Toph and Katara: Strong Female Characters Done Right

if this video does well maybe I'll get my wife to write a counterpart video for Toff or aeon or Galadriel this Galadriel well I guess we owe you a tough Katara video huh I'd like to formally apologize to my wife for volunteering her but since she loves avatar The Last Airbender more than just about any other show I think she'll forgive me in time modern film has a strong woman problem it sucks at writing them whatever the reason may be powerful female protagonists such as Rey Carol Danvers the reinvented Mulan and the character that the rings of power insists on calling Galadriel tend to be effortlessly talented and capable and nearly if not totally Flawless they are right about everything they don't need anyone else and they rarely if ever have to overcome any weaknesses this makes for Bland uninteresting characters who lack depth Nuance or relatability the capacity to power through any situation or obstacle on one's own is not admirable and inspiring it's unimaginative and boring audiences want to see their protagonists struggle and battle their own inner demons hence the far stronger interest for example in Batman man over Superman despite the latter being the first widely known superhero who basically created the genre flawed human beings simply can't relate to Unstoppable forces of nature I should note that of course not all competent female characters in modern film are just strong powerful planks of wood Kim waxler from Better Call Saul and heli from Severance come to mind as capable complex and conflicted characters who are brilliantly written and acted but in the realm of fantasy magic and superpowers the number of female badasses in modern Cinema and TV who are strong and confident while also being flawed and vulnerable are few and far between so we're going back to the early 2000s and examining how Toph and Katara provide a blueprint to Buck this trend how they manage to be powerful characters who struggle they are superbly skilled and capable but they are also flawed and short-sighted at times and perhaps most importantly Toff and Katara provide two examples of authentic femininity while inspiring and endearing themselves to the audience let's start with Katara who embodies so many positive traditional female traits she is motherly nurturing and compassionate as with any virtue however there is the danger of taking it to an extreme and straying into Vice Katara cares for the group watches over them but her instinct to nurture also drives her to be controlling and bossy in The Runaway katara's motherliness is brought up as an irritating trait that the others Toff in particular would rather do without at least initially when sakur reveals to Toff that he is both annoyed by but also relies on guitars controlling nature it's a learning moment for both Toth and for the accidentally eavesdrop in Katara Katara is after all a child while her inclination to care for the others is beautiful and necessary she is hampered by a lack of experience and has to learn how to balance being the mother of the group with being a caring friend to each of its members virtue is about balance about finding the golden mean and guitar has to find a way to guide others with gentleness and compassion in order to reach that desirable middle if you had to pick one trait to Define Katara though you'd be off your rocker if the word hope or hopeful didn't immediately spring to mind Katara is the ultimate supportive character she is encouraging affirmative reassuring Etc that's Katara in a nutshell when earthbenders were hunted and enslaved Katara inspires them with a message of Hope sure it doesn't go great at first but her persistence her unwavering Faith eventually breaks through with little help when the group is stranded in the desert Aang despondent tough helpless and soccer hallucinating Katara motivates them to keep pushing onward she is the glue that keeps team Avatar together that day providing Direction when there are two grief-stricken guilt-ridden or Cactus drugged to find it themselves in the painted lady she alone takes decisive action to renew the health and hope of a town poisoned by the fire nation's War Machine regardless of the Bleak Outlook of both the villagers and her own brother while katara's early show hopefulness Shades towards blind optimism do at least in part to her her inexperience in the fire nation-dominated World it gradually matures into a more grounded belief and Trust in those around her hope is what drives Katara to see the conflict inside Zuko and believe that he can turn from the path that he'd been on for years and when that hope that defining virtue of katara's is betrayed by Zuko it inflicts a deep wound that is not easily healed we see this exemplified of course in the Western Air temple in following episodes in which Katara is far slower to accept Zuko's change of heart than the rest of the group is unlike the others she has a personal wound inflicted by Zuko that needs time to heal notably though Toff is quicker to trust Zuko despite the fact that he physically attacked her and injured her but I guess being able to tell whether or not people are sincere via your Earth bending makes a difference there this is not the only time that Katara is out of sync with the rest of the group on such an issue though when team Avatar happens upon jet in bossing say Katara refuses to believe his story while the others are willing to listen Katara more so than any of the group other than perhaps Aang is the most trusting has the strongest belief in the innate goodness of those she Encounters this belief is so Central to her identity that when violated it provokes an unusually forceful emotional response making her swing to the opposite end of the trusting pendulum Katara has to learn that trust should not be freely given but it can be earned even after it has been broken it's one thing to forgive and trust someone