Talk:Equalists/@comment-1533301-20111111235500

I think the Equalists come from a portion of the non-bending population that has a certain mindset, one where benders are mostly in charge of the governments and all have the coolest and highest-paying jobs, and keep all the wealth and political power to themselves, all because the average non-bender is still at a huge disadvantage against even amateur benders. If benders are the head of a government, and start a war, and benders fighting in that war cause a lot of death and destruction, who might you blame? In Republic City, you have gangsters and crime lords, who use fire benders and earth benders as muscle to intimidate and hurt others who can‘t effectively fight back, so who would they blame? Sure, the police may be made up of benders, but it is still a shot to one’s ego if you have to rely on somebody else to save you because you lack the power to defend yourself, your family and your property. It is humiliating. Sure, a few non-benders can rise above it and actually fight benders effectively, but that takes a lot of time and hard work, and you need somebody to teach you, and even then you are still at a disadvantage on your own. It gets even worse if the bending police, who are supposed to protect you, are corrupt, on the take, running their own protection rackets and/or abusing their power just so they can feel superior? Being bullied by corrupt cops who can bend elements is twice as bad; not only can they easily hurt you, trying to retaliate or even refusing to comply will likely get you branded a criminal and hauled off to jail, or worse. People victimized in situations like this tend to lose faith in the established order, and start looking for a messiah, often not caring how radical that messiah is. Amon comes along with his small group, preaching his message, and the frustrated, poor, and victimized non-benders listen to him. Amon’s highly-skilled Equalist thugs start protecting shop owners and such from predation by bending criminals and corrupt police, all no-strings attached, not asking for reward. These incidents show that non-benders CAN curb stomp benders, and that’s when people start joining. Amon provides the tools and training to his members, and fills their head with his anti-bender philosophy. New members find themselves surrounded by individuals who’s been victimized like them, and organized so that they work together protect each other, and hide their identities so that their enemies can’t arrest them or kill them one by one in their homes. As the group swells in numbers, Amon’s philosophy is repeatedly hammered into each member’s head so that you see divisions in neighborhoods and even families between benders and non-benders. The cops and the mob start loosing extortion money and are repeatedly made to look like fools, so they take harsher and harsher measures to stamp out the Equalists (being unable to identify members, they start terrorizing non-benders in the city for information), but that only drives up the number of people going to the Equalists for help, and gives Amon fodder to demonize the bender-controlled government, and the Equalists start to make bolder and bolder retaliatory attacks. Eventually, it will get to the point where the police go to government officials with the presented image of the Equalists as a terrorist group so that the government will give them the authority to combat the group, while the crime bosses will be using their influence over key politicians to support the same thing. These measures end up alienating the majority of the non-bending general public, and Amon paints this as persecution against non-benders, to justify his own persecution against benders. Of course, Amon is a mastermind playing both sides to elevate himself into power, and this is all a Xanatos Gambit. Korra’s arrival in the City could end up making the situation even worse, as her actions could inadvertently cause even greater support for the Equalists. Hell, she may even end up causing a Reichstag Fire Ploy for Amon to use. From what I can piece together in the trailer, there is an incident where Korra attacks a group of gangsters (who I am assuming are terrorizing someone), lobbing one through a storefront window, and shortly afterward is accosted by a shady-looking metal bending cop, who she flees from on Naga, causing at least one traffic accident. So on her first day in the city, she’s already made herself an enemy of both the mafia and the police, as well as the shop owner who’s storefront she demolished with one gangster, and the people in the car accident she caused fleeing the police. Later, she ends up joining a Pro-Bending team with Mako and Bolin, and although she may do great and gain herself some fans, to the non-bending public this could be construed as the Avatar, (who should be protecting them and keeping the peace), shirking her duties to selfishly pursue fame and fortune. From a description of her personality and a view of some concept art, Korra may have a tendency to cause property damage while combating the gangsters and the Equalists, which only makes her look reckless, destructive, and uncaring towards the people who get caught in the crossfire. There’s one shot in the trailer where Korra is sitting, hugging her knees, looking alone and miserable, which may be a result of the public turning against her.