No, Aang was NOT a TERRIBLE Father

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There is one criticism of Avatar The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra that I see pop up time and time again, I feel, is just supremely unfounded. Every few months somebody tweets about how Legend of Korra made Aang a TERRIBLE father, and how it’s the worst thing the show could have done. Some even go so far as to say that he is an ABUSIVE father, calling it CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. And to that, I have to say, have words lost all meaning? Have we lost all sense of nuance in our media literacy? Are we THAT afraid to let our heroes have shortcomings? So today I’m gonna explain why Aang is not a terrible father, but a FLAWED one, and break down exactly how the character’s history and role in the world perfectly explain his shortcomings.
Edited by Joe Murphy
Thumbnail Art Colored by: Soggy-Essay
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Music:
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Video Used:
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)
The Legend of Korra (2012-2014)
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[@Johnny2Cellos]

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[@Risky_roamer1]

Thats a thing Aang desperately needed.

[@jessegartung294]

Aang isn’t a terrible father like Richard from TAWOG.

[@jessegartung294]

Hero’s should have flaws I blame the mandloridan for giving people the idea heroes should have flaws. I mean think about it what made the monkey king a interesting character in journey to the west?

[@CodeguruX]

He interracially married. He fucked his kids. That's the reality of it.

[@firdanharbima6997]

0:43 you literally pick this from Twitter where almost all the user never touch dictionary and dare i say actual idiots,also where almost all propaganda exist? ofc it's good video to talk about but from twitter? bruh

[@kerryanne5005]

I don’t even think Bumi and Kaya felt that Aang was a terrible father, I think they just wanted Tenzin to acknowledge their experience

[@patriciaviczmandy649]

Also how in hell bumi dosent have bending power?

[@JonwithnoH0823]

@@patriciaviczmandy649 neither one of Kataras parents were benders, yet she can water bend.

[@doctordl7757]

It seems as though they both suffered from emotional neglect so yes Aang was a bad father.

[@relyk9157]

@@doctordl7757 Parents aren’t perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. You can tell in the series they love him. Your ignorance is so loud.

[@gracekim25]

@@doctordl7757 liar

[@emilygrimes9791]

Can't forget that Tenzin is his 3rd kid. Which means he went through his first two kids with neither being air benders. And then finally his 3rd child shows abilities he thought lost.

[@stephaniemasson1224]

I never thought about it that way, but you're right. Besides, with Tenzin being the third child, that means Bumi and Kya also had experiences with Aang that Tenzin didn't have. I'm not invalidating that they felt excluded, but that's life. Sometimes parents need to give some extra attention to one of their children, for many different reasons, but that doesn't make them bad parents.

[@luffy101311]

Reminds me of Todorokis dad from MHA who decided to stop having kids only after he had a kid that inherited 2 superpowers lol

[@theoriginalstarwalker4357]

@@stephaniemasson1224 Parents putting more care into their youngest child is somewhat reasonable. Especially if... said child has an ability only their father has, in the entire world. Hundreds of thousands of Air nomads were wiped out, leaving ONLY Aang.

[@RacingSnails64]

Ooh that is a good point!!

[@GrayRain0]

@@luffy101311bro. He had like 4 kids. And that been broke the mother

[@TheMnateehatha]

Parenthood is a full time job, but so is being the avatar. Aang did his best with the circumstances he was given! I really like the narrative that he wasn't a perfect father. It's more like real life, it's believable and relatable. We all have things our parents did that we want to improve on with the next generation.

[@gracekim25]

Exactly!😅

[@Winlaw459]

exactly this. and yeah his children fought and stuff but all in all, i think all of them turned out to be amazing adults with the same kindheartedness as both katara and aang

[@fajartirta4934]

@@noahnederlands7642 but he need to have children to repopulate air bender

[@jordanread5829]

@@noahnederlands7642 I would say they can if they want to. But they need to find a way to balance being the Avatar and being a parent. Aang just had the extra responsibility of also being the leader of the Air nomads, even though for a time it was just him and later Tenzin (hence why he focused more on Tenzin than Bumi and Kaia). While also overseeing a complex world coming out of an 100 year war.

[@KingBongsly]

@@noahnederlands7642 well only aang had the problems of being an avatar and having children because he was also rebuilding the air nomads and replacing the fire nation colonies with cities that could support all benders in a unified way so yeah he was a bit busier than previous avatars

[@danw3441]

Another thing that would factor in to this is katara. Katara, who was most know for her immense compassion and caring. We also see on several occasions that she has no problem calling people out when she sees injustice or wrong doing. So who in their right mind goddamn would assume that she would just allow her husband to be an egregiously negligent father to his kids!? If aang was as bad of a parent as some people claim he was, katara would have seen it and shut that shit down in a heartbeat. It’s like people forget she was even there! I think your analysis is spot on, that Aang wasn’t a negligent father, just the most busy man on the planet who never had a good example of what a father should be, and even that probably would’ve sparked a few conversations between him and katara.

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

I don't think that's the best counter. She could have also been a bad parent herself. Think about it. We only see these people in their childhood, which tells us nothing about how they were as adults. Sure, we see glimpses of Aang in his prime, but that's not enough to tell us how he was as a father. We see nothing of how Katara was as a mother either. We only see her as an old woman. People change so much between childhood and parenthood. What we do have definitive proof of is how their own children saw things. And being busy is not an excuse. Nor is not having a father figure, which Aang did, in the form of Gyatso. You can excuse all number of bad parenting if you allow those excuses. At the end of the day, based on how his children explained things, Aang was a bad father, and Katara may have been a bad mother. I know I know, it's hard for fans to ever see these characters as being FLAWED PEOPLE. Even the best people can make to be bad parents.

[@brandonlyon730]

@@ShadeSlayer1911 Problem is we never hear Katara’s side of the story or her word on this? I say her word is just as valid as Bumi and Kya’s. How do we know if Kya and Bumi weren’t just lying or exaggerating what they think happened, they have no sort of proof themselves other then taking there word for it?

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

@@brandonlyon730 That is the thing though. She doesn't have any words on the story. We can only go off of the details that we have, and not the ones that we don't. Plus, it's just not that hard for me to see both Katara and Aang having blind spots in their empathy, and thus be neglectful through favoritism. It's a very realistic thing to have, and it still fits with what we know about their characters. We would all LIKE for the two of them to also be amazing perfect parents as well as heroes to the world. But it's not impossible to believe that they weren't the best parents. It makes them more interesting, and it makes Bumi especially into a sympathetic character, rather than just...a dumbass. Actually, with Bumi, him being neglected explains...just so much. No wonder he's so eccentric. He probably acted out a lot in his attempts to get attention from his parents. And this carried onto adulthood. For me, it just works way too well in the story for Aang and Katara to turn out to be neglectful parents. It makes everyone in the family more interesting, and it gives a lot more to think about when it comes to parenting and heroism, and how they mix. This is one of those cases where character flaws just make things better in a story. At least for me.

[@brandonlyon730]

@@ShadeSlayer1911 But how do we know if anything Kya and Bumi are even saying is true or is them just exaggerating? like they believe that their parents neglect them, but since we don’t even see a flashback or anything like that to show it how are we to know if this is really the case and if they are even telling the truth? We at least got see Toph and her daughters with flash backs, but none with Aang, Katara and there kids? It's a big case of a telling but not showing anything, the reason Katara doesn’t have any words is because no one bothered to ask her about anything and the show never bother to let her explain anything.

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

@@brandonlyon730 fair enough. At the end of the day, it's just whether or not you accept it yourself. This side plot definitely wasn't very well done, due to what you just said. I just find it interesting enough.

[@Oldmanhenderson12]

Am I the only one who didn’t even see Aang as a bad father? I feel like we barely got enough time seeing him as a father to truly make that determination

[@drualasdove]

People base it off of how his three children perceive him. Bumi and Kya make a point of reminding Tenzin that the great family vacations he recalls were really just him and Aang. While many people justify this because Tenzin was an air bender and Aang was teaching Tenzin his culture that doesn’t justify ignoring the other two kids. Aang’s culture should have been something all three of his children experienced learning from him, not just the air bending child. While this doesn’t make him a BAD father it certainly doesn’t make him a good one, which is unusual for the character of Aang. Tenzin recalls a wonderful father while his older siblings recall a neglectful father.

[@petthequeenofmaddness8592]

@@drualasdove Who was he supposed to learn from he was a kid and had to fight wars you can't forget he was the Last air bender who else was Tenzin supposed to learn air bending from it sounds like Aang died first and if it was an illness then he might have not had much time.

