You're never too old to watch cartoons or read children novels. The Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender series have become worldwide sensations, each with a large adult following.
Well, it might be presumptuous of me to rank The Last Airbender with the popularity of Harry Potter. However, this kiddie cartoon also created a fantasy world complete with a rich culture, mythical creatures, and crazy adventures. Originally aired on Nickelodeon, the 3-part series follows an young monk, Aang, and his buddies as they travel to different nations, each with a unique culture and martial art ability that originated from the 4 elements (air, fire, earth, and water).
What makes this story so fascinating is that it introduces East Asian (primarily Chinese and Japanese) philosophy, culture, and theology to American children. The main characters are: Aang, a Buddhist monk; Katara and Sokka, who are from an Inuit tribe; Fong, a Han Chinese girl, and Zuko, a Japanese warrior.
The different geographical locations resemble scenes from ancient China and Japan, Buddhist temples, and the North occupied by Inuit tribes. These correspond to the Earth, Fire, Air and Water nations, respectively. The people of each nation have a unique fighting style that is analogous to the element's characteristics:
- Water nation (Inuit tribes) use "waterbending" which is Tai Chi
- Earth nation (the Chinese empire) uses "earthbending" which is Hung Gar
- Fire nation (the Japanese empire) uses "firebending" which is Kung Fu
- Air nation (the Buddhist monks) uses "airbending" which is Ba Gua
My pathetic description of the show doesn't do it justice. To better understand the background and character development, refer to the wikipedia entry. Or better yet, WATCH THE SHOW!!!
Although Avatar is a children's cartoon, it has a rich and intricate story. As an Asian American, I grew up watching Chinese movies and learning Eastern philosophy; it was so refreshing to see this being recognized in mainstream America, particularly among children!
But back to my plea for you to boycott M. Night Shyamalan's version of this beloved show.... Instead of leveraging the popularity of the show to broaden the awareness of Asian culture and diversity, he chose to kowtow to Hollywood's money-driven, distorted view of "diversity." He cast white actors to play the main characters! Not even Hapas; they're not good enough either!
Ok, I'm not going to play the "racism" card because that's not the real reason why I'm so disappointed in Shyamalan. In his defense--although a really bullshit reponse--he said that he DID cast a lot of Asian actors (as secondary or background actors) and plans to have the Earth nation be in Africa with African American actors. The latter comment really enrages me! That just shows you how little understanding of the story his guy really has! It's not that easy to substitute locations and people because they mean something to the story. Africa can't substitute for China: in an important scene, Iroh (Zuko's uncle) tries to teach Zuko about life and patience through the act of tea drinking. Imagine opening a tea shop in Africa ... WTF!! This "tea drinking" is a familiar Chinese ritual, and appears in many old-school martial art movies. Since Shyamalan cast Indian actors in these two roles, this very familiar East Asian philosophy practice loses its context. There are many other incongruous scenes, and each just distorts the essence of the original children storyline even more.
"The original series Avatar: The Last Airbender was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts." --- Roger Ebert.
Marketing 101: Do not lose track of your product and customers, especially your loyal customers. Not only do you lose followers, but the losses can snowball via negative word of mouth. Case in point, ME.
I'm very frustrated, disappointed and sad that they've turned a great learning experience into CGI porn (action without brains). Instead of watching this filth, check out the cartoon series! If you are going to see it, buy tickets for another movie and then sneak in. That way, you're not contributing to their revenue. =P
