I think the most "outdated" aspect of ATLA is the weird Buddhist fetishism you saw among Western liberals that is basically dead now.

>>149100146 (OP)
how did so many people care about this tool for asians to enforce their caste system?
>YOU MUST HAVE NOTHING AND YOU MUST BE HAPPY
what the fuck?

>>149100367
Christianity has been used to defend the status quo too. Religion is literally the opium of the masses, it's always associated with power

>>149100146 (OP)
Okay. Great thread I guess. What else you got?

>>149100397
That's now how any religion works, nobody makes it up, these are organic belief systems that change, adapt and Evolve, you can compare them to the evolution of humans.

>>149100146 (OP)
Remember when the Dalai Lama got caught IRL asking a little boy to kiss him and suck his tongue? And how the Tibetans were treted worse than animals during his reign?
Lord Ozai Did Nothing Wrong.

>>149100146 (OP)
man, shut up
intellectual liberals cuck themselves at every turn

>>149100561
The point is they're always used to tell the poor to never rebel and instead obey their masters. This isn't exclusive to any religion

>>149100688
Yet the buddhist countries are doing better than muslim, hindu and atheist ones, curious

>>149100625
What Buddhist countries?

>>149100146 (OP)
Easiest way to piss off a Buddhist?
Say it's a philosophy not a religion

>>149100146 (OP)
Glad to see someone else who noticed how the Air Nomads basically fall into the "le magic asian/native american/foreigner" crap.

The insistence on putting the Air Nomads (and by extension, Tibetan Buddhism) on a pedestal not only reinforces some real fucked up thinking, but it also makes the Air Nomads boring by comparison to the other nations. Real Buddhist history is incredibly complex and rich with all sorts of varied perspectives and interesting figures, but to the ATLA showrunners it's just

>dude wow a culture that lives in harmony with nature and is so wise because they just...get it... bro

Avatar should have the balls to show the Air Nomads as just as nuanced and multi-facted as any of the other nations.

>>149100989
The Air Nomads being less developed than the other nations is more a product of them having very limited screen time more than anything else. Even within that small window we get to see they aren’t all these 1-note sagely free-loving hippies. The kids exclude Aang based on his new status as the Avatar, the elder monks wanted to subject Aang to rigorous and intense training beyond his age and separate him from Gyatso, even Gyatso himself was willing to go behind the council’s back to stay with Aang.

>>149100989
I think they easily could if they wanted to, what we know about the monks is from Aang's perspective as a 12 year old boy there's definitely room to show more.
>>149100146 (OP)
True, kinda in the same way it being a type of faux-anime like a few other shows at the time too.

remember when the liberal cause was to free Tibet from Chinese oppressions?

>>149100367
And yet you have everything and are a piece of shit regardless

>>149100989
Airbenders went through a "Raiding Mongol Horde" phase.
One of the reasons they preach so hard for pacifism is the "Never Again" mentality

>>149101206
It still is among some, just quieter. I know some more lefty gen z who wear free Tibet bags to virtue signal that it "iTz mAdE froM TIBETAN REFUGEES GUISE" so fucking cringe and lame honestly.

>>149100146 (OP)
Honest to god I think the biggest inspiration for the wind tribe was someone really liked Lobsang Rampa. It's all there. Even the kite shit is there.

>>149101206
or the Honk Kong takeover

>>149101300
In retrospect it was kind of fucked up that people ignored how the instigation started because some guy killed his gf and fled to Hong Kong to escape punishment

>>149100367
There was a big wave of not just buddhist shilling but shilling ‘exotic’ eastern religions, ‘new age religions’ to people in the 70s.
Especially in California, which even got a few cults out of it.

>>149100146 (OP)
Unfortunately it got replaced with an even worse muslim fetishism.
>>149100367
You're thinking of the pajeets. Hinduism is the one that excuses the caste system.
>>149100397
Shut up, commie.

>>149100989
>um actually depicting them as wise and mystical is a bad thing!!
You do NOT deserve human rights

>>149101955
Not him but it's a Hollywood gentrification of an actual culture made by two guys who don't actually understand shit about it.
Again, Buddhism is more than just "let go of your earthly attachments bro"

>>149102000
You sound like those guys who get pissed whenever a VA doesn’t match the race of their character. It isn’t that deep

From "The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering" (1997) by Melvyn C. Goldstein, William R. Siebenschuh, and Tashi Tsering, pp. 26-30:

>I had not been long in the city again when I was told to deliver something to an important monk official. There I met another monk named Wangdu, who worked as the major-domo of that official. He was extremely cordial, talking with me in a gentle and friendly manner, and I could tell he liked me. It was a pleasant change from the distance usually maintained between superiors and inferiors in Lhasa. I genuinely enjoyed meeting him, but soon forgot about it until, that is, a few days later when Pockmarks called me to his presence and announced:

>“I have been asked to send you to Wangdula [la is a polite suffix added to names], the monk steward you met last week.”