[@drualasdove]

@@petthequeenofmaddness8592 Aang as we knew him in ATLA was a kindhearted and loving boy with a very strong father figure in Gyatso, despite that not being the role he was supposed to have with Aang it is the role he took. Not having a strong parental bond doesn’t mean you are set up to be a poor parent either. Aang had plenty of people around him to guide him in how to raise a family. The writers choose to show a COMMON parental flaw, a very real flaw, with Aang. Something they do with all their characters and story arcs is show realism in a way that kids can digest, that’s why ATLA was so big. But because it was Aang and because it’s a reality of parenting it made people mad and “ruined” the character.

[@drualasdove]

@Will N That is something I noticed when they introduced them. Bumi takes after Sokka, a clear sign that he took his neglected nephew under his wing. They would have bonded over their lack of bending and Kya and Katara would have bonded over their water bending. You see a lot of Katara, imo Sokka as well, in Kya.

[@costelinha1867]

I'd say he was probably a good father considering his circumstances. Not perfect, just a good father. I don't think Bumi and Kya would look so fondly at him, to the point of even wanting him to be proud of them if he wasn't a good father. And it's not like Zuko with Ozai where he wanted to make him proud to get his honor back and be accepted, as they knew Aang already DID accept them. They genuinely just want their father to be proud of them. They LOVE Aang, to me this shows he was a good father, even if a bit flawed.

[@TheHopelessFan]

I've always found Aang's behavior as a father more interesting than terrible. I love complex father figures. Maybe its just cuz I like batman comics that I struggle to see Aang as a awful father. (Bruce is a very iffy father to his kids in most comics) "And I think that’s what a father is, a blade that never stops cutting."

[@Risky_roamer1]

Of course a someone with a joker profile pic would say that.

[@frankielovejoy9928]

I wonder if part of the reason people view Aang as a bad parent through such an uncharitable lens is because this type of parent is more common in real life. Compare Aang to Fire Lord Ozai: Ozai was an unjustifiably sadistic father, but in real life, how many of us have had to deal with parents that leave brutal physical scars on one child and psychologically damage the other to the point where they end up hallucinating and in a straight jacket? It can happen, but it's not the most relatable thing in the world for most people. Aang seems more like a parent that someone is more likely to have in real life: Accidentally neglecting one child in favor of another, not being able to take time off of work for their family, and so on. Casually neglectful if you will. In a shocking turn, Aang is vilified for being a relatable character.

[@mlp_firewind8129]

I think that’s kinda the rub. Because I think the way Aang treated his children makes sense in the context of the show. But it also isn’t okay. It’s painfully obvious to everyone involved he loves Tenzin more than his other kids. He doesn’t abuse them by any means, but he clearly neglected them emotionally and that still weighs on them almost 20 years after he died, well into their adulthood. I think taking a couple tweets and using that to say media literacy is dead is a bit out there. Especially when these struggles these characters go through is so tangible, so relatable.

[@RogueTheFurryRaver]

@@mlp_firewind8129 eehhh it sounds out there to take a couple tweets and say that media literacy is dead but we are also talking about Twitter here one of the most toxic sites out there, because no matter where you look, there will be an argument about SOMETHING there is ALWAYS at least 2 sides arguing at each other, and depending whats being argued about, there just MIGHT be a middle person who sees both sides, tries validate both of them, but the sides kind of have a "how dare you also agree to the opposite side of me" mentality and then argue with the middle people its just a big argue-fest, and so when 1 person voices an opinion, you bet lots of other people are sharing that opinion as well so its not just 2 people that think Aang was a terrible/abusive father, we just dont get to see how many in this video

[@hassanalkhalaf1115]

I see where you come from and I'm far from dismissing anything you say because I agree but Ozais parentstsyle and Zukos abuse is relatable too. While most of us abused kids may not have visible scars (That's done on purpose because even abusive parents want to hide their kids bruises) we can still relate to being hit by our parents, crying for forgiveness on our knees before it happens, failing to recognise that our abuser is a bad person and not someone we have to make proud. Especially the line "I was lucky to be born" is so dark but so relatable for us because many people, even our own parents and siblings, talk about our birthdays with regret and shame. Ozai comparing him with Azula and favouring her on purpose is especially painful but also relatable. Honestly the hug Zuko received from Iroh, all the care he got from his uncle and finally being accepted by Katara felt like a warm hug because finally I saw a boy like me who worked it all out and got a better life.

[@wednes3day]

@@kendraroth1276 pretty sure the entire concept of monarchy tends to get flack for that (while also having bigger issues kinda overshadow it)? (and that it comes up in the times when royalty are looked at as people, rather than figureheads .. at least in modern times?)

[@xanecho]

​@@kendraroth1276 plenty of people are anti-monarchy. they just don't tend up to bring up that real world political view in a conversation about a fictional show

[@frickinfrick8488]

I’m sorry everyone but no matter how good of a parent you are your kids are still gonna have some gripes when they grow up. Nobody is a perfect parent and Aang screwing up by spending more time with Tenzin is perfectly in line with his character and the burden he carries of being the last air bender. I’m glad someone made a video because this argument has been bugging me for ages

[@costelinha1867]

So true. Parents ARE GOING TO MESS UP, and they ARE GOING TO MAKE things that will lead to bad memories on the kids. Aang is NO EXCEPTION, if anything his upbringing and responsibilities only makes it EVEN MORE LIKELY for him to mess up due to pressure.

[@SunBeeSmoked]

One of those gripes should never be “my father denied me my culture and neglected me”

[@frickinfrick8488]

@@SunBeeSmoked good thing that isn’t what they said.

[@SunBeeSmoked]

@@frickinfrick8488 you clearly didn’t watch the show, Aang only shared the air nomad culture with Tenzin and that was one of Bumis major gripes.

[@taylorschott4659]

Having a favorite child is perfectly normal. that i understand. But according to Kya, aang purposely left her and bumi out of MULTIPLE vacations, and only bringing Tenzin who by the way was the YOUNGEST. thats the ultimate show of favoritism. its no wonder Tenzin had such a strained relationship with his siblings. im actually surprised that its not worse.

[@brandonlyon730]

The biggest issue I have about this whole “Aang is a terrible father” thing, is that we never hear Katara side of the story about this. Like she's still alive and well in Korra, so we should’ve heard from her about how things really went down when she was raising the kids with aang. From her we would’ve knew full well if whatever Bumi or Kya said was even true or was them just lying or exaggerating.

[@sassydebbie]

Exactly. My own take on this conversation is that we don't even have information on how he was outside of being the avatar as an adult, and based on what the series depicted it was definitely made for him to seem to have not been a good father. I don't think we truly expect him to be perfect, but based on the character we know from the first series and the lack of information we had in the other, he doesn't seem to be the type that seemingly got depicted in TLOK.

[@Spongebrain97]

Something crazy to me was that when Aang eventually did die, for some time Tenzin was the last airbender, and the first to be born after the Air Genocide. So he had no lived in experience with them and only knew what Aang taught him

[@iamjaboba]

That reminded me of a fan comic of how when a younger Tenzin was ready to get his Airbending master Tattoos, Aang had now idea how to do it right, and it took the wisdom of the previous Airbender avatars to help Aang give Tenzin his Airbending master ceremony

[@Al7249]

Yeah lol that's true and Aang barely knew anything of his 0en culture so hin getting stuff wrong makes sense. And sounds funny in certain places

[@ConnorLonergan]

Except Aang would know how the Tattoo Ceremony was done as he did go through it himself, or did you guys think Aang's Arrow Tattoos where what he was born with.

[@Gigawolf1]

@@ConnorLonergan Somewhat true, though there's a better explanation; some of the comics introduce the Air Acolytes as people who give themselves the Airbending tattoos because they look cool. Aang gets upset, but ends up recruiting them to help & teaches them the way of the Air Nomads. In other words, he wasn't the only person capable of doing the tattoos. Whether it was an extension of non-religious tattoo techniques, or they just figured it out on their own, or those early followers found guides on how to do the tattoos, the technique wasn't something only Aang had access to. Only he had the cultural role to recognize one as an Airbending Master, but the ability was another matter entirely

[@ConnorLonergan]

@@Gigawolf1 Erm ok? Sorry I just have a hard time seeing that as different as to what I said because even in this reply it still implies that Aang knew how the Tattoo Ritual was done.

