Avatar, the Last Airbender TV Series- Better than the Movie?

If you have watched any of the TV series already, and you have seen the movie, you will know the answer to this question already. The movie works as a spectacle and looks great on the big screen but it's not something that will change anyone's life.

Avatar the Last Airbender TV series, on the other hand, is one of the most beautiful and richly thought out animations ever made.It contains enough insights and enough food for thought that it genuinely could change the way you see the world- a little at least!

What is The Last Airbender all About?

One of the charms of a long TV series is that it can be about a lot of things. Airbender offers the interplay of well drawn, credible characters, a fascinating storyline as it unfolds, epic subjects and the fascination of the philosophies that it explores- in this case past Eastern (Buddhist) and part Western (more than a touch of psych 101).

The Airbender's World

If you haven't any experience of either the movie or the TV series here is an outline of the Airbender's World

There are four nations- the fire nation, the water nation, the earth kingdom and the, almost extinct, air nation. Each nation has individuals with special powers over one of the four elements. They are called benders. Benders from the Fire Nation can bend fire. Benders from the Earth Nation can bend Earth and so on.

Ang is the last of the Air Nation. He is also the Avatar.

As Avatar he can bend all of the 4 elements- though when we first meet him he is a child who needs to learn these skills.

The bad guys are the Fire Nation. They are an industrialsied, militaristic nation who want to conquuer and dominate the whole world- think Japan or Germany, circa 1940. It is Ang's role to stop this and maintain a balance between the four elements and the four nations.

One of the interesting things about Avatar is that whilst some nations are 'good' and some are 'bad' not all the individuals in a particular nation are good or bad. Some characters like Zuko and his uncle- both from the Fire Nation- become good as they shed the attitudes they were taught during their Fire Nation upbringing.There is plenty insightful exploration of how the bad characters came to be bad- and how they change and redeem themselves.

At the same time, some characters in the 'good' nations are treacherous, untrustworthy or just plain mean. This is closer to life than any animation needs to go- unless it has integrity.

Avatar the Last Airbender Characters

The 3 main characters are Ang and his two companions Katara and Zuko.

Katara

If you were absolutely forced to have a big sister, Katara is the girl you would choose. She is responsible, caring. sweet and beautiful. She can say also cut her enemies in two with a water whip (useful in any playground). The downside is that she drives some people mad by playing Mom too often. Her jokes almost always fall flat too. Luckily she is so irresistible cute and emotionally honest, no one could ever hold this against her.

Soka

Soka has no special bending skills. He is funny, clever, resourceful and brave though. He can also wield a mean sword- after a lot of practice.

The 'Bad' Characters

Almost equally important are the 'bad' characters form the Fire Nation. We are invited to identify with these 'bad' characters as much as we are asked to identify with the good characters- and why not? Most of us have as many negative emotions as positive ones. We can can all be cruel, arrogant and selfish. There are some good portrayals of the terrible consequences of allowing these impulses to come out on top.

Each of the characters is making a personal journey as the narrative unfolds. They learn about themselves, they come to understand the forces that made them, they change and grow as they go on. Mostly they move in the direction of maturity, self-acceptance and genorosity of spirit.

Azula

Azula is the character who is most deeply wedded to her negative side and seems irredeemable.

She is also Zuko's sister. She is selfish, ambitious ruthless and arrogant. If there is any opertunity to put her brother down (or anyone else) she will take it. Can she be redeemed? You will have to watch the TV series through to the end!

Is all this really good for Kids?

The Last Airbender is not a heavy peice of drama. It is fun and fast with plently of action and humour. There is a thoughtful core to it, though, and this provides a hook for more thoughtful kids and for adults too. Wherever you find geeky TV shows and movies- the kind college kids go for- you will find the Last Airbender. It slips in next to HBO and BBC series like The Soprano's, Life on Mars. Malcolm in the Middle or Dr Who.

It also has fans who are proud to say- 'hey. thinking is gay'. There has to be room for these people too... sigh.

Ok, I've not had many good things to say about the movie. It is spectacular, though. If you haven't seen it, take a peek at the big fight between Katara and Zuko below, Then go get the TV series!

All the movie details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/

Fan Pics

There are about 7000 pics of Katara here. Mostly they were made by fans. Some are great, some are terrible. A few are of Katara the cat!

Katara Pics