending ability; non-benders fear exploitation from benders while benders are afraid that the Equalists will come for them in the night and remove their bending powers.  And even though she is the Avatar, and thus the most (potentially) powerful person on the planet, Korra is absolutely crippled by fear.

To Korra, her entire existence is defined by her ability to bend the elements.  The episode opens with her nightmare of being cornered by the Equalists.  As Amon prepares to energybend her, he taunts her that she’ll be “nothing” once she can no longer bend.  As the Avatar, her role is to maintain balance of the entire planet, benders and non-benders alike.  But if she thinks that she would be nothing without bending ability, what is her opinion of those who were born non-benders?  She has never outright shown a dismissive attitude toward non-benders, but this dream suggests that she has an ingrained belief that they are lesser humans than benders.

Meanwhile, Tarrlok, the Republic City councilman from the Northern Water Tribe and clearly a political rival to Tenzin, sets up a new “task force” dedicated to stopping Amon and the Equalist movement.  Playing on the fears of the other benders on the council, he easily gets the idea passed and quickly begins trying to recruit Korra.  The man is a master manipulator, playing on Korra’s pride and violence-prone attitude.  However, she initially rebuffs him, claiming that she wants to focus on becoming a full-fledged Avatar before taking on Amon.  But it’s very clear to everyone – Tenzin, Tarrlok, and the audience – that Korra is absolutely terrified of facing Amon.  So Tarrlok decides to play into Korra’s other fears, namely her fears that people will see her as weak.  He ambushes her with reporters who ask her why she isn’t doing her job of protecting the citizens of the city and why she is afraid to face Amon.  And so Korra is in.  Never mind that the role of the Avatar is to maintain balance and help all the citizens of the world.

Korra lets her fear rule her, and she needs to learn how to control it before she’ll be ready to face the threat of Amon.  Compare her demeanor throughout the episode, in which she starts out withdrawn then gradually becomes more and more willing to lash out at the threat presented, with that of Bolin.  Between him, Korra, and Mako, he came the closest to having his bending taken away last week and has every right to be the most traumatized of the three.  And while he is clearly still afraid of what might happen, he doesn’t let it rule him.  He retains his fun-loving and jokey personality and just wants his life to go on.

Speaking of life going on, Mako has a surprise encounter with a young woman named Asami Sato, the daughter of a Henry Ford-like industrialist named Hiroshi.  Hiroshi Sato came from as humble beginnings as Mako and Bolin but is now one of the richest men in Republic City, having invented the satomobile.  Mako and Asami hit it off, making Korra slightly jealous, and Asami convinces her father to sponsor the Fire Ferrets in the upcoming pro-bending tournament.  So far, Mako and Bolin are nothing but thrilled to be able to compete in the tournament, even if it means having to wear Sato’s company’s logo on their uniforms.  Of course, the sponsorship deal may have some other strings attached to it that we haven’t seen yet.  Sato’s presence in the episode does two other things: it reinforces the idea that the oppression that the Equalists complain of is based on class, not bending ability, and it gives some logistical credence to the Equalists’ plan.  The Satos are non-benders, but they are very highly regarded by the bending elite of Republic City.  And Sato’s factory looked like it operated through non-bending labor, unlike the power plant Mako works at.  Last week one review I read stated that if the Equalists were to succeed, Republic City would grind to a halt without lightningbenders to generate power.  But if Sato can run his factory without benders, other industries can too.

This episode wasn’t as action-packed as last week’s brilliantly intense outing, but “The Voice in the Night” was a very good and very necessary next step.  Showing just how scared everyone in the city has become is necessary to show just how big of a threat the Equalists are.  If Amon has the Avatar running scared, he has a strong chance of success.  But that also means that citizens will be more likely to give up their rights to the government to stop the threat and will look the other way when a task force that goes around capturing people who are not doing anything illegal is created.  Korra needs to learn how to control her fear, and quickly too.  Otherwise Republic City will fall into chaos.

Random Thoughts:

·         This week, the title card said “The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra.”

·         It turns out that Seychelle Gabriel really can act.  For those of you who don’t know, she played Princess Yue in the film The Last Airbender.  I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, though; Dev Patel was fantastic in Slumdog Millionaire and did the best he could with the material he was given.

·         I am loving the soundtrack to this show.  The jazzy Asian music is such a great complement to the visuals.

·         When Korra gets fed up with Tarrlok’s messenger constantly pestering her, she resorts to violence to get rid of her.

