"The Last Airbender" was a good movie and one i felt the need to defend from the unfortunate bad reviews of many a friend now that i finally got to see it today.
As a kid there were a great many movies that i loved. Some i own copies of today and watch on a regular basis (think Star Wars, Gleaming the Cube) while other were important to me as a child but are not necessarily as important to me in adulthood. This later group were still very important to me and i still talk of them fondly.
Three such movies from my childhood were "The Last Starfighter", "Flight of the Navigator", and "The Neverending Story". You will have no problem getting punks now in their adult years to wax, super-serious, intellectual about any one of these movies. If you are not familiar with these films bring them up at your own risk for these discussions could get deep quick with childhood anecdotes. Not for the unconverted.
These types of movies are extremely important. As a child you frequently feel helpless. Like you have no say. Alien in this adult world. It is important to have art that lets kids know that they are capable of having an impact on the world. It is important to let them know that they can change things, that they have power. It is necessary that they know they can work to make things better and that they play a vital role in our society.
Movies like those i mentioned let me imagine, let me believe that i, just a kid, had potential and could have an impact. They allowed me to imagine being the pilot of a spaceship and fighting to save the universe from evil. They allowed me to imagine that i may be the only one capable of flying a found UFO that no adult could figure our. They allowed me to believe that my imagination could save an alternate universe.
But why were these movies so important for me as a child? Because the heroes in all of these films were kids. i didn't have to wait until i grew older to blow up a Death Star. i did not have to be able to grow a beard and learn to wield a lightsaber to defeat evil. i could save the day as a kid.
What else was great about these movies? The actors were real kids. They could have been a kid in one of my classes or they could have even been me. i have never seen any of those actors in any other movie since those of my childhood. There have been actresses like Dakota Fanning and Kirsten Dunst who were incredibly talented child actresses who have great careers but they were clearly gifted at their trades and could never really be mistook for a fellow, run of the mill, elementary school classmate. So when i hear adults complaining of bad acting i think how they have missed the point. These are kids that kids can relate to. That is far more important than the need for top notch acting.
As an aside, try to watch any one of the Star Wars movies with new eyes. These are indeed my favorite movies but come on... there is not a single Star Wars film that does not contain copious amounts of absolutely horrific acting. It is OK, these films are still great.
So i say congratulations to M. Night Shyamalan for renewing my faith (much needed after "The Happening" which in concept should have been my favorite but was horribly executed). He realized the need to remind kids that they matter and giving this generation of children that affirmation and empowerment. This is something that this barrage of green monster, computer animation, garbage has missed completely. Empowering rather than insulting kid's intelligence.
Ten years from now maybe some punk band (whatever that may sound like then) will do a song about "The Last Airbender". And then i will play them my digitized version of New Found Glory's cover of "The Neverending Story" theme song.
People like to say "kids these days" all so frequently but then produce things for kids that just insults their intelligence. Thank you "The Last Airbender" for helping to remind children (and me) that kids can change the world. And just in time as i am losing my faith in adults' ability to do so.
