Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the few programs to receive a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s categorized as a kid’s cartoon show, which seems warranted given the adolescent sense of adventure, colorful animation and unpretentious humor, but it’s truly much more than that.
Since it’s reemergence on Netflix, old and new fans have come together to re-discover why this show has appealed to large audiences as it did the first time around. When it first aired, this show stood as a monument of accurate Asian cultural representation during a time it wasn’t mainstream yet.
Although set in a fantasy world, the series pays homage to minority cultures. The Water tribe was inspired by Inuit and indigenous groups, the Earth Kingdom by China, the Air nomads by Tibetan monks and the Fire nation by Imperial Japan. By extension, the affiliated clothing, fighting stances, social norms and spirituality of each setting were authentic depictions.
The complex and strong characters make great role models and deal with a variety of topics, including trauma, abusive households, imperialism and colonization, war, spirituality, genocide, government corruption, propaganda, class struggles, environmental pollution and animal abuse.
A children’s show that covers this many topics in a light-hearted manner deserves a perfect score on the tomato-meter. Especially since it offers a spin-off that puts a queer woman of color as the main character on a journey of self-discovery, highlighting topics like depression and disability.
All wrapped up and topped off with smooth animation and phenomenal soundtrack, this series does it all while simultaneously appealing to every age group. So yes, technically due to the rating, it is a kid’s show, but it’s also so much more than that.
