The Legend of Korra an animated continuation of the very popular
animated series Avatar: the
last Airbender, tackled
more adult themes than the previous series and grappled with greater and more
complex social commentary with the inclusion of “anarchic” and totalitarian
groups in the show’s final two seasons. Each of these groups in their own way
embody different sociological ideas of Durkheimian anomic structures, Weberian
authority and the formation of social revolutions.
Avatar: The Last
Airbender
and its sequel series The Legend of Korra
is set in an ancient world heavily influenced by Chinese Mythology. In this world the earth is divided into four
different nation based upon the four natural elements (water, earth, fire and
air). There is the Northern and Southern Water tribes, The Earth Kingdoms of Ba
Singh Se and Omashu, The Fire Nation and The Air Nomads. Each of these nations have a culture and
rituals that is influenced by their totemic element. Additionally, some members
of these nations are often born with the ability to manipulate their respective
element. This behavior is called "bending".
The titular "Avatar" is a single person in the whole world who
can "bend" and master all four elements. Having a life cycle of 170
years, the Avatar acts as a spiritual leader, guide and general force for peace
in the world (i.e. The Dali Lama). At the end of an Avatar's life they are reincarnated
into the next nation in the “Avatar Cycle" (see above).This not only
allows the Avatar to live on throughout history, the cycle of reincarnation
allows the Avatar the ability to tap into the power of all her/his past lives
at a single moment. This is called "The Avatar State".
The show The Legend of Korra picks up 70 years after the end of the
Airbender series with the training of the next Avatar in the cycle, a female water-bender
named Korra. During the shows first two seasons there were questions about
identity, and the use of identity politics to divide people. The second season
balances out the Avatar’s role in the world as a bridge between the human and
the spirit world. Just as in the first season where Korra quelled the
tensions between benders (people who could manipulate the elements)
and non-benders and then opened up the world to a greater spiritual change[1]
by keeping the spirit portals open (after her battle
with Unalaq and Vaatu) which allowed a chance for spirits and people
to live together in harmony. Unfortunately, this action also directly lead to
the unintentional release
of dangerous criminals
and their zealous leader,
who in season three, creates such a disruption that it paves the way for a military
dictatorship to take hold in its fourth and final season. Thus, it is the development and portrayal of the
“villains/antagonists of The Legend of
Korra that provides a lucrative allegory for social revolution.
THE READ LOTUS:
ANARCHY OR ANOMIE
In
the show’s opening we learn that Korra has been isolated from the world by a
once secret society called “The Order of the
White Lotus”. Originally, The Order of the White Lotus was a
collection of fan favorite old
masters in the original series who, by series end, had revealed
themselves. In the finale, the order helped the previous avatar, Avatar Aang, in
defeating Firelord Ozai and ending the 100 years’ war. Since that time, The
White Lotus came out of hiding and openly supported the Avatar and when he was
reincarnated into Korra, they were instrumental in her training and protection.
It wasn’t until season three that we learn that there were some in the order that
did not agree with the overall decision to expose themselves to the world. This
division eventually led to the creation of a splinter group that called
themselves “The Red Lotus”
The original leader of The Red Lotus was a
White Lotus member by the name of Xai Bau. The original intention of the Red
Lotus was to create balance between humans and spirits. To achieve that end, prior
to the beginning of Korra, The Red
Lotus attempted to kidnap Korra when she was a baby with the supposed intention
to train her with each member of the Red Lotus being her masters and get her to
release the dark spirit Vaatu [2]
Having failed in this attempt, four members of the Red Lotus were captured and
detained in specialized
prisons for 13 years. During the time between seasons 2 and 3 the
leader of this group Zaheer able to unlock
air-bending abilities due to the energy released during harmonic
convergence. Once he frees himself and his compatriots he sets in
motion a plan to dismantle the four nations by assassination and ending the “Avatar
Cycle” by murdering the Avatar while in the Avatar State.
“The
idea of having nations and governments is as foolish as keeping the human and
spirit realms separate.”- Zaheer
Many who have
analyzed the actions of The Red Lotus during the events of season three are often
quick to label this group not only as terrorists[3] but as anarchists. While
this is technically true, The Red Lotus does seek a world without the
systematic structure of various types of authority (the aforementioned four elemental
nations’ governments and the Avatar); the show, and additional reading material
available, often implies the term “chaos” to summarize the desires of the
order.
