The Last Airbender Series: The Blue Spirit and the Value of Anonymity

“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof.” One of the most popular quotes from Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta, this quote defines V's intentions for the tyrannical dystopian British Parliament. But it is important to know that the anonymity of V, caused solely by his Guy Fawkes mask, creates a symbol for revolution. If V were not anonymous, the revolution would not take flight. So what does Zuko's anonymity create? 

Zuko needs to be anonymous for more than his own safety. Obviously, if he were to reveal himself, he would branded as a traitor to the Fire Nation. But the Blue Spirit represents more than Zuko's alter ego. Much like Zuko's scar, it represents his conflict within himself. Zuko is hell-bent on finding the Avatar and regaining his honor after being banished by his father. But as the crown prince of the Fire Nation, he theoretically must also want the Avatar to be captured in order for the Fire Nation to win the war. But he doesn't want to capture the Avatar for the Fire Nation. He wants to capture the Avatar for himself. Does this mean that Zuko is against the Fire Nation? No, but it does affect Zuko's identity. If he were truly a royal member of the Fire Nation, he would gladly put aside his quest to capture the Avatar for the glory of the Fire Nation. But he cannot let that happen. So he puts on the mask and shows his inner conflict. He wants to rejoin the Fire Nation as their prince, but at the same time, he must act against the betterment of the Fire Nation. 

The mask perfectly represents this conflict by giving Zuko anonymity. Within the mask, he can be anything he wants. The pseudonym for Zuko's alter ego is the Blue Spirit and he pits that against the Fire Nation, placing the fiery red of the Fire Nation army against the opposing blue of the Blue Spirit. Though this juxtaposition could be coincidental, I don't think it was accidental. If you want to show how Zuko has to betray the Fire Nation in order to be welcomed back into the Fire Nation, what better way to do that than by posing Zuko in the opposite color of the Fire Nation? By making Zuko anonymous, he is allowed to be a traitor to the Fire Nation while also advocating for the Fire Nation as their prince.

The Last Airbender Series: The Storm and the Societal Definition of Duty

The episode "The Storm" provides very important backstory to two of the most intriguing characters in the film. First is Aang, who, due to the impending attack from the Fire Nation, is told that he is the Avatar well before he turns 16. While he is accepted as a stellar Airbender before this announcement, afterwards he finds himself alienated from his peers, forced into a much too rigid training regiment for a 12 year old, and torn apart from his mentor and friend Monk Gyatso. These changes pile up, and the young Aang realizes that is unready to take his place as Avatar and flees from the air temple. The other story is Zuko's, haunted by his physical and mental scars. His father invites him to a war meeting, where he is expected to listen and observe the Fire Nation's military leaders discuss strategy. But when a general proposes to use recruits as bait for more experienced soldiers, Zuko intercedes, saying that it is dishonorable to allow Fire Nation soldiers to die so unceremoniously. By doing so, Zuko angers his father, who challenges him to an Agni Kai (Firebending battle). Though he asks for mercy and had no intent of speaking against his father, his father teaches him a permanent lesson, by scarring his son's face and banishing him from the Fire Nation for his cowardice. This episode brilliantly portrays Aang and Zuko as outcasts, showing that the primary evil in the first season is no more different than primary good. But they are treated as outcasts for different reasons, and it revolves around their definition of duty. Aang shirks his responsibility as Avatar, thus not performing his duty. But by actively standing up for seeming injustice in the war room, Zuko oversteps his bounds of authority, despite being crown prince. Aang's story shows the typical notion of societal duty, stepping up and taking responsibility when necessary. But Zuko's story shows the twisted form of duty in the Fire Nation, which promotes subservience rather than standing up for what one believes to be right.

