In which I wrap things up, covering the issues of Bending in General, the Portrayal of Avatar's Women, and some Closing Thoughts.

PART V: THE FINAL BLOW(S)
(Back to Part Four!)

14) Bend Me Shake Me

You'd think a movie titled "The Last Airbender" would be all about just that-- Bending, the martial-arts inspired method by which the humans (and creatures) of "Avatar's" universe manipulate the elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth-- but as we've already considered everyone's too busy recapping Season One and hintdropping for Movie Two to bother with that.

In fact, there's barely ANY Bending going on in "Last Airbender" at all, and most of it isn't even utilized as a central facet of a straight-up battle-- probably the closest we get is a little of that in the Zuko/Aang and Katara/Zuko duels, and again there's some during the Earthbender Prison scene, but for the most part any other Bending we see is isolated to random moments or used en masse against non-Benders.

And when we do see Bending, most of it is completely unrelated to the things the actors are supposedly doing to invoke it, their actions either too out-of-sync with their Element or too overwrought for what they're attempting.

We've established way back in Part Two that Shyamalan is most likely a real fan of the series, but this does bring up the perplexing question of whether or not the rest of the filmmakers/actors on the project were too. 

Shyamalan even actively discouraged Shaun Toub, the actor playing Iroh, from watching the original series for background and character understanding in order to focus on his own vision, and considering that Iroh is one of the MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN THE STORY it stands to reason that if he 'encouraged' Toab in this course of action than he probably took on a similar tack with as many people unfamiliar with "Avatar" as possible so as not to pollute the purity of his creative control with pesky things like 'suggestions' or 'legitimate criticism.'

(Granted, I wasn't there myself and I don't know all the facts, but this seems pretty likely if you consider Shyamalan as the overprotective egotist he is.)

I bring this up because even disregarding Shyamalan's rejection of Sifu Kisu-- the martial-arts master who worked closely with series creators Konietzko and DiMartino in developing this very crucial aspect of the "Avatar" universe in Bending-- as a consultant on the grounds that his desire to train the cast/crew would take too much time, it's very hard to imagine that someone who'd supposedly seen the show would come away with the impression that Bending was like... this.

In "Avatar," Bending isn't treated like just a flashy effect, but as an essential part of the universe and of the characters themselves.

Looking back to the early days of stage and theatre, combat (in particular, fencing/swordplay in the Elizabethan Era) has served the purpose of not merely being entertaining to watch, but to visualize the conflict between characters and their differing perspectives, and this mindset is maintained throughout a great deal of "Avatar's" proceedings.  They're less fights for the sake of fights and more the climax of a relationship or interpersonal conflict.

Consider, for example, the recurring conflict between Zuko and Azula throughout the series. 
 

When we first see them clash in The Avatar State at the start of Season Two, he's succintly outclassed and basically only survives through the intervention of Iroh.  Azula's basically toying with him, and could've feasibly killed him at any moment.

At this time (and throughout most of Season Two) Zuko's at his lowest point, plagued by insecurity and lacking direction along with living in poverty; meanwhile Azula's at her peak, proud and deadly and with more than enough resources at her disposal.  More importantly, she's basking in the life Zuko's been denied for three years, bestowed with the parental love he desperately seeks without seemingly any effort on her part.

There's alot going on between these two characters outside of the fact that they're shooting fire at each other, even moreso during the finale of Season Three. 

Here there roles have been dramatically reversed-- centered and confident in a new understanding of his purpose, Zuko proudly battles for his birthright as Firelord, while Azula bitterly and viciously struggles against the reality that she's quite literally lost everything, including her own sanity.  And what's remarkable is how well all this is conveyed without a single word directly adressing it.

In other words, the battles in "Avatar" aren't just pretty to look at or there to inject a dose of action into the narrative-- they capture a genuine meaning that just wouldn't work as well if relegated to a verbal exchange.

At the same time, Bending also exhibits a surprisingly pragmatic sensibility-- sure it can pull off the big impressive feats during the more dramatic fights, but it's also very much about economy of movement (one of the founding principles of martial arts being a reduction of excessive motion both to increase effectiveness and endurance).  Attacks are swift and precise, and all of them serve a clear PURPOSE to the action; they aren't simply there to fill up the time.

Not to mention that we see Bending applied to all manner of things besides just fighting, from medical care

to cooking

to transportation

to entertainment

and even fixing bets.

Now these things don't necessarily make the same kind of impact that, say, the Aang/Ozai battle would

but they're little details that help to make the world more believeable and to give Bending more character than just something applying to combat, and "Avatar" is very much about building its universe down to the last detail possible.

