Season 4 isn’t a leftist strawman, she’s a Fascist, and you’re supposed to sympathise with her because things were tough for her growing up you see and she just wants to make the world a better place.
Oh sure, she’s a liberals understanding of a fascist, which is just horseshoe theory, but she’s also the only one of these villains who gets humanised and whose actions are portrayed as “unfortunately too far” she doesn’t go “mask off” like all the others and turned out to be evil all along, she is always portrayed as “misguided” when the others were just portrayed as “evil manipulators tricking the masses”
It isn’t an accurate depiction of a fascist, because Avatar was made by libs, who don’t understand fascism beyond vague “authoritarianism” but I think it is telling that the only (vaguely) fascist coded villain is also the only one who the show depicts positively in any way.
Here’s a good video on it (their whole analysis of the series is good, and I’d recommend the whole thing if you have the time/care enough to watch it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGX2rRAlNME
Season 4 isn’t a leftist strawman, she’s a Fascist, and you’re supposed to sympathise with her because things were tough for her growing up you see and she just wants to make the world a better place.
She’s absolutely a lib wet dream “red fash tankie” strawman mish-mash of Mao, Stalin, and Kim
Oh sure, she’s a liberals understanding of a fascist, which is just horseshoe theory, but she’s also the only one of these villains who gets humanised and whose actions are portrayed as “unfortunately too far” she doesn’t go “mask off” like all the others and turned out to be evil all along, she is always portrayed as “misguided” when the others were just portrayed as “evil manipulators tricking the masses”
It isn’t an accurate depiction of a fascist, because Avatar was made by libs, who don’t understand fascism beyond vague “authoritarianism” but I think it is telling that the only (vaguely) fascist coded villain is also the only one who the show depicts positively in any way.
Here’s a good video on it (their whole analysis of the series is good, and I’d recommend the whole thing if you have the time/care enough to watch it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGX2rRAlNME
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: