Censorship in Asia and a:TLA
Censorship in A:TLA
In the Fire Nation, censorship and thought control are used widely to stop citizens from stepping out of line. An episode, "The Headband," reveals the life of normal school students in the Fire Nation. Their society is very strict and militaristic. In one classroom scene there are two prime examples of thought control. In the very beginning of class, they swear an oath to the Fire Lord consisting of statements regarding how wonderful their nation is and how strong and gracious their leader is. The protagonist later discovers that the school is teaching a fictitious account of the Air Nomad genocide, not talking about how they had ambushed the pacifists instead of fighting them fairly and implying that the Air Nomads had a standing army ready. They also imply that the war they are fighting is for the good and protection of all, instead of just the Fire Nation.
The whole society is organized around control and decorum, so far that even dancing isn't allowed. The arrival of Aang and his free spirit went against everything they had been taught, and they soon helped him rebel, showing that they had simply never been taught to think any other way than how the Fire Nation had forced them to think. The strict censorship and control over the new generations of the Fire Nation allows the government to keep taking advantage of its citizens with little regard to what they might be missing out on, and doesn't allow the new students the chance to decide for themselves what the future of the country will be.
The whole society is organized around control and decorum, so far that even dancing isn't allowed. The arrival of Aang and his free spirit went against everything they had been taught, and they soon helped him rebel, showing that they had simply never been taught to think any other way than how the Fire Nation had forced them to think. The strict censorship and control over the new generations of the Fire Nation allows the government to keep taking advantage of its citizens with little regard to what they might be missing out on, and doesn't allow the new students the chance to decide for themselves what the future of the country will be.
Censorship in china and north Korea
Similarly to the show, many governments use censorship and thought control to keep their citizens docile. In China, the government has been controlling the press for decades (Shu). The Cultural Revolution punished people who publicly opposed Mao Zedong's opinion and used widespread propaganda in an attempt to sway people to communism. The Red Book and Red Guards were widely used to convince or scare people into following along with communism ("Cultural Revolution"). In addition, censorship in North Korea has been an issue since the end of the Korean War. Sometimes called the "Hermit Kingdom," North Korea has very little communication with the outside world. Any person who steps out of line is risking the freedom of themselves and their families from "reeducation through labor" camps, prison camps. Most who are sent there don't survive their sentence, instead dying of starvation, exposure, or execution ("North Korea's moment of truth about its gulag").
Censorship is a central feature of totalitarian governments both real and fictional, because people who don't question the government are easier to control. A scholar explained that, "general consensus is a specific characteristic of autocratic regimes that last more than one generation, in contrast to nonautocratic ones wherein a measure of sharp dissent is unavoidable and may even be cultivated." This implies that not only is censorship common in a totalitarian government, but it may necessary. In order for an autocracy to function, they need all the people to agree on the same thing, removing many aspects of a given citizen's individual person hood.
Censorship is a central feature of totalitarian governments both real and fictional, because people who don't question the government are easier to control. A scholar explained that, "general consensus is a specific characteristic of autocratic regimes that last more than one generation, in contrast to nonautocratic ones wherein a measure of sharp dissent is unavoidable and may even be cultivated." This implies that not only is censorship common in a totalitarian government, but it may necessary. In order for an autocracy to function, they need all the people to agree on the same thing, removing many aspects of a given citizen's individual person hood.