#aquarambles

[musikat18]

So obviously I'm reading through War For The Throne again for a Government class, and its relation to both of the film versions in regards to Orm kind of Fascinates me a little bit.

...no it's NOT just because Orm is my little meow meow just hear me out

Preface: A lot of this is going to talk about American Interventionism as a concept-- the idea that America has, and continues to, impose its will and ideas and systems on other nations to further its own needs. This is a take coming from a white, fairly privileged, cisgender woman and an American citizen; I don't have any interest in talking over the viewpoints of non-Americans who have an interest in this story, especially those who have backgrounds that American Interventionism has specifically targeted in the past, so I really really want to encourage people to share their own perspectives in reblogs & replies, because I'm not the authority and certainly not the end-all be-all on this topic.

Anyway.

The Orm-Vulko dynamic as king and ex-advisor is kind of...central to understanding War For The Throne as a political text, and the way it's been changed or even eliminated (hey Throne of Atlantis I'll get to you later girl) really does drastically change how Atlantis/the Atlantean side is supposed to be perceived and by extension how the text treats international conflicts as a whole.

In War, the entire text revolves around the reveal that not only did Orm have nothing to do with the staged attack on the Atlanteans, but he has no desire to do so.

"We could destroy every vessel in the water. But we don't. And nothing should change that."

On the one hand, this of course comes before the attack in question that sets off the rest of the book, but on the other, when you look at the rest of the conversation around it, it's very clear that even though Orm doesn't like the surface, he's letting them be because he wants to work with Arthur, his brother who he cares about, not against him.

And the lynchpin of the whole story is that in the end, it's revealed to be Vulko who set this whole thing in motion.

We don't see Vulko and Orm interact in this book, but we see Vulko talk a lot about Orm, in a very negative (maybe not COMPLETELY unwarranted, but I don't have time to unpack how fucked up New 52's Orm relationship to Atlantis as a kingdom and legacy monarch is today), and Orm kind of just...being at peace that Vulko left Atlantean court. And when the audience is told it was Vulko All Along, what's the reason we get?

Vulko personally believes Arthur is the only ruler of Atlantis who would never attack the surface. And given Orm's persistence later in the book, I don't blame him for that being his personal opinion.

But I do think starting a war as a purely political move to unseat an unfavored political leader...is an exceptionally American story, with Vulko serving as a kind of allegory for American interventionism. Not in like a KSD Rebirth Aquaman way where she kind of just assumes the American Democratic System Is Better And Should Be Imposed On Another Country, Which Is Yikes Even If It's Fictional, but in a much more Honest Attitude about American Interventionism.

Nobody at the end of this book is happy about the outcome. Nobody. Arthur is lamenting having to take the throne. Orm is stuck in a correctional/legal system vastly removed from the one he knows, feeling abandoned by his brother despite trying to show solidarity in the end. The exposure of Atlantis to the surface didn't bring them closer; it arguably made things worse, watching surfacers go from ignorant of its existence to cautiously distrustful of both the nation as a whole and Aquaman as a hero.

As a political work, it's a shockingly honest look at American interventionism on the ground, especially for 2012.

So seeing this aspect either removed entirely or downplayed in Throne of Atlantis and Aquaman is, to me, kind of a disappointment and losing a neat facet to what is on the surface (no pun intended) a fun and engaging fantasy battle story.

...I still think Aquaman is a pretty good adaptation of it, nonetheless, but that's a post for another day.

[aqualesha]

SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA SCARA

#aquarambles #scaramoucheissohotomg #scarasteponmepls

[musikat18]

*takes a very long sip of tea, then sits for a moment*

War For The Throne doesn't work as a good vs evil narrative without massive changes, and even with the massive changes they do make, it completely misses the point of the story.

I feel like Throne Animated's biggest weakness is that War really can't be an Aquaman origin story as presented, and they don't really change it in the ways it would need to be changed in order to make that work, especially by omitting Vulko.

Like, the whole crux of War is that it's ultimately a pointless conflict that neither side's leadership really wanted that was started as a political act of conspiracy. The surface probably doesn't want to be invaded and wiped out (just a hunch here) and Orm as stated doesn't really want conflict with the surface. He's not against defending his nation if he has to, but 1) that's his job and 2) he says outright that he has no desire to fight them but I already made a post about that.

And you could say, "But Kat, there IS still a conspiracy in Throne Animated! Orm (mediocre at best ffs do not get me started) conspires with Black Manta (rip) to become king so he can invade the surface!"

And if that is what you are thinking, I will say in return, "Just having a secret plan to oust a current ruler for a new one in both versions does NOT make them the same!"

War For The Throne, for all the wider warts brought in from the New 52 around it, is a good narrative about how communication breakdowns and deliberate disinformation lead to conflict that ultimately is unnecessary. I could stand for a little more on the broader Atlantean perspective about going to war since we only really hear from Orm and Vulko, but it's about the failure of the systems, not the failure of the individuals.

But Throne Animated is just...so determined to mirror the source material while simplifying it for time and content that it completely hollows out the story. It's clear from its predecessor, Justice League: War, that it wants to directly adapt those New 52 early JLA storylines into hour-long films. But whereas JLW almost directly quotes its source verbatim several times (except for the parts where it had Arthur in it because Arthur was already ESTABLISHED in that in the comic but they left him out in the animated one and I DON'T HAVE TIME TO GET INTO MY THOUGHTS ON THAT), so much of Throne Animated is changed that, compared to the source material, it's almost unrecognizable except for mainly the SuperWonder scenes.

Arthur having mild shellshock from learning the truth about his nature is not a strong enough reason for me to believe he doesn't want to take the throne. Orm not having the anchoring desire for a connection with his half-brother, I can see kind of making him inclined to attack the surface. But I've already established that I think this Orm is WILDLY out of character so I'm not going to touch him for now~

There is just a fundamental misunderstanding of why War is such a compelling story, and trying to turn it into a good vs evil narrative where Arthur is just kind of going along with the ideas of those around him-- the JLA and Mera-- and where Orm is kind of just hell-bent on committing violence because he's ready to do some violence just doesn't work. The narrative is compacted in all the wrong ways.

I think there are ways to make War a more focused story that doesn't quite have the universal scope of a large crossover comic without compromising the themes of failed systems and traditions that need changing.

It's almost like all of these complaints that I have about Justice League: Throne of Atlantis are ones I know I will probably see done better in 2018 Aquaman.

Me preparing to power through some Bullshit for this paper