I finally found out what rubs me the wrong way about so many takes that claim that Azula would not or could not change for the better: they lack moral imagination.
“We’re all human beings. You always have to be optimistic that people can change, and that you can change, and that one act of kindness may make all the difference in the world.”
Rabbi Telushkin follows up:
“People are different when they are vulnerable. She [Chisholm] understood that.”
This sounds familiar. Where have we heard it before?
“When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” —Avatar Aang, Avatar: Legend of Korra
And yet, fandom often has such a paucity of moral imagination that they can’t even entertain the idea that Azula, a fourteen-year-old child, can change for the better without someone coercing her into it. They can’t imagine that kindness and empathy could transform Azula in ways that fear and manipulation cannot.
This is why I firmly believe that Aang and/or Katara, not Zuko, would be the most likely to get through to her. They are the most compassionate characters on the show. Simple acts of kindness or understanding from these people whom she’s been taught to view as mortal enemies would completely shatter her paradigm of fear and control. Threatening to take away her life, her freedom, or her bending is just more of the same. Calling her sick or evil, or treating her like a monster or rabid animal, is just more of the same. Treating her with kindness and compassion, not because she’s “earned” it, but simply because she’s a human being? She has zero frame of reference for that.
Now that I think about it, fandom’s lack of moral imagination when it comes to Azula is really odd considering that Aang himself is fantastic at this. Dude was dead serious about using baby pictures to try to make Ozai good again. It was played as a joke, but think about what this says about Aang. He has such unshakable faith in the ability of people to change for the better that he didn’t question that even Fire Lord Ozai had some kernel of goodness that could be brought out if only he could figure out how.
And Katara’s best moment on the show wasn’t defeating Azula. It was, “I will never turn my back on people who need me!” And she’d been consistent about this long before she uttered those words. A woman goes into labor near the Serpent’s Pass, and she rolls up her sleeves and delivers that baby. Jet needed her help to unblock memories of Lake Laogai, and she helped him despite how pissed she was at him. She plays the role of the Painted Lady to help a small village in the Fire Nation that has zero strategic importance to the bigger mission. She doesn’t do it out of wide-eyed idealism but because she understands people’s suffering and resolves to do something about it.
Both of these characters have incredible moral imagination. Whether consciously or not, they’re not fighting to just destroy evil, but to preserve and nurture good. The secret dance party in “The Headband” probably did more to transform Fire Nation society than defeating Fire Lord Ozai. Ozai had to go, but he’s just one man. That dance party planted seeds for the Fire Nation’s future.
That’s why the absence of moral imagination in ATLA fandom is such a glaring lack. It’s not like the show doesn’t repeatedly offer examples of moral imagination that lead to positive, even lasting, results. It’s just that, for some reason, fandom doesn’t pick up on it. I wish I knew why.
Youtube PSA: They’re rolling out a new “most replayed moment” feature onto all videos.
This feature is terrible for creators for obvious reasons and is designed to rot your brain into watching things as fast as possible and staying hooked on the app.
HOWEVER there is a way to turn this off.
Download uBlock Origin and navigate to the settings tab:
From there, go to the My Filters tab and add “www.youtube.com##.ytp-heat-map-chapter”:
Navigate to the Filters Lists tab and apply changes. That’ll prevent Youtube from pulling up this wretched addition to the progress bar.
The implementation of this bar will drive content creators to make easier consumed and more standard content at the cost of quality, but it’s also just annoying and intrusive. Block it and feel a little better about the world for a second.
NOTE: This only works on browser. Dunno about mobile app (Don’t use it on mobile anyway, the app is brain poison too)