>That was all he said, but I knew immediately what was meant. Wangdu was asking for me to become his homosexual partner. In the manner customary to monks and monk officials in Lhasa, he had asked my superior for permission to invite me, and now I was being asked. For a moment I didn’t know how I wanted to respond, and I stood there speechless, trying quickly to think what to say. Pockmarks became impatient and again asked:

>“What do you say? Will you do it?”

>The question was firm and couldn’t be evaded, but I still didn’t know what I really wanted to say. After all the problems I had in Lhasa, I wasn’t sure if placing myself in a relationship with Wangdu would bring new difficulties or be the start of an era of success. I could have refused. I had no sexual feelings for him or for men in general. But I had liked him and also understood that having an intimate relationship with someone aligned with power and authority was an opportunity not to be lightly dismissed. So I decided to agree, and hesitantly said I would accept the invitation. It was the start of some of the best years of my life.

[Cont. 1/4]

>>149100146 (OP)
So what exactly are you complaining about?

>>149100367
Pagan larping

>>149102341
>[...] Agreeing to become Wangdula’s lover turned out to be a good decision for me. Though not a government official himself, as the steward of an important official Wangdu was well known in elite circles. I therefore benefited directly from his connections with status and power. Moreover, from the beginning of our relationship, he took an interest in me as an individual. He treated me kindly, frequently gave me presents when I went to his house, and, most important, was concerned about my career, playing a central role in my continuing education and my plans for advancement. Wangdu wrote in the beautiful Tibetan calligraphy of the Lhasa governmental elite, and he both valued education and understood my desire to learn. Sharing my own values and aspirations, he arranged for another official to accept me as a student, and later he put me in contact with two superb teachers who taught me different aspects of grammar and composition. Thus it turned out to be largely through Wangdula’s efforts and kindness that I finally got access to the tools I so desperately wanted and needed. But sometimes my life got a bit too exciting.

[Cont. 2/4]

>>149100688
Islam tell people to rebel against tyrannical kings thougbeit (hence why they always start civil wars and overthrow local governments)

>>149102378
>The Tibetan word for a boy in my situation is drombo. In our language the word literally means “guest,” but it also is a euphemism for “homosexual (passive) partner.” Because of Wangdu’s status and visibility, I became a very well-known drombo, and my reputation sometimes caused more trouble than I could handle. For example, once a powerful monk from the Sera Monastery became attracted to me and made several abortive attempts to abduct me for sexual pleasure. The monks of Sera included many famous dobdos, or “punk” monks. These were accepted deviant monks who carried weapons and swaggered through the streets, standing out in a crowd because of their openly aggressive manner and distinctive way of dressing. They were also notorious for fighting with each other to see who was toughest and for their sexual predation of lay boys. All schoolboys in Lhasa were fair game for these dobdos, and most tried to return from school in groups for protection against them.

[Cont. 3/4]

>>149102420
>I knew for some time that I was being pursued and had several close calls. But I was always able to escape until one fateful day when that monk caught me after a gadrugba performance in Lhasa and forcibly took me to his apartment in the monastery. He made me a prisoner, threatening me with beatings if I tried to escape or I refused to cooperate with him sexually. It was distasteful, but he released me after two days. The incident, however, reawakened my ambivalent feelings toward traditional Tibetan society. Once again its cruelty was thrust into my life. I wondered to myself how monasteries could allow such thugs to wear the holy robes of the Lord Buddha. When I talked to other monks and monk officials about the dobdos, they shrugged and said simply that that was just the way things were.

>Wangdu was frustrated and angry with what happened, but knew he couldn’t say or do anything because the monk who kidnapped me was famous for his ferocity and brutality. Despite his position, Wangdula was afraid of becoming the target of retribution. The situation was made worse because this incident was not the only attempt of this sort. Other monks were attracted to me as well, and for a period of time I was in almost constant danger of being kidnapped. On several other occasions these attempts were successful. Each such episode infuriated Wangdula but also solidified the ties between us. He wasn’t simply angry at being bested. He genuinely cared about me and my welfare, and while I did not feel sexually attracted to him, I couldn’t help responding to his affection and concern. Moreover, I appreciated the good things he had done and was willing to do for me. And I liked him after a fashion. I think because of his sympathy for my desire to learn and because of the many stressful experiences we shared in those early years, a very strong bond developed between us that lasted until his death.

[Cont. 4/4]

>>149100989
what did you expect them to do, spend an entire season flashing back a hundred years for Aang's daily life in the Air Temple while nothing much of consequence happened?