[@gracekim25]

Yeah….it’s like people have put Aang on this high pedestal and forget he’s STILL human. Humans have flaws 😅

[@costelinha1867]

Yeah, they think that once his character arc is over in ATLA that means he overcame all of his flaws and is now maigcally a perfect person.

[@tomorrow1wb]

@@costelinha1867 Yes he was a pretty immature kid who experienced so much trauma and had a little ego problem

[@ohood1788]

Exactly! It's especially baffling because he's always had flaws in atla and that's what made him a good character. There were times where he was selfish, stubborn, dishonest, irrational and so on. He's human. He has moments where he doesn't make the best decisions and that would surely continue in adulthood. His flaws are what make him interesting and what make him feel real.

[@renatiaowo4458]

i think a new perspective is needed sometimes tho. Like i understand he has flaws but.... i want to watch shows to escape, not be faced with the realities of bad/neglectful parents,, otherwise i would watch a documentary

[@ohood1788]

@@renatiaowo4458 Then maybe the avatar franchise isn't for you because most if not all major characters are written to be 3 dimensional and have flaws as well as merits. Also Aang isn't a bad dad because he made some mistakes, his kids obviously don't hate him but have a few gripes with some of his decisions which is a pretty standard parent-child relationship. Giving characters flaws isn't a bad thing, it might not be for you but it's not objectively bad. I'm sure there are plenty of shows that have perfect, flawless characters but you won't find that in avatar.

[@ashleightompkins3200]

Saying Aang is a bad father is like saying Naruto is a bad father simply because of what Boruto says. Naruto over-compensated with his affection in Boruto's early years because he didn't have parents so when he had to take on duties as the Hokage and as a Jinchurikki, Boruto lost that constant affection and attention and was probably too young to completely understand.

[@Al7249]

Thank you for saying that as someone who uses to watch Boruto and been through the whole Naruto is a bad father meme. Tbh it did always feel like the thought behind it was more logical and nuanced along with Boruto seeming kinda bratty with how he acted in general. Kinda gave the view of main character is always right syndrome unless you look at all the clues. Hopefully this makes sense

[@NinjaDude6040]

Thanks for making the comparison, it's the first thing I thought of. We've yet to see it with Aang, but with Naruto, we saw him acknowledge his flaws as a parent and make a vow to improve, which he does. I'm sure we'd see Aang do the same if Avatar Studios ever gets to it. Regardless, both fanbases continue to bash the material years later, ignoring the full context.

[@thecreatorofthedark]

But that's not what happened. Time and time again people pretend Boruto is being an entitled prick but he's not. The bar is on the floor. He wants his father to be present. Which time and again he's shown to not be. Even more insulting is the fact that every adult around him and his own sister (who's treatment is the reason he's regularly angry at his father) justify it. The man is a walking army but God forbid his son demand he be present for his daughter. God fucking forbid it.

[@ihatepower4580]

@@thecreatorofthedark naruto had clones, he could be present

[@thecreatorofthedark]

@@ihatepower4580 that's exactly why his son (and everyone around him) should be upset. The fact that the world gaslights the kid who doesn't even have his own god damn name for being upset that his father is absent, not even for his own sake he cares more about the fact that he's being absent for his sister then himself. It's baffling that so many Naruto fans agree with them too.

[@AraAraArisan]

Also do we not remember Aang was an air NOMAD-- RAISED BY MONKS. While we don't know how many kids came from the same parents but we do know they got grouped off. The boys weren't raised with the girls in Aang's temple. My assumption is that they grouped kids by gender for one. But also that they had separated groups for everyone to be able to fill roles without them over lapping or congesting one another. And while I'm sure Aang had his family together for certain things, he took Tenzin for his future role. A role in which he knew he was already burdening his one air bender child with. While Kaya and Bumi went with Katara or Sokka during these times. Kaya shows to be a healer like her mother, which in itself takes a lot of time and practice. Kaya and Bumi could've gone with Aang and Tenzin but lets be honest, if they couldn't bend air, some of the traditions may have seemed boring and monotonous considering they can't further apply it to their skills. Especially Bumi with his undying need for attention. I love that you mentioned Aang not coming from a normal nuclear family. You're one of thw very few to mention it

[@ArteiceTB]

Crazy that fans love to bring up ATLA but completely forget Aang’s trauma and how that would logically play out in his future. I always thought it was straight forward and made the most sense but guess some ppl don’t listen. Great vid Johnny and one I’m sure will make the rounds when the same old “hot take” inevitably come up again💜

[@Johnny2Cellos]

Thanks Arteice!!

[@greendiamondglow]

His trauma is forgotten because the narrative rarely brings it up. Katara losing her mother made such an indelible mark on her character that it affects how she interacts with people, and IT IS ACKNOWLEDGED IN THE NARRATIVE. Aang's trauma is only brought up when it's convenient to the plot. Can you really blame people for forgetting when it seems like Aang himself forgets most of the time?

[@pizzapower3166]

@@greendiamondglow Finally. A point that makes sense. People need to understand that any form of neglect is inexcusable especially if it's due to trauma or "great responsibility". I think people aren't put off because it was abuse, it was not, it's just something that seems so simple to avoid doing. It kinda reads like Ego from Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2. If you know, you know.

[@hazelnutspred3348]

Honestly it makes sense. Those same people love to praise atla but bash tlok. Makes me feel like all their gripes with tlok are just invalid since they're perception and memories with atla cloud their judgement

[@pizzapower3166]

@@hazelnutspred3348 This is exactly what it is.

[@lachlanrussell18]

I think people who see Aang as an awful father are really looking back on ATLA with rose coloured glasses. They remember Aang's relentless optimism and childish innocence, but not how that made him fearful of responsibility to the point of running away from the air temple, or how it made him prone to a very childish processing of emotions like anger and jealousy. Avatar as a series has ALWAYS been about flawed but good characters, and the nuance of how projecting a puritan "commit one sin and you’re a bad person" type moral system onto everything is childish and something to be grown out of as we gain understanding of the world. Doing that very same projection onto Aang in order to bash TLOK for something it didn't say shows you've forgotten the lessons that ATLA taught you all those years ago; time for a rewatch!

[@theresahall5141]

He ran away because he was a child being expected to fulfill an adult role and couldn't even imagine how he could even begin to do this. Plus he lost everyone but one that remember that he was a person no matter what else he was and they wanted to take that person away from him. . They let fear win and lost out for it.

[@andalilbitqueer]

There's also the idea that Katara wouldn't allow Aang to be distant with their kids, but that argument is predicated on the idea that Katara wasn't able to empathize with Aang, which is sort of character assassination for her.

[@Johnny2Cellos]

Also built on the assumption that she didn't object or that there wasn't any conflict over these things.

[@Wright805]

Have you read Avatar: TLA Legacy? It includes a letter Katara wrote to Tenzin in which she describes how she and Aang were filled with joy when they learned he was an Airbender and Aang no longer had to carry the burden of being the last of his people. She states that nothing could make her happier and more proud than knowing the Airbenders' traditions would live on through him. Remember Katara was there when Aang reached the Air Temple and found Gyatsu's skeleton, when it fully hit him that his people had been exterminated and he was the last Airbender. She knew how much that pained him and she understood why he would need to devote more time to Tenzin.

[@alexthack]

Never saw Aang as a bad father, just a busy father. He was a world figure with immense responsibilities. Regarding the vacations, feel like Aang would have not excluded anyone, rather Kaya and Bumi chose to not go.

[@StonedHunter]

Also a few things to note in regards to this. 1, siblings assuming another is the favorite is pretty normal and common. 2, we only hear about those vacations and Tenzin's time with him (as in they don't ever say he was NEVER there for them so we don't know what the exact split of his time between the three really was). 3, memories are tricky because time and emotion can warp them so going off just what his kids remember is unreliable.

[@Shadow-xz4ir]

Legit. For a long time I thought my brother was my dad's favourite and my brother thought I was his. We ended up some point talking it out near senior year of high school and up. Was so funny how we both thought either was the favourite

[@neptuniamarina4924]

Twitter doesn't allow Nuance. Everything is black, white and absolute there.

[@gracekim25]

I’m glad you covered this😊 people really have misinterpreted Aang as a dad😣

[@costelinha1867]

Honestly, some people just really misinterpreted most of The Legend of Korra. I mean we have people who unironically think Korra is a copy of Aang, even though she's written to be his exact opposite.

