Julie is a software engineer and mom, based out of Oakland, CA. She is trying the best she can. She also writes for Kimchi Mamas, @juliekang on Twitter, and @juliejkang on Instagram.
This week’s The Legend of Korra was all about Girls Rule, Boys Drool.
The Family von Airbender is still on vacation, this time at the Eastern Air Temple, blissfully unaware of the world burning down around them. Tenzin was in the middle of trying to convince his kids that ancient relics are fun, when in walks…Korra!!! She’s looking good, considering she was a complete amnesiac two weeks ago.
Author/Epic Beard Man Neal Stephenson wishes to announce: *Spoiler Alert*
“The difference between stupid and intelligent people – and this is true whether or not they are well-educated – is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations – in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward.” — Constable Moore, The Diamond Age
Neal Stephenson’s 1995 science fiction classic, The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, blew me away when I first read it as an idealistic NOC-in-training. I interpreted it as a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a down-and-out little girl named Nell who stumbled upon a copy of the Primer, a multi-disciplinary interactive textbook designed to train an upper-class girl to adulthood. She saves herself and the world through what she learns from the Primer. Girl power! The end!
It turns out, upon a recent re-reading, that I failed to recognize about ten other layers of the onion, all of them much heavier than the idea of an interactive book for girls. There is Stephenson’s grim portrayal of the future of China, for one, as well as his prediction that the boundary lines between people will not be drawn on a geographic plane, but rather by culture, and people will form tribes based on race, religion, or other creeds.
It’s an age-old question: does popular culture reflect mainstream perceptions, or is the mainstream influenced by the images it sees in popular culture? Jeff Yang, of Secret Identities and the Wall Street Journal, examines this question in the exhibit, Marvels & Monsters, now showing at the Japanese American National Museum.
This week’s episode of The Legend of Korra was all about the hidden dynamics and politics of war. We learn that war isn’t just about gathering troops and fighting for a single cause, especially when adults are involved. Instead, war can also bring profits and other opportunities for self-aggrandizement if one knows how to look for them.
Father’s Day comes early this year on this episode of The Legend of Korra, where all the story lines reveal their daddy issues, both good and bad. And like any good dad, this episode was chock-full of jokes, action, and squee-inducing tenderness.
First off, Korra. As we learned from the end of Part 1, Unalaq placed his brother, Tonraq, under arrest for conspiracy to kidnap and assassinate him. At this point, Korra is just starting to feel suspicious of her uncle, but still believes him when he insists the trial is merely a formality, that the judge will be fair, and they can put this all behind them soon. Of course, since we are not naïve teenage superheroes, we knew the following would happen: Tonraq and his friends are found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, but due to Unalaq’s eloquent appeal for clemency, they are given life in prison instead.
Ed. Note: Starting on Monday, we’re going to be recapping new episodes of The Legend of Korra. First, here’s Julie‘s look back at last week’s one-hour premiere of Book Two.
Episodes One and Two: “Rebel Spirit” and “The Southern Lights”
Set six months after the end of Book One, the first two episodes debuted with tons of action and new characters. We see Korra at Air Temple Island, and she seems to have a much stronger handle on air bending. She can also comfortably enter the Avatar state, but still does not fully grasp the depths of her spiritual side.
One major theme shows up immediately: politics, family, and the messy ways they mix. Korra’s uncle Unalaq is the chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and he pays her a visit. “But Korra is from the Southern Water Tribe!” you exclaim. Well, it turns out her dad was originally from the north, but fled south after being banished from his tribe! That made dinner awkward.
Black people were marching all over the South. Dr. King was leading people to freedom, and here I was, in the 23rd century, fourth in command of the Enterprise.
Star Trek first aired during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, between the time when Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Supreme Court declared prohibiting interracial marriage unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia.
Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lieutenant Uhura, television’s first major Black female character who wasn’t a maid, did not at first feel the full weight of her role’s significance until after the first season was finished and she handed her resignation to Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator.
In a 2011 conversation with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nichols told the incredible story of how one particular fanboy convinced her to stay after all. She gave notice on a Friday, and attended an NAACP fundraiser in Beverly Hills the next day. At the event, someone approached her, saying he had a fan waiting to speak to her.
Vitals:The Legend of Korra is the second animated series byAvatar: The Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. Set 70 years after the first series, it focuses on the next incarnation of the avatar, 17-year-old Korra of the Southern Water Tribe.
Plot: After Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko re-established peace in the region, they built a nation where benders (basically those possessing supernatural mastery over air, water, earth, or fire) as well as non-benders can live peacefully and modernize together. However, 70 years later in capital Republic City, the world is not as peaceful as it seems, as the harsh realities of capitalism and bending-based elitism take hold: the government is entirely run by benders, for example, and there is a bender-led mafia scene that terrorizes small businesses and citizens alike.
I attended one of the nerdiest schools in the United States, an academic magnet school with a 70% Asian/Pacific Islander student population. Our cheerleaders were Asian, our basketball team was Asian, the goth kids and the hip hop kids were Asian, our homecoming queen was Asian.
When I arrived at this school in seventh grade, I was a tangled mass of perms and bangs and glasses and braces and biker shorts. I was chubby and clumsy, utterly invisible to the in-crowd. Still, I had a strong support network, and I never felt like I couldn’t try something just because of my race.
What I really wanted to be was a cheerleader. In my mind, they represented all that was totally awesome, the epitome of teenage female perfection. I dreamed about one day wearing a uniform of my own, pulling my hair up into a beribboned high ponytail, and bouncing into that smiley sorority.
Neal Stephenson’s 1995 science fiction classic, 
