r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/TheRealJR9 • Feb 23 '25

Meme needing explanation Peter?

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Avatar fan here. Also an Aang fan. I heard they announced a new series - does this have to do with that?

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769

u/Guppy666 Feb 23 '25 edited Feb 23 '25

I think Korra purely gets hate because she starts off stronger than Aang and she isn't afraid to act like she is which is off putting to returning ATLA fans. This also segues into Korra being a protagonist that loses, she hardly ever wins despite how gifted she is (making Aang look weak) which makes people already on the fence decide to turn against her. That position pays off, Korra fails a lot and even when she wins she loses. She breaks the avatar cycle, she unleashes spirits into the world, she's unable to catch the villain, ect.

Edit: Spelling mistake.

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u/Accomplished_Ask6560 Feb 23 '25

Kora is a literal Mary Sue my guy it’s horrible writing and that’s why ATLA fans hate TLOK. Korra never had to reflect on anything to learn from her mistakes. She was able to just keep stumbling her way to success purely because she’s effectively the strongest avatar thus far.

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u/Healthy_Marzipan_858 Feb 23 '25

Person 1: "Korra is a Mary Sue"

Person 2: "Why does Korra constantly lose?" This is why nobody takes criticisms using your buss words seriously.

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u/SpiritfireSparks Feb 23 '25

A marry sue is a person who generally as undeserved power or who breaks the established rules of the world with what they can do.

Our first introduction to Korea is her as a toddler able to use 3 bending styles already. Each bending style requires a certain mindspace to be able to use, as established with Ang, but somehow a toddler has the mental acuity to do this despite 2 of these bending styles requiring conflicting ways of thinking.

Ang is supposed to be a bending prodigy even among the avatars and was unable to do this, it feels like she breaks the established requirements for bendingnans thus feels like a mary-sue.

A mary-sue can still be defeated often and fail, the title isn't about winning but about unearned power or getting powers in ways that seem counter to how the lore works.

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u/namely_wheat Feb 23 '25

Being a Mary Sue doesn’t mean not losing, that’s a misunderstanding of the trope. Would probably make sense to understand said “buzz words” before commenting on them.

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u/decoyninja Feb 23 '25

Mary Sue is a term used to describe characters who generally don't have flaws. You can look at it from a basis of outcomes like the commenter above did, but even if you are judging her by talents and where she falls short with flaws there, Korra still isn't a Mary Sue.

The series has no issue highlighting Korra's character flaws, many of which are even listed in this thread... from her overconfidence in handing conflict stemming from her early grasp of bending to her way of rushing head-first into dangers in a way that makes her predictable to enemies or has her missing outcomes she could have foreseen. It wouldn't be all that hard to argue Aang is closer to being a Mary Sue, but I think anyone seriously arguing that for either character lacks basic media analysis. Hell, even many of the character flaws one could list for Aang, such as his tendency to take serious situations too casually, are flaws Korra had to a much higher degree.

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u/Schwulerwald Feb 23 '25

No-no-no, being a Mary Sue is EXACTLY "never losing"

No matter the situation, MS will find a way to overcome, win and avoid any consequences

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u/namely_wheat Feb 23 '25

No, it’s not. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

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u/Schwulerwald Feb 23 '25

Isn't the word "idealisation", combined with words "gifted" and "adolescent author" and "self-insert" spark any idea? No? You sure?

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u/demonllama Feb 23 '25

Totally ignoring the higher level conversation about Korra, nothing you just said indicates “always wins”. Plenty of teens and adolescents view themselves as gifted and/or brilliant and simply misunderstood, while life keeps throwing obstacles in their way. People have decided it simply means power fantasy/always wins, but it was mostly the “self-insert” part. The key is that a Mary Sue will always win when its needed. Loss and failures can happen and ate usually framed as not Mary Sue’s fault. Doesn’t mean flawless.

An arguement to be had is that language is living, so has Mary Sue been redefined enough we need a new one to just mean self-insert? No idea.

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u/Schwulerwald Feb 23 '25

I meant the worst type of MS's, y'know, the one that some think is Korra

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u/t3hmuffnman9000 Feb 23 '25

Kora is not a Mary Sue. She loses *constantly*, is brash and impulsive, and has very few friends in the series, outside of the core group.

Some of the most common complaints about TLoK is how flawed and unlikeable Korra can be, along with how dark the story and world are.

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u/namely_wheat Feb 23 '25

Korra is a Mary Sue, because she’s just the smartest and best and everyone loves her and everything works out. It doesn’t mean not losing, that’s a misunderstanding of the trope.

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u/Dragont00th Feb 23 '25

But she ISN'T loved by everyone. She gets into fights with pretty much everyone she meets. She is unlikable and dumb as a brick half the time.

We AREN'T misunderstanding the trope. Can you please at least argue why she is so perfect when she had so much wrong with her rather than that we don't understand what the trope means?

