Growing up I used to watch a lot of cartoons. Like any other kid, I used to love laughing at Spongebob, being shocked at the plot twists in Gravity Falls, and waking up early to watch Kids Next Door. These shows meant so much to me because they provided endless entertainment, and they taught meaningful lessons. However, I think the one show that had the greatest impact on me was Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Avatar has so many things going for it that its hard to list them all in just one sitting. That being said, there are a few big reasons why I love this show so much. To start off, the world of Avatar is masterfully built. I was completely engrossed in learning the customs, culture, and nature of all four of the nations present in the show. Specifically, in each nation, there was a different elemental bending style: water, earth, fire, air. Based on the bending style of the nation, there was a different culture and personality attached to it that became a part of the people who lived there. The air benders were free-spirited, the water benders were adaptable to any situation, the earth benders were tough, and fire benders were precise and calculated. However, this didn’t mean that all the members of a nation had the same type of personality. Each character still had a sense of uniqueness which stopped them from all falling into the same cookie-cutter character based on their nation. This made it very easy to fall in love with characters in each nation. Seeing this as a kid, allowed me to learn the values of learning about different cultures.
The single biggest thing that had an impact on me was probably Avatar’s main characters. The whole main cast of heroes are all deep, complicated, and hilarious. To me, the one who stands out the most is the protagonist Aang: a 12-year-old boy who is tasked with saving the world from the villainous Fire Lord. At his core, Aang is still just a child; he prefers to play with his pets and play harmless pranks on his friends. Yet, despite this, he still has the weight of the world on his shoulders. A 12-year-old boy is somehow expected to bring peace to the world by killing the Fire Lord. One of the biggest parts of Aang’s character is his air nomad upbringing. He was raised to value all life and to only use violence when absolutely necessary, so when it came time for him to confront the Fire Lord, he was confused on what to do. Instead of actually killing him, he found another way and took his fire bending away. To me, this is why Aang is such a compelling character: he was able to stay true to his beliefs and didn’t compromise with something he didn’t believe in. He was able to find another solution to his problem despite being told by all his friends that there was no other solution. Being able to see Aang find solutions to his problems while having all the pressure of the world on him inspired me to not give up when it came to my own life. I learned that regardless of the situation, if you have the will to stay true to yourself and find another way, anything can be accomplished.
For me, Avatar wasn’t just a typical cartoon that kids would only watch once. It had such a huge impact on a younger, more impressionable version of me that I can’t help but attribute my growth to it. I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without Avatar.
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