"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. 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, my brother and I discovered the new avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he's still got a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."
About a year ago, I started watching a cartoon on Nickolodeon on Saturday mornings. I was flipping channels early on that Saturday and I stumbled upon a cartoon on Nick. I found it interesting for the animation of the cartoon reminded me of the cartoons of the 1980's such as Transformers and G.I. Joe. After watching that first episode, I wanted to see more of the cartoon. To my delight, another episode was broadcast and I was in heaven. The next Saturday I was scheduled off work and I made sure to get up on time to watch the same cartoon. It became a ritual for me on my Saturdays off that I dreaded going to work when I was schedule on weekends. The title of this cartoon is "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The blockquote above is the opening sequence to the show.
I found it interesting that a 30 year man with two master's degrees would be addicted to such a show. I will say that Avatar: The Last Airbender has great characters, character development, humor, moments of sadness, and plot. There are moments when I tear up because the scenes are so touching. I also confess that I have a favorite character and his name is Uncle Iroh. However, I like all the characters and the presence they bring to the show. Most importantly, this show has many parallels to what is going on in our country and world wide.
For those of you who do not know here is a brief snipet of the Avatar: The Avatar is a powerful bending spirit that is reincarnated into the four nations of the world in a cyclical fashion. The four nations are: the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Each nation is known for bending one of the four elements: water, earth, fire, or air. The earthbenders learned eartbending from the Badger Moles, waterbenders learned waterbending from the Moon, Firebenders learned from the dragons, and airbenders learned from the Sky Bison. The Avatar is master of all four elements and provides balance to the world so that no one nation is more powerful than the other.
When the story begins, the world has been at war with the Fire Nation for 100 years. The Avatar has not been seen in those one hundred years and has been missing. Furthermore, when the war began, the fire lord conducted a massive genocide of the Air Nomads for the next Avatar would be an Air Nomad in order to kill the world's only chance for peace. After those 100 years, two teens from the Southern Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka, find a boy in an iceberg. We later find out that this boy is the last air bender and thereofore the Avatar. The Avatar's name is Aang and his is 12 years, but chronologically 112. Aang, Katara, and Sokka embark on a journey so that Aang can master all four elements and face the fire lord. Along the way they will have allies to help them in their journey and a good share of enemies, especially banished Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.
What I have found interesting about this cartoon are the parallels to real life. In the third season, we learn that Avatar Roku, the avatar before Aang, was from the Fire Nation and a friend of Fire Lord Sozin. However, as both men grew up they both had different views of the world. Roku wanted peace, while Sozin wanted to expand his empire and that meant war. When Roku finds out that Sozin has started to colonize parts of the Earth Kingdom, he becomes angry at Sozin. It is here that I see a parallel to real life. Sozin tells Roku that his alliance is first to the Fire Nation, anything less and he is a traitor. Right or wrong the Avatar must agree with the Fire Lord, but the Avatar has a duty to the world. Have we not seen that in real life? Does not one of the political parties use patriotism as a political tool to get their way? When people oppose this party, then they are labeled as traitors who do not love the U.S. Time in and time out we have seen that this tactic has been used to the political benefit of one political party and not the good of the country.
The next parallel I see is the war itself. Fire Lord Sozin started the war preemptively to expand his empire and it has gone on for 100 years . He wanted to share the beauty and benefits of his people and culture with the rest of the world. However, the world has become a place of displacement, strife, and fear. People around the world despise the Fire Nation for causing others to suffer. Do we not see this with the war that is going on? We just passed the five year anniversary of the war and it shows no signs of abetting. This war was begun preemptively and based on lies. We were told that it was for WMD's, to stop attacks, and then for freedom. What has happened? People have become displaced and there is strife among those we went to war with. The people also live in fear of dying due to this war. In this country, we live in fear for our economy is in the gutter due to the finanacial strain of this war. Even more interesting is the fact that certain presidential candidates want to stay in this war for another 100 years. Do we really want that?
When Aang attends a school in the Fire Nation in disguise, he learns how the Fire Nation teaches the history of the war. He learns that Fire Lord Sozin launched an attack against the Air Nomand armies and defeated them. Aang is confused for the Air Nomands were monks who did not believe in combat and did not have any army. The Air Nomands preached a philosophy of peace and believed that all life is sacred. However, we can see that the Fire Nation is very good at spreading propaganda into young minds and in the rest of the people in order to keep support for the war going. Have we not seen this with the current government? We were fed pro war propaganda by a complicit and braindead meida in order to drum up support for the war. We were told that the war was just and needed for the saftety of our country and our lives. Now five years later, we still told that the war is good and that everything is great in the war. As a historian, I found it interesting that the Avatar would have this interesting bit. History is always written from the prospect of the victors without the losers' input. What you end up having is a lopsided view of a particular event, place, or person. This is so true in our current state of events here in this country.
The last parallel I see is the new Avatar, Aang himself. He has provided the people of the world with hope that the war will end. Aang must conquer his fears, overcome his reluctant attitude at being the Avatar, and master all four elements in order to face Fire Lord Ozai, grandson of Fire Lord Sozin. Along the way, Aang will face dissapoinments, failures, and a good share of triumphs. Of course he is not alone for he counts on the help of his friends Katara, Sokka, Toph, Appa, Momo and some unlikely allies. He will also grow and mature in his journey to bring peace. The main thing Aang represents is hope to right the wrongs of the past. We see this in our reality with one of the presidential candidates. This candidates has inspired many to believe that change is possible and that we can do that. This candidate has offered us hope for a better future. Most importantly, he has offered us the possiblity to right the wrongs of the past.
The Avatar is one of the best animated shows I have seen in a great while. I am hooked on this show that I do not miss the episodes on television. I also have bought the first two complete seasons, Books 1 and 2 (Water and Earth) on DVD. The third season or book (Fire) is still showing on television. I have heard that this show will end when the third season finishes later this year. It will be sad to say goodbye to this show. However, live actions movies are being planned right now and they are to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan. If you have a chance, pick up the Avatar and watch it. It is a great show for kids, adults, or the whole family. As I said before, I love all the characters, but Uncle Iroh is my favorite character. I also like the character of Prince Zuko for he is a tragic character. You don't like him at first, but then you feel sorry for him. What is Zuko's part in the epic of Avatar? Watch the show to find out.
I hope you like my analysis of this show to real life. Comments are welcomed. If there are any fellow Avatar fans, I welcome your feedback as well. If you want more information on the show please click here.