Racebending.com

If I’m honest, I’m a little bothered about the main antagonists being called the Equalists. I’m thinking about everything that’s going on with backlash against affirmative action, hostility toward immigrants of colour, and extreme inequality in POC representation in the mainstream media.

These “Equalists” view bending as an unearned privilege, similar to how anti-oppression activists view for example white privilege, do they not? I’m experiencing some cognitive dissonance about trying to lessen unearned privilege in real life but at the same time rooting for the demise of an imaginary group which espouses the same beliefs as me…Might some viewers take this to mean the show is pro- white/male/etc. privilege and against equality?

I mean, if benders have distinct economic/social/opportunity-related advantages in Republic City then their privilege would depend on the (maybe subtle) oppression of nonbenders and it would need to be lessened.  The way the benders in Republic City are presented so far (non benders complaining about things benders supposedly can’t help) mirrors the attitudes of many people who claim that whites/men are oppressed now and they suffer from “reverse race/sexism.”

I just think equality, which is something we strive for, is a dangerous concept to associate with villains on a tv show…But it would be great if the Equalists are not really villains and Korra has to learn to confront her privilege as a bender in a society where benders have advantages.  I doubt that though…For some reason I think TV executives won’t like that angle.”