avatar the last airbender

it's an incredibly educational show. there are many lessons to take away for both kids and adults.

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as mentioned above, the series features many strong female characters. take 'katara,' for instance. she's one of the strongest characters, not just among the women but in the entire show. toward the end of the first season, our heroes travel to the northern water tribe to learn from the great waterbending masters there. but as soon as they arrive, they encounter a backward mindset.

the male masters refuse to teach katara because she's a girl. according to their system, girls can only use waterbending for healing. katara can't stand such a senseless and primitive view, so she stands up to the system on her own, and she's not afraid to challenge one of the tribe's most talented waterbending masters in the process.

the show also doesn't engage in shallow political correctness by just writing strong female characters for the sake of it. for example, through 'azula,' it presents a brilliant female villain, a character type we're only just starting to see these days. it shatters the ridiculously naive idea that 'if women ruled the world, everything would be sunshine and rainbows.' the show bluntly tells us, 'whether you're a man or a woman, unchecked power will eventually corrupt you.' when you think you've got everything under control, all you'll really have is loneliness, with nothing but your insatiable ego and ambitions by your side.

through 'sokka,' the show praises logic and science. in one episode, our heroes come across a village where everyone believes whatever the local fortune-teller says. even though the nearby volcano is showing signs of erupting, no one believes it because the fortune-teller said nothing bad will happen this year. but in the end, they see that sokka's rational warnings were right. with aang's help, the village is saved from being buried under volcanic ash.

'toph' teaches us that our limitations don't have to hold us back. as a blind earthbender, she's incredibly strong in every sense. the fact that she can't see doesn't stop her from becoming the only living metalbender. she's an amazing character who even makes fun of her blindness and is totally at peace with her 'disability.'

'zuko' shows us that we can change. he teaches us that we can't betray evil; we can only fight against it. zuko's transformation isn't a betrayal, it's a redemption. by changing, he saves not just the fire nation but the entire world. his journey is one of the deepest in tv history.

and then we meet one of the greatest characters in tv history, zuko's uncle, iroh. he could command armies, yet his favorite thing in the world is simply making tea. he reminds us that power and authority are overrated lies. to him, nothing compares to the joy of a good cup of tea. he's a man with a heart so big he helps everyone but couldn't save his own son. he holds no one responsible for his son's death, and he bears no grudges. he mourns at his son's grave with a deep, quiet sorrow.

and then we come to our avatar, aang. what can be said about him? despite his extraordinary power, he never uses it for evil. he could make the world bow before him, but that means nothing to him. his purpose is different. he chooses to be with his loved ones over ruling the world.

what makes him happiest is dancing wildly. what makes him laugh is sokka's terrible jokes. what fascinates him in this world is katara, and what matters most to him is soaring freely in the sky on appa. when he faces his greatest enemy, his only concern isn't whether he can defeat him but that he doesn't want to have to kill him. that's all that worries him. even if his enemy is a villain sworn to bring evil to the entire world, aang chooses to preserve life, not take it.
--spoiler--

avatar is an amazing animated series that can make you laugh out loud, move you deeply, and keep you excited at all times. on top of everything, it's such a well-made show that it's one of the few you can watch with your child without getting bored. it's not easy to appeal to people of all ages and genders. so no amount of praise for this series will ever be enough.