The Last Airbender Series: The Great Divide and What Went Wrong (and What Could’ve Been)

                Many ATLA fans would consider “The Great Divide” to be one of the worst episodes of the series. Whether it was the hackneyed story or the horrible twist ending, ATLA fans seem not to agree with it. I can completely understand these sentiments. The plot was over-the-top with its forced agenda of comparing the literal and figurative great divide. The stories, the legends of each tribe, which were also not creatively named, were not very original. I mean, hate derived from wrongful imprisonment because of a crazy ritual (I mean, some people juggle chickens).  Of course, the *SPOILERS* tale that Aang made up to convince everyone that the ritual was a game was a complete sham of an ending. Yes, the inevitable alliance between the previously warring tribes was foreshadowed in the battle, but the reason for this peace was ridiculous. I know that the ATLA team has used deus ex machina to get out of some jams (haters of the LoK ending can certainly attest to that), but this story may be the most egregious case of this because it does absolutely zero in terms of character or plot development. But I think this is the largest problem of this episode. It had no bearing on any other episode. In the “The Ember Island Players”, the actors play at this idea by merely flying over the Great Divide, because any casual watcher of the series does not need this episode to understand the story. But what could they have done to make this episode important?

                It is clear that this episode is removable. While it shows the gripes that Aang has to deal with as Avatar, it pushes them aside in an unremarkable way. This is a problem with ATLA because they are so limited with what they can reasonably do with Aang. While they have been given more reins and leniency throughout the series, there is no such thing as a “gritty” Aang. He cannot go about dispensing vigilante justice, nor can he impose divine judgment on anyone. His actions are limited in these scenarios, but what can he do? He can grow as a character. In the first season, he is still growing into his role as Avatar. He is reluctant to take charge and be decisive, something that contradicts his airbending nature. The great divide should not have been focused on two opposing tribes in the Earth nation, but rather on the struggle Aang faces to unite these tribes. If this were the case, we would not need any silly legends about the tribes or any wrapped-up ending. We could have Aang, fight within about which tribe is right and which is wrong. Maybe it could about whether either tribe is even morally obligated to be right or wrong. This forces Aang to become decisive…or it does not. They easily could have created an unsolvable problem that haunts Aang, something that causes him to be so indecisive that it ruins his entire psyche. The episode already has the scene set-up for something like this. The two tribes have very vague places where they derive their hate. This ambiguity could lead Aang to make a decision, whether it is wrong or right. He could doubt this decision to Katara or Sokka. It could harden his resolve. Creating a problem like this would have turned the Great Divide from a bad episode, into the turning point of the series.

                Of course, the question is, how does this affect the rest of the series? Much of the first season is Aang growing into the role of Avatar. He realizes that his actions have resounding impacts. He learns that he no longer is a representative of the airbending nomads, but the world as a whole. He has to bear this responsibility. What better way to shape this idea than by giving him problems that the world will ask him to solve? Questions that he will have to solve, but is not capable of doing so. That type of episode would have unbelievable repercussions for the series as a whole. Of course, we have an episode, which forces the issue, which has its own agenda, which shows the growing pains of a new show. Now that shows a great divide.

The Last Airbender Series: Jet and the Value of the Innocent in War

Jet represents the first truly guerrilla fighter in the War. He is the leader of the Freedom Fighters, the cliched group of ragtag soldiers doing what they can to make a dent into the Fire Nation. Rebellion groups like them are common in many movie and television wars. But it is so unbelievable how the ATLA creators incorporate such a extremist group into a kids show. There is no doubt that Jet is an extremist, and to the Fire Nation, an unquestionable terrorist, though we do sympathize with him because of what the Fire Nation did to him and his family. He attacks the innocent and will let nothing stop him from ending the Fire Nation. His most telling moment was his order to wipe out an entire village, filled with Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom folk alike. While the guilt of the Fire Nation warriors can be questioned to death, there is little question about the innocence of the other villagers. Why is Jet so willing to dispose of the innocent to achieve his goal?