None of this is present in "Last Airbender," and what's there is so tacked-on and half-assed that it feels more like a cheap gimmick than a central facet of the universe.  Yes, human beings can't do this sort of thing in real life but we accept it in the context of "Avatar" because the series took the necessary time to build it up and help us believe in it.

In order to pull this sort of thing off on the big screen, you almost have to approach Bending for "Last Airbender" the way the "Harry Potter" films approached magic-- as a natural and central aspect of how that world operates.  Sure, there are people shooting spells at each other, but a considerable amount of the magic we actually see there is being utilized the same way that the average person might use technology, albeit in a more fantastical and interesting way.  Not only does it provide a basis for relatability to prevent the audience from feeling completely alienated, but it also helps those big, impressive bits to stand out more by comparison.

But as pointed out, Shyamalan isn't very comfortable with action, which begs the question of why someone with a filmography consisting mostly of action-free, tension-heavy thrillers felt he didn't need the help of a genuine expert who was integral to one of the most important parts of the show he was so intent on adapting. 

It's like deciding you want to be a professional chef despite having never entered a kitchen in your life, but when Julia Child offers to give you in-depth lessons you tell her to fuck off because you know better.

For someone who claims to really LIKE "Avatar," Shyamalan certainly has an odd way of expressing it.

15) We Can Do It!  Oh wait, No We Can't Actually-- Women in Avatar and Last Airbender

Being an action-adventure cartoon on Nickelodeon, it unfortunately goes without saying that "Avatar's" primary target demographic was 8-13 year old boys.  Which makes it all the more remarkable that it featured some of the most well-written and genuinely likeable female characters in recent fiction across the board.

Yes, almost all of them could fight, but what's interesting is that they all feel believably like women, not just the usual fallback of 'dude with boobs' or 'helpless trophy' that's far too common as a whole. 

They weren't always nice, and they weren't always doing the right thing, but that was part of why fans appreciated them all the more-- like the fellows of "Avatar," they felt like flawed, real PEOPLE instead of just collections of line and color or shallow tropes or fetishistic fantasy objects.

So it's all the more disquieting that Shyamalan opted to excise as much of this aspect of the series as he possibly could for "Last Airbender."  Sure, some of this may have been due to conforming to the absurdly short running time, but for it to go the extent it does would require either actively omitting this part of "Avatar" or missing the point of it entirely.

So yes, let's start with Katara.  In the series Katara is smart, strong, impetuous, proud, caring, dedicated and hardheaded.

She has a strong sense of justice and a desire to help those who need her,

but she's also not above nursing a grudge or being overly spiteful.

She's mature and clever,

but also a bit childish as well.

She has her own goals outside of "saving the world" to pursue,

even to the point where she'll put others at risk to follow them.

All these aspects of her personality-- especially the less-than-positive ones-- were important for her to have because they helped to ultimately shape her into a realistic person, someone who ANYONE could relate to regardless of gender. 

In "The Last Airbender" Katara is there.
 

Oh, she gets to do the narration I guess, and has some Waterbending!fail a couple times too, but for all intents and purposes she is quite literally just a body there to keep the movie from being an outright sausage-fest. 

As bad as the whitewashing of Katara is, it might've at least been tolerable if some aspect of the character was kept intact, but Katara in "Last Airbender" has nothing in common with her small-screen counterpart save that second X-chromosome.  She's placid and blank for almost the entire thing,

her overemotional rallying of the Earthbenders during the Prison scene gets co-opted by Aang,

and most frustrating, she never visibly makes that transition from failed to competent as a Waterbender that was so central to her character in Season One, nor does she struggle against any form of the sexism that was more of a personal challenge for her to overcome (and that helped to humanize our 'good guys' in the Water Tribe at this point in the story).

She also lacks any of the passion or fighting drive that made her fun to watch-- consider the Zuko/Katara battle near the end of "Last Airbender."

She's literally just STANDING THERE, with a blank look on her face, waiting for a guy she has a personal reason to fight with (*gasp* "you're the one who attacked our village!" etc) to 'prepare himself'.

Do I even need to mention how show!Katara would have dealt with this situation in the movie?

KATARA: Aang, I knew you'd be back, hope hope etc etc.

ZUKO: Me too!

(KATARA TURNS AND SEES ZUKO, CARRYING A TORCH FOR FIREBENDING.)

Z: Now then, let me just get my Firebending source re--

(KATARA WATERBENDS AT HIM, TOSSING HIM BACK AND PUTTING OUT THE FIRE.)

Z: Hey, that's not fair!  I needed that to--

(WATERBENDING)

Z: C'mon, cut it ou--

(SPLISHY SPLASH)

Z: Goddamnit just give me one second to--

(WATERBENDS AND FREEZES HIM IN PLACE.)

