…Steven Universe and Avatar: The Last Airbender!
Hallo, viewers! Today, I’ll be discussing something near and dear to my heart: animated shows!
I haven’t talked about this yet on my blog, but I am an avid animated show enthusiast. Some of my favorites include Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall.
Just this past week, I binge-watched Avatar: The Last Airbender at the behest of my friend. I’m on vacation with my family and finally have some downtime.
At first, I was nervous to share this side of me. I’m eighteen after all, and what eighteen-year-olds like animated shows? Aren’t they aimed at children? But then my mother asked me, why do I like these specific shows more than live-action ones?
She challenged me that God has created me uniquely, with my specific interests, and that this is a part of my story. God can use all things. His truth and beauty can be found anywhere. What truth and beauty am I drawn to in animated shows?
In case you don’t know either of these shows, here’s a quick summary.
Steven Universe is a show about the world and life of Steven Universe, a half-alien, half-human boy, and the people of his hometown Beach City. Each story unfolds within an eleven-minute episode.
Steven lives with his surrogate mothers, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst who stepped in after Steven’s magical, alien mother sacrificed herself to create Steven.
Under their teaching, Steven learns how to awaken his inherited powers and join his family, known as the Crystal Gems, in defending Earth from monsters and invaders (Maier). They are humanoid, genderless, and gems inhabit them and give them their various powers.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show about the world missing its savior, and his subsequent waking a hundred years later. The world is divided into four elemental nations: The Northern and Southern Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. The world is based on ancient and modern China with other Asian influences.
The Avatar upholds the balance between the nations, but everything changed when the Fire Nation invaded the other three kingdoms. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, can stop them and restore the balance.
But when the world needs him most, he vanishes. A hundred years later Katara and Sokka discover the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. Together they must help Aang master the elements and save the world. There is a movie based on the animated show that you might have heard of.
Today, I’ll be delving into why I like these two shows so much. Hopefully, it’ll spur you to give them a try as well.
1. Animation
Animation is one of the first things I notice when I start a new series. If I don’t like the animation, I can’t watch the show. But both of these show are drawn beautifully. Steven Universe takes place with bright, defining colors, while Avatar possesses more dull, realistic colors. The animations of the characters and their surrounding are intensely interesting. It’s smooth and flowing in both shows. I really appreciate the talent of the animators and the beauty they create.
2. Diversity
I L-O-V-E diversity in life and shown on the screen. I love to see characters with different races, with different personalities, genders, disabilities, the list goes on and on. In live-action TV, there’s an ongoing effort to include more of those things, which I appreciate. But both of these shows already nail it.
Michaela Dietz, the voice of Amethyst on Steven Universe, is a Korean-American actress. Deedee Magno Hall, the voice of Pearl on Steven Universe, is a Filipina-American actress. Estelle, the voice actress of Garnet, is African-American.
In Avatar, the voice actors aren’t nearly as diverse, but the on-screen characters are. Out of the four main characters: Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph, Sokka and Katara are both darker-skinned, and one character, Toph is blind.
It’s handled beautifully in the series, in that there isn’t any emphasis on it. Katara is made fun of by some guys for being a girl. Toph makes jokes at her own expense. It’s wonderful.
It’s been said that when we get to heaven, there will be beauty and wonder in all the people of color and different cultures that are gathered together with one commonality, we all love Jesus. I would like for my world, especially on this trip, to search out and embrace diversity.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ~Galatians 3:28
3. Lessons
All shows, from stage to screen, demonstrate morals or lessons, intentionally or not. Some common themes in the US are lying is bad, trust authority, individual over group dynamics is valued. Steven Universe and Avatar: the Last Airbender, however, demonstrate some of the lesser emphasized ideals.
Steven Universe is a show about embracing your flaws and growth through them. The maturing of the characters are shown among background and main cast, which is unusual in most shows.
The growth is shown through seasons, not just episodes, contributing to the characters’ depth and development. For example, Lars, is a side character; one of few that is openly hostile to the main character, Steven.
Steven is unfazed by this, and is always friendly and encouraging to Lars, who we later learn suffers from low self-esteem and anxiety issues. But it’s only when Steven is transparent and reveals his own insecurity and fear, that Lars is able to trust him and embrace growth together.
Avatar: the Last Airbender illustrates the complexity of people’s natures; the inner turmoil that contributes to conflict and motives behind people’s actions. Trials and tribulations are themes in the show, in both subtle and overt ways.
The characters grow through the different trials individually and as a group. This contributes to the maturity of the cast of the last season being vastly different from the cast of the first season.
For example, the main character Aang has his pet and best friend Appa stolen by bandits. Denied the companionship and link to his past, Aang had his first real loss. His pet is missing for about half a season, so the viewer feels the sense of loss as well, and is able to watch Aang’s transformation from a light-hearted boy to a contemplative man.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4
Come back next week for two more reasons why I love these shows so much! Do you have any shows that yousee Christ themes in? If so, post in the comments below!
Until next time,
A dangerous ray of sunshine signing off.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ~1 Corinthians 10:31