You can easily go to Jet's violent relations with the Fire Nation to explain his complete indifference towards their safety. The Fire Nation army destroyed his village and killed his family. The Fire Nation as a whole is an evil entity. But his actions go beyond just stopping the Fire Nation. He will stop them at any cost. An innocent person is nothing compared to the greater goal of the annihilation of the Fire Nation. He shows this by threatening an old man dressed in Fire Nation garb and by attempting to flood an entire Earth Kingdom colony filled with Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens alike. While his actions may seem extreme, there is no doubt that people have sacrificed innocent people in order to achieve bigger goals. Jet is merely trying to defeat the Fire Nation at any cost, and any life lost could get him closer to that goal.

It is impossible to determine whether Jet was doing the right thing. Should Sokka have stopped Jet from killing all of those people? At first glance, yes he should have. But sometimes in war, you have to match your opponent, eye-for-an-eye, life-for-a-life. This is how Jet operates. He is an unscrupulous guerrilla war leader. If you compare him to Sokka, another warrior who has lost a parent to the war, you could also see a sense of savagery in Jet compared to Sokka's civilized behavior. Jet has survived in the woods without a family, and only the Freedom Fighters to call his own. Sokka was protecting the tribe that he grew up with. The difference is not just in mindset. Jet is not protecting anything and is purely on the offensive. Sokka is a defensive minded person, more interested in protecting Katara, Aang and himself than destroying the Fire Nation. That is why an innocent person is not an obstacle to Sokka, but a person in need of protection.

The Last Airbender Series: The Waterbending Scroll and Iroh's "Proverb"

"Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?" Uncle Iroh spits out this tremendous line, to which Zuko responds by bemoaning his uncle's use of trite and boring proverbs. Of course the interesting part of this is that this does not actually sound like a proverb. It may carry a sagacity because of Iroh's wise demeanor, but even if it was a proverb, what would it mean?

The backstory of this line is that the pirates and Zuko's crew are fighting each other because of a reneged agreement to trade the waterbending scroll that Katara stole for Aang. During the scuffle between the three groups, Katara, Sokka, and Aang were able to sneak away. In order to escape from the feud, Katara and Aang waterbend the pirate ship off the beach. As the pirate captain and Zuko are fighting, Iroh interrupts to deliver this line. The first implication of this line is that violence has some negative effect on your focus. But what are you focusing on i.e. what does the "ship" imply? An avid LOK fan would assume relationship, but let's think about this in ATLA terms. A ship is an important piece of property for a person. It actually may be a lifestyle in a way because of the technological importance of having a fast and able ship. But the obvious motion aspect of the ship likely makes the "ship" a metaphor for an event in life. It is something that you can see, but so much can affect you actually getting to the ship. The most telling part of this proverb is that this ship has "set sail". It passed by without you noticing, quite possibly one of the saddest and most indescribable feelings you could have. It describes this emotion that you have when you realize you missed out on something. So the proverb discusses the impact violence has on your way of life. If this were a proverb, it would be warning against the ill effects of violence, or more broadly malevolence toward another person, and how it actually detracts from your life and actually causes you to miss opportunities.

This proverb almost certainly has its real world counterparts. While it is difficult to put this in exact words, maybe an example would be a better demonstration. Consider Inigo Montoya's words at the end of The Princess Bride. He says that he had been in the revenge business for so long that he knows no other lifestyle. Having invested his entire life towards the demise of a single man, he missed out so many opportunities to do something else with his life. While it is a fulfilling experience, twenty years of his life are gone. So don't be so busy with the petty things that you miss out on a bigger opportunity. Don't let that ship sail because you were too busy fighting.

The Last Airbender Series: Avatar Roku and our Reaction to Magic

Penn and Teller have a hilarious demonstration of magic in their show which tell the audience seven basic principles of magic. Palm, ditch, steal, load, simulation, misdirection, switch. In this episode of Avatar the Last Airbender, the Gaang utilize many of these tricks. They simulate the opening of the blast door. Zuko misdirects Zhao and his firebending fleet. They load Momo into the room only to (ideally) switch him with Aang. The magical moment demonstrates the ubiquity of these magical abilities.

