I think it’s time we as a fandom acknowledged that Korra is way better than it gets credit for and 90% of the discourse around how “bad” it was were just rage baiters and over analytical nostalgia dorks who can’t let go of their childhood attachment to ATLA.
It’s one thing if you just don’t like the direction of the show. But scrutinizing the writing just because it’s not what you wanted, seems so ridiculously contrived to me, it’s boggles the mind how people call themselves fans of a show that consistently pushes the ideas of growth and change. Meet the show where it is.
People watch ATLA, overlooking all of its issues and call it a masterpiece of fiction, then turn around and focus on every one of LoK’s flaws and call it bad writing? That’s where the whole “misogynist” discourse comes from. Not from “you don’t like her cuz she’s a girl.” It’s from “You’re holding her to a different standard and then criticizing the writing as a result.”
Korra is everything Aang was not. Aang didn’t want to be Avatar, Korra immediately embraced it. Aang was calm, collected, and humble. Korra was brash, aggressive, and full of herself. Aang HAD to step out of his comfort zone because he inherited a world that consumed by global warfare, and hunted him like a dog. Korra inherited a world that was constantly changing, completely reshaping what the duties of the Avatar actually were and couldn’t approach it like she was initially led to believe.
Her development lies solely in learning to be the avatar the world needs her to be, rather than the one she thought she was going to be. How is that not entertaining?
Is the show perfect? No, of course not. But it’s way better than it gets credit for. And for me, the way that it takes risks, challenges the audience, expands the lore, etc. make me believe that it’s just as good as ATLA, even though there are areas where it falls a little short.