[@gracekim25]

@@costelinha1867yeah 😅

[@G12G4]

I think we also forget there was a huge age difference between Bumi and his bender siblings. By the time he was well into his teens, Tenzin would have just started air bending and Kya would probably have shown signs of water bending. It's natural for much older siblings to feel a bit displaced and neglected when much younger siblings require more attention and then a degree of resentment if those younger siblings have particular traits that mean they really need the focus. But, let's say Tenzin was like Meelo and started showing airbending skills around the age of four or five. Bumi would be likely around 16 and Kya would be 8 or 9 and training with Katara, meaning she was getting a lot more focus from a different parent. It's very likely she went on trips Bumi and Tenzin didn't as she grew older and Aang took on training of Tenzin. Bumi, being the oldest by a lot, would've had a completely different experience with his parents as an only child. In the end, it just feels like this is normal family dynamics when there are age gaps and interest differences. If they were a modern family and these were hobbies - let's say Katara was into sewing and Kya was into that, Aang was into planes and Tenzin was daddy's little pilot, and teen Bumi was into sports, we would see the same thing. Even if they showed up for every game and supported him, Bumi would still feel less because his siblings a. need more attention and b. relate better to his parents in ways he just can't. It's not really a sign that anyone was loved less, but that it's very hard to give every child everything and no parent can do it perfectly.

[@PuppyPrincess]

I never saw Aang as a bad father. Rather, I saw him as a flawed father. One that, by choice or not, had a favorite child. He loved all his children equally, but only one was an Airbender and that made him happy, finally someone to carry the torch. Someone who he could teach all the ways of his people. But by doing so, he had to spend more time and attention on Tenzin and that, along with his duties as the avatar, made his other children feel neglected. He's human, and too often people forget that

[@artabloom]

Like I'm happy a generation has been able to recognize actual abuse that's been normalized, but I don't think people recognize their own bias in interpreting pieces of stories. I think people hear a distant parent and project their own abandonment or experience with an absence parent.

[@zigzackb2036]

Agree with everything that was said. When I hear that argument that he is a neglectful father, I always feel like if he was, he was not aware of it and it was never intentional. I get the feeling that if Aang got any impression that he was not being a present father, either from Kiya, Bumi or Katara, he would have course corrected IMMEDIATELY.

[@yesimsureienteredmynamecorrect]

Damn I had absolutely no idea anyone thought Aang was portrayed as a bad father. If anything, I was disappointed we couldn't experience adult Aang. This video reminds me how much I loved ATLA and the care that went into every single characters personality and presentation.

[@HuneyBunches]

if anything, I'm reassured that Aang wasn't perfect as a father. There was no way a 12 y/o was going to realistically stay the same way for another 50 years.

[@stephaniewilliams6756]

Yeah people are seriously airheaded online. We only saw a small fraction of his life, one year of 60ish

[@aacsmiles]

*reads title* Yes! Vindication! Okay, now that I’ve watched the video, I have to say that, while I love that atla has lived on, one thing I hate about the current fandom is how weird people are about Aang. I feel like, if a protagonist doesn’t make the 100% correct choice 100% of the time, people will call them some buzzword. And if there’s a situation where there isn’t a right answer, like what to do with the long-established fire nation colonies, don’t worry, the fans will make one up. (I’ve seriously seen people saying killing the fire nation civilians in the Jet episode was the morally correct thing to do. I’ve also seen someone say Aang, Katara, and Sokka “never felt the effects of fire nation colonization.” Like, what?) Some people can’t seem to wrap their head around a complex situation and a nuanced character.

[@mirage9816]

"Never felt the effect of Fire Nation Colonization" Huh? What? You saw that somewhere? There are people who've actually said and believed that? Correct me if I'm wrong but ah...I do believe actually genocide is a pretty fucking extreme effect that was felt by Aang...The ah...The LAST Airbender? People make some pretty absurd claims!

[@aacsmiles]

@@mirage9816 yeah it was in a tumblr post about how Jet should have lived so he could tell the characters what to do about the colonies because he was “the only character who had to live with the effects of fire nation colonialism.” I brought that up specifically bc I saw it the other day and it really stuck in my craw. Like, the air nation was complete wiped out and the southern water tribe was barely surviving and had to deal with repeated raids, but the characters from these places never dealt with the effects of colonialism.

[@mirage9816]

@@aacsmiles Yeah, and if the crux of their statement was "Jet was the only character who experienced the effects of Fire Nation Colonization" Did they miss the fact that OVER THE COURSE OF THE SHOW we see Ba Sing Se and Omashu get taken over by the fire nation? Like cmon man

[@someguyontheinternet604]

​@@aacsmiles I wish Jet lived to see that not every fire nation citizen was bad, but yeah, those people making that fire nation colonialism claim didn't pay attention.

[@MJTRadio]

Wonderful stuff as always. As someone who's love of Korra and its own nuances both together with and hand in hand with Avatar's, it's really fantastic to hear a positive, well informed take on this kind of stuff.

[@abthedragon4921]

Thank you, everything in this video! People arguing Aang as a father was "character assassination" or "Aang would never be such a neglectful father" is so ridiculous and I still see it years after Legend of Korra ended. You made a lot of good points in the video and another point I also think is important that I saw brought up years ago is that Aang had another aspect of his legacy to consider. When Aang died, not only would Tenzin then be the sole airbender (and thus have the responsibility of preserving the nation's culture) but he would also have the responsibility of teaching airbending to the next Avatar! That is a crazy responsibility for someone to have so it makes sense that Aang spent all that time with Tenzin to make sure he was prepared. Also I think this discourse about Aang's character partially stems from how the fanbase glorifies the series a little too much. Now, don't get me wrong, Avatar the Last Airbender was and still is an amazing series, one of the best Nickelodeon ever made but it's not perfect because no show is. And I feel like fans sometimes put it on a bit too high of a pedestal and that partially leads to mentalities like the one about Aang among others.

[@cutiemcgee1187]

It's important to know, Ang one didn't grow up with a traditional family. Agreed, he's more human than God like. I think they were able to paint him is matured and trying to handle something with little to no guide to a new millennium let alone generation. I think he did the best he could of done. Busy, that's all Ang was. Plus, when you encounter another air bender in person, you try to understand as much as you could. It's breaking the chain, and no one said it would be clean cut.

[@disturbedwaffles6653]

I think it's funny how fans of a series with some of the most nuanced characters struggle to accept that the main character had flaws. I always loved how The Legend of Korra humanized Aang and showed how he wasn't a perfect person.

[@MrJesse4792]

Fact of the matter is the fact that Aang real wanted to restart the Air nation if our culture didn't cringe at the idea I seriously believe that Aang would have started a Harem of sorts with the new nomads just to try get many new benders.

[@ThePrincessCH]

There's also criticisms about how little Katara contributed to the family dynamic, but I find that she has more influence than most people think. They mention about how Aang monopolized Tenzin, but the latter's situation mirrors Katara's more closely, the Katara who lectured her brother about the importance of bending to their culture, who was so pleased to connect to a fellow bender when she came across Aang, who argued that Haru shouldn't give up on Earthbending because it was crucial to his identity, and who wanted to learn from Hama because of their shared "heritage". And the idea of bending being a cultural identifier would certainly hit different on a non-bender of mixed heritage like Bumi and Kya probably didn't get as much attention as Tenzin because she had all the opportunities Katara would have had were it not for the war.

[@lern2reed]

I can’t wait for people to start calling it backpedaling or a retcon when the relationship between Aang and his family gets fleshed out.

[@coldbrewmoffiecomedy]

As a gay, I don't think it's always entirely correct to say that queer acceptance indicates a non-abusive parent. Some people can be fully evil without being homophobes❤

[@Gemnist98]

*cough* Dick Cheney *cough* But in all seriousness, Kya still seems to have a positive perspective on Aang, so he clearly could not have been abusive.

[@graciecat9694]

Immediately, I thought of Odaliah Blight. XD

[@LiamDaLemon]

Also notice how Kaya says she could never remember the names of all the air monks and how Bumi responds to being taught and meditation after he gains air bending. Aang very likely tried to teach them about air nomad culture but didn't force it on them. And he not only had the pressure of the air nation on his shoulders, but Tenzin was literally set to be that only person who could possibly teach the next avatar air bending. That was a huge pressure in maintaining balance for them both. I bet Aang was fun loving and affectionate with his kids, just not as present as he might have been had he not had all these other responsibilities to the world.

