Oh man, ep 9 was the one that really converted me to the "writers know what they're doing" way of thinking.
I didn't see this ep as a Morality Lesson at all--it was simply a natural progression of the group getting to know each other, settling in to become a family; it just had to happen (and I'm saying this from the perspective of having already seen the epsiode and approving of the way it happened).
On the jealousy front: I completely empathized with Katara that Aang was picking up in minutes what took her months to master by herself. However, I thought it was apparent that Katara realizes how immature and irrational her feelings were; she immediately apologizes after she blows up in the heat of the moment. I was really impressed by how mature she acted in the face of her jealousy, and how quickly she gets over it.
I don't link her jealousy with her theft; that is, I don't believe that she stole the scroll solely because she was jealous of Aang, but more that she was out of new tricks: she'd taught them all to Aang. The point of the quest is for *Aang* to find teachers, and Katara has willingly put her own waterbending in the backburner for the greater good. Getting the scroll was her own, more selfish desire to continue learning.
What I loved was that the show was *promoting* an immoral way to achieve something societally acceptable; that is, gain knowledge.
Another thing I *loved* while watching was that when the realized what happened--that Katara had stolen the scroll?
Cast: *shrug* Oh well, what's done is done. Let's try to get the most out of it.
I was in shock! So practical! No "Stealing is Wrong. We need to return the scroll--EVEN IF THEY'RE PIRATES." No "We need to donate this to a charity or try to find the owner, blah blah blah."
Seriously, that is one thing that totally got my respect.
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Date: 2007-01-12 06:22 am (UTC)I didn't see this ep as a Morality Lesson at all--it was simply a natural progression of the group getting to know each other, settling in to become a family; it just had to happen (and I'm saying this from the perspective of having already seen the epsiode and approving of the way it happened).
On the jealousy front: I completely empathized with Katara that Aang was picking up in minutes what took her months to master by herself. However, I thought it was apparent that Katara realizes how immature and irrational her feelings were; she immediately apologizes after she blows up in the heat of the moment. I was really impressed by how mature she acted in the face of her jealousy, and how quickly she gets over it.
I don't link her jealousy with her theft; that is, I don't believe that she stole the scroll solely because she was jealous of Aang, but more that she was out of new tricks: she'd taught them all to Aang. The point of the quest is for *Aang* to find teachers, and Katara has willingly put her own waterbending in the backburner for the greater good. Getting the scroll was her own, more selfish desire to continue learning.
What I loved was that the show was *promoting* an immoral way to achieve something societally acceptable; that is, gain knowledge.
Another thing I *loved* while watching was that when the realized what happened--that Katara had stolen the scroll?
Cast: *shrug* Oh well, what's done is done. Let's try to get the most out of it.
I was in shock! So practical! No "Stealing is Wrong. We need to return the scroll--EVEN IF THEY'RE PIRATES." No "We need to donate this to a charity or try to find the owner, blah blah blah."
Seriously, that is one thing that totally got my respect.