Book of Air: Episode 1 “The Boy in the Iceberg”

Normally I’d just launch into a review of episode 1, but with A:TLA (Avatar: The Last Airbender) even the intro credits deserve a bit of discussion.  I’m also normally going to review a whole disc at a time, but this time around is first episode, which requires a bit more setup time.

Opening Credits

The first thing that jumps out when the credits begin is the animation style.  Beyond being beautiful, it is very grounded in real human movement.  The characters seem to have weight and move in a very natural fashion – there is no odd blinking and jumping of limbs as they move.  In fact, these cartoons are less uncanny valley than Flava Flav, and he is somehow allowed to be a real person.

Next is the narration.  It is simple exposition that lets us in on the basic facts of the show.  There are four nations, the Fire Nation has started a hundred year war, and an ultrapowerful badass called the Avatar is supposed to keep things in line, but has vanished.  It’s a simple story that draws on a lot of different archetypes, but it takes about 20 seconds to fill us in on enough background that we don’t feel lost when the show starts.  LOST couldn’t do that in 6 seasons.  In fact, that’s a running theme throughout the show.  Watch and episode and keep track of how far the plot moves along, how much character development there is, and how much more involved you feel.  Then think “That was only 22 minutes.”  That is less than the length of time Dragonball characters spend screaming.

Best Line:  “This is Katara, my flying sister.”

The show opens on a wide ocean filled with treacherous ice being navigated in a tiny canoe by two teenagers, Katara and Sokka.  Yes, the first thing we see in the entire show is a metaphor that will describe the entirety of the next 3 seasons – being a kid is hard and at any moment you may be crushed like the Titanic.  In fact, they drive that point home moments later when the canoe sinks.  The show is clear about the stakes from the beginning.

They soon unite with Aang, the third part of the power trinity of the show.  He is obviously the Avatar, though the main characters do not know it at the time.  He is also obviously fleeing from his responsibility.  This sets up the main conflicts of the show – Katara and Sokka have been forced to become adults far before their time.  They have accepted it and moved on, though it has obviously left scars, and they still struggle with making responsible decisions.  Aang, on the other hand, was offered the same choice, and ran like hell.  I don’t blame him, I can barely get my ass out of bed to get to work in the morning and I’m 33.  He’s 12 and is expected to lead the equivalent of the United Nations with Real Ultimate Power.

As the show begins to unfold, something becomes abundantly clear.  There are NO parents in the show.  In fact, the only adults you see in the first few episodes are either past their prime in life, or morally bankrupt.  These kids are left to literally face a war without any parental guidance or love.  If that doesn’t make it clear that this series is a bildungsroman I don’t know what does.  (Look it up plebes)  Sokka and Katara in particular have grown up in a world that has never NOT known war.  Keep in mind that this show is pitched at the 8-14 year old kid range.  We’ve been in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.  The kids this show was aimed at have seen their fathers and mothers, their friend’s fathers and mothers go overseas in uniform, sometimes never to return.  Not only is the war in the show a metaphor for growing up in a difficult world, it has a direct real world correspondence with the kids (and adults) that are watching it.  It hits home.

Despite the light-hearted nature of the first episode (huge sneezes and penguin sledding), we get some big concepts (especially for kids) dropped on us quick.  The idea of cultural values and practices is rolled out in the first 3 minutes of the show.  The show doesn’t exactly turn into Crash on us, but it hammers home that there are a LOT of different types of people and cultures in the world, but in the end, they’re pretty much all just regular people.  That becomes a much larger theme in the final season.

It also tosses out the word sexism.  Rather than beating around the bush, A:TLA confronts us with the idea that sexism exists in the world as an intolerance that people practice.  In a time when we can’t even get Congress to admit that, this is a pretty bold statement on a kid’s show.  “Sexism is here.  It’s real.  People often treat women as less than men.  Now watch some amazing kung-fu action while you think about that.”

The final character I want to talk about is one of my favorites: Appa.  The writers do an amazing job with the animals in the show, but the loyalty, love, and humor they manage to wring out of that sky bison over 3 seasons is amazing.  I’d take him over Falkor any day.  All that luck dragon does is fly you up into the vacuum of space where your head explodes.

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