That’s true, definitely. That’s very true. I agree that the show promotes a lot of positive things that are sorely missing in a majority of mainstream entertainment, namely: all of what you just said. This feels especially true to me of the strong female cast, as most other touted examples of that feel more like “LOOK AT US, WE HAVE A STRONG FEMALE LEAD , ISN’T THAT UNIQUE AND SPECIAL,” rather than a more naturally integrated role (such as those traditionally allotted to all male characters), which I would say “Avatar” has definitely established. I was completely overlooking any of that to make my point, and I’m glad that you brought it up. I can’t get past it, though. The saturation of the heavy handed “Asian-ness” just feels too phony and too manufactured and too careless and irresponsible for the rest of it to possibly compensate for, undermining everything that you mentioned. I see no reason why it could not accomplish all of that without resting on the faux-Asian crutch that much of its foremost appeal relies on.

Um… well… this might not be the most popular thing to share, but I really, really dislike “Avatar.” Not just in a, “Oh, it’s basically just a U.S. version of a shounen series, whatever, it doesn’t interest me and I’m outside of its audience anyway”-way, either. I can’t speak for “Legend of Korra,” though my impression is that it (as well as the later progression of the first series) is less egregious in regards to my following complaints. I could be wrong though, it could easily be just as terrible because people don’t care and want to ignore that such elements of questionable morality are in their favorite cartoon.

Honestly, “The Last Airbender” strikes me as… unequivocally racist. Not to get super social justice blogger here, but there is some serious cultural appropriation there that goes much, much deeper than simply paying homage to a genre of anime. It’s worse than an American production trying to ape elements of merely Japanese animation (because the focus group indicates that’s what kids are into these days), as it aims to further produce a sort of homogenized and tangible sense of “Asian-ism.” It is a slapdash collection of cultural elements, some more accurately approximated than others, that will come across as being “Asian,” and, therefore, appealing to its target audience. There is no great artistic purpose behind any of it, it is simply an American cartoon trying to feel, again, identifiably “Asian.”

Any sort of explanations offered to dispel criticism along these lines feel wholly retroactive and illegitimate. It isn’t “respectful,” it isn’t innocently “borrowing” inspiration from various facets of culture from equally varied Asian origins to then work into some well-conceived and cohesive pallet… It is carelessly taking bits and pieces out of tightly woven aspects of longstanding cultures for the sole purpose of making a cartoon that will satiate the same thematic interests as the legitimate products of the region. Sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’d be fine (probably completely indifferent, but fine) with a shounen-style U.S. production aimed at the same demographic. It’s a good format for that purpose, absolutely. But shit like the shoehorned and groundless Buddhist elements of design or the grossly simplified and poorly-integrated traditional martial arts philosophies? It’s hard for that to not leave a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t lose sleep over it, and this is easily the most I have ever bothered to write out on the subject. Regardless, I am far from a fan.