by Michael DiMartino and Brian Koneitzko
Okay, okay, I confess, I'm cheating!!!! But I can't help it! Avatar: The Last Airbender is a television show that ran from 2005-2008. The title of the blog says Jana's
Books but this is good enough I'd be remiss not to recommend it here.
The world of Avatar draws heavily on Asian/Eastern culture. It has 4 different societies or cultures, each growing up around one of the four elements-air, water, earth, and fire. Those with a particular talent may be able to 'bend' their native element. There should always be one Avatar living at a time who is an exception to this rule he (or she) has the ability to master all four elements.
At the opening of the story, the Fire Nation started their conquest for world domination 100 years ago. No one has seen or heard of the Avatar in all this time. Katara, a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe is fishing with her brother Sokka when she comes across an iceberg with someone trapped inside. She frees him and the pair learn quickly that this kid is the Avatar. Aang is a flighty, goofy 12 year old boy who wants to have fun and prefers to flee responsibility when he can.
Unfortunately Aang's reappearance is noted by Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Prince Zuko's single minded purpose in life is to capture the Avatar for his nation in order to regain his honor. He is angry and overly dramatic, but somehow vulnerable and endearing even from the first episode. Aang and his new friends travel the world helping Aang learn to become the Avatar, while Zuko stalks a step behind.
After the series ends the graphic novels pick up. I love the post-war stories where the Gaang (Aang's group, it's funny dangit, laugh!) finds waging peace is so much harder than ending a war. They return with all their vivacity and stumbling wisdom. I strongly recommend The Promise to everyone who loves Avatar-I got choked up in that one too.
What I Love: This list will be very long
1) None of the characters are flat. Katara seems at the beginning to be your stereotypical heroine, but you start to see that she is so much more complex than that. Iroh is Zuko's goofy, lazy uncle. But when things get tough he shows his true colors. I want to be Iroh when I grow up. Sokka may provide comic relief but we see him grow from cocky teenage boy into a true leader. There are 5 main protagonists and we see each of them go through a coming of age journey
2) Again, the adults are not stupid. There's a legitimate reason the children and not the adults are responsible for saving the world. Come to think of it, not all the adults are that intelligent in this show. Not all the kids are either. All the characters are individual with their own strengths and weaknesses.
3) Cultural Diversity. There are four main cultures and they are all very different. Sometimes they're at conflict and sometimes they work together. Either way they have to work at understanding each other. I love that each culture has different values. The Water Tribe values community above all else, whereas the Earth Kingdom values individuality. Not necessarily opposites, but incorporating both is hard.
4) The love stories made me happy. Not sayin' more than that.
5) My friend said the ending was more perfect than it possibly could have been. I agree. I'm not telling you a single thing that happens, but the ending was a perfectly happy moment in my life.
6) Relationships. This includes more than romance. I love the brother/sister relationships in this show. I love the way families are portrayed. Not all families are strong/stable in this story. Even the ones that are have their struggles. I like that it doesn't resolve family problems for the characters. It merely presents what families are like. One of the themes is that you are never indifferent about your family. Love them or hate them, they will always be part of you.
7) The Issues. I think this show stays child safe, but it tackles a lot in a child safe way. We see repressive government, child abuse, treachery, hatred, grief, war crimes, war, and myriad other dilemmas. This waters nothing down. It also doesn't explore the darker side of these themes and is never graphic in what they show. But do we really protect children by showing them only the good side of life? I love this for the truth that goodness can be at it's strongest in these trying circumstances. In reality the portrayal of social issues is optimistic because no matter how bad the bad is, good still has a chance to win.
8) The good guys don't win every single fight. Sometimes they do everything right, but it still doesn't work out. We love the characters more when we can relate, and there is genuine suspense. They don't even win all the important fights. The characters suffer devastating losses and then they put themselves back together and keep up the good fight. I cried some big tears in this show.
9) Disability. This is the one and only time I have fully loved the portrayal of a disabled character. She is independent and able to manage for herself. Managing her disability is something she doesn't think about day to day. She just lives her life. But she also has limitations. I hate the Professor X from X-Men doesn't have any problems from not being able to walk. Toph may have some special abilities because she's blind, but she also can't read and needs help from sighted people from time to time. She is also comfortable with who she is. I see a lot of myself in her and I love having a strong, but real, disabled character.
10) There is an array of diverse, strong female characters
Cautions
1) In season three the 15/16 year old characters are sexually active. I'm almost positive kids couldn't pick up on that, but it's there.
2) Goofiness. Yes, my cautions are still things I love. I love that our 12-16 year old ensemble acts their ages. Do you remember how suave you were in middle school? Yeah, it's like that. The romance especially is awkward, as it should be. Also, the kids mess around a lot. My favorite episode-"Ember Island Players" is almost nothing but awkwardness. It makes me laugh and it makes me happy I'm not still there.
3) As mentioned above, the hard issues are here. Abusive families, war crimes, bereavement, genocide, oppression, we've got it. That said, I'm excited to show it to my 6 year old nephew because it's handled with such a light touch I don't think he'll notice those issues without knowing what to look for.
I'm excited to have these on dvd because when I have children, I want them to grow up with this story.
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