#; i had to read with my own eyes that jet was pro-genocide and boy it pissed me the fuck off

[freedmfighter]

in defense of “but jet tried to drown an innocent village”

that “innocent village” had been a fire nation military outpost for years industrializing utilities to further aid imperialism while enacting on colonialism, which was implied by the so-called “innocent old man” in the forest who was decked out in fire nation gear, if not armor to suggest he was one a solider, who in that space was not only a natural state of violence being a colonizer, but also the implication he once acted on a physical violence in order to be there and drive out how that could have been an earth kingdom ACTUALLY innocent old man. the sheer ignorance portrayed in sokkas flashback that was conveniently washed out of color so you couldnt actually see what culture was prevalent in that space, which was probably mostly fire nation. This method was done to symbolize it didnt matter what colors those people wore, they were still meant to be presented as “innocent lives”. however, in another flashback, you do see a group of earth kingdom villagers, but I think this was in poor taste and inaccurate to the situation at hand because being a military outpost, they were the oppressors and it DID matter that they should have been depicted as so, and not depicting that properly and not displaying the truth which was it WAS A MILITARY OUTPOST literally shaped the way audiences thought jet was wiping out 99% of innocent lives for the sake of a 1% on top of it. regardless, this 1% managed to have the power to oppress a 99%. There was a power structure going on, and it was clear who had the upperhand. 

let’s emphasize that oppressers cannot be oppressed. 

By every way Jet exists, the fire nation influenced him as it stripped him from his family, his friends, his culture. The way he acts, talks, dresses and even fights was plagued by the fire nations invasion on his land. There was no gentle method of driving out that sort of violence. There was no way of warning a 1%. They didnt even believe sokka until a fire nation civilian amplified and validated his voice. Not to mention this village did absolutely nothing to help the freedom fighters, why would they owe them anything? Theres such a “holier than thou” mentality because people refuse to step in the others shoes, but simply because they want to simplify a situation that is far from simple, or at least in its simplicity ends up driving an uncomfortable conversation. Yes, Jet has his faults. Yes, the destroying of the dam and peace is a preferable option; he just didnt have the luxury of a thing called peace. He only knew the effects of genocide, fear, and a growing population of people who only set out to hurt him. 

Jet isnt “pro genocide”, hes ANTI-GENOCIDE and im tired because I’ve heard people claim hes no better than the fire nation. These people dont realize not only the effects of PTSD, but also the effects of colonialism. The Fire Nation killed in order to exercise that they thought themselves better than the rest of the world. They exercised their power over other nations and sought death for the sake of taking more space. “all was fine until the fire nation attacked.” Jets method of violence was rooted in liberation, and by all means.

Jet wanted to avenge his people and when sokka says something along the lines of “who are you freeing? theyd all be dead.” does drive a point, but its also ignorant towards all the things sokka wasnt aware of and didnt look into. The freedom fighters were made up of survivors, there are hopefully other survivors. Yes, there is a way this is impulsive because he didnt have other survivors to validate his vision. It was just hope he was doing something productive. It was hope for a new beginning. It was hope he could be a hero in the face of so much displacement and loss. 

By creating jet as an equal villain, it’s in poor taste. Everyone loves an anti-hero until.. well :) Anyways, liberating =\= oppressing. Some great perspective quotes that I found useful in educating myself include some made by Malcolm X: “If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  and “ You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”

- I hope I articulated this alright, all I know is how put off I am about some things I’ve read and am doing my best to educate myself because fiction reflects real life sometimes. I’ve tried really hard to see this from all angles, especially from the ones being oppressed. It’s tiring when people don’t bother to see this perspective. If anyone wants to give me their two cents, feel free to help me educate myself further. I’m absolutely not saying his method was perfect and in a completely moral/unproblematic stance. disclaimer:  i wrote this angry at 2am.