The Gaang certainly understands the quintessentials of magic. Zuko discovers the questionable motives of Zhao and allows him to follow Iroh's smokescreen as he backdoors the fleet in another ship. Katara uses Sokka's failed experiment to convince the sages that Aang had successfully entered the solstice room. But the outcomes of these "magical acts" also demonstrate two reactions many people have when they witness magic. One is a feeling of success in understanding a trick. When you know what to expect from a magic trick, you immediately are wary of anything that seems out of place. When you keep your eyes open, magic tricks become less mystifying, but maintain their entertainment quality. However, when you are completely duped, there is a feeling of shock. You know that you have been deceived, and the only correct reaction is to freeze up. You are taken aback for just a moment, much like the sages were.

Many people believe that knowing how a magic trick works ruins the trick. One of the biggest rules of a magician is to never reveal any of his tricks. But there is a satisfaction people get when they experience magic. Even if they know what happened, understanding how the trick works does not make the trick any less impressive. But the best is not knowing how it works. While you may be frustrated or shocked, you cannot help be take in a moment of awe, as you see the magician represent your duped feelings.

Airball: The Inconceivability of the Ineptitude of the Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats are the worst team in the NBA. Period. It was not like last year when there were a couple of teams that showed signs of ineptitude. The Bobcats just screamed inability, mediocrity. But where does it start?   The answer: no one really knows.

You could blame their owner, Michael Jordan. While he was one of the greatest players to hold a basketball, he is one of the worst owners in league history. While many cite his falterings in the draft, it was primarily his love affair with Adam Morrison that gave him this reputation. While Morrison is almost equivalent to JaMarcus Russell, Jordan's draft history has not been awful when he has been the owner. We only have one year to look at, but he was able to get two solid players in a very weak draft. Bismarck Biyombo shows signs of offensive maturity as he maintained a strong defensive presence, and Kemba Walker has shown some offensive brilliance. The problem is his inability to find good players. He made an admittedly decent move by getting rid of Stephen Jackson, a decent, but problematic, player. But he got the ghost of Corey Maggette. The roster right now is just horrible. While there are talented players like D.J. Augustin, Biyombo, Walker, Byron Mullens, and Gerald Henderson (one of the few bright spots), you also have guys like Tyrus Thomas, DeSagana Diop, Derrick Brown, and Matt Carroll. I don't want to give up hope for MJ, but he has to get rid of a lot of these players. Hopefully he can rebuild around Augustin, Walker, Biyombo, Henderson, and Anthony Davis, as long as the Bobcats get the number 1 pick. But they have not created a winning nor rebuilding club.

The team is also just bad in most parts of the game. Defensively, they blow assignments, allow easy points, and get beat often. Offensively, they lack rhythm at times, force jump shots, and just shoot a very low percentage. The players are not that untalented, it just seems that way. This is a flaw of both the coaching staff and the players. Paul Silas has to get his team more motivated, especially defensively. It seems like a difficult task given the lack of attendance in Charlotte, but once the team starts winning, the fans will come. But they can't win without a good defensive strategy, which starts with Silas. With a growing defensive force like Biyombo, it should not be too difficult. But offensively, they need their players to make better decisions. They can't win by taking bad jump shots. Walker could turn out to be a viable offensive option, but he's gotta work on his field goal percentage. Fewer jump shots and more shots in the paint could do him very good. Biyombo has to mature offensively. He can not just rely on his ability to rebound and block. Adding one or two post moves will significantly help his game. Augustin has to be more assertive. He played well at the beginning, but he has to take command of the team once he is at complete strength. This team is still not a championship-caliber team, but at least they are respectable.

The Bobcats have been the doormat of the NBA for quite some time. It will not get any easier. Lottery picks can only help so much. They still lack the big name city that draws free agents. They still have some very useless players on the team. But they have hope in the Oklahoma City Thunder. It only takes one player to build a foundation for the team. Once that happens, they can find the role players in the draft. But it will require them to draft smartly and to find coaches and players who can function offensively and defensively. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, much like Diop's free throws, it looks like it is going to be an airball.