I genuinely don’t understand Azula’s Apologism
Quick post, just a rant to express an opinion, and echoing another post that I saw recently. I know this will be unpopular and poorly received—it’s Reddit after all.
This will be more about a specific part of her fanbase than her fanbase as a whole; but there you go:
Call me insensitive, but I really don’t understand all this fuss about Azula’s “sad past” and her “redemption”and more specifically the proportion it has reached among some fans of this cartoon.
Like, from a young age she was okay with all the bad things happening around her as long as it benefited her. I know she is a teenager and all, but come on.
The comics show her repeatedly throwing away chances to start over, even after her life was spared and attempts were made to rehabilitate her more than once, despite her actions in Ba Sing Se and her suggestion of what would essentially be a second genocide, this time against earthbenders (and several civilians and Fire Nation colonists as collateral damage) to “break the spirits” of the rebels.
A somewhat recent comic even shows her saying that redemption is “for the weak,” and that her deepest desire is for approval, compliments, recognition, and even adoration; she wants to be seen and remembered as a conqueror, as exceptional, as the heiress to fire lord ozai.
Yes, that's a deep psychological layer, I’m not saying she isn’t complex or interesting; in fact, quite the opposite. She was the best antagonist in TLAB, for me, she has everything: A cool design, she's skillful, has cool bending techniques, is clever, ruthless, and never leaves a loose end a truly charismatic menace. But honestly, everything has its limits, and I think this “redemption” of her was the purest example of The writers and Avatar Studios as a whole simply giving in to the pressure of a noisy minority in the fandom (of which the only “confirmation” we have is a damn cookbook).
Let’s be honest: real-life officers and leaders have received the death penalty or life sentences for less. Many generals and kamikaze pilots of Imperial Japan were brainwashed from a young age and lived in a harsh authoritarian environment; no one suggested rehabilitating or redeeming them, most of them were simply executed or at the very least stripped of their ranks and powers (in the case of the emperor).
Yes, she is a teenager, yes, she was groomed for this by Ozai, yes she is a fictional character, no, that’s no excuse when comparing her with others, not even Zuko in his worst mental state was so cold blooded I repeat: she planned and endorsed a genocide, and took pleasure in exploitation and hurting others.
Her mental breakdown and imprisonment at the end of the original series were a fitting end for her, in my opinion, and I simply don’t buy it or understand (honestly think whatever you want about it) why so many people treat this redemption as a certainty and as the pinnacle of fiction, writing and character development.
I really don’t think she needs that or deserves that.