Musings on having finished watching "Avatar: the Last Airbender" for the first time
Jul 9, 2020 5:35:56 GMT
Post by spanishspy on Jul 9, 2020 5:35:56 GMT
Please don't spoil The Legend of Korra for me because I want to watch it at some point (although I don't know where to watch it yet).
So I took the plunge and joined the Avatar bandwagon after it came onto Netflix, and as such I watched over the course of two weeks or so. Some scattered thoughts:
1) This show does an extremely good job of showing how utterly cruel the entire notion of a 'chosen one' is. Aang has to endure so much because of something he was specifically chosen for and had no input in, and the psychological toll it takes on him becomes worse and worse as the series goes on.
2) Some of the historical references are really obvious, sometimes amusingly so. 'Lake Laogai' and the name of the Dai Li are the two that come to mind.
3) I had played the original 2005 God of War a few months ago and a lot of the environments in this show reminded me of that game. For example, any temple or palace in any locale in The Last Airbender reminded me of a different part of the Temple of Pandora in God of War - I think a lot of it has to do with how they both are based on ancient cultures with similar levels of archaeological technology. I also think the lighting had a lot to do with it - compare the Ozai's palace to the Challenge of Hades; both are stone environments with torches at about forty percent or so up from the floor.
4) Azula is what I imagine my mother was like at 16. My mother is an abusive tyrant, so it's not high praise.
5) Sokka is the exact sort of dumbass I am and I felt called out whenever he did something stupid. Given he's Sokka, this was very often. He's also the 'Han Solo' of the bunch, being the only non-bender and the snark.
6) The episode near the end with the play struck me as a parody of what people who haven't watched Avatar think what Avatar is and I loved it.
So I took the plunge and joined the Avatar bandwagon after it came onto Netflix, and as such I watched over the course of two weeks or so. Some scattered thoughts:
1) This show does an extremely good job of showing how utterly cruel the entire notion of a 'chosen one' is. Aang has to endure so much because of something he was specifically chosen for and had no input in, and the psychological toll it takes on him becomes worse and worse as the series goes on.
2) Some of the historical references are really obvious, sometimes amusingly so. 'Lake Laogai' and the name of the Dai Li are the two that come to mind.
3) I had played the original 2005 God of War a few months ago and a lot of the environments in this show reminded me of that game. For example, any temple or palace in any locale in The Last Airbender reminded me of a different part of the Temple of Pandora in God of War - I think a lot of it has to do with how they both are based on ancient cultures with similar levels of archaeological technology. I also think the lighting had a lot to do with it - compare the Ozai's palace to the Challenge of Hades; both are stone environments with torches at about forty percent or so up from the floor.
4) Azula is what I imagine my mother was like at 16. My mother is an abusive tyrant, so it's not high praise.
5) Sokka is the exact sort of dumbass I am and I felt called out whenever he did something stupid. Given he's Sokka, this was very often. He's also the 'Han Solo' of the bunch, being the only non-bender and the snark.
6) The episode near the end with the play struck me as a parody of what people who haven't watched Avatar think what Avatar is and I loved it.