Part Of What Makes Tragedies Tragic Is The Story Being Preventable From The Outside But Unpreventable

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEE BRADLEY BAKER!!!

"Whatever we want, kid...Whatever we want"

yeah you thought that this was the end?

You know ever since I started rewatching ATLA I've been wondering if the Star Wars fans who consistently complained about "filler" episodes in The Bad Batch ever actually watched that show. A HUGE chunk of the character development in ATLA occurred during the less plot-centric episodes, to the point where most of the "filler" eps were necessary to the overall story. Without them the characters wouldn't have felt as fleshed out. ATLA had a massive influence on a lot of animated shows that came after it (Tangled: The Series is one that comes to mind) in terms of how it handled its storytelling. The Star Wars animated shows, TBB included, were no exception. TBB followed a similar formula of alternating between plot-heavy episodes and character development episodes, so as an already-established ATLA fan by the time the show premiered, I took no issue with the "detour" eps that just explored the characters and their relationships. Or just let them vibe in their environment before jumping back into the heavier material. These "fans" strike me as people who would've whined about the "Tales from Ba Sing Se" episode being "pointless" or complained about the "everybody (except Toph) gets a life-changing sidequest with Zuko" storyline or, the ultimate crime, raged over Appa having his own episode about getting separated from the Gaang. All of these episodes were important to developing the characters and expanding on their relationships in a way that made the show feel more complete, so imo none of them were extraneous. A lot of the "filler" eps in TBB were the same way - I don't think I'd have cared as much about the characters OR the plot if it hadn't taken its time to sit with said characters and encourage the audience to care. The thing that ATLA is often praised for is the same thing that TBB was/is demonized for by certain pockets of the fandom, and idk it just really annoys me

forgot to say that, without Howl chasing girls and Sophie resenting him for it, the film completely erases part of the point of Sophie being old.  Wynne Jones is using an idea that Beauvoir talked about - that being an old woman is both tragic (as we lose male attention/attractiveness) and freeing (as we are freed from the male gaze).  the idea is that with being old comes liberation, and the true meaning of what it is to be a woman, as society no longer forces gender norms on us.

Sophie is free from Howl’s attentions and therefore safe from harm (a big part of the book is the fact that Sophie believes he eats women’s hearts, and him chasing girls proves this to her).  she takes solace in the fact that she’s old, and finds it freeing.  when she learns more about Howl (notably: that he doesn’t eat hearts and that he’s not evil), she starts to curse her age and resent him chasing girls.  BUT she remains old OF HER OWN VOLITION - Howl notes that she’s perpetuating the spell by wishing to remain “in disguise”.  there are SO many layers to this, and lots to do with gender politics - if she’s still old Sophie can’t get hurt, she likes the freedom, etc.  but of course on a personal level being old is her denying her feelings for Howl, and also a representation of her low self esteem - being old is a defence mechanism and protection, both on a gender level and a personal one.

and the film kinda… loses this?  the only thing that remains is being old = low self esteem.  which really sucks.  because there’s SO MUCH MORE to Sophie being old in the book (perspective I already mentioned), and a HUGE amount of this is gender politics.  that the film just erases.

hello star wars nation i come bearing gifts

on the run

It's like angel and demon on her shoulders, but they are her birth parents.

A lot of people seem to have the idea that the point of SW is that Jedi are not automatically good

No

The Jedi are good, full stop, end of discussion

But

Its not that being a Jedi is what makes you good

It's that being good is what makes you a Jedi

To be a Jedi is to choose good, you can't be a Jedi if you're not choosing good, and if you're choosing good you're choosing to be a Jedi

When I was working on this, I saw that @superiorsniper sneaked in, abolutely in character without any interaction. I think you felt that I just worked on Lula in your face 😀 That‘s it – welcome, enjoy and get Lula‘d for superior grumpyness 😀🫶🏼

This time I tracked time again on this piece. It took me 1 hour and 19 minutes. I‘m getting better 😎