[@bornanime3255]

The show could've easily rectified all this by just providing more scenes of the ATLA crew during the time skip. Korra has a flaw as a sequel series in that is a fairly bad one. By this I don't mean that it is a bad show, but that as a sequel to a prior show or fails. The time jump off huge and we miss out on a lot of context and looks into what the old crew was up to. Most of the flash backs we get are good at giving us a but of insight, but there are so many gaps and questions that Korra raised. Why did Toph become a cop? What was it like for Aang and Kitara as parents? Where is Suki? Who did Zuko marry? Did Zuko and Aang just build republic city and that's it? Are we gonna find out what happened to Zuko's Mom? Who is Toph's husband? What about all the fun side characters? What happened to the bolder and that whole wrestling thing? etc

[@ZekromAndYugiAndDrago123]

Toph becoming a cop was infinitely worse then anything LoK did with Aang. He's honestly not that bad of a father considering the circumstances.

[@Johnny2Cellos]

I think the Toph thing is a very american-centric complaint tbh. It feels a lot more complicated than people make it out to be. Maybe I'll unpack that in a video in the future too

[@martophrenia]

eh, we don't necessarily know the circumstances in which she took that job and considering how at peace she was leaving that life behind we can assume she didn't particularly enjoyed the responsibilities

[@matti.8465]

@@Johnny2Cellos I think people are more upset about their favorite character becoming a cop than anything else. I get it, but it's super subjective.

[@costelinha1867]

I fail to see the problem with Toph being a cop, she does later regret being so, also it's completely foolish to expect Toph to maintain her disdain for authority that she had in ATLA after becomming an adult, and spending years working with the Avatar, who is by definition, like it or not, A FIGURE OF GLOBAL AUTHORITY! There's literally a comic exploring Toph's conflicted feelings about becomming a figure of authorty. It's simply foolish to expect an adult Toph to have the same opinions, and behave the same way that she did when she was 12 years old.

[@atavious2491]

I can only imagine Katara being an over protective mother over Kya and Bumi while Aang was off with Tenzin. Kya could've constantly been compared to her mother to a point where maybe Kya in her later years developed a inner resentment towards her. Maybe she got into some kind of trouble where Katara had to come and save her, and later on the same thing with Kya saving her mom. Katara lost a mother once. She will do anything in her power to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again with herself or her children. Seeing Bumi in Korra made me think that he had a good connection with his uncle Saka. Just like Iroh and Zuko, maybe Bumi and Saka did activities or went on missions together and maybe the uncle taught his nephew how to throw boomerangs and weld a sword. People forget that Toph, and I think Zuko also had a break up with their spouses that really torn their children apart. Toph especially didn't have a good relationship with her daughters Suyin and Lin. I don't think they make a proper immense at the end of the show and that's quite sad. Although I would say that whereas Toph failed as a mother, she might've excelled as a grandmother when in the care of Opal. Feeling somewhat pleased to see that her own granddaughter was more of a grown woman than her own two daughters.

[@illam9500]

I've dealt with daddy and mommy issues throughout my life with my mother being neglectful and my father having a temper that often was directed towards me. I never ever got the sense that aang was a bad father and I think people who saw it that way just had a bunch of shit they were projecting

[@matthewterlaga3022]

There are a lot of really terrible things to not like Legend of Korra for, but how they treated Aang isn’t one of them.

[@Johnny2Cellos]

Don't agree with the first part ;)

[@matthewterlaga3022]

@@Johnny2Cellos I’m sorry, but the show breaks it’s own universes rules and just straight up makes things up. Telepathic blood bending? Go straight to hell

[@costelinha1867]

@@matthewterlaga3022 Telepathic Blood Bending is not breaking rules, just establishing new ones. Also Combustion Bending is literally described as "Firebending with your mind". So it makes sense that other elements have access to similar feats. Not to mention Bumi (The OG one, not Aang's son) being able to bend earth by just slightly moving his head, in a similar way to how Amon was able to bloodbend with small gestures. This is NOT breaking the universe rules, also keep in mind that there was ONLY ONE EPISODE exploring that really explored Bloodbending in ATLA, so we don't EVEN REALLY KNOW the rules, all the rules we know were from the experiences of two people, TWO PEOPLE!

[@matthewterlaga3022]

@@costelinha1867 and in that episode they made it perfectly clear that developing blood bending literally took Hama decades and under very specific circumstances. And that she could only do it during the full moon. The only other person in the world she taught it too was Katara, and she sure as hell wouldn’t have taught it to anyone else, she thought of it as a violation. It should have died with Katara, but instead they ruin that episode and the entire concept by giving it to some random nobody who can not only do it during the day but with his mind? Yeah no, they clearly didn’t care about their own lore. And that bit about Bumi being able to earth end with his face? It’s because he is the greatest earth bender in the world, the only one who could match him was toph, there was a comic where they fought and it was a draw, with both acknowledging the other as the worlds greatest earth bender. So unless Amon and his dad are the single greatest water benders who ever lived, you’re talking out of your ass.

[@costelinha1867]

@@matthewterlaga3022 Yeah, it took Hama decades, Katara did it much shortly because she had it as a teacher, and again it took HAMA AND KATARA the full moon cuz they didn't have enough information about Bloodbending as it was still a extremely new discipline. Also just because Katara didn't taught it to anybody doesn't mean other people didn't figure it out eventually, if Hama can figure it out by herself it stands to reason other people can. Also you don't need to be the "Best x bender of all time" in order to bend with your mind, if anything the Combustion Bender who we know LITERALLY NOTHING ABOUT proves that. It clearly just takes practise, not to mention some benders (Like Amon as shown in the flashbacks) are just naturally gifted with bending. And again, AMON HAD A FATHER WHO KNEW BLOODBENDING TO TEACH HIM, and unlike Katara who avoided bloodbending like a plague after ATLA, YAKONE KEPT STUDYING IT! Thus he became BETTER THAN KATARA, at bloodbending, he eventually figured out how bloodbend without the full-moon and even bloodbending with his mind, which he promptly taught to his sons. And yeah they absolutely care about their lore, it's not their fault if people like you misinterpret said lore. Again, Yakone is BETTER than Katara as a bloodbender, because UNLIKE Katara he actually kept studying, and let's face it, he probably didn't learn it by himself, like I said, someone would eventually find out about Bloodbending by himself, either trough practise or natural talent. That person probably taught Yakone, who then perfected Bloodbending. We didn't really HAD rules about bloodbending in ATLA, other than the vague "You need the fullmoon to do so" and some even theorize that in the second time Katara used it, it wasn't even a night of full-moon to begin with. They didn't have enough information about bloodbending to determine what the ACTUAL rules for it were, just vague suggestions based on the experience OF ONLY TWO PEOPLE! two people will never be enough to determine the rules of an entire discipline of a magic system. Rules weren't violated, cuz there weren't real rules to begin with, just suggestions. And again that stupid "Best earthbender of all time" argument is stupid, cuz AGAIN Combustion Bender exist, and we most certainly never heard HIM being callde the "Greatest firebender of all time", hell most information seems to agree that the most powerful firebender in ATLA was Ozai. Like I said, the writers DID care about the lore, but it's not their fault if some people just constantly misinterpret said lore. I'm not talking of my ass, you are. Also the existance of Toph which you used to compare to Bumi only serves to prove that it IS possible for a person with less training to reach similar heights just trough talent. Toph IS THE LITERAL PROOF OF THIS, SHE'S A 12 YEAR OLD WHO INVENTED A NEW SCHOOL OF BENDING! Thus, it is also possible for a person like Yakone to learn bloodbending, probably trough sheer talent, as he clearly must have been a talented bender to pick up Bloodbending, and eventually surpass people who were used as reference in said school of bending. (Which he did.) specially when one of those masters is dead, and the other literally stoped practising that form of bending YEARS AGO! Like I said, Toph was able to pick up Metalbending by herself with very little information, it stands to reason that other people would pick up similarly obscure forms of bending like Bloodbending in similar ways, by just pure deduction.