K: Jeez, how exactly did you guys manage to conquer the entire world with weak shit like that?

(ZUKO IS SILENT FOR A MOMENT.)

Z: Because M. Night Shyamalan is a lousy writer.

K: Pfft, no kidding.  I saw "The Happening."

Ultimately, Katara isn't even reduced to the trite cliche of the agressive GRRL POWA trope that just about every interesting and well-developed female character ends up as when adapted to the big screen as a cynical means of snatching up the young girls demographic (see: Annabeth in the "Percy Jackson" movie). 

Everyone had SOME opinion of Katara in "Avatar," but here she's not worth liking OR disliking.  She's just there to take up space, and that's pretty goddamn sad.

Let's also consider the Kyoshi Warriors in "Last Airbender," or rather why they aren't there. 

They were originally supposed to be in the film (and even put into alot of the closer-to-release advertising materials), but at the last minute Shyamalan opted to remove them since "they had nothing to do with the third act" and instead chose to factor them into Movie 2.  Which makes sense, considering how little happens in Season Two of the series, consisting of pretty much just...

-Aang dealing with the Avatar State

-The introduction of Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, and Toph

-The payoff of the whole 'Spirit Library' thing

-Appa getting captured and the subsequent journey to Ba Sing Se

-Zuko and Iroh separating and going to Ba Sing Se as well because all the cool kids are doing it

-The Eastern Air Temple thingy with the chakras and shit

-Long Feng and the Dai Li conspiracy

-the Gaang finding out about the Eclipse (Important to Movie 3)

-the Gaang finding out about the Comet (Important to the whole fucking thing, and if you recall while Ozai mentions this at the end of "Airbender", Aang himself doesn't know about it)

-Aaand the introduction/ involvement of the Freedom Fighters (important to the climax of Season Two).

So really, should be able to fit all that in adequately to another hour and a half, PLUS the Kyoshi Warriors.  Oh, and of course Suki too.  But even based on what we've seen, it's doubtful that much of what made them interesting is going to translate over to Shyamalan's 'grand vision.'

Another thing that characterized the portrayal of "Avatar's" women is the understanding that being physically powerful is not the only way a woman can be 'strong.'
 

Yes, Yue ultimately died for 'the greater good,' a device not uncommon in and of itself, but here it's important to understand that intention and circumstance make all the difference.

Throughout the handful of episodes that Yue occupies (basically just The Waterbending Master and Siege of the North), we mostly see her as part of a brief (and totally doomed) romance with Sokka, but she's characterized beyond just that function as well-- despite the fact that she's not a Bender and really has no way to defend herself, she's a woman of strong convictions who stands by her responsibilities even when she doesn't like them.  It would be something different altogether if she was visibly pressured into her decisions by an outside force (say, her father), but rather it's her choosing her people over her own wants by her own hand-- in other words, the mindset of a true future leader and not merely a damsel waiting for someone to 'rescue' her.

Consider this look of hers upon choosing to exchange her life to resurrect the Moon Spirit-- she might indeed be afraid, but that look is one of steely resolve, the same kind we've seen from Katara many times.  It's that same kind of strength, showing itself in a slightly different form. 

She may be fulfilling a role as old as Andromeda (right down to the transition to a greater celestial existence), but the way she does it and her choosing to do so DO MATTER.

But in "Last Airbender" Yue basically has this 'strongly suggested' to her by Iroh (?!) and caved in while tearfully kissing Sokka goodbye and saying something about beliefs or whatever.

Here, Yue basically is just a 'damsel,' or perhaps something colder like 'plot device' would be more appropriate.  There's no buildup or even suggestion of her character here, so we have no basis for why she would ultimately choose to do this other than "just because". 

We don't have any real grasp on Sokka and Yue's relationship other than some vague euphemism about being 'friends' Katara mentions offhand when they meet, so them even being together here is completely pointless-- I mean, even in the series, as brief as it all happened you might have at least felt SOMETHING, if only at least for Sokka, right?  But in "Airbender" it just feels like a cynical attempt to create a DRAMAHTIK MOHMINT between two characters we barely know over some conflict we've barely been able to get interested in.

Oh and hey, she's barely here but let's talk a little about Azula, shall we?  Or rather, how the manically giggling, twitch-smiley Azula presented to us is NOT her, and won't be for at LEAST two movies.

Okay yes, Azula goes crazy, but the important thing to remember is that her Carrie-meets-Charles Foster Kane-esque descent into madness only works because of how sane she acts throughout the series as a whole.  Granted, an outright-psychotic villain can work, but it usually has more of an impact (or at least it does for her) if it's built up to, or we have a solid reason behind it.

Throughout her time in "Avatar," Azula is basically set up as this cold, implacable force of sophisticated and cunning evil.

