Avatar The Last Airbender is not a kid’s show. I know I’m not the first one to say it. I won’t be the last.
The themes in the show are not themes young children can really understand. I was very young when I started watching, and only recently rewatched the whole entire thing.
And let me tell you, the difference was stunning.
As a kid, I saw people throwing rocks with their minds or throwing air, water, and fire with their hands. All of the messages about Yin and Yang, balance, and discovering yourself flew WAY over my head.
I mean, all I saw with Tui and La, was fish. Just fish. I didn’t think they had any special meaning, despite what the characters were saying around them. My whole entire focus was on “who’s gonna fight next” and cheering Aang on. Nothing else.
I didn’t understand the sacrifice Yue made either when she became the moon spirit, not until I was much older. I just thought she did it because she wanted to do it, not because the moon spirit had literally JUST BEEN SUCKER PUNCHED TO DEATH. Like I said, I thought it was just a fish. (I cried though. Poor fishy.)
I didn’t understand character development either. I hated Zuko from day one. I didn’t care that he made himself into a better man. I just didn’t like him. He was evil, always would be evil to child me. Hell, I hated him so much I hated Uncle Iroh. I hated anyone who was on his side. Kids don’t have the understanding that people can, and do, change. That’s why if you’re mean to a kid once, they’ll hold a grudge for a long ass time.
Bloodbending scared the ever loving shit out of me. Not because I understood what was really happening, but because Hama made it seem so horrible and the atmosphere was really well done. Now it is still scary, but because I understand that the person being bloodbent has absolutely NO CONTROL over anything their body does. And they’re still fully conscious of it. Imagining that is terrifying.
I didn’t understand the darkness in Katara either. I always thought she was nothing but a good person, that she could do now wrong. That she never would. Again, going back to not understanding the Yin/Yang messages and that people can and do change. I didn’t understand what pain could make you do because I was still too young to have experienced much.
And Azula. Much like Zuko, I hated her guts. Still do to a point, but when you look back at her childhood, you can see why she turned out the way she did. Her Mom didn’t have much time for her because she was too busy protecting Zuko from Ozai. Ozai used that to fuel her fire, to turn her into his version of what she should be. Pretty soon, all she cared about was power, just like her father.
As a child I was cheering when Azula was chained up after the Final Agni Kai. Even when she was crying I was happy about it. Finally, all the bad guys except Zuko are gone! That’s what ran through my head.
But now, the expression on her face breaks my heart. You see all that pain in her eyes. You see all of the abandonment issues, the desire to be respected, to be wanted, to have the power back that was just taken from you because you were raised to believe that’s all you had…
Not to mention the themes of racism, genocide, tyranny, and war that had to be overcome. Bottom line, this show is definitely a better watch as an adult. I understand so much more.
(Zuko is now my favorite character, please don’t crucify me.)
(Having a better understanding of the show is what made me switch from Kataang to Zutara)
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