·         I was a bit surprised that the task force members didn’t wear masks during the raid; when they positioned themselves around the building, my mind flashed back to that season 3 episode of Battlestar Galactica in which the human secret police rounded up human resistance members on to execute them.

·         Aang, Toph, and Sokka all appeared in non-speaking cameos this week.  I loved seeing them, but having Sokka and Toph in non-speaking roles kind of defeats the purpose of having them on-screen.

The TV Bar

Last night, some Twitter friends and I took one person’s idea - a bar where people can gather and watch TV together - and created a crazy, multi-room establishment with each room being dedicated to a show.  These are the results:

Science Fiction vs. Horror

I saw this post asking about what work of science fiction spoke to the poster the most.  Before I saw her answer, my first thought was that I myself would answer Battlestar Galactica, because the show is such a sobering reflection of humanity.  Characters show moments of heroism and villainy, greatness and pettiness.  They all had flaws, but they all did their best.  But the poster responded with Doctor Who, quoting Craig Ferguson to say that it values intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.

While reading the post, I thought back to an episode I was watching (I forgot which at the time, but now remember it to be “The Doctor’s Daughter”) that made me realize just how much the show valued positivity and exploration.  The Doctor nearly always approaches new situations and species with a sense of wonder, and believes that the universe is a big enough place for everyone to get what they want.  In “The Doctor’s Daughter,” the Doctor, Donna, and Martha encountered a planet where humans and an alien species had been at war for generations, but no one could remember how or why the hostilities started.  In some shows, the protagonists would immediately side with the humans, and work to destroy the “evil” aliens, but here, the Doctor and his companions did not prejudge either side; they watched the actions of both and tried to come up with a way to ensure both species reached their goals.  (An episode of SG-1 also presented this issue well; in “The Other Side,” SG-1 immediately begins helping the side that tells them that the other is evil, but they eventually realize that they have been helping the truly evil side all along.)

I thought back to a science fiction class I took in college, and one of the first things we learned was that, back when the genre was emerging, it was distinguished from horror on the basis of optimism.  Horror was a genre that viewed science negatively, while science fiction viewed science positively.  Frankenstein was a horror story because Dr. Frankenstein was using science to play god and created a “monster.”  E.T. is a much more positive story, with non-threatening aliens and the use of technology to advance a worthy goal (phoning home).

I think the genres are very intertwined today, creating more of a spectrum than distinct genres.  Horror can have no science fiction elements and science fiction can have no horror elements, but numerous works labeled as science fiction treat the science as a threat or something to be used cautiously.  I love the new Battlestar Galactica, but the second half of the finale was basically about how the human race might survive if it gives up its technology and starts fresh.  Firefly and Serenity are closer to the middle of the spectrum; what the Alliance did on Miranda was a horrifying abuse of science, but aside from that, the series doesn’t take a firm stance on whether science is inherently good or evil.  The Venture Bros. and Futurama, being comedies, tend to have a lot of disastrous results of science, but take care to note that science isn’t inherently good or evil, but has the potential to be misused.

I love science fiction, but I would love to see more stories about the wonder of human possibility.  While writing this post, I’ve struggled to come up with examples of recent works that fall toward the “pure science fiction” side of the spectrum.  I love stories about technology overtaking its masters and such, but I’m starting to fear that our popular culture is reflecting some of our nation’s current anti-science views.

Basic Introduction To Common Popular Culture

I saw this post by Samaralex in my dashboard today:

To me, there is no other answer to the question “what are you doing today/tonight” than what she said.  Obviously, her coworkers need some sort of collection of works to introduce them to commonly used pop culture references.  What would be included, though?  I love Battlestar Galactica and Veronica Mars, but are they widespread enough to merit inclusion in a primer?  Select episodes of The Simpsons would definitely be included (especially “Marge vs. the Monorail”), some Animaniacs episodes, especially ones with Pinky and the Brain shorts.  I don’t know if an entire episode of Firefly would get in, but maybe a highlights reel with quotes like “Big Damn Heroes,” “I call her Vera,” “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal,” and of course Mal’s pledge to Simon about when and how he’ll kill him.  Probably a little bit of South Park.  Doctor Who would probably merit a Fourth Doctor story and a Tenth Doctor story (“Blink”).  And finally, some Dr. Horrible for good measure.  Keeping in mind this isn’t about talking about your favorite pop culture, what works of pop culture do you think are absolutely necessary to view in order to participate in a society that is beginning to center around it?