It's true, they were very different. I was kind of fascinated with the idea that the fact that we didn't see Mai and Zuko start going out but only found out they had onscreen was being compared to reading romantic things into Zuko and Katara's interactions on screen when they never were romantic. So that they were both supposed to be happening off screen.
Not that I think it's wrong to read sexual tension into scenes just because the two characters never get together--there are plenty of things that are based on unspoken sexual tension. It was just using the expression two different ways. I guess maybe what the person was saying was that the show could just as well have put Zuko and Katara together just as randomly and then told us to accept it. Which yeah, they could have!
HP has such a conflicted attitude about the kickass girl thing in a way. Hermione is in so many ways better than Harry and yet she's totally his helper. It's like her duty in life is to assist in his quest--which is great. Nothing wrong with being the helper. It's like Scully/Starbuck to Mulder. Only it's almost like her romance was planned the same way--it's all for Harry's sake because that way Ron doesn't get left out and since Hermione arbitrarily likes Ron always and never likes Harry the two of them never have a second's moment of tension about that. So Hermione sort of winds up being a prize too, for Ron. She's what keeps him from being the loser.
And yet at the same time, it's these choices with H/G and R/Hr that keep the romance on that "they just like each other" level rather than being like fanfic where we get into the psychology of it and why the person likes the other person. (Actually for Ron/Hermione I always point to the moment where Ron throws away Percy's letter in OotP. That sums up why Hermione is supposed to like him for me.) If Harry and Hermione were together we'd have to get that because their dynamic is one of the few detailed ones in the book. We see how Hermione prods him, how he sometimes gets snippy or yells at her and she gets tearful. If they were in a romance it would be hard for Harry to suddenly disconnect so much that he's talking about chest monsters. He *knows* how he feels about Hermione and Ron. He literally doesn't know how he feels about Ginny, even in the end. He just knows if she gets married in the future it makes him angry to think it's to someone else.
But yeah, I also think that ironically Avatar is more adult with its teen romances because it is far more comfortable with the "I find you hot" plan. Though all the things you say about Mai/Zuko are true, how the real problem is that it comes so late and so a lot of people who don't just instinctively get it are playing catch up, both that and Sokka/Suki rely very much on sexual compatibility it seems. I tend to see Zuko/Mai even at the end of the show as being very much too teenagers all het up about each other who still have a while to go before they hit a mature love. Not that this makes me not believe Mai's announcement about loving him--it's just that it's a dramatic announcement that goes along with all the other drama. She wants to get out from under Azula's thumb and Zuko gives her the inspiration to do that and she loves him for it. For me it doesn't have to be proof that they're meant to be--I can buy that moment without it, in a way.
Aang/Katara then has a problem because it's harder to convey that. Even in the joke ending at ComicCon they've got Aang saying, "Teach me, teach me, my love!" about sex. Though Katara doesn't seem all that ready to teach.
Wow, I've never thought about it before, but that's a really interesting difference between the two. It's like with Aang/Katara they're forced to hint more at "true love" because Aang's a 12-year-old crushing on a 14-year-old--it's sexual, but in a shyer way, and while Katara is easily attacted to Jet it's hard to think she isn't at least a little put off by the fact that Aang is so young and she just can't look back at him the same way, as you say.
But also word on the whole "sure the guy will be friends with that girl, but when it comes time to get married he wants the traditional girl!" Because I hate that and yet it's totally true. Often in life, which is worse.
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Date: 2008-10-03 09:56 pm (UTC)Not that I think it's wrong to read sexual tension into scenes just because the two characters never get together--there are plenty of things that are based on unspoken sexual tension. It was just using the expression two different ways. I guess maybe what the person was saying was that the show could just as well have put Zuko and Katara together just as randomly and then told us to accept it. Which yeah, they could have!
HP has such a conflicted attitude about the kickass girl thing in a way. Hermione is in so many ways better than Harry and yet she's totally his helper. It's like her duty in life is to assist in his quest--which is great. Nothing wrong with being the helper. It's like Scully/Starbuck to Mulder. Only it's almost like her romance was planned the same way--it's all for Harry's sake because that way Ron doesn't get left out and since Hermione arbitrarily likes Ron always and never likes Harry the two of them never have a second's moment of tension about that. So Hermione sort of winds up being a prize too, for Ron. She's what keeps him from being the loser.
And yet at the same time, it's these choices with H/G and R/Hr that keep the romance on that "they just like each other" level rather than being like fanfic where we get into the psychology of it and why the person likes the other person. (Actually for Ron/Hermione I always point to the moment where Ron throws away Percy's letter in OotP. That sums up why Hermione is supposed to like him for me.) If Harry and Hermione were together we'd have to get that because their dynamic is one of the few detailed ones in the book. We see how Hermione prods him, how he sometimes gets snippy or yells at her and she gets tearful. If they were in a romance it would be hard for Harry to suddenly disconnect so much that he's talking about chest monsters. He *knows* how he feels about Hermione and Ron. He literally doesn't know how he feels about Ginny, even in the end. He just knows if she gets married in the future it makes him angry to think it's to someone else.
But yeah, I also think that ironically Avatar is more adult with its teen romances because it is far more comfortable with the "I find you hot" plan. Though all the things you say about Mai/Zuko are true, how the real problem is that it comes so late and so a lot of people who don't just instinctively get it are playing catch up, both that and Sokka/Suki rely very much on sexual compatibility it seems. I tend to see Zuko/Mai even at the end of the show as being very much too teenagers all het up about each other who still have a while to go before they hit a mature love. Not that this makes me not believe Mai's announcement about loving him--it's just that it's a dramatic announcement that goes along with all the other drama. She wants to get out from under Azula's thumb and Zuko gives her the inspiration to do that and she loves him for it. For me it doesn't have to be proof that they're meant to be--I can buy that moment without it, in a way.
Aang/Katara then has a problem because it's harder to convey that. Even in the joke ending at ComicCon they've got Aang saying, "Teach me, teach me, my love!" about sex. Though Katara doesn't seem all that ready to teach.
Wow, I've never thought about it before, but that's a really interesting difference between the two. It's like with Aang/Katara they're forced to hint more at "true love" because Aang's a 12-year-old crushing on a 14-year-old--it's sexual, but in a shyer way, and while Katara is easily attacted to Jet it's hard to think she isn't at least a little put off by the fact that Aang is so young and she just can't look back at him the same way, as you say.
But also word on the whole "sure the guy will be friends with that girl, but when it comes time to get married he wants the traditional girl!" Because I hate that and yet it's totally true. Often in life, which is worse.