Why does Avatar: The Last Airbender still resonate with so many people?

Actors from Avatar: The Last Airbender team up with university professors to answer the age-old question: Why is the show so good?

Avatar: The Last Airbender was a hit when it premiered on Nickelodeon back in 2005, but the show’s recent resurgence in popularity thanks to its Netflix debut proves the animated series still resonates with viewers 15 years later. The show’s reach even extended to the Black Lives Matter movement, with some supporters carrying signs bearing a quote from Avatar Kyoshi: “Only justice will bring peace.”

Speaking with The Guardian, Penn State University professor Ali A Olomi, who teaches Middle Eastern and Islamic history, talked about the historical and political relevance of The Last Airbender, something that keeps it fresh years after its final episode. “One of the things we see with the Fire Nation is the ideological justification for what they’re doing,” Olomi said. “We are a glorious civilization. We have abundance, we have wealth, we have technological advancement; we need to share it with the rest of the world. That’s almost word for word European colonization.”

Talking about European colonialism in the context of The Last Airbender is especially interesting because, unlike a lot of popular fantasy stories, The Last Airbender isn’t Eurocentric, drawing instead primarily on East Asian cultures. “The influence of The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones is very Eurocentric,” Olomi said. “Now we have a series that phenomenally shows you can move the map, go elsewhere and tell rich, beautiful, diverse stories without falling into Eurocentric tropes.”

Of course, it’s not just the political aspects of The Last Airbender that account for its longevity. The show’s cast of characters are just as compelling and relatable as they over a decade ago.

Greg Baldwin, the voice actor who took over the role of Iroh following the death of Mako Iwamatsu, talked about the impact his character had on the fandom.  “[It was a] part of the job I never expected.” Iroh, Prince Zuko’s wise uncle, was an inspiration and comfort character for many. “He was literally the father figure for an entire generation,” Baldwin said. “Sometimes I would do Iroh’s voice and I would see grown men cry.”

That’s the effect The Last Airbender tends to have on people, and women have lauded the show as often as men. That makes sense given the range of powerful and complex female characters in the series, from Katara to Azula to Suki. And we’d be remiss to leave out Toph, the blind Earthbender who not only tore gender stereotypes to shreds but also gave viewers with disabilities someone to root for and relate to.

Michaela Jill Murphy, who voiced Toph, talked about that representation. “Too many times you see people with disabilities being coddled. Toph does the opposite of that. She teaches us that what we see as weakness is what you let it be, unless you let other people define it for you.”

With so many groundbreaking aspects, it’s no wonder The Last Airbender has managed to stick around. In fact, the series is still so popular, Netflix is in the process of adapting it into a live-action show…although fans worry they’ll botch it now that original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have left the project over creative differences.

With any luck, the live-action show will nail the parts of The Last Airbender that are so close to fans’ hearts. But even if it doesn’t, the original series will still be there, and will probably be gaining new fans for years to come.

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