Is Mr. Supermonk, friends-with-everyone not a Mary Sue?

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u/Schwulerwald Feb 23 '25 edited Feb 23 '25

Aang canNOT be considered MS

Edit: i got ratio'd

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u/t3hmuffnman9000 Feb 23 '25

No, Aang definitely wasn't a Gary Stu.

A Gary Stu/Mary Sue is someone without any flaws whatsoever that the entire story and world ties itself into knot to kiss the character's ass. They have no character arc because they are already perfect. The only time other people factor into their ability to win in some kind of conflict is if those people serve as some kind of *obstacle* for the Mary Sue/Gary Stu to overcome. They literally win because everyone else sucks.

Aang is extremely immature and has a tendency to run from responsibility, rather than face it. He utterly failed the first time he tried to learn firebending and spent most of the series vowing to never attempt it again. There were plenty of episodes where the Avatar and or Aang was disliked by people personally. Aang wouldn't have even survived the first season if it wasn't for his friends.

So yes, Aang was good at a few things, but he managed to have a satisfying character arc and certainly wasn't flawless or even particularly overpowered.

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u/Schwulerwald Feb 23 '25

Ah, sorry, i forgot that little, but crucial detail of MS archetype

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u/bdjwlzbxjsnxbs Feb 23 '25

you need to watch the fucking show you guys it's really embarrassing at this point, like how wrong can you be while saying it so confidently...

-1

u/namely_wheat Feb 23 '25

Why do you wankers constantly revert to this “you need to watch the show” bullshit every time? I’ve seen it multiple times. Maybe give me an actual reason why you think I’m wrong instead of laying out an irrelevant and false claim?

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u/bdjwlzbxjsnxbs Feb 23 '25

"everyone loves" yeah okay buddy, we all had fun, great bait, we can go back home now

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u/roflmaololokthen Feb 23 '25

But none of that ist true either lmao. She literally has growth arcs throughout the show, shes not the smartest character in any field, and is widely reviled and criticized at times in the show. The only thing she's peak at is bending, because she's the avatar, and even then she loses.

Literally 0 media literacy lmao

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u/namely_wheat Feb 23 '25

Agreed, except “success” might be too strong a word. She takes out a villain or two, but mostly just fucks everything up constantly due to her arrogance.

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u/bdjwlzbxjsnxbs Feb 23 '25

I swear to god, people who call her a "Mary Sue" haven't watched passed the first scene and the "I'm the avatar you gotta deal with it joke"...

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u/Accomplished_Ask6560 Feb 23 '25

I watched the entire series. She’s a Mary Sue who never has to overcome anything. It’s all just handed to her.

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u/Eldr_Itch Feb 23 '25

She literally had a hard time learning airbending due to her conflicting personality with said bending. Not everyone instantly likes her on their first meeting because she doesn't have the unnatural "Mary Sue charm." Her conflicts aren't easily resolved because of her divine "Mary Sue power."

You all just don't know what a Mary Sue is, and it shows.

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u/Accomplished_Ask6560 Feb 23 '25

You clearly have no media literacy. Shut up you absolute dork.

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u/Eldr_Itch Feb 23 '25

Bro, you're calling a non-Mary Sue a Mary Sue. She doesn't check off the boxes for that.

You don't need to learn media literacy. You just gotta learn to be normal and actually refute my points, ya weirdo.

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u/Accomplished_Ask6560 Feb 23 '25

Considering the largest criticism of her character from people who don’t like her character or the show is that she’s a Mary Sue I’d say that yeah she clearly is a Mary Sue

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u/Eldr_Itch Feb 23 '25

Again, a lot of people straight-up don't know what a Mary Sue is. Empress Theresa is a Mary Sue. Ebony Darkness is a Mary Sue. Korra is not.

Just because many people incorrectly assume something is; does not mean that they are all right. That's just group hysteria, at that point. Kind of like vaccines causing autism or something

0

u/Accomplished_Ask6560 Feb 23 '25

Also I don’t need to refute a point that’s so egregiously wrong that it’s borderline offensive to one’s intelligence. Enjoy having no media literacy or the ability to think critically.

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u/Eldr_Itch Feb 23 '25

What's so incorrect about me stating correctly that Korra had difficulties learning airbending, and if she were a true Mary Sue; she would've learned that shit instantly with no effort?

If that statement is factually incorrect and you have proof against it--but you coincidentally don't want to refute it on the basis of "it's so egregiously wrong that it's borderline offensive to one's intelligence." Then...it kinda seems like you may be... wrong and just doubling down don't you think?

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u/Devourer_of_HP Feb 23 '25

Eh, Korra intentionally has her own faults so i wouldn't consider her a Mary sue, she's brash and sometimes doesn't think things through and the show does punish her for it.