Big Worlds On Small Screens: Rebecca Fisher Discusses “Avatar: The Last Airbender—Season One”
Introduction:
Hello again, this is Rebecca Fisher, here as promised last week to bring you a series of posts focusing on the enjoyment, creativity and imaginative power of fantasy/sci-fi film and television. Up first is Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of my very favourite animated shows. Because it’s such a rich and multifaceted program this post will concentrate mainly on season one, and the best way to introduce you to it is to describe how I was introduced to it.
I was babysitting three boys aged seven to eleven when an animated show I’d never seen before came on the TV. Suddenly they all sat up straight and began pointing at the screen, telling me that this was a show they would happily watch for hours and hours if given the chance, all said with that earnest seriousness that every seven-to-eleven year old has when discussing something they enjoy. Obviously, I watched the episode with them. After returning home later that day, I switched on my computer and immediately ordered the complete DVD box set.
Yeah, all on the basis of one episode. It’s really that good.
Where To Start
It’s hard to know where to start with Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s packed so full of creativity and ingenuity in regards to story, character and world building that trying to describe it to another person usually just results in excited gibberish. So it’s just as well I have the advantage of writing everything down in an orderly manner. I think the strength of any successful fantasy drama lies in the aforementioned story, character and world building working together to create a well-rounded viewing experience, and Avatar provides these things in abundance.
World Building
This is the world where the story takes place, one divided into four distinct cultures: the Fire Nation, the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads. Unlike your usual medieval European-based fantasy world, this one is heavily influenced by Asian cultures, and the architecture, written language, philosophy, clothing, food, customs and physical appearance of the characters all have Eastern origins. That straight off indicates the unique nature of this series.
Even more original is the art of “bending”. Best described as a combination of martial arts and elemental magic, bending is the ability to manipulate air, water, earth or fire. Not everyone in the world has this innate gift, but those who possess it can use it for any number of things, from combat to household chores, hard labour to playing games. As the show goes on, it becomes apparent that this ability is linked to a person’s personality, community and spirituality, and that a person’s skill at bending can be improved with training. Also, it’s really cool to watch.
But that’s not all! Benders can only ever bend the element they are born to, leading to the terms earthbender, firebender and so on. But there is one individual who can master power over all four elements, and here’s where we get into the plot.
Premise:
The individual known as the Avatar is a soul reincarnated through thousands of years of history who can manipulate all four elements; who carries with him/her the wisdom of all his/her past lives; and who is charged with maintaining peace between the four nations. However, prior to the beginning of the show’s inception two drastic events occur. Hey, I’ll let the opening narration spell it out:
“Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most – he vanished. A hundred years passed…”
The person talking is Katara, a young Water Tribe girl (and waterbender) who is fishing in the icy regions of the South Pole when she, along with her brother Sokka, makes an extraordinary discovery: a young boy and his wind bison trapped in a huge block of ice. Having just re-read that sentence I realize how strange this whole thing sounds, but bear with me.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the boy they’ve uncovered is the Avatar, and Katara in particular is excited about the fact that hope has returned to the world after so long. But Aang is reluctant about his role as Avatar: not only is he just twelve years old, but his responsibilities to the world are daunting. He needs to learn water, earth and firebending in order to supplement his airbending skills so that he can defeat the Fire Lord Ozai. In other words, a tween has to go up against a grown man in order to save the world. And what’s worse? That there’s a time limit to Aang’s training.
Though the story begins in winter, the approaching summer heralds the return of Sozin’s Comet, a source of power for the firebenders that will render them twice as strong once it reaches the planet’s orbit. Currently the Fire Nation is still invading various parts of the world, and now they’re on the hunt for the long-lost Avatar.
Oh, and did I mention that during Aang’s sojourn within the iceberg, all of his fellow Air Nomads were wiped out of existence?
As you can see from this synopsis, a huge amount of time and detail is poured into this series, though the first season is relatively straightforward.
Storyline: Season One:
Called Book 1: Water, Season One involves Aang’s journey from the South Pole to the North in search of a waterbending teacher, passing through the Earth Kingdom, a couple of the Air Nomad temples, and even a Fire Nation island on the way. On his trail is Prince Zuko, a banished prince from the Fire Nation who is allowed to return from exile only if he captures the Avatar.
Perhaps the show’s most complex character, Zuko could have very easily been a one-dimensional villain out to thwart our heroes, but is instead rendered a complicated young man with a high code of honour who is torn between his duty to his nation, his desire to return home, and his deep-seated awareness of right and wrong. With him is his uncle Iroh, an ex-general gone to seed (at least a little bit) who provides encouragement and levity to his nephew as they pursue Aang.
