Avatar: The Last Airbender + Legend of Korra

[Walkazo]

I decided to be straight because I saw that girls were attractive.
Just like a gay man might decide he thinks men are attractive thus he is gay.

No, you didn't choose to think girls are attractive: that is just how your brain works.

What makes people gay is their DNA mapping out in a way that resulted in them feeling attraction to members of the same sex instead of the opposite sex (or in addition to the opposite sex, for bisexuals; or, for asexuals, not feeling attraction and/or the inclination to breed with either sex). As with most behavioural stuff, there almost certainly isn't one single "gay gene", and human sexuality in general is a sliding scale, suggesting there's numerous genes and probably epigenetics at work determining how our brains are wired. But it's not a choice, and straight people don't become gay - any changes in orientation are either them discovering more about themselves, or natural changes in preference due to more complicated brain stuff that could still potentially be boiled down to science and nature.

Also, fun fact: homosexuality and bisexuality does occur in animals. For example, check out the Bonobos - the hippies of the ape world.

No, no, no, not hide or censor, didn't mean that. I'm not for the opposite extreme of shoving it in their face, which I find a lot of parents doing these days. Let'em figure the start out on their own, that half step past "I know my parents are married, but what does that actually mean", then step in and ask if they have questions.

So I'm going to ask this just for the sake of clarification:

Since this debate was originally about Legend of Korra, do you feel that the show had content that shoved romance in people's faces? Because as it seems now, ernesth100 appears to be calling for exactly that censorship you just now distanced yourself from. Quoting his post and saying "I agree" is sending a mixed message.

Just gonna say, I also agree with the "don't shove romance down kids' throat stance" in general, and I think that's what Ghost Jam was agreeing with as well, rather than with ernesth100 specifically using that argument as he hastily backpedalled from all the backlash he got over his homophobia. Ghost Jam's made it clear he's supportive of Korrasami, and so have I, since I think the benefits of them as a couple outweigh the benefits of not having the lead hook up with someone for a change (plus, I think they have a nice dynamic).

Anyway, as for kids stuff being oversexed, that's definitely a thing I've always had a pet peeve with. Like, name a classic Disney film that didn't end in the leads hooking up. And while it's not as prevalent, lots of shows have the leads ending up as a couple even though the first season or two was purely platonic, which always pisses me off so much. It reminds me of when I was in kindergarten, I even became convinced that I HAD to end up with my best dude friend, and tried to force myself to have a crush on him, but I couldn't, and wisely gave up after one anonymous love letter (which he thought was a funny joke anyway) and continued liking him as a friend.

But on the other hand, kids do get crushes, so banishing all romance from kids shows seems too extreme, and shows about teens and young adults would seem a bit unrealistic without at least romance plots in the mix. But I definitely could do without romance being in the forefront as much as it is in media aimed at kids: Aang's crush on Katara always felt forced, and the love triangle was definitely the weakest aspect of season 1 and 2 of Korra, but by 3 and 4, they found a good balance between romance plots and platonic stuff. Plus, the latter's about teens and 20-somethings, not kids, and is aimed at an older youth audience (and above), so w/e, as I said, I'm cool with how it ended.

 

[Contra(dictory)]

Thanks for existing, Walkazo.

After he said that I temporarily devolved into a puddle of frustrated rage, and nothing I said would've been as calm or rational as what you just did.

 

[ernesth100]

Indeed, that was very rational of him. Okay, I will continue to be homophobic. But I will not bring it up anywhere anymore Internet or Real Life. I'll just keep it to myself.

 

[Lin Beifong]

Just gonna say, I also agree with the "don't shove romance down kids' throat stance" in general, and I think that's what Ghost Jam was agreeing with as well, rather than with ernesth100 specifically using that argument as he hastily backpedalled from all the backlash he got over his homophobia. Ghost Jam's made it clear he's supportive of Korrasami, and so have I, since I think the benefits of them as a couple outweigh the benefits of not having the lead hook up with someone for a change (plus, I think they have a nice dynamic).

Yeah, I know. I was just asking for clarification to eliminate potential misconceptions. Like

Holy crap someone agrees with me!

I'm probably just paranoid, but sometimes these things can be read the wrong way and sway a debate into unpleasantness for the misunderstood. I know Ghost Jam has been supportive of the subject and didn't want him to get lumped together with anything else currently coming from ernesth100's direction.

 

[ernesth100]

I feel so...mean.

 

[Contra(dictory)]

I feel so...mean.

Good, you should!

You just told every non-heterosexual person on this forum that you don't view them as equals worthy as the same treatment as you (and most of the rest of the world) a heterosexual, receive.

ps walkazo is a grill

 

[Walkazo]

goddamn post conflicts - I'm not rewriting this one tho

I feel so...mean.

Well yeah, hating people for things they can't control about themselves is pretty mean. So...

Indeed, that was very rational of him. Okay, I will continue to be homophobic. But I will not bring it up anywhere anymore Internet or Real Life. I'll just keep it to myself.

Instead of just hiding the fact that you're a misguided bigot, why don't you instead work on not being a homophobe. If you can bring yourself to be accepting of homosexuality and is presence in the world, in the media, and in your life (if you're telling the truth about your aunt and your friend's brother), instead of thinking it as somehow wrong, then you won't have a reason to feel mean.

Also:
*her

 

[ernesth100]

goddang post conflicts - I'm not rewriting this one tho

I feel so...mean.

Well yeah, hating people for things they can't control about themselves is pretty mean. So...

Indeed, that was very rational of him. Okay, I will continue to be homophobic. But I will not bring it up anywhere anymore Internet or Real Life. I'll just keep it to myself.

Instead of just hiding the fact that you're a misguided bigot, why don't you instead work on not being a homophobe. If you can bring yourself to be accepting of homosexuality and is presence in the world, in the media, and in your life (if you're telling the truth about your aunt and your friend's brother), instead of thinking it as somehow wrong, then you won't have a reason to feel mean.

Also:
*her

Eh, I'll try but to be honest I don't see improvement anytime in the near future.

 

[Lin Beifong]

Eh, I'll try but to be honest I don't see improvement anytime in the near future.

Because not treating people as sub-human is too hard, so eh, screw it.

 

[Ghost Jam]

No, no, no, not hide or censor, didn't mean that. I'm not for the opposite extreme of shoving it in their face, which I find a lot of parents doing these days. Let'em figure the start out on their own, that half step past "I know my parents are married, but what does that actually mean", then step in and ask if they have questions.

So I'm going to ask this just for the sake of clarification:

Since this debate was originally about Legend of Korra, do you feel that the show had content that shoved romance in people's faces? Because as it seems now, ernesth100 appears to be calling for exactly that censorship you just now distanced yourself from. Quoting his post and saying "I agree" is sending a mixed message.

The part I specifically quoted as sort of (and I used "sort of" as a qualifier, as I was sure he or others would take my statement of agreement as a blanket agreement with the rest of his position) agree with was just about kids not needing to worry about it yet, less about censorship. Honestly, Walkazo got what I was trying to say right on the nose.

As for the show itself, I don't think it was very forced in it's romance. Korrasami seems a bit tacked on in some ways (and the writers blog seems to support that), but nothing horribly overt.