Happy holidays, friends, and welcome to part 4 of our little celebration of the Year of the Fangirl 2023. This time I wanted to look forward into 2024, when we have a live action Avatar: The Last Airbender remake show coming to Netflix! The hype for this has been building ALL YEAR, and I cannot WAIT to finally start watching. In the meantime, here are some ATLA posts I think you might enjoy.
Air-bending as a reminder of our life and freedom in Christ
The first ATLA post I want to share with you today is related to the idea of air-bending. I loved connecting this element and the people who use it with the ideas of our new life in Christ and the way that we are free from sin and death in Him.
The main truth I took away from my study of air-bending in the ATLA universe is that Every breath that we take is a gift from God and a reminder of His goodness and His presence. He has power over life and death, both physically and spiritually, and wants to resurrect our spiritual selves through His Son. I also really enjoyed learning about the air-bending style and technique and how their bending is deeply connected to their beliefs within the world.
Water-bending as a reminder of God as our source of living water
The second post I want to share with you today from the ATLA universe is the one I wrote as I studied water-bending. If I was in the ATLA universe, I’d be either a water-bender or a fire-bender, so I especially enjoyed studying these two elements. Water, in particular, connects to God as our source of life, refreshment and healing, and our need for community and adaptability as a people. Water-bending as a style focuses on the push and pull of energy, like the push and pull of the moon on the tides. In the same way, we are called to respond to the Word and the Spirit of God as we live in community with other believers.
The main take-away I had from my study of water-bending in the ATLA universe is that God is the fountain of living water, source of life, hope, peace, and security.
Earth-bending as a reminder to stand firm on the Rock
Next up in the cycle of bending is Earth-bending, which to me is a reminder both of the dependability of our God, our Rock of Ages, and a call to stand firm in the faith. I loved how this style required Aang, the fleet-footed air-bender, to work against his nature and force himself to stay on the ground. Once he gets past the natural urge to evade instead of resist, he becomes a formidable opponent even to TTTTTTTT (Tigris says hi lol) Toph, the revolutionary inventor of metal-bending. In the same way, even when we feel like giving up on something we know God has called us to do (like reading the Bible, for example), we are called to be alert and stand firm in the faith.
The main take-away I had from my study of earth-bending is that God is bedrock under our feet, unique in His holiness and ability to rescue us. Because of this, we are able to stand firm and build on a solid foundation that can withstand anything.
Good Friday 2023: Restoring balance to the universe
The final post I wanted to share from the ATLA universe is this super in-depth, probably very nerdy study I did on the parallels between Aang choosing to use energy-bending to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and Jesus choosing to give up his life for us rather than coming as a conquering King. This is one of the most labor-intensive and lengthy posts I’ve ever written, but I’m super happy with it!
I love the final fight scene from ATLA SO MUCH. There’s a ton of awesome bending moves, of course, but there’s also this deep like philosophical layer to it about Aang struggling with the pressure to kill Ozai and choosing to defeat him in his own way instead and it’s just AWESOME! Like the longer I think about it, the more layers there are to this part of the story. On the day when Ozai should have become the most powerful in the world, he actually became POWERLESS, and on the day when Satan should’ve defeated the Son of God for good, he was actually defeated himself.
It’s crazy to think that a show partially based on Eastern Buddhist ideals, which we don’t often think of as compatible with Christianity, pointed so clearly (to me) to the Gospel, but it does! I truly believe that God can use any story, any song, anything, for His glory and kingdom.
Conclusion: ATLA live action remake 2024!!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little summary of all the ATLA inspired posts I wrote this year. I have an idea for a thing that might come out next year having to do with this study, and just in time for the new ATLA remake on Netflix!
Speaking of which, are you looking forward to the new ATLA show? From what I’ve seen of it so far, it looks like it’ll be amazing!! Of course the bar for live-action remakes of this particular story is very, very low… lol
Happy fangirling!
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