[@blakethebeast3174]

Excellent video and it's nice to see someone sticking up for Aang without dismissing him as a flawed and believable character, that's what has made the series as popular as it is. One thing I hope that will be explored in later media in the franchise that may account for Aang's parenting and his children different views on him is the fact that all of them are at least five years apart in age with Tenzin not only being the only airbender but the baby of the family. I always thought that if Aang took Tenzin on their trips when he was around twelve or so that would mean that Bumi would be 21-22 and possibly serving in the United Republic forces and Kya would be 16-17 and maybe not as inclined to accompany Aang on family trips, maybe preferring to learn with her mother. So instead of Aang just straight up ignoring he probably didn't want to stifle them and let them do their own thing, y'know, that Air equals freedom deal. Not that I think they're lying, of course, but just like Tenzin they're middle-aged people who may not have 100% accurate memories. Tenzin did counter that Bumi always acted immature despite being the oldest and Kya never could stay put until Aang's death, again, probably not entirely accurate but may also be truthful from what we know of the characters. I just can't see Aang excluding his children from these trips if they were younger than my projected ages just because they weren't airbenders, the most important trip Aang took in his life started with a waterbender and nonbender, right?

[@WatashiMachineFullCycle]

I really love the points you went on about how viewers paint media in black and white and need to have characters held up to be flawless - I'm neck deep in house of the dragon right now and it's WILD seeing people take this show - which is touted as having a morally grey cast of characters who are ALL capable of great and horrible acts, and DIVE through hoops to take a "side", acting hostile to people who like the other "side" and ironically missing the entire point of the conflict HOTD is trying to write. I never actually cared much for Korra but I LOVE Avatar, it is one of my favourite animated series, and Aang is one of my favourite protagonists ever, but if he had no flaws or shortcomings in his adult life it just wouldn't be believable to me. To be human is to be flawed. What we KNOW is that Aang is compassionate and caring, it is the very core of his character. I think the writers were trusting us to know that despite these stories of his failures in parenting, we as the audience would KNOW that he was trying his best, and loved his children dearly.

[@noremac7216]

I get why kids think this but I feel like adults should be able to grasp the nuance. Aang was not a perfect father, that doesn't immediately make him a bad father. He failed his kids in some ways giving too much attention to Tenzin and putting too much pressure on him while neglecting some of the emotional needs of Bumi and Kaya. But all of his children knew he loved them, he provided for his family, and he was an excellent role model. Making him a flawed character who could have done better doesn't mean he was a bad parent it just means he was human.

[@limnakama]

I don't know what has happened in the last decade, but it feels like a lot of people don't know what nuance is anymore. Nowadays people get so upset when things aren't explicitly stated, or jump to conclusions based on surface level observations. It's so annoying, and the arguments for Aang being a terriible father is a great example of this issue

[@sagathekawaiikilla]

I love the strong plutonic friendship of katara and zuko - she hated his guts , could see he wasn’t a bad person at the start- but their friendship became the strongest and deepest so fast maybe cause they both understand the pain his people caused.

[@Gigawolf1]

This is basically my thought process whenever somebody describes Aang as a bad father

[@christopherballero866]

I think all parents that are involved with their kids have a favorite and it's natural. Aang had a lot to deal with and it made sense for Aang to favor his 1 airbending child. It's not like Aang was ever bad to any of his kids. I'm pretty sure even Katara had a favorite and showed favoritism as she too was the last of her kind and had difficulty balancing her various responsibilities

[@1995robin]

Kya was probably her favorite, her only water bending kid

[@haileybalmer9722]

Bumbum, I was going to say, it’s pretty clear the Kya was Katara’s protege and Bumi was a little bit more left to his own devices.

[@christopherballero866]

@@haileybalmer9722 Bumi got unlucky having no bending so Aang & Katara might not have seen an reason to teach him about bending. Though I can't say perhaps Sokka decided to teach him defense

[@kacklina]

The thing now days is that if a character is not perfectly good he should be terrible, huge difference as a characters, but is the same problem I have when people says Homer Simpson was always a terrible father.

[@jordanloux3883]

Shockingly, this time the focus is on a MALE character. Normally its female characters that get a disproportionate amount of hate. Look at Skyler White.

[@kacklina]

@@jordanloux3883 no, no, I totally agree with what you said, is even harder when a female character is flawed. Like even for real people like youtubers

[@TheArcantosDraconian]

With the Avatar franchise critiques are weird, you have on one hand people criticising that Aang is not just this perfect being and father, (that would be really unrealistic considering the circumstances of being Avatar, rebuilding the Air nation, having time to be a dad would be really difficult) while also critiqueing that Korra is supposedly a Mary Sue and is to perfect, when she clearly is not a mary sue, and is quite an interesting and flawed character (and that manages to get strength out of her flaws, like with her stubbornness), so one avatar gets critiqued because it's not perfect and the other one for supposedly being to perfect?

[@acespade1331]

His children have grievance with the way he parented, like all children do. From there perspective, he could have been more attentive or showed more interest, but that all comes form hindsight and growing up. They never hated him. Though I would say they were more disappointed that their father didn't live up to the legend that they obviously all heard about from both friends and family.

[@ciattathompson7461]

Plus they're talking from a child's perspective. I wonder how they would have felt being able to talk to Aang as adults?

[@Al7249]

Yeah that would've been interesting. Or just learning about how they were kids from Katara and tbh her own perspective on things.

[@ciattathompson7461]

@@Al7249 Definitely! Things I understood as a child changed after being able to speak to my mom as an adult. She apologized for how she handled certain situations and I got to forgive her. Everyone is just doing their best in each moment.

[@Al7249]

@@ciattathompson7461 yeah. Same with my parents as well. Personally didn't care much about that within the show since it seemed like a one-off episode that didn't much effect the overall plot. Which kinda explains the lack of steep emotional reaction with the situation.

[@thetheorizermoore7476]

I think that even though bumi wasn’t born with air bending aang knew he can be just as great as sokka and I’m betting he would be so happy and proud he is now an airbender

[@shawnellesmith]

Although I understand that Aang feels like he has his entire culture on his shoulders, Isn’t that what the Air Acolytes was for; to carry on the Air Nomad traditions after he is gone. Aang could have had them help him with Tenzin at times so he wouldn’t feel so pressured. Even though I understands Aang’s troubles, that does not justify his actions. It does seem like he had a favorite and that should never be something to look over.

[@Aqyar]

Honestly idc what people say about Aang not being a good father because he didn't spent time with Bumi and Kya, he was the AVATAR and an entire nation of air nomads was dead, and Tenzin would be the last air nomad left so i would obvioualy care more about the one who was an airbender

[@AshoreNevermore]

Mild Neglect ≠ Abuse. Neglect CAN be abuse; some rectangles ARE squares. This one is not.

[@ChevaliersEmeraude]

With all due respect to you and your video, your repeat of "it makes senses he would be like this because of this reason", it feels more like an explanation as to why he would be a bad father than a disproving of it. Now I agree that calling his an "abusive father" is ridiculous! But based on the facts at hand I could would call him "neglectful", and I don't think I would be wrong. Just because he had reasons to be that way doesn't mean it's not the case.

[@Johnny2Cellos]

Yeah, his neglect is a flaw! He's a flawed father! Rooted in his character journey, insecurities and trauamas. But calling him terrible bc we know about one aspect of his shortcomings as a father is really jumping the gun.

[@frankendress7795]

oh hearing that avatar studios is bringing on the same animators behind rottmnt is BEYOND EXCITING, their animation just in general is really attractive and dynamic. but their action animation? i remember watching rottmnt and rewinding just to be able to fully enjoy the animation of donnie winding up to throw a jacket into the air. like. not even their most action packed moment and yet the storyboarding and the fluidity of motion had me floored. i'm so excited to see the gaang through that studio's lens!

[@sjmhadsock4586]

Yes people are afraid of characters having flaws

[@PaulPower4]

AtLA itself has some interesting nuance in terms of fathers: Hakoda clearly loves his kids, and is trying his best for them, but in The Awakening we see that Katara was badly affected when he went off to fight the Fire Nation, especially so soon after Kya (senior) died, and we see her wrestling with the reason and emotion of the situation: she understands that it was something he had to do, *so why does it still hurt?* They do manage to find a way through their problems eventually, though. People try their best and still make mistakes, they can be both good and flawed. Of course, that leads to even more questions about how Katara would feel about Aang focusing more on Tenzin once it turned out he was an airbender. But, like you say, we only see such tiny windows into Aang and Katara's family life in LoK. Great video! Brought up some interesting angles that I've thought about but never seen mentioned before, like Aang not being familar with the nuclear family structure (heck, Sokka and Katara probably had a strong communal aspect to their upbringing as well, especially once Kya died. Not to the extreme degree of Air Nomad society, though).