>>149100620
One thing is for sure. The original ATLA would never be greenlit nowadays because of the references to Tibet and the Dali Lama. Both because of the Chinese government funding paramount, and because the Dali Lama had to have the worst sort of senior moment.

>>149102507
>>149100989
Nobody complained when Star Wars oversimplified buddhism for the Jedi, Sith, and the Force.

>>149100397
>opium of the masses
Fucking dumbass commie

>>149100367
>tool for asians to enforce their caste system
It was because of the caste system you fucking retard. It made the misery of life bearable.

>>149102376
Faggot

the Free Tibet CIA China bad shit from the 90s infested radio head who love israel

>>149100367
>>149100688
buddhism doesn't have a caste system, you christian right wing moron. you're confusing hinduism with it

avatar isn't solely based on buddhism either, you are so fucking dumb

>>149100397
>>149102545
Useful reminder that Marx himself, like many of his sickly contemporaries during the 19th century, regularly consumed opium to help him deal with the pain generated by his chronic illnesses.

>>149100397
Because the masses are so fucking stupid they need a "how to" guide on not fucking up. Literally both Buddhism and Christianity have to say it directly you're not special and stop acting like a faggot. Then give rules on how to not act like a faggot. The fairy tale shit is for low IQ types like you.

>>149103354
Kys troon

>>149100883
the buddhist countries have yet to be granted their slice of DEMOCRACY by America.
Yet.

>>149102366
He hates liberals

>>149103382
Brain rot.

>>149100929
NTA, but just off the top of my head, Tibet, Thailand, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Cambodia are overwhelmingly Buddhist, Sri Lanka and Laos are close behind, then you get Mongolia which has a narrow majority, followed by Japan who's like a 3rd Buddhist by numbers.

While not shining examples of having their shit together, a few of those are pretty fucking poor, it is true that broadly they're stable and not super prone to having insane faggotry compared to other places, and when they do it's usually more under control. SE.Asia for example is basically the only place where trannies are still at pre-2016 levels of crazy for example where it's just "I'll try super hard to fill as many feminine functions as possible, and accept that there's some I can't, and so long as I behave you'll allow me to politely call myself a woman unless it's relevant" rather than the technicolor screaming lardwhales who insist they're women and don't have to try though because the gender binary isn't real we have over here as a comparison.

No idea if that actually has anything to do with the Buddhism though because IIRC Malaysia's mostly Muslim and they actually weaponized femboys and tradfem trannies against homosexuals and caused some kind of LGBT civil war IIRC.

>>149101300
Hong Kong in specific got quietly nuked by Covid, which makes sense when you realize that Covid was probably originally intended to be used to justify cracking down on the protests at the time in a way that had a figleaf only for everyone to just run with it when it got loose.

>>149101896
>Unfortunately it got replaced with an even worse muslim fetishism.
Nobody in the west likes Islam, lefties just love Muslims because they're brown.

>>149102341
>>149102378
>>149102420
>>149102450
I'm not sure what your goal was in posting this but I found it interesting and enjoyed reading it

>>149100146 (OP)
Nah that's everything to do with Sokka and Katara, they're too ordinary and nonindicative to appeal to present-day audiences.

>>149102107
You sound like a faggot slurper for western asian larps minus any of the cool morally grey wuxiakino

>>149102529
Star wars wasn't trying to be fantasy asians the series

>>149100146 (OP)
>>149100989
To be fair, it's not unique to them, they were following a kind of cultural phenomenon that existed among the beatniks and hippies who wanted to reject Christian morality and so embraced Zen Buddhism, and that accidentally got correlated with Tibetan Buddhism, which came was a different sect.

>>149107758
What would an Eastern "Christian" look like?

>>149107758
I'm a Japanese guy living in the US who actually goes to a Japanese Shin Buddhist temple on Sundays.

There is sutra chanting in every service at the temple. But there is no meditation, there is no yoga, there is no chakras. I don't recall the reverend ever saying "Dalai Lama." He talks a lot about Siddhartha Gautama and Shinran though.

I get it that there are many different sects of Buddhism. I really just care about my own local temple. I don't care so much about what goes on in Tibet or Shaolin Temples in China or in some New Age hippie temple.

The story with these white hippies is always the same at my temple. I see them come once, MAYBE twice. But never 3 times. It's pretty clear that these white hippies don't want to spend their Sunday surrounded by Japanese people who really aren't all that into their yoga, manifesting, crystals, and New Age stuff.

>>149107776
No idea. Eastern Christians are usually... actually Christians.

>>149100146 (OP)
Wait a second. This isn't actually a thread about Avatar!

>>149100397
>deflects to Christians
>Marx quote
>>>reddit

>>149107776
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimeCatholicism

>>149100146 (OP)
Once you notice that no Asians actually care the Avatar series, it becomes impossible to ignore.

>>149108312
Shut up ESL