Avatar: The Last Airbender Fandom
Avatar: The Last Airbender
In recent times, the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender has seen a surge of popularity in pop culture. Since the show was added to Netflix almost a year ago, Millennials and older Gen. Z. members have been able to relive a series which was alive and well during their childhood. For younger persons, they have learned why so many have loved the Avatar series for years. Avatar boasts not only a beloved TV show, but graphic novels, a sequel TV series, video games, and a live-action movie! The loveable characters have inspired cosplayers' costumes, fan-fiction stories, Funko POP! figures, plush toys (I have been begging my boyfriend for an Appa plushie for sooo long) and much more!
A fandom literally cannot exist without fans! And the Avatar fans have man ways to show their love for their favorite series. There are podcasts, school clubs... the list goes on and on! Now, what attracts so many people to Avatar?
Well, one thing could be the relatable characters. No, I'm not saying that there are earth, air, water, or fire benders out there (or are there?), but the characters' personalities and relationships. Characters Aang, Katara, Zuko, and others can act as mirrors fans can see themselves in. And unlike many popular series, Avatar includes Toph, who is blind, offering representation to those with disabilities. You can find characters of all shapes and sizes, of every temperament. With a diverse list of characters to chose from, anyone can find a character that they can relate to. And as many of the characters are benders, fans can even "learn" the moves that characters use to bend the elements!
Avatar also displays Asian cultural influences which attracts many people to the series. Asian history, writing systems, music, and myths were all influences on the series. Taoism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions also make appearances or inspired things for the series. One of the characters Ty Lee is not a bender, but she knows points in the body that can stop the flow of chi, or energy, in the body so benders cannot bend. The idea of chi exists in real life, though not for bending purposes. Dragons make appearances in the series, dragons who have powers over fire, like the ones in Asian myths. Martial arts moves are used by the characters, but they are used as bending moves. In recent years there has been a surge of interest in Asian culture and pop culture. This draws many people to the Avatar series.
Avatar touches on many social issues as well. In the destruction of air benders, we see genocide. You can see gender discrimination against the female characters. The Fire Nation represents totalitarianism. Although these and others addressed in the series are very dark and intense subjects, it is still a series that is suitable for children. These issues are incorporated so well into the content, that children often won't realize that things just like the ones they see in the show still happen in the world. After re-watching the series, I was able to identify these themes, and I was surprised to find these intense themes in one of my favorite childhood series. But, thinking back to watching it as a child, I remember wondering how people could be so terrible to each other. I learned to treat others with kindness from watching the show, without realizing that I was seeing the errors that humanity has performed over the years and still do today. By teaching all ages about social issues, Avatar can even be used in schools to teach children about these themes, such as in the Harvard-Westlake school in California, where they have a club that does just this.
Scholarly articles have also been written about Avatar. Dr. Carol Penetta of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis wrote about the psychoanalysis that takes place in the series in an article published on the school's website (link here). Paola Vera wrote an article for The Stanford Daily, the newspaper for Stanford University, talking about colonialism in Avatar. Not only are there things for younger people to learn from this series, but for older generations as well.
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Back on a lighter note, fans in this community are very active. There are fanfiction stories, such as Jaded Petals and Master of Peace, both of which can be found on the popular site Wattpad. Podcasts like Bending Not Breaking or The Avatar Podcast: Yip Yip! are available for fans to hear their peers discuss episodes in detail. Avatar also boasts a fan-run YouTube account which shares videos about all things in the expansive series. Fans can cosplay as their favorite characters at popular conventions like Comic-Con. On January 16th of this year, fans could go to a virtual convention hosted by Roster-Con, where voice-actors from the series had a panel.
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