[@Otakulifeforme]

I had never said ang was terrible father just that he wasn’t a good father he neglected all his children that weren’t airbenders that’s not what a father should do but to say he was Terrible father is wrong he did his best for his childrend and he loved his childrend and he was very supportive of his children later in their life but when they were kids he neglected them and favored his son who was a airbender

[@alwayseverythingg]

In all fairness, Aang’s only parental or father figure was monk gyatso. Gyatso was his teacher though, first of all, and that was also a primary role of Aang for tenzin. Now I actually do think that Aang was most likely a bit neglectful of his other two children when tenzin became able to bend, but it makes sense to his character. One of the biggest themes of Aang’s character is that he is the last airbender. He feels that he abandoned his people and therefore they died to the hands of the fire nation. That’s why he tries so hard to preserve their morals and culture, and why he probably was extremely stressed out about he fact that his entire culture and people rested on *his* shoulders. That’s a huge burden to carry, and it’s part of his survivor’s guilt which actually appears to be a reoccurring theme of the show also, as we can see displayed in Katara and Iroh a lot as well. My point is, Aang was so worried about persevering the air nomad and air bending culture and ways, that he did pretty much need to spend more time with Tenzin in order to teach him everything.

[@romanov3937]

Aang was never a terrible father, he was just extremely busy.

[@Risky_roamer1]

That's literally what a bad dad is.

[@Johnny2Cellos]

glad to see my discussion about nuance was ignored already lmao

[@Al7249]

@@Risky_roamer1 yes. Because being busy is the same as being verbally, mentally, emotionally and physically abusive towards their child. Being busy is a REASON! Sometimes not a good one but a reason given the circumstances and situation.

[@gracekim25]

@@Risky_roamer1 no it’s not

[@gracekim25]

@@Risky_roamer1 do you have a brain, mate? Do you fail to comprehend the very IDEA that humans are complex? Are you that egotistical and STUPID to ignore the point of this video? If you are the latter, leave. It’s clear you’re so dumb, you’re stagnant 😑 You seem to fail to understand the difference between someone who’s busy but hardworking with abuse. You clearly don’t know what a ‘bad father’ even IS! Go back to school!

[@Anthonydavis65]

I can see why Aang was more attentive with Tenzin after having a non bender and a water bender for kids he finally has an Heir to Air bending skills he was litterally the only Air bender before Tenzin was born

[@tetsuc4bra577]

What people aren't acknowledging is that the 'Aang is an abusive father' narrative is from toxic TLoK fans trying to tear him down as a response to toxic ATLA fans constantly shitting on Korra. Its the worst parts of this fandom just being the loud minority yet again.

[@lordouidward9992]

What's always bothered me about this argument is the fact that Aang was TWELVE in atla. A child. Would it not be terrible writting on the creator's part if Aang never changed and always felt like 12 year old well into his 30s and 40s? Imagine if in real life, at like 30 years old, your peers are judging your parenting skills based on how you behaved in middleschool, its rediculous.

[@brentparker7359]

Also, I felt at the time that the creators were trying to say "See, Aang had flaws too!" in response to criticism of Korra's character.

[@Gamersb3stfri3nd]

Talking about the "Pressure of continuing the Air Nation" something thats often over looked is how this pressure was so obviously instilled in Tenzin. A very subtle plot point over the course of Korra is how Tenzin and Lin clearly yad a romantic past. And the hints that ive always gotten from it is that they love each other, and wanted to be together, but be ause Lin didnt want to have kids and Tenzin felt so much pressure to essentialljy create more Airbenders, he separated from Lin (or Lin let him go perhaps) so that he could be with someone who would give him children. Its why theres so much emphasis put on the fact that Pema is like "perpetually pregnant" because Tenzin is trying do hard to continue on the Airbenders. It also explains a lot of Tenzins frustrations when the Airbenders just sporadically show up later in the show. He has put so much of his life and what he wanted to the side in order to carry on his fathers legacy and suddenly he finds out it wasnt necessary, and he could have lived the life that he wanted, been with the woman he loved. Its a very subtle thing going on but its so tragic. I understand why Aang has thle flaws he does, they make total sense with his character, and of course people have flaws, thats life. But whether its understandable or not, it cant be ignored that it does do damage to those closest to him.

[@maxrodriguez889]

I feel like the BIGGER issue that no one talks about/gets swept under the rug is that in TLOK Bumi, Kya and Tenzin constantly get regarded as Aang’s kids and Aang’s kids only… as if KATARA is not their freaking mother. And she’s the one who’s still alive??!!? There’s no depth/insight added into them both as parents and it’s really unsettling that we don’t get to see her addressed as having played any part in their lives :/

[@Jam77229]

You've said everything I've said for awhile. I can't stand it when people can't realize that OF COURSE Aang was prioritizing everything airbending related

[@Hk-ox4bb]

And why couldn’t he be a questionable father anyways? Dude had no father and from when he was 12 he had not even a single and reliable adult figure in his life

[@arnowisp6244]

He had one during his time with the Monks and his Communal Upbringing. This is just Korra writers tearing town Aang. ATLA fans even wrote a better backstory to explain why Aang non bender kids don't like him. Aang didn't ignore them because only Tenzin was the bender. He did Bring them together and not just leave them behind (ember Island) problem was, with Tenzin being a Natural Bender and thus Aang preparing him to the Burden of the Air nation, the other siblings felt like Tenzin was the favorite despite Aang best efforts.

[@LightGlyphRasengan]

Every parent has an ounce of neglectfulness. Even aang, and especially aang when he's the avatar and he's trying to revive his culture as the last Airbender. I think at one point I thought, I didn't like aang as he was in LoK, but as I've grown older I've been like, yeah he probably could've been a better parent in general, but that same critique could be said for literally every parent that tried their best. So aang isn't a bad father, he just had normal shortcomings that were due to his upbringing and how he grew up as the avatar.

[@angelsnyder6381]

When you mentioned about why we can't let characters have flaws and shortcomings it reminded me of a debate many people have about the last season of Ninjago and Lloyd.

[@twentieswiredweird]

I feel like Aang saw spending more time with Tenzin as the place where his avatar duties & his father duties overlapped. With Tenzin being the first airbender born in over 100 years, the ONLY person who could have trained him in airbending was the avatar himself, who happened to be his father. Because of that, & there being no other airbenders left at all, Aang's successor in the avatar cycle, Korra, had absolutely ZERO choice of who to learn airbending from. As such, Aang had to spend alot of time with Tenzin to ensure that Korra got the best airbending teacher possible, & so Tenzin could continue to grow the air nation through his own kids, whether that happened before or after Aang's death & Korra's birth. Yes, he did mess up, particularly regarding who he taught air nomad history & culture to, but he did make sure it survived along with airbending itself, even if the history & culture could have been better preserved through Kya & Bumi in addition to Tenzin & the air acolytes. Regarding airbending, there were no alternatives to what ended up happening, & Aang had absolutely no way of knowing that a bunch of non-benders would suddenly gain airbending after harmonic convergence, or that Bumi, his only non-bender child, would be one of them. Had he known that that would happen, I'm sure he would have more easily realized that Bumi wanted to learn about air nomad history & culture too & would have taken him on the trips he took Tenzin on aswell. It could have also somewhat lessened the pressure that Tenzin was put under, teaching all of these former non-benders airbending history & air nomad culture in what I assume was the most amount of airbending students to a single teacher in all of avatar history. However, given that Aang had no way of knowing about any of that, he is instead a relatable character by having parenting flaws, not being perfect at his job, & not being able to see the future.

[@AFollowerOfCanti]

also a thing that is missed is that aang was raised as a traditional air nomad, aang did not know his mother or father, he doesn't really have examples on how parents behave in a traditional monogamous household, and aang was also very traditional when it came to his culture so you can't really blame him for not being perfect.

[@t3chbr0shadow]

Whats sad is that writers write from inspiration and experience. If youve had a bad dad and made peace about learning how they got the way they did, it starts to click in a lot of other things.

[@jackomon1129]

ngl, one of the reasons why I didn't like Korra, and Season 2 particularly was them saying Aang was an awful father, but after watching this video, I have a new perspective

[@costelinha1867]

They never said Aang was an awful father, they just said he wasn't as perfect as Tenzin thought, that's pretty much every parent under the sun.

