Art is a reflection of the world we live in and the world we live in is one in which non-heteronormative people are marginalized.
When's the last time there was a homosexual person on a kids show at all, let alone one in a multiracial relationship? This is an area that US TV routinely ignores.
Remember, you live in a world that has gay people in it. Famous ones, leaders, with support circles for people dealing with the ramifications of being gay. That they dated Mako, the character that, were they straight, storytelling convention (As well as general rules about attraction, etc) would have either of them end of with Mako. That they both tried to like men and then it didn't work out is either proof that bisexual people exist or that some gay people don't realize that they are gay at first.
Korra and Asami do not. They are, literally, the first gay (or bi) people in the Avatar verse.
Or that the writers decided on this sometime in Season 2 or 3 after the huge backlash the romance saw and fully intended Korra to be straight to begin with. Remember that Season 1 was written to be a standalone.
And we have no idea whatsoever what the perception towards homosexual relationships are in the Avatar-verse. I think you're reading way too deep into things.
These are the first examples of gay people shown in the Avatar verse. Are you saying we need to wait to see if they Dumbledore someone or something?
As I understand it, Dumbledoring refers to the practice of taking a known character and saying after the work finishes that they were actually gay all along. What I'm saying is that there may have been previous same-sex couples, and they were never shown or mentioned because they happened with very low frequency and no one (in universe) thought it was a big deal.
For instance, I don't believe any albinos or conjoined twins featured on either show, but I assume both exist in universe.
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Genetics works differently in the Avatar universe, so we can't say for certain if those two things exist because the genetics is wonky, but that isn't the point of whether something likely exists or not even if its not shown on screen. Those are also physical conditions, not social ones (in the US)and you can neither pass for "normal" nor can they be dumbledored. Also, the narrative opportunities for things like that are limited in a show like avatar.
Regarding same sex couples, every couple shown before now has been heterosexual. The shows plotting and writing has been strong. The writers have obviously put a lot of effort into the relationships shown, but only after being on the air for nearly a decade do they have the ability to show a gay relationship on TV. Were you around for when Buffy broke ground with the first lesbian kiss on network TV? Obviously, gay people existed in that world too, since that show was about the "real world" with a "second level", but even then, like with hollywood in general, norms are norms are norms.
Expanded to childrens cartoons in the US as a whole, Korra right now is... the example? Right? Maybe something hinted at on Adventure Time, but there is nothing as explicit as Korra is. Sure, we can simply assume that some portion of the characters without lines are gay, but what does that mean from a narrative standpoint? Or from a culture standpoint?
Like, have you read the stuff that Mike and Brian have publicly stated on the matter? There initial reasoning for not wanting to include the hints that we saw was because they thought Nick would never let them do it, but then they went "wait, isn't out assumption part of the problem" and broached the subject.
It's not a matter of whether people in-universe would react a certain way, but that creators routinely don't even attempt to go to that (fertile) story ground because of US social issues. Prince Wu abdicating the throne because he was in love with Mako and knew he couldn't provide an heir would provide an interesting twist to his decision towards democracy.
Either way, regarding narrative structure we can't assume the existence of something that exists in the real world until there is evidence that it exists in the fictional world. Especially since fiction, by its nature, is about worlds unlike our own. As much as thats about setting them in another local, like a fantasy world, its also about what those worlds don't have like with Avatars "the whole world is pretty much buddhist" not having anything like Christianity in it or, for the first series, modern government.
Homosexual relationships get almost no airtime in programming like this. Thats why the early hints were so interesting. It's not like we'd seen a pair of men or women kissing at a big celebration earlier in either series showing that gay people existed even if none of the cast was, but that there was no indication that they existed, just like gay people may as well not exist in 99% of cartoons
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When's the last time there was a homosexual person on a kids show at all, let alone one in a multiracial relationship? This is an area that US TV routinely ignores.
Or that the writers decided on this sometime in Season 2 or 3 after the huge backlash the romance saw and fully intended Korra to be straight to begin with. Remember that Season 1 was written to be a standalone.
And we have no idea whatsoever what the perception towards homosexual relationships are in the Avatar-verse. I think you're reading way too deep into things.
I just made a post that relates, you might have missed it though because of timing.
As for the intentions of the writing, they stated that the idea came to them over the course of the show, as happens in a serial production
edit: what began as a by the numbers adventure show romance became something different, and then different again.
As I understand it, Dumbledoring refers to the practice of taking a known character and saying after the work finishes that they were actually gay all along. What I'm saying is that there may have been previous same-sex couples, and they were never shown or mentioned because they happened with very low frequency and no one (in universe) thought it was a big deal.
For instance, I don't believe any albinos or conjoined twins featured on either show, but I assume both exist in universe.
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Regarding same sex couples, every couple shown before now has been heterosexual. The shows plotting and writing has been strong. The writers have obviously put a lot of effort into the relationships shown, but only after being on the air for nearly a decade do they have the ability to show a gay relationship on TV. Were you around for when Buffy broke ground with the first lesbian kiss on network TV? Obviously, gay people existed in that world too, since that show was about the "real world" with a "second level", but even then, like with hollywood in general, norms are norms are norms.
Expanded to childrens cartoons in the US as a whole, Korra right now is... the example? Right? Maybe something hinted at on Adventure Time, but there is nothing as explicit as Korra is. Sure, we can simply assume that some portion of the characters without lines are gay, but what does that mean from a narrative standpoint? Or from a culture standpoint?
Like, have you read the stuff that Mike and Brian have publicly stated on the matter? There initial reasoning for not wanting to include the hints that we saw was because they thought Nick would never let them do it, but then they went "wait, isn't out assumption part of the problem" and broached the subject.
It's not a matter of whether people in-universe would react a certain way, but that creators routinely don't even attempt to go to that (fertile) story ground because of US social issues. Prince Wu abdicating the throne because he was in love with Mako and knew he couldn't provide an heir would provide an interesting twist to his decision towards democracy.
Either way, regarding narrative structure we can't assume the existence of something that exists in the real world until there is evidence that it exists in the fictional world. Especially since fiction, by its nature, is about worlds unlike our own. As much as thats about setting them in another local, like a fantasy world, its also about what those worlds don't have like with Avatars "the whole world is pretty much buddhist" not having anything like Christianity in it or, for the first series, modern government.
Homosexual relationships get almost no airtime in programming like this. Thats why the early hints were so interesting. It's not like we'd seen a pair of men or women kissing at a big celebration earlier in either series showing that gay people existed even if none of the cast was, but that there was no indication that they existed, just like gay people may as well not exist in 99% of cartoons