Explaining Genocide Through Avatar: The Last Airbender

Being a humanitarian, or at least trying my best to be, I always find it interesting when shows geared towards pure fantasy entertainment have heavy subjects hidden in their content. Sometimes, it's not even hidden. It is even more intriguing when it pertains to a children's show. One show in particular stands out in my mind because it happens to be a favorite of mine.

Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender is shaped around issues that are very relevant today, though not only widely discussed. Two major themes the show revolved around are war and its consequences and genocide. These are seemingly and traditionally taboo subjects for children. War is a little more common because most children, especially in the United States are not affected by genocide, but many of them have mothers, fathers, and other family members that are currently serving in the military at home and abroad.

But with subjects such as war and genocide, how do you make it simple enough for a child to understand without irrevocably scaring and startling them? How do you translate something so tragic into a socially acceptable media format, especially a show slated for 6-11 year old demographic? How do you explain to your child a complex situation when they come asking? It must be done with a very delicate hand and I believe that the writers of Avatar succeeded in appropriately addressing genocide for kids.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.

One hundred years before Aang, the protagonist of the series, is found frozen in the South Pole after he runs away from his responsibilities as Avatar, the leader of the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Sozin, declares war on the other three nations. While trying to achieve his goal, Sozin systematically and successfully wipes out the Air Nomads. One hundred years after the Fire Lord destroys the entire Air Nomad culture, his grandson, current Fire Lord Ozai, plans on imprisoning and killing the Earth Kingdom by tryanny, intimidation, and a scorched earth policy, a military strategy used to destroy anything that may be useful to an 'enemy.'

The scorched earth policy was once common policy for many years (since outlawed by Article 54 of Protocol I of the 1977 Geneva Conventions) but was also used by someone who instigated real life genocide. Adolf Hitler had the Germans use this policy during World War II.

One of the most disturbing and poignant scenes for me in Avatar was when Aang sees the field of bones (of the people he loved) at the Southern Air Temple in the third episode of Season One. It is reminiscent of many different genocides throughout the years. Ones that are not remembered. How does a mother or father explain a field of bones to their child? How do they make them understand what has happened? While Avatar doesn't necessarily explain what genocide is, the writers and creators do not choose to gloss over the fact that one person ordered the death of hundreds and that a century later, another charismatic leader planned to do the same.
And this is important for several reasons. Everyone needs to remember. Remembering helps ensure that genocide is prevented.

Every child learns about the Holocaust. How six million lives were snuffed out for incredibly small reasons. But they do not learn about most of the others. Like the Armenian Genocide in 1914 that killed between one and one and a half million people, and was one of Hitler's justifications for the Holocaust. He was quoted saying, "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" And you will never see the Armenian Genocide in a textbook because, despite extensive documentation, Turkey still denies that it occured.

There is the Cambodian Genocide in the 1970's with the Khmer Rouge, the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 where 800,000 people were killed in three months, the Bosnian Genocide. And the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan that began in 2003, killing and displacing thousands of people, affecting over five million people. Omar al-Bashir was quoted as saying the arrest warrent for his crimes against humanity was not even worth the paper it was written on.

In conclusion, after an impromptu and scattered history lesson, I applaud the creators of Avatar for their gumption. If only more shows tackled human rights issues, maybe it would begin to teach children how important humanitarian issues are. It could create a generation of people who are activists. These will be the people who begin to help heal the world and all its hurts.

So here are my questions to you:

Do you think it's appropriate for children's media such as Avatar to address and focus on tragic, real life events like genocide and should more shows highlight such diffucult subjects?

Is it an acceptable springboard for a parent-child discussion on humanitarian issues?

 Or is the subject matter too subtle for some age groups to pick up?

Should there be a warning/rating for parents so they are aware of the content their children are viewing, especially ones based on genocide and war?

Should the rating be recalibrated from a 6-11 year old demographic to a more mature child audience based on content of complex issues?

But is maturity always age based?

But herein lies a new question: Aren't some seven-year-olds be as mature or more mature than some ten-year-olds?