![]() ![]() Each nation produces people who can bend their nation's element (not everyone is a bender, though), and each has its own culture and sub-cultures (for example, the Earth Kingdom capital city of Ba Sing Se has a metropolitan culture, while the island of Kyoshi in the Earth Kingdom has its own culture, based on the teachings of Kyoshi, a previous Avatar). The world of Avatar is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Similar to The Wire (though nowhere near as deep, gritty, or realistic, obviously), Avatar examined the "everything is connected" statement. How people approach their training informs how they will use their skills (compare Aang, who is a reluctant fighter, with Zhao, a firebending soldier with little control over his skills and less desire to achieve control).Īvatar examined a lot of things that are relevant in our world but were presented in fantastic ways in the series. For example, bending is not an inherently known skill, but rather benders must train and hone their skills. ![]() Rowling's Harry Potter, the fantastic elements of the series reinforce the realness of the world, rather than detract from it. People still act like people, and are driven by various motivations, such as pride, greed, nationalism, morality, and survival, and the various world of the the series reflects this. This is further evidence of the show's maturity and ability to create a believable world, despite the presence of people who can manipulate the elements, flying bison, and active spirits. In addition to the fact that the creators hired a sifu trained in various styles of Chinese martial arts (each bending style was modeled after a different kind of martial art) to act as consultant to ensure the animation accurately reflected the different styles, this shows that the creators tried to bring a level of legitimacy and accuracy to a "kids show," a genre not always known for realism or accurate portrayals. I recently started taking Kung Fu lessons, and my Sifu told a few people in the class yesterday that he recently saw the film version, The Last Airbender, and that he liked it and thought that the story was true to Daoist notions of balance. First up, I want to say that something pretty cool happened yesterday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |