Unsolicited Opinion Time

And now for the part that everyone loves about blogging: unsolicited opinions! Everyone's got opinions, and rarely do people care about what other people's are. But hey, it's free, so I might as well "express" myself, right?

Well, anyway, I somehow got the thought into my head that I would write about why I don't love Avatar: The Last Airbender. No, I don't hate it. But I should love it. Why? I suppose because everyone else seems to, but also because Avatar seems like something that would be precisely the kind of thing that I love. And I have tried hard to love it, but all I come out with is a resounding "eh, it's pretty good".

I suppose a bit of backstory is necessary for those uninitiated. It's a show on Nickelodeon, but not like the other cartoons. It's a dramatic fantasy serial about a land where people have the ability to manipulate the basic elements, kind of like Pyro or Iceman from X-Men. And the big Dalai Lama type figure is called the Avatar. He's reincarnated and has the power to use all the elements, whereas most other people can only manipulate one.

The show is in a "sort of" anime style, and features heavy use of Chinese (no, not Japanese) and eastern cultural aspects throughout. Which is what first turned me off from the show. However, I have to admit on having watched for a decent amount of time that despite the co-opting of culture, it's done in a tasteful fashion. So that mark against it can be wiped away, albeit not forgotten entirely.

Now, the main villains of the show are the Fire Nation, who apparently went all Napoleon on the world and are trying to conquer the whole thing. Each element has its own nation, water, air, fire, earth, etc. Now the Avatar is supposed to be the great prophet that is able to bring balance to the force-- er, to the elements.

The problem is that the Avatar is only 12 years old, didn't receive proper training, and was frozen in a block of ice while all the conquering happened. So he's gotta learn all the elements while at the same time fight back the evil empire.

Now, I'm sure as you're able to tell, this is a lot different than most of the shows Nickelodeon has put forth before. It's serial, it's an action-adventure, it's molded in the same fashion as, say, Dragonball Z or Naruto. However, it's better than those two. Despite being anime-like, it doesn't always fall back on the usual shorthand of silly faces and sweatdrops and fanservice. The characters are all treated with some degree of respect, even those who serve for comic relief. And the plots are remarkably mature; last night I watched an episode about an Orwellian city where the denizens are prohibited from talking about the looming war outside their walls.

And even though there are a few disabled characters, they are treated as actual people rather than simply as their ailments. One character in particular, the blind girl, isn't presented as the nicest girl on earth who has overcome her adversity. She's a rich, spoiled brat, who's actually got some degree of depth. There was some episode with a kid in a wheelchair (and yes, I know it sounds cheesy), but it too was handled quite well and maturely, rather than the "very special episode" style you'd find in, say, Transformers and whatever kid was in that show with a wheelchair. Or that kid in the Burger King Kids Club that had the wheelchair. You'll note that I can't remember their names, because all they were was their wheelchair. They were token additions. Now, the reason I can't remember blind girl's name is something entirely different, I assure you! It's because I'm bad with names.

Anyway, the show reminds me of adventure serials like Tintin, the films of Miyazaki, and epic adventure trilogies like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. But the thing is, it always feels, to me at least, very "inspired by". I see all these elements which I've described and which I really like, but the impact of the show seems to be wanting. There are all these great aspects to the show that would look like a great list of features if I were to put them down on paper, but they somehow fail to gel into something great. It is merely something good. I can list plenty of shows that it is better than, and reasons why, but I just can't seem to bring myself to bring a complete damn about it. I certainly respect what the creators are doing, and the impeccable choice in inspirations that they've chosen, but when it comes to the finished product it lacks punch.

Of course, that's a very vague thing to say, and I need to actually identify what about the show it is that lacks such punch. I want to like the show very badly! But for some reason, my attention is always pulled away when watching. It doesn't grab me as much as it should. So that's what I'll chat about next time.