who has experienced a change of heart and is willing to atone for their sins but it's quite another for Katara to forgive the man who took her mother away from her in the southern Raiders the episode in which we see Katara finally reconcile lizuko she is initially bent on Revenge intending to kill the man who killed Kaya when Yan ra is at her mercy he snivels and Bargains offering his mother in exchange for kataras which dude he shows Katara what she could have become would she have followed through on her plans for Revenge how the cycle of violence leaves no room for healing ultimately Katara chooses Mercy not necessarily because Yan Rod doesn't deserve death I dare say he does but because it is not her place to meet out death and judgment she is not a cold-blooded killer she is in fact a Healer no not that kind of healer that's better in a world torn apart by violence the most powerful of water is possessed by Katara is not used to defeat her enemy but rather to heal her friend J.R.R Tolkien wrote the hands of the king are the hands of a Healer and I like to think that applies to some extent here katara's worth as a water bender does not merely come from her ability to swing a sword or rather water of various shapes and sizes but from a full deep and authentic understanding of the power she wields Katara demonstrates true femininity by recognizing water's ability to both destroy and to repair by living out her calling as a Healer in a concrete expression of her caring motherly nature this is displayed prominently in the painted industrial saboteur painted lady or Katara stubbornly refuses to abandon a sick despondent town to its own devices while Saka is focused on the larger picture on the overall mission Katara sees the personal human element of their mission her brother sees the forest she sees the trees which are withering and dying Katara forcefully declares I will never ever turn my back on people who need me it's a beautiful sentiment that emboldens the sense of sympathy and compassion in her brother and Friends however such standards have their limits on the day of black sun when their plan has failed Katara remains insistent that they won't leave anyone behind she cannot fathom abandoning her father and the others to the Fire Nation prisons it is only at hakoda's insistence that she and the others escape safely Katara learns that her ideals cannot be absolute they have to be tempered by reality have to be ordered toward the greater good it's tempting to contrast Toff and Katara due to their obvious differences in personality and temperament something Katara quickly discovers after Toph joins the group however that wouldn't quite be appropriate since they both display femininity in unique yet not opposite ways you can be feminine and motherly and you can be feminine in a tomboy femininity cannot be limited to a set of traits unique to women but rather includes the expression of Virtues through a woman's actions as I noted in my iro video just about every virtue is desirable for both sexes but they are typically expressed in different ways being motherly is not a virtue in and of itself but rather it is the feminine expression of care compassion patience and a million other virtues I wrote that line just to be clear that's not my wife inflating her own ego a father such as iro can express those virtues in fatherhood but it looks quite different but I digress let's turn our attentions to Toff Toff is strong-willed perseverant patient and confident most notable though is her adaptability her conversion of her disability into an ability her blindness pushed her to explore a new way to see to perceive the world as others cannot and granting her an understanding of the earth that far surpasses that of other earthbenders Toff does not merely wield the Earth as a weapon as so many do she uses it as an extension of herself as p and Dao exhorts Saka to do with the sword rather than allowing her disability to Define her Toph accepts it acknowledging its advantages and disadvantages but does not let it totally dominate her personality to the point where her friends sometimes forget what she can and cannot do however being capable not being limited is one of the things that Toff desires most while this is a natural relatable desire toff's upbringing pushed it to the point of Vice once she breaks free from the smothering confines of her childhood home Toth is insistent that she can go her own way and provide for herself she does not easily adapt to being being part of a team and relying on others having not experienced genuine affirming care and friendship Tufts gut instinct reaction is to assume that others are coddling her and she pushes back against the perceived insult in doing so she demonstrates her immaturity in experience and short-sightedness showing us how she will need to grow and mature toff's attitude however is not the only thing that will evolve over the course of her character Arc her abilities will too the most obvious Point here is toff's invention of metal bending which is wonderful and amazing in its own right but I'm actually going to talk more about sand bending in the library we learn how sand being an unfamiliar form of Earth for tough impedes her ability to sense her surroundings resulting in apa's capture by the sandbenders tough unlike so many modern heroines has a serious weakness even within her field of expertise in an area that others have clearly mastered she doesn't immediately or even quickly learn sand bending tough is essentially useless until the group group reaches Solid Ground however the show doesn't drop the issue there although Toff never if I remember correctly uses sand bending in combat she does demonstrate her persistence and Patience by showing Aang how she sculpted bossing say out of sand near the end of the show this may seem like a minor and insignificant part of her Arc but it highlights how fulfilling it is to have characters