scene shocked me too... I was so ready for aang to unleash his supersayan avatar powers... then BAM. Unexpected. But hey, it's what I watch the show for.
I love katara's hair down or up, with or without the loopies. But I'm hoping since she's had the loopies for two season now, that they subtly get rid of them. Some sign that she's growing up or something.
nice pic.

Thanks!

Loopies rule....0^_^0

--
"Put an apple on your head, and we'll find out how good I am!"

When Toph punches Aang, it's called chemistry; when Mai teases Zuko, it's called insensitivity.

I dig it. Simple but I dig the shading on Aang's ear and neck.

I know I'm being nitpicky, but I don't agree that it's meant to mirror Michelangelo's Pieta.

(Not that it entirely matters, but I am a graduate student in art history, though of the Roman Empire and not Michelangelo).

I would call the resemblance "slight." That is, the only resemblances exist because that's how you would hold a limp body that you caught in free fall.

Notice the differences -- for example, notice the relative position of the legs. Notice that Aang's face is tilted TOWARD Katara; Jesus' face is angled away from Mary. Aang's right arm crosses over his body; Jesus' is along his side. Mary's left hand isn't holding Jesus; Katara's is.

Too many important differences to be meant to evoke the Pieta.

Any superficial resemblance has to do with (1) the constraints of aesthetics in genera and, as I said, (2) the fact that you'd naturally have to hold a limp body (that you caught in free fall) that way.

Well, um....[blown out of the water]

I wouldn't say that it's a coincidence. I don't think they TRACED the Pieta, but it is definitely similar...and the identities are extremely similar (Katara being the woman who brought Aang, the world's savior, into the world), and she's catching him...she's in blue....

I think it was an opportunity they couldn't pass up.

Excellent observations, but....I'm going to be stubborn about this.

Also, if you are a student in Art History of the Roman Empire, I wonder...have you caught the reference with Ursa? When she leaves Zuko, she puts her hood up....I found that similar to the works in the Capitoline museum depicting Marcus Aurelius and the sacrifices, and the statue of Augustus....veils up while performing the sacrifice....she is going to make a sacrifice for her son.

The creators know what they are doing, and I think this was a deliberate reference. Not a copy, not a sudden WHOA, PIETA!!! in the series....just a little bell-ding for people.

I mean, the complete Pieta pose would have looked rather silly in the scene, as well....

Different, yes, but similar.

--
"Put an apple on your head, and we'll find out how good I am!"

When Toph punches Aang, it's called chemistry; when Mai teases Zuko, it's called insensitivity.

That's fine. : ) I'm still very skeptical though.

In art history, we see many things that resemble other things. One of the main tenants of art history is that just becuase one thing is similar to another thing doesn't mean that that one thing copied that other thing (or was even inspired by it). Two things can end up looking quite alike for completely different reasons. I think it would take studying art history for me to show this on a satisfactory level.

That's why I'm very skeptical. I can't get inside the creators brain (wait until the DVD commentary, I guess?), so I obviously can't know for sure they didn't base it on the Pieta. But the thing is, art that is based on other art . . . while it does not "copy" or "trace" (as you put it), inevitably draws out certain key features to replicate. And unfortunately, all or 90% of the key features that make the Pieta distinct from "anybody holding any ol' limp body" are absent. That's why I'm skeptical.

Compare that with the way the palace of Ba Sing Se evokes one of the gates to the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are definite differences (the most obvious being the earth kingdom symbol), but while it is not an exact copy or tracing, it manages to evoke the Forbidden City by maintaining certain key features that are not universal to "any old gate anywhere."

(Also, that bring up another point: the creators draw on East Asian art for references, not Western art. There are odd references here and there (like the name "Ursa" which is Latin for bear or "Toph" which is Hebrew for a frame drum), but they are the exception rather than the rule.)

(From a literary standpoint . . . I also doubt it because the focus in that scene was the romantic angle. Casting Katara as Mother Mary would go against the flow of that entire part.)

In the end, it's mostly Occam's razor at work here -- why go for an explanation that involves making an art history reference (while changing all the important parts) when you could more easily explain it as the way someone holds a limp body you've caught in free fall.

As for Ursa and Marcus Aurelius . . . that's correct, Roman priests drew their togas over their heads when officiating in sacrifice. But as with the Pieta, why explain this as a reference to Roman custom when it could simply be explained as Ursa departing under cover of shadows? When Aang and Gaang put hoods up in "The Deserter," they were trying to sneak around, not officiate at a sacrifice. Ursa was trying to go *poof.* Hence the drawing the hood over the head.

To each his own, I guess.

Still, it's nice having a scholarly debate...never really done this before....I've done so many non-scholarly debates (mainly focusing on the Harry Potter books), but this...different. Very different.

I think it's more the angle and manner of the limp body that causes the viewer to infer that it resembles the Pieta...though I think it was implied. They could have made it look more like it, or less like it....

I dunno.

I stand by my opinion, and you can stand by yours--it's all interpretation, if one makes it as such.

--
"Put an apple on your head, and we'll find out how good I am!"

When Toph punches Aang, it's called chemistry; when Mai teases Zuko, it's called insensitivity.

i like it^_^

--
"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort - hermione " Security Guard: "You know, she is kind of a dork." Hannah:"i know but she's my dork." feel no shame for what you love^_^

Thankee!

--
"Put an apple on your head, and we'll find out how good I am!"

When Toph punches Aang, it's called chemistry; when Mai teases Zuko, it's called insensitivity.

Thankee!

--
"Put an apple on your head, and we'll find out how good I am!"

When Toph punches Aang, it's called chemistry; when Mai teases Zuko, it's called insensitivity.