Interesting :) While I think it steps back from forcing a philosophy (although it IS strongly anti-war) I would say that it’s surprisingly careful in terms of gender politics. That might be what you see as vapid or uninspired, but being genuinely neutral takes deliberate effort.

And I can think of several examples I’d call feminist: women being confronted with outdated expectations and reacting angrily, and refusing to play, and this being shown as an unequivocally good thing. Personal freedoms being valued. Women being vital to the success of the mission, saving men’s lives, keeping the group together. Tough or evil aren’t the only options, and I think even the “evil” is done with humanity and tragedy.

But I’m glad to see some opposing points of view!

All the women are either generic tough girl tropes or goddam fucking evil. Feminists really need to demand more than this.

Also, looking at Katara being allowed to be caring while Sokka is all macho posing, the show clearly says that he’s doing it because that’s what society tells him to, and it’s foolish. It’s because he thinks that’s what a warrior looks like, but from episode one the show demonstrates that it’s *not*.

Aang’s gentleness and calmness by comparison allow him to “have feelings too”, straying into dangerous “like a girl” territory in a way which doesn’t emasculate him. Possibly because he’s so neutral to begin with, and y’know. A monk. A bald, child monk.

But yes, it does suffer from network tv’s mantra of needing a white-looking male lead (because otherwise you’re that Brave Show with the Alternative Lead which is about something that no-one else pays as much attention to as the fact you have a Female Lead etc. I’m not disputing that!)

The series is named after Aang, but Aang is a *child*. And a very asexual one, for the most part. I think connecting him to male and female previous incarnations was vital – everyone is everything, all the elements, both the sexes.

I’d totally agree that they probably had to make the series look that way for advertising, yep. I think they snuck in a TREMENDOUS amount of pacifist equality goodstuff under the radar of what was probably sold as a kung-fu show.

I can’t quite work out whether Katara taking the healer/mother role was a cliché, a valid expression of the water tribe personality, or her actual chosen personality. And there’s enough of her which is angry, determined and warrior-like that I don’t mind if they genuinely wrote the rest of her that way. Yes, it’s there, but it didn’t set off any of my alarm bells.

Zuko’s uncle!! That old man wins at life. <3 <3 <3

It’s not totally beyond critique. Katara can fall into both the ‘girl healer’ and the ‘team mom’ stereotypes at times. Toph can balance this out, though (IMO) she could use more screentime.

Toph’s disability is treated quite well, although she is a good example of the way that, when writing a disabled character, writers like to give them ‘compensatory’ skills.

The end of the series is interesting. Status quo is restored when Zuko’s sister, who goes quite literally mad with power, is chucked off the throne, and Aang (as Avatar) and Zuko (as Emperor) stand together united on stage at his coronation.

There had been female avatars in the past, I like that we are shown that, but would they have made a series about one?* Or had a man and woman/two women authority figures standing on stage at the end? The series IS named after Aang. I agree that the “male hero and some sidekicks” dynamic is not truly at play, but I almost feel like they had to make the series LOOK like it was going to be that, and introduce more female characters slowly, to get onto TV…. what’s the cliche? Young boys want to read/watch fiction about boys, girls will read about either boys or girls so if you want a large mixed-gender audience, make everything revolve around the boy?

Anyway, this is all by the by as it’s far better than anything else I’ve seen aimed at kids lately! And I as an adult enjoyed it a lot, I was so sad when I got to the end!

*No I can’t wait for Korra, why do you ask.