with weaknesses doing so fleshes them out making them more relatable by seeing Our Heroes struggle we sympathize with them and we are inspired by them when they overcome those challenges and obstacles that's not to say though that our protagonists should have to Grapple with uncertainty weakness or what have you in every aspect of their personality they are certainly allowed to have established virtues that they don't have to fight to obtain at least not so far as we see and they don't have to further develop these traits audiences do want to see characters who possess innate goodness and strength of character one such pre-established trait of toffs is her sense of self-worth as she says in the tale of Toff and Katara I don't care what I look like I'm not looking for anyone's approval I know who I am that level of self-confidence and disregard of others opinions especially that of those who really don't know us is an admirable trait that is far too rare especially in the age of social media Toff doesn't fall prey to the idea that how she looks or how others think she looks has any impact on her value as a person a Clarity of mind that sadly is not present in so many adolescents especially teenage girls who are far more likely to suffer from body image issues than are their male counterparts tough's confidence and self-assuredness provide us a template of healthy independent self-worth but there's a caveat when those we care about and who care about us have something to say we should listen the episode emphasizes this by showing Toff Brighton after Katara tells her you're actually really pretty no one exists in a vacuum we rely on others for so many things even to help Define who we are but they have to be those people who truly know and love us that brings me neatly back to toff's I can can take care of myself attitude so let's turn our attention to the finale of the show in which Toph Saka and Suki wreak havoc on the fire nation's Airship Fleet with an Airship slice and where we see the payoff for toff's character developments in this area the child who having gained her independence wanted to be totally self-reliant has matured into a capable member of a team as mentioned Toff is supremely capable her persistence and patience enabled her to become an expert earthbender and invent an entire new kind of bending but it is not until she joins team Avatar that toff's ability is given Direction and purpose Beyond mere self-expression in joining the group and their cause Toph learned to surrender the full and total self-control she had long desired this is beautifully displayed as she Embraces saka's leadership as they fight their Way Through the Fire Nation Fleet no longer stubbornly independent she is now an individual with an essential role in Irreplaceable ability that is ordered toward the good of the team and indeed the whole world when Saka recognizing the danger of falling debris jumps on top of Toff shielding her body with his Toff accepts this protective action not necessarily because she needs it but because she acknowledges the gesture of self-sacrifice from Saka who himself has had to undergo significant character development to become the servant leader he now is but that's a topic for another video it's important to remember that toff's road to this point of emotional maturity of Reliance on others was not easy or quick returning to our discussion of katara's tyrannical motherliness as we can imagine tough may have put it we must note that there were two parties in that conflict toff's aggressive resistance to katara's overbearing nature showed that her sense of Independence has a downside while being confident in one's decisions and having faith in one's abilities is undoubtedly a good thing for Toth it can stray into arrogance and an unearned feeling of invulnerability Independence should not mean the freedom to do whatever we want with no consequences but rather the freedom to do what we should that is a crucial lesson that Toff has to and does learn for the final note on Toff let's return to her adaptability particularly as displayed in bitter work an episode that develops Aang and toff's characters in an incredible way Aang's Arc during the episode is more obvious and stated outright he needs to stop thinking like an airbender and just stand his ground in order to learn earthbending however the subtextual arc is tough learning to think like an Airbender in order to teach Aang I after her initial attempts have failed Toff has to find a different angle and resort to more creative methods to break through Aang's mental block like iro teaches it is only by studying the other elements and the other nations that one can become whole Katara is compassionate caring hopeful trusting and nurturing as well as strong-willed persistent and passionate Toff is capable self-assured and independent as well as patient adaptable and vulnerable when these traits are properly ordered and balanced our heroine's Triumph when they are not they struggle it's crucial to write characters who do both in order to have the audience relate to and be inspired by the people on screen fantasies such as Avatar serves as a depiction of what we can aspire to by showing us characters with relatable struggles that Ascend to inhuman Heights while so many modern female characters are written with the intent to inspire their invincibility their unfailing competence their lack of emotional depth and personal struggle and their ability to somehow be right about everything makes them unrelatable and boring the near Universal love for Toff and Katara is proof that audiences of all ages and both genders appreciate and are inspired by badass female characters they just need to be written with care attention and love

Channel: Master Samwise

Views: 973,902

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Id: -uT5O0iJdIo

Length: 17min 8sec (1028 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2023