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The Invasion Kiss
An Absolutely Massive Thread
An Absolutely Massive Thread
People who use this moment to attack Kataang tend to pretend it happened in isolation. They argue “Katara looked disappointed and uncomfortable” and “Aang didn’t get consent before kissing”. Both of these arguments only look at the invasion kiss without any context at all. +
Katara had great reason to appear less than ecstatic. As she points out in EIP, they are in the middle of a war. She has good reason to want no distractions. She intends to be fully focused on the war itself and a relationship wouldn’t help with that. +
More importantly, she has already seen Aang die once. She sat with him for weeks healing him before he awoke. There’s no way she wasn’t deeply affected by Azula’s merciless lightning blow to Aang, and there’s no way she’s forgotten that Aang is going to be facing +
an even more renowned firebender. She has shown above-average concern for those she is close to in this show, and she was clearly terrified for Aang. Does anyone really think that if Aang hadn’t kissed her on the sub, that she would be smiling as he flew away to face +
the Firelord? I certainly can’t picture it. Katara’s mood was not set by an unwanted kiss, but by months of agonizing stress, trauma, and desperate preparation for this decisive moment. Aang’s kiss was NOT what made her sad and anxious, though it probably didn’t help. +
The other big objection that I see is that Aang didn’t get consent before kissing Katara. It’s time to dive into the emotions on the other side of the kiss. Aang is dearly attached to everyone he befriends, and he grows close easily. He’s had an immense crush on Katara +
for months at this point, and desperately wants to not waste the time they have together, given that it could be their last few moments together while both of them are alive. Aang has been wanting to express his feelings for a long time, but usually only tries to when +
it is urgent. He tries to confess to her when they are parting ways in Ba Sing Se, and after the invasion, he gives his feelings a backseat until EIP when they become pressing and urgent again. Aang doesn’t want to miss the moment, especially since he has been doubting his +
own ability to defeat Ozai for some time now. He is just as aware as Katara that this fight may be his last— and he also knows that the Avatar State is unavailable to him. He is less than optimistic about his chances. This makes him on edge and impulsive, understandably so. +
Now to address actual consent. This would be a much bigger deal if it happened in isolation. But as with every other aspect of the kiss, it did not. It happened in the context of Katara nearly always being the one to initiate physical contact between them, it happened in the +
context of Katara having kissed Aang on the cheek many times, it happened in the context of Katara suggesting that they kiss in Book 2 (and it seems likely that it happened), and it happened in the context of their very romantic dance in “The Headband”, which included +
a near-kiss. Aang didn’t specifically ask Katara if he could kiss her, but to the best of our knowledge he’s done it before, and they have a lengthy history of romantic moments, nearly all of which Katara was responsible for (with the exception of the dance). +
To pretend that Katara’s sadness or Aang’s urgency were symptoms of discomfort or disrespect for boundaries (in that order) is to remove the kiss from every bit of context that the show gives to us, whether events or character traits. +
A deeply apprehensive Katara, who thinks it's not the right time, has a natural reaction to a kiss from Aang, who is equally apprehensive and doesn't want to waste any moments as his destiny approaches. They are very close and this is a boundary they've crossed before.
Thank you for coming to my TED rant I guess
P.S.: Aang’s sense of urgency with Katara was probably informed by his intense regret at the way he had left his people. He never got to say goodbye or have any final tender moments with them. He thinks about this deeply rooted trauma often, and it shows through.
P.P.S.: If there's anything I missed, let me know, though there's a good chance that it was covered in Min's excellent thread yesterday.
P.P.P.S.: When Aang kissed Katara, he had JUST SAID "What if I don't come back?" That quote filled Katara's mind and adequately sets the stage for the kiss and her subsequent concerned reaction. That’s all. I think I'm finally done now.