Sociologically
speaking, this is a conflation of terms between anarchy and Durkheim’s idea of
anomie. The disorder that is created from a toppling of governments through the
assassination of world leaders and religious icons does fit into the basic
definition of anarchy. However, the description of that disorder as “chaos”
does not fit. This is because, as Durkheim points out in his seminal text The
Division of Labor in Society, the lack of governments (and order) does not
create complete chaos because there are still the unwritten social rules and
norms that we learn, through the process of socialization, to abide by. Through
this social learning process, we guide individuals into internalizing certain
moral values and behaviors that make a society/social order possible.
Therefore, it is feasible (and supported
through historical
evidence) that societies and its people can survive the death of
authorities, ruling classes, and many other various changes to different social
structures. Yet, if the social norms
were to also be disrupted, and there was no socially agreed upon set of rules/
behaviors along with no structure to help keep the peace; then that would be
anomie. Anomie is a period of
normlessness within a society causing a lack of social norms to governing behavior;
thereby devolving into “chaos”. Since this is not their intention, they are
not chaotic, but they are still anarchistic.
KUVIRA: WEBERIAN DICTATORSHIP
It
is through the uncertainty created by The Read Lotus in both the successful and
attempted assassinations of political and religious leaders (the earth queen
and Korra respectively) that allowed for the rise of an imperial dictatorship
during the 3 year gap between Korra’s third and fourth seasons. During
that time, Kuvira, an officer in the
metal-bending army of Zao Fu was charged by the Republic City
council to stabilize the Earth Kingdom from bandits and oversee the
distribution of resources until a new ruler can be elected. However, throughout
the season we quickly learn that rather than keep the peace, Kuvira has usurped
power by strong arming independent states in order to unify the Earth Kingdom
under her own solitary rule. The major conflict arises when Kuvira sets her
sights on her home of Zao Fu and the Independent Republic City[4] which she views as
occupied Earth Kingdom territory.
Kuvira’s
actions can be viewed sociologically through the work of Max Weber,
particularly his work titled Economy
and Society in which Weber discussed the issues of authorities.
Weber points out that a certain type of authority will develop into a specific
type of social structure. In the text, Weber outlines three types of authority
that will develop into three different social structures.
Those three types of Authority are:
- Traditional Authority that is derived from bloodline, birth order or religion
- Charismatic Authority that is derived from the power given to a particular person due to their ability to manipulate the populace and get them to relinquish their power
- Bureaucratic/
Rational a type of authority that treats everyone the same
(usually as mindless drones) and gives people access to power (even though that
access is usually through some labyrinthine complex process more meant to
confuse than help.
Traditional types of authority will lead to the
development of a monarchy whereas a bureaucratic rational authority will lead
to a bureaucracy. In line with these types, Kuvira in season four is identified
as a Charismatic leader that, according to Weber, will create a dictatorship.
In fact, many of her actions, organizations, and methods of control are modeled
after several types of historic and contemporary dictatorships[5] However, Weber also mentions
that many of these types of authority can also exist within other social
structures without being the catalyst for a type of specific social structure.
Many charismatic leaders have also existed without the development of a
dictatorship because in a monarchy, republic, democracy or bureaucracy limits
are put in place to curtail the potential power of solitary rulers. However, in Korra it was the power
vacuum created by The Red Lotus that allowed Kuvira to amass power and thus
change the social structure from a Monarchy to a Dictatorship.
ANTAGONISTS OF KORRA DESIRE REVOLUTION
Revolutionary scholar Jack Goldstone
in his book Revolutions:
A Very Short Introduction identifies five conditions that
make a society ripe for revolution
Those five conditions are:
-
Economic and fiscal strain
-
Alienation and opposition among the elites
-
Widespread anger and injustice
-
A persuasive shared narrative of resistance
-
Normal social mechanism are unlikely to work
Goldstone notes that is unlikely to have each one
of these conditions happen at the same time. This is because a social structure
is not a passive thing, it is actively influenced and manipulated by those in
power or those who seek power. While these conditions may not cause a
revolution, they create a state of what Goldstone calls unstable equilibrium. This is where a society is functioning due to
various social conditions (see above), but one small disturbance leads to an
even larger departure from the status quo. Gladstone mentions that the
mechanism that causes this instability may not be a single event, instead it
may be more gradual; happening over months or even years.
