#y'all ever read a post on tumblr that mentally takes up your whole afternoon???

[likealittleheartbeat]

There are some really solid critiques out there of several aspects of atla. Despite what seem to be the team’s best efforts, it def appropriated and white-washed and could generally be insensitive about real people and cultures (esp. regarding Tibet). That being acknowledged, it’s probs more fruitful to lay a lot of our criticisms on television and animation production practices generally rather than Avatar or its head writers. Yes, keep asking for better representation in shows. And yes, keep asking that more writing rooms, and network exec offices, and voice actor booths are filled with people who have been historically marginalized. We can never have enough! Keep demanding your needs and desires from people with privilege. Keep demanding environments that are safe and comfortable and inspiring for every member of the team, demanding environments that limit dangerous hierarchies of authority. Avatar failed on more than one of these fronts.

Along with that criticism, though, I think we can simultaneously recognize that Avatar broke ground in creating a space for violently marginalized narratives, characters, and people. A television series--and especially animation--is not the work of one or two great minds. It is wildly collaborative, and as you look through the full production crew of atla, you will begin to see a diverse group of writers and consultants who were certainly as instrumental to the show as the “showrunners.” Notably for the audiences experience of the show, you’ll notice a cultural consultant from the Median Action Network for Asian Americans (an position that ought to be standard in the industry). At the time of ATLA’s production, marginalized folks were only JUST beginning to be allowed by corporate executives for these positions in animation in the US. In 1999, Brenda Chapman was the first woman to direct a major animated film (and that was a co-director credit with two men). And from what I can find, outside of Fat Albert (which was helped by the weighty influence of a certain individual who we don’t need to discuss here), it seems like Static Shock (made in 2000) was the first animated television series with black men as the lead directors and creators. As far as Asian or Native headwriters (both of which have multiple cultures strongly featured in ATLA), I can’t find specifics. As far as Asian input in western tv animation, since the 1960s, US companies regularly work with and outsource animation duties to Korea and Japan. Based on a quick google search, the past decade has seen a surge of a distinctly Native animation community.  While I am hella excited for more series led by these other kinds of voices, I think we need to acknowledge that avatar is a direction we want creators with privilege to strive for (and in some capacity almost everyone has privilege they can be cognizant of). We need to be investing in stories and causes outside of the dominant discourse. We need to be inviting people into our creative process to help us understand other’s perspectives and to avoid reasserting harmful frameworks. We need to find ways to properly compensate those we consult with. And last, audiences and networks need to create equitable responses for shows to fail in some capacity, so that those shows run by, representing, and/or telling the stories of marginalized people do not become reasons to stop supporting the growth of those artists and stories. If the stakes are too high, we will end new stories and careers before they have begun, and we cannot let that happen.  So yes, ask for better. Explain your thoughtful and impassioned criticisms. I, for one, cannot wait for creations that fill my heart in the spots where Avatar failed, and creations that can sit alongside or even eclipse ATLA in some of the thematic areas where the show really hit home for me. In the meantime, we can appreciate what we have without losing sight of what we strive for.