I'm sorry if I implied that Azula could possibly be "nice" in that way, or that she'd develop what we'd consider good intentions, because I didn't mean to come across that way. I think I was trying to allude more to what you said, about doing what she can to get people to like her and protect the Fire Nation instead of using the more forceful tactics we see her use in the series. You don't have to be "nice" to do what you think is the right thing, but you do have to have some sense of decency and empathy in order to achieve your goals and make your tactics in achieving them work. And I was questioning how capable she is in gaining that sense -- I'm not saying she flat-out can't, but that she might not be able to to the extent that I think you're implying.
But if she can fake feeling the 'right' way, and keep on faking it, I don't know if there's anything really wrong with that.
Because in the end, it doesn't matter if your intentions were pure or not, as long as some "good" was done, right? IDK, on one hand I totally get where you're coming from, but on the other hand I think this can get into some potentially dangerous territory -- it can be twisted into an "ends justify the means" argument, and a what point do the means stop being justifiable? (Of course, part of it too comes from my personal issues with people "faking it," so there's that too. :P)
You're absolutely right about Azula abandoning a lot of the qualities that would've made her a great leader because she saw those things as weaknesses and as qualities that she felt were being imposed on her -- that makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. Especially when she comes to emulate a lot of Ozai's behavior because, as you said, he's the only one in her life who enables her in some way.
Sorry if my thoughts are all over the place, as I haven't been entirely "with it" today. ^_^; A lot of what you said makes sense, but I just don't have as much faith that she would've been able to learn the importance of things like compassion and understanding so that she wouldn't be the "monster" we see in the series, or that the circumstances would've allowed it so that she could learn those things and become much stronger and more powerful (given that the Fire Nation had been subject to propaganda and a Fire Lord-centric personality cult for at least a century, which would make it really difficult, though certainly not impossible).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-12-11 01:35 am (UTC)But if she can fake feeling the 'right' way, and keep on faking it, I don't know if there's anything really wrong with that.
Because in the end, it doesn't matter if your intentions were pure or not, as long as some "good" was done, right? IDK, on one hand I totally get where you're coming from, but on the other hand I think this can get into some potentially dangerous territory -- it can be twisted into an "ends justify the means" argument, and a what point do the means stop being justifiable? (Of course, part of it too comes from my personal issues with people "faking it," so there's that too. :P)
You're absolutely right about Azula abandoning a lot of the qualities that would've made her a great leader because she saw those things as weaknesses and as qualities that she felt were being imposed on her -- that makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. Especially when she comes to emulate a lot of Ozai's behavior because, as you said, he's the only one in her life who enables her in some way.
Sorry if my thoughts are all over the place, as I haven't been entirely "with it" today. ^_^; A lot of what you said makes sense, but I just don't have as much faith that she would've been able to learn the importance of things like compassion and understanding so that she wouldn't be the "monster" we see in the series, or that the circumstances would've allowed it so that she could learn those things and become much stronger and more powerful (given that the Fire Nation had been subject to propaganda and a Fire Lord-centric personality cult for at least a century, which would make it really difficult, though certainly not impossible).