The Characters
As the episodes go on, we learn more about each character’s backstory (particularly how and why Zuko got that nasty burn on his face) and watch them grow and develop as each new experience shapes them. Along with Aang, Katara and Sokka we get to meet other neat characters, such as Suki, a girl who leads a team of female warriors, or Jet, a freedom fighter with a dark streak, or Bumi, an elderly king who goes about ruling his kingdom in a highly unorthodox way. Plenty of people, concepts and locations are introduced in the first book that are brought back or given greater significance in the next two seasons.
It all comes to an epic conclusion once the trio (with Zuko close behind) reach the North Pole and the beautiful Northern Water Tribe city. Here Katara struggles with a sexist waterbending master and Sokka falls for a beautiful princess, all of which is put aside when the Fire Nation fleet arrives. Hopelessly outnumbered, Aang makes a bid for reinforcements by travelling into the spirit world in order to seek guidance from a terrifying creature that dwells there…
Why You Should Watch “Avatar: The Last Airbender”
Seriously, it’s awesome. I could rave about it for pages yet, but I’ll finish up with three final reasons why you should check out this show:
1. It has a beginning, middle and end.
This isn’t a show that’s cut short at its peak, or one that carries on long past its use-by date. Instead it’s a complete story, which starts out strong in its first part, becomes richer and deeper in its second, and comes to a definitive conclusion in its third. Though there are a few filler episodes, almost every single chapter of this story adds to the richness of the world and lays the seeds for things that can be explored later. The character development is wonderful, whether it be Zuko conflicted by his past, Aang struggling to accept his future, Katara reconciling her motherly qualities with her lost childhood, or Sokka getting over his chauvinism and becoming a leader in his own right.
2. There’s plenty of diversity in regards to gender and race.
Because this story is set in a world based on Eastern influences and in an Asian setting, the characters themselves reflect this heritage. Katara and Sokka are Inuit, Aang is Tibetan, and Zuko is Chinese – or at least fantasy world equivalents. Furthermore, there are plenty of great female characters who can be anything from hardened warriors to delicate princesses, and each one shows strength and vulnerability and three-dimensionality in their own way – and there’s plenty more of them to come in Book Two!
3. Beautiful Animation.
At times the artwork for this show reaches movie-level quality. Everything is gorgeously rendered, from the design of the characters to the locations that they visit to the manipulation of the four elements that benders can achieve. Between the creativity of the writers and the animators, the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender sucks you in with its beauty and makes you enthusiastic about exploring this world along with the characters.
So despite how elaborate I’ve made this show sound, it’s amazingly cohesive and consistent, revealing just enough exposition at just the right times to get you hooked and hungry for more. The world of Avatar has its own culture, history and mythology, and part of the joy in watching is the excitement of discovery, whether it’s the people, the places or the backstories that emerge with each new episode.
Conclusion:
On a final note, the worst thing you could do for yourself is to assume that this is strictly a children’s cartoon. Even from the first few episodes it’s clear that this is a show that deals with hefty issues such as sacrifice, loss and the cost of war, and each character (even those who initially seem like comic relief) have emotional depth and complex backstories.
So, in conclusion – watch it.
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Next time: a look at a New Zealand made fantasy series that incorporates magic, time-travel and circus performers in the midst of a dystopian world: Maddigan’s Quest.
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About The Reviewer:
Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com and her own LiveJournal blog.
To read Rebecca’s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, click on Big Worlds On Small Screens.
My nephew introduced me to Avatar and like you, one show and I was hooked! Thanks for that comprehensive overview 🙂
Hi Rebecca,
Interesting that you think of Zuko as “Chinese”. I have always thought of the Fire nation as being a Japan analogue, and the Earth nation as being China.
Cheers
Andrew
Actually, you’re probably right, especially considering how Chinese/Japanese history reflects the Fire Nation/Earth Kingdom tension. I suppose in my mind’s eye I’ve just always associated pagodas (heavily featured in the Fire Nation) as Chinese, even though they’re found all over East Asia.
Your review encouraged me to give it a go. I had to source the DVDs first.
Your review is a good recommendation for both adults and children alike. I am enjoying watching this on DVD.
Like Andrew who posted earlier, I thought the Fire nation was more similar to historic Japan, than China.
Wow, it’s always great to hear from someone trying something because of your recommendation! I hope you enjoy it!