[@profleapstrum506]

Aang: *focuses on rebuilding his people after they were genocided through his only airbending child* The fans: So toxic So many people cry abuse and it makes those of us who have actually experienced abuse sick to our stomachs. So many people have no idea. One or two flaws does not abuse make. You can not see hell without touching its flame. Stop watering down our experiences for progressive points over a cartoon

[@atavious2491]

When it comes to stories like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and then this show, we tend to not acknowledge that all these stories are essentially war stories than they are fairly tales at the same time. War stories that involve young people having to live and make the best in the corrupt worlds that they live in with little guidance and care. As much of big war heroes Team Aang was, let's not forget that they were also tragic figures. They lacked proper parental guidance and in turn this resulted with Team Aang having responsibilities that multiplied as the 100 year war ended. Katara and Sokka's mother was taken away by the fire nation which traumatized Katara and almost led her to turn against her friends, Toph's parents were rich and she was being neglected, Aang had no parents, just the guidance of the air nomads until they were all killed in a genocide, and Zuko, his father never showed him any love. That's the sad reality about parenting, is that it's a cycle. We're inedibly the genetic productions of our procreators. For most, we may tend to look and behave like the ones who gave birth to us, but without that, it can cause problems for some people if they do wind up being parents themselves. Nevertheless, in the end of the day, everyone is an individual and eventually we have the choice and power to be different, and maybe be the cause of a change in a repetitive cycle.

[@Little-Dude]

When this video popped up on my page I immediately thought: "This is because of that twitter thread, isn't it?" 😆I'm glad you made this video. Aang literally had shortcomings and flaws _in the show_ , I guess people just expected him to be perfect in his adult life, too? It's very narrow-minded to think that Aang struggling as a father means that he was terrible or abusive. Kya and Bumi obviously have their criticisms now in retrospect, but it was more about Tenzin's skewed view of their childhood. They never said they resented Aang for it nor did it effect their love for him (or vice versa). The episode literally ends with them looking at a photograph and saying how happy their family was.

[@nosinsnolights9319]

Finally someone said it. Thank you. People really have no idea how complex it is to be a parent. I think my parents did the best they could but I still have many complaints about how they raised me and my family. It's so reductive for people to think that Aang was a terrible parent just because his children felt left out and that their childhood wasn't perfect. It's impossible for a parent to do everything perfectly. And Aang's situation was very particular too. I am just so glad someone finally brought this up.

[@ShadeThaArtist]

Aang was basically the Hokage and Kya & Bumi bith represented Borutis frustrated feelings which I understand but the show runners missed grand opportunities to give relevant flash backs to show how Aang himself felt raising children with Katara

[@diamondly6250]

my dad didn't have his dad around alot growing up so he had a hard time when being a father but that did not stop him from doing his best and as time went on he got really good at it but yes growing up he was not the best but he was the best at trying and in the end in my eyes he was the best also i feel like it was nice for me to see because it showed me exactly what not to do when i become a father but also what i should do

[@sycho-tech5104]

Stupid is as Stupid does, and Death is the only cure. Unfortunately Their are an overwhelming majority of people utterly incapable of understanding nuance. So yes, from their incredible limited and completely ignorant perspective, Aang was portrayed as a terrible, abusive father.

[@AuRelixRa]

Great video! This was a really good dive into Aang’s character overall, as well as Aang as a father specifically. You have great insights as always.

[@cutiemcgee1187]

Plus the reason why Ang's connection to the audience worked well because we learned with him. Do I think it would if been different had the show continued into his young adult hood, fatherhood and maturing into a leader, yes. It's like when you have a friend in high school and you lost touch with them because... Well life. Of course it'll be different, but if you followed along, wouldn't be surprising.

[@wintersouldier611]

A thing I find odd with ATLA fans is probably how Aang is arguably the least or second least analyzed character in the main cast (next to Sokka) despite being the literal main character. Everyone loves to dive deep into Zuko's character and his flaws that in comparison, Aang, Zuko's "counterpart" and his yang, is inherently seen as much less complex and maybe even one-dimensional to some because "how can the hero possibly have depth when his villain is this complex", which is why people don't feel the need to analyze Aang. Aang was never someone without flaws even in the original series and this crosses over to TLoK. Fans reacted negatively to Aang in Korra because I think a lot of them did not take the time to analyze Aang's flaws in the original and viewed him as a pure all-good one-dimensional character which makes it a jarring experience for them to actually see Aang's flaws be highlighted by the people affected by them.

[@jackrock3978]

I think people don't want to believe their favorite character can have flaws is because they're insecure about their sales they don't want to believe the people are fictional to have those type of things just want to believe in something they can be better or probably have trauma doing other people more often shows today they show having heroes they believe in hope they can be that type person but the truth came out who they really are what they done they just lost for words they couldn't believe the person that I always for years and that being the idea so that's why many people think aang is a terrible father don't look in as a person they're looking the idea a guy could do no wrong

[@pabloiriqui6128]

Even if Aang was the Avatar, he knew there would be a point were he will pass away. Tenzin being an air bender was literally the only way that the air nation culture could prosper after he passed, so pf course he would dedicate more time to teaching him everything about their culture. He may have given less attention to his other kids, but like most mistakes parents make, it was never his intention.

[@GrayRain0]

I mean on top of being the avatar. His first two children weren’t air benders. So I bet he was upset but got over it. AND THEN TENZIN!! The last Air Bender. He had to keep the world safe, had to teach everything he could to Tenzin. Which honestly. He should’ve taken Bumi with him honestly but I get why. Aang did his best.

[@littenfire3563]

I'm not. My favorite video game series The World Ends with You is all about how we are flawed as people and how working through those flaws is how we grow as people

[@thetheorizermoore7476]

Can’t blame him his mission to restore a nation and his avatar duties got in the way

[@Gravecoyote]

"How could I have been a bad father, I wasn't even there" -Lord Garmadon, The Lego Ninjago Movie

[@notKazt]

I haven't seen the entirety of Korra so I don't know if this is shown later in the series. But one thing I don't like about Aang's adult characterization there, is how serious and devoid of joy he appears to be. Like other characters like Sokka and Toph are shown to still have part of that more light hearted personality they had in the original series, but Aang looks like a total 180 in his personality and that's something that's always been very odd to me. And I completely understand and agree with this making sense given all the pressure he is in, but even as a kid he could smile even during times of adversity, so while him being serious is not a bad thing they getting rid of his more joke-y personality is something that always stood out to me.

[@animelytical8354]

It's the full picture that theyve shown us. It's not poor media literacy. Of course Aang is generally a good person. But he doesnt look like a good father in particular. Shortcomings, I'm down with. It makes sense for him to really care about maintaining the air bending. People who consider his "character assassination", we know why he could've done what he did, but the options aren't simply being perfect and treating your non air-bending kids as second class citizens. That stuff contradicts the whole point of being the Avatar. It's absolutely possible to add further context to solidify the actual experience his kids had instead of the anecdotes we get, but the convept of him taking Tenzin on solo adventures just seems absurd when its absolutely something they couldve done as a family with Katara as far as we know. In order to not view what was shown to us as damaging to the character of an adult Aang, we as fans have to use headcanon in order to just have Aang down as someone who didnt even try to bring balance to his own household. So they have the opportunity to undo the character assassination with future projects, but right now, Aang is a great man who hopefully loved his kids equally, but didn't even attempt to be present in the lives of all his kids. The word "abusive" us where Id draw a hard line. That's a bit silly

[@TheEverGrowingRosey-333]

This is not a bad video but I want to clarify a few things about how abusive/neglectful relationships between parents & their children can/do happen. This is not about Aang as a father & more a general statement. You can have good experiences with an abusive/neglectful parent. A parent can even be acting with good intentions for their child & unknowingly inflict harm. Or being under circumstances where their choices are limited & harm inevitably happens. Parentification can happen to a child because their parent became disabled when they’re still very young. Favoritism can be unintentional, sometimes a parent just finds it easier to vibe with one child & not as vibin with the other. Sometimes you don’t have the time to give the level of attention all your children need because of your job (because it’s very demanding or you HAVE to work that much just to get by). It can make the why & how they hurt their child understandable, but no less harmful.

[@TheSpoonlessBard]

As the son of someone who had a very interesting military career, who was often on the other side of the world when something important was happening in my life, this video hits home. Now I understand why tenzin really vibed with me

[@RomanumChristum]

To the people who call him being a bad father and an abusive father: please shut the hell up. You have NEVER experienced actual abusive parents if you think aang is the pinnacle of abusive parenting

[@drnobody418]

"Have words lost all meaning?" On Twitter, always.