I posted this below message in "Thanks for the Memories," but sadly that thread was L&T'ed. Still, I feel that this should be reprinted for posterity's sake and the fact that I spent a good 20 minutes writing this essay.
This message goes out to all A:TLA forums that I am a member of:Since I was away from basic cable for the weekend, I have only
just finished watching the rest of
Avatar. The feelings I feel now are all too familiar. In case you hadn't all figured it out, I am a huge
Star Wars fan. What I feel now is the exact same as what I felt after my first viewing of
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the last film of the Saga proper. I feel sad that it's over. I feel impressed with the feat that they did, especially with the 4-part "movie." And, strangely, I feel a sense of closure. It's over. And I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
In my experience with
Star Wars and various other sci-fi and fantasy realms, I can say, without hyperbole, that you are one of the most loyal, creative, and welcoming fan bases in the world. You are a real class act. Right up there with the Trekkies, the Who-ligans, and Tolkien-ites. You all should consider yourselves lucky that you know one another and that you love to romp around in the universe that Bryan and Michael has given us. I know I do.
So the question now becomes "What does the future hold?" If you're looking for my answer, I can't give it to you because I don't know. I'll be damned if anyone here knows. There are really only two people in the world who can tell you what will become of our beloved franchise and they are its creators: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Right now, I think they'll give you the same answer: "We're making movies." Naturally, I'll be there when it opens. And I'll probably be in the center, two-thirds from the front, right next to the pimply nerds and the, by then, old-enough-to-drive fans trying to relive their pasts. One can only hope that it will transition well into film. And that M. Night Shyamalan will recapture that
Sixth Sense magic he had.
My only advice for you while you're waiting for new content is "be patient." It took the better part of fifteen years since the end of the Classic
Star Wars Trilogy before the tremendous surge in books, kicking off the Expanded Universe and becoming the impetus for the Prequel Trilogy. It also took about that long before the first episodes of
Star Trek: The Next Generation were aired. In both cases, they helped to make the experience more richer and more fulfilling while, at times, improving on it. The advantage that you all have now is that the creators now
know that books and spin-offs and other additional stories are not only welcome, but wanted.
At the moment, I hear demand for a Book 4. My only comment is that, petition as you might, the decision rests solely with Michael and Bryan. If Book 4 does get made, believe me that I'd be tuning right back in, as if I had never left. Although you all have raised many points about past things that could be resolved, as a filmmaker, I beg to differ. I ask of you to seriously consider the following question: "Where can we go from here?" The answer is nowhere. There are no villains, no sense of purpose, nothing that all great stories need to have. What we have are vignettes. "Zuko searches for Ursa." "Aang searches for the Airbenders." "Aang repopulates the world." Nothing that a season-long tale can work from. Furthermore, there's lots of assumptions that have to be made in order for some of these vignettes to happen, most notably that Airbenders somehow survived despite the lack of evidence for such a claim and the repeated assertion that they were wiped out by the Fire Nation. It is a huge leap of faith to make a claim. Perhaps you are right, but again, it is not our decision to make and if Book 4 is green-lit, we can all rejoice in that news.
Until such a time when more
Avatar content is released, we need to enjoy what has been accomplished. We have been given one of the most beautifully crafted universes and stories since the beginning of motion pictures. This work has transcended age, sex, and culture to not only entertain, but to pass on important truths in a time when they are few and far between. The characters are household names (well, at least in our households). The landscape of American television has been changed because of
Avatar: The Last Airbender. I, for one, am glad that I was along for the ride ever since the summer of 2005 when I discovered a bald boy named Aang, a scarred prince named Zuko, and a girl named Katara. I will have nothing but eternal thanks for Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for wonderful memories and wonderful friends because of it. With the kiss in Chapter 21, Aang's story has ended. Unless there's more to his story, it is time to close the book.
And turn back to page 1.