According to
Goldstone, once this equilibrium is upset there are several structural causes
of revolutions:
·
Demographic Change- when population grows rapidly
the institutional social order can suffer in their (inability) to deal with
resource distribution and structural social change
·
War- can weaken state authorities and empower
groups within society
·
Rapid Unequal Technological Advancement – can be
used against a populace and maintain control
·
New periods of exclusion, discrimination and
inequality
·
The entrenchment of elected leaders or heads of
Military regimes
These components are often the causes of frayed
social relationships that may cause individuals to turn against the state and
for state structures to crumble
The overall
plot of the The Legend of Korra can act as an illustration of these
revolutionary themes put forth by Goldstone. If one was to look at the series as
a whole, it was the unstable equilibrium created by Korra being the first
Avatar that did not travel the world (and to all of the different nations) in
order to learn to manipulate all of the elements. Instead, Korra was isolated
and only trained by the White Lotus allowing them to shape her as they saw fit.
The shift out of this unstable equilibrium happened when Korra decided to leave
the South Pole and live in Republic City; setting off the events of the series
and the several structural causes of revolution:
·
New periods of exclusion and discrimination
This aspect of
Goldstone’s roadmap to revolution began in season 1 of Korra where Amon
a revolutionary leader of a group known as the “Equalists” stoked tensions
and discrimination between Benders and non-benders. In this season, Korra, even though
she is the ultimate apex bender, understands that she
represents all people, bender and non-bender alike.
·
War
Korra is
another illustration of Goldstone’s ideas through the Civil War arc between the
Northern and Southern Water Tribe. This occupation and conflict continued
throughout the latter half of season 2.[6] This splits loyalties and
not only causes various amounts of disruption that disruption is felt on the
physical and spiritual plain
·
Demographic Change
The demographic change that could lead to
revolution as Goldstone mentions is the reemergence of air benders[7] and their attempt to be
considered a nation during Season 3 of Korra. All of a sudden one of the main
characters (Tenzin) becomes the defacto leader of group of people who may have
airbending skills but are not enculturated to the nomadic existence of airbender
culture. Additionally, the reemergence of the air benders included the unintended
consequence of granting Zaheer, the leader of The Red Lotus Airbending a change
that the authority of The White Lotus was not expecting which gave Zaheer an edge, contributing to his escape and the release of the other Red Lotus members.
·
The Entrenchment of Heads of Military regimes This is embodied in Kuvira and her actions throughout season 4, especially
during the coronation of Prince Wu.
·
Rapid Unequal Technological Advancement This takes place when Kuvira invades Zao Fu to steal their
platinum in order to create a “unbendable” giant machine that she can control from
the inside; tipping the technological balance in her favor.
Thus, these are the very clear examples of how the
antagonists of legend of Korra, and the development of Korra as a series is a meditation on the nature and
creation of Revolutions; and what happens after; once the dust settles.
CONCLUSION
The
Legend of Korra and its predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender are
socially conscious, feminist, environmentally friendly pieces of pop culture
that are rich in sociological data and worthy of sociological analysis from
many different perspectives. If you are interested in sociological ideas, or
you are a sociologist yourself (I mean who else would read this blog if you
aren’t at least sociology adjacent), I recommend the series whole heartedly and
hope that other sociologists will write on the impact and brilliance of these
shows. Remember the Sociology mantra: “Data is everywhere, and it is glorious.”
[1]
Certainly, anyone focusing on the sociology of religion (not my particular
specialty) could do a whooper of an article on the Interesting religious
implications of Season 2 and the allegory of the importance of becoming more
spiritually open as a person, especially as we age and question the things we
were taught when we were young
[2]
The Spirit Vaatu was a main antagonist in Season 2. During season 3 it is
revealed that Korra’s uncle was a Red Lotus member who had joined the order so
he would be able to set his plan in motion to become a “Dark
Avatar”
[3]
This term is only partially correct as it is unclear that the way that The Red
Lotus uses violence or the threat of it is in order to create fear. However, it seems one of their goals in to
create intense social disruption which is in line with the basic definition of
terrorism.
[4] which became independent of the Earth
Kingdom during the time of Avatar Aang and a place where all people of all
nations could live
[5]
North Korea for example
[6] It
is also important to note that the leader of the occupation and the start of
the civil war was a former member of the Red L:otus
