Team Avatar

So the internet is all a buzz with the ending of Avatar: Legend of Korra.  The creators confirmed that yes, she and the beautiful, engineering genius and robot building Asami are in a romantic relationship in the end.  As progressive as this ending may seem, I am disappointed that it just confirms the stereotype that no matter how strong or intelligent the woman, she is still incomplete without a romantic partner. 

I took a course on deconstructing and critically analyzing children's literature this fall (I crushed it, btw...A+ 100% yayaah!).  It was an excellent platform to raise issues with the inequalities and assumptions present in the materials we indoctrinate children into learned society with.  Anyway, it got me thinking a lot about gender inequality and female heroine stereotypes.  Korra is strong, physically and spiritually with a muscular body, undergoes some trauma and becomes all broody for a while, CUTS HER LONG HAIR OFF INTO A SHORT BOB...excuse you Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, you don't know me, YOU DON'T KNOW MY LIFE, then ends the series in a relationship with her female best friend after only the scarcest Easter eggs and sneaky blushes.  So what do we know, Korra is strong, had something bad happen at the hands of a man that was symbolic of rape, now has short hair, and enjoys crude humour.  Asami is beautiful, wears makeup, is flirtatious with some men, and a total brilliant vixen with a heart of gold.  They both had a thing for Mako and the failing of their relationships with him brought them together.

However, the many facets of the LGBT community certainly should be represented in entertainment and children's programming.  Korra and Asami are both boss ass bitches with vivacious personalities and this ending was just plain bland. I don't feel like it did justice to the uniting of two female powerhouses. I understand the issues of censorship and that love is a sneaky emotion, but it should not be so ambiguous that the creators have to tell fans to re-watch previous seasons for Easter eggs. I can appreciate what DiMartino and Konietzko were trying to accomplish and it is noble to give role models for the LGBT community in cartoon form, but I'm not sure if two 30-something year old white guys should be masterminding the fictional champions of bisexuality though. 

Anyway that's my rant.