Convinced by Thunderstorms

Last weekend, I was on a God High. This weekend, I've been kind of posted in front of the television...but I'm really okay with it because I kind of think I'm learning a lot this way...

Let me 'splain. No...there is too much. Let me sum up.

The season(/series maybe, I'm not sure) finale of "Avatar:The Last Airbender" aired on Nickelodeon last night. I had friends over so I couldn't watch it until midnight when they left, but it was totally worth the wait.

You see the show is about a young (and yet exceptionally old) boy named Aang whose destiny it is to restore balance to a broken world plagued by war under the rule of a tyrant Firelord, Ozai. I can't possibly summarize the entire show in one blog, so why don't you go to www.watchavatar.com and I'll meet you back here in a week or so.

Throughout the whole two-hour episode special, Aang is having an inward struggle because he doesn't think he can kill The Firelord after having lived and learned as an Air Nomad (who are a lot like Hindus in their beleif in the sacredness of any form of life). It's quite an advanced idea for an American kid's TV show.

I don't think I have the apathy to tell you what he decides or how the thing ends, so seriously go watch it and then leabe us a comment and we'll chat. But let me tell you that it is the best possible ending to any show ever. I used to be a little embarrassed that I watched a kids' cartoon, but as you can see by my PDA of it this morning, I am no longer. I love that show and I wish it didn't have to end.

Because it's about everything a show should be about--inner battles, deep-seated family problems, adventures that seem more like suicide missions, the real meaning of bravery, rescourcefulness,...you name it. And all that without some stupid side plot of whose best freind is sleeping with whose husband or who is pregnant with whose son's baby or who is selling drugs to whom. We watch television to escape from the world's problems, even if it's only for a little while, or at least, that's why I watch it. So why, then, would we run to watch shows like One Tree Hill or Law and Order where the character's problems are our problems, or could be our problems should we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Don't get me wrong: Gilmore Girls and The West Wing were two of my favorite shows when they were on the air, and they were riddled with some of the worst of the world's problems. But now, having watched Avatar, where even sexual tension is a rarity, and feeling the buzz off of what I know is pure, unadulterated happiness for the way the story turned out and the way the characters' lives ended up (unlike with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows =\ Sorry, J.K....you just really dropped the ball) I don't understand why anyone would watch shows with worldly problems.

Unless, of course, there's a hero involved. And I'm not talking about a gray-fox DA with a less-than-worthy attorney sidekick who brings disgrace to the name of actress or an attention-starved group of kids straight out of The Outsiders. If it's not a true story, I want a larger-than-life, greater-than-true hero to save these characters from their problems. It's the one thing that separates us from them. Otherwise they're just like us, relying on other flawed and dying humans without much to their names.

I watched Batman Begins tonight. Bruce Wayne is the kind of Hero (yes indeed) that I'm talking about. Robin Hood, David Webb, Elessar...the list goes on: they're clever, strong, brave, sometimes reckless, always driven individuals. Individuals. I think it's key that these guys (usually they're guys...I can't think of a female hero who's ever really seemed all that powerful on her own. It came close once, but even Hermione had Harry and Ron) work alone. Sure, Aragorn had that whole Fellowship deal, but when the time came for the big boss battle, he was leading what was left of Gondor into battle...alone...and he became King...alone. And Robin Hood's merry men were kind of at a loss without him, whereas he could take the Sheriff single-handedly if the opportunity arose. And Aang was destined to fight the Firelord mono e mono. Full circle.

I feel like I may be losing you at this point, so I'll try to bring this to a point:

I think there's a reason human nature seeks for supernatural heros, sacrificing their social lives, their true loves, their passions, and their futures for the sake of the cause: I think it's because we already have one.



Romans 8:18



Now seriously. Go watch Avatar. Unless you eat gratuitous sex and violence for its nutritious value, I'm sure you won't regret it.


<3 spadeALLcross