Whereas Zhao had a vicious temper and favored raw force over subtlety,  Azula is all about achieving her goals through cleverness and subterfuge. 

She prefers intimidation and manipulation in almost all cases, and it was this in large part that allowed her to succeed in conquering Ba Sing Se where massive sieges and giant steampunk dildos failed.

In fact, she really doesn't fight unless she absolutely has to, and when that happens she's still a force to be reckoned with.

So it really does matter that her ultimate defeat has less to do with someone being stronger than her as it does with her cool mask of disinterest being undone by feelings and people she'd taken for granted, her constant attitude of being completely untouchable eventually undermined altogether.  Put simply, the classic situation of a villain undone by their own strengths.

But since Shyamalan doesn't seem to care about any of that, let's set up some predictions for how obviously cah-rayzy she'll be portrayed in Movie 2!

#1: Constantly popping 'medication,' goes on violence fits whenever she's off it

#2: Mai and Ty Lee are imaginary friends portraying both her subconscious desire to bang Zuko and her repressed sexual orientation (MOST LIKELY SCENARIO)

#3: Azula as Gollum, complete with scene-cut portrayal of split-personalities (actually, this would be kinda hilarious so I'm okay with that)

#4: Sees dead people (ALSO very likely scenario along with being somewhat canon, but expect it to be run with)

#5: Maniacal laughter because we're lazy like that

Though honestly, if Ozai and Zhao are any sort of barometer, Shyamalan will figure out some way to make any of these as boring as possible.

But the most interesting thing about the women of "Avatar" is how few of them there were at first, or wouldn't be if Konietzko and DiMartino had stuck to their original concepts.

Mai, Ty Lee, and Yue weren't even considered until much later, but all of them ended up being memorable characters.

Azula was originally thought up as Zuko's older brother, but it's hard to say that he would've been as memorable if he didn't become a 'she' and the leader of the Dangerous Ladies.

Even Toph was intended to be an older teenaged guy at first, but after a long period of reassessing the character it's hard to imagine her any other way than how we ended up getting her.

Ultimately, the women of "Avatar" work not because they're 'better' than the boys, but because they balance the feel of the universe while able to stand confidently on their own, distinct but not alienated, strong but not emotionless.  The creators understood that making them believable was more important than just putting them there.

But by taking away Katara's complexity and all but omitting the feminine aspect of the show, "The Last Airbender" basically takes that vital understanding and tosses it in the garbage.  But then, Shyamalan has never really been able to write women who aren't dead, really small children or fulfilling the ever-so-interesting role of 'cardboard cutout mom.'  So maybe it's for the best, right?  Riiight.

16) Conclusion

So over the course of five updates, fifteen sections and god-knows-how-many hours of writing and screencapping, we've basically taken apart "The Last Airbender" from its surface down to the core, and after all this talk and consideration we're pretty much just left with one question.

How did it get this screwed up?

Well, that's one thing I'm not sure I can really answer.  Shyamalan, having written and directed and maintained an iron fist over the whole production, of course bears much of the blame, but that doesn't mean that others involved with the film aren't responsible too.

Even if they hadn't seen the show, I'm surprised Shyamalan got away with as much of the editing and writing as he did-- much of it isn't just bad in a 'comparison' way, but bad in a 'failtacular understanding of basic filmmaking' kinda way.  That's not really something that can be excused for a guy with five films under his belt.

Other than some location shooting and a handful of visual effects, it's almost impossible to tell where that massive 150$ million budget went.  I wouldn't be surprised that most of it probably went toward that last-second ill-advised 3D transition, but goddamnit, "District 9" looked better than this at not even a THIRD of "Airbender's" budget.

Maybe he was too ambitious for his own good.  Maybe he shouldn't have been so arrogant about the superiority of his interpretation.  Maybe he could have used more help.

Or maybe it's something as simple as he just never really got "Avatar."  It's more than possible to like something without really getting a grasp on what makes it tick.

When you get down to it, there's a reason that people love "Avatar" so much, of why it's able to transcend age and gender and social boundaries, along with its own medium: because at its heart, it taps into something real and universal, something deeply human, something that all truly great and enduring stories have understood and captured long before it was ever concieved and will continue long after it.

That sense of grand adventure, those genuine characters, the archetypes and foundations and themes that we claim to have grown out of but end up being the ones that stay with us for the rest of our lives.  In other words, storytelling at its oldest, purest form.

When something like that gets brought to the big screen, to an audience of potential millions, robbed of all its color and life and raw imaginative power, it's really not so much a 'crime against cinema' as it is just sad.

Or maybe it just fucking sucks.

~~!!!!THE END!!!!~~