The TV show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, depicts the story of a young boy, Aang, who can bend the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air) and is destined to save all of the nations from the attacking Fire Nation. Many aspects of the Fire Nation's government and policy connects to those of East Asia. Through Aang's journey to defeat the Fire Lord, there are many examples of the fire nation's totalitarian government abusing its power. Connecting the real life policies of East Asian nations past and present to those of the fictitious Fire Nation allows the reader to examine the negative impact a totalitarian government has on almost all those touched by it.
Asia & Avatar
Katara and Toph wearing traditional Chinese cheongsams
Avatar has a clear connection to Asian culture. The show itself has many ties to Asia: it's drawn in a Japanese anime style and is animated in part in South Korea. Many of the names, like Aang, Katara, and Toph, are traditional Chinese or Japanese names. They often wear traditional Asian clothing, including cheongsams and kimonos ("City of Walls and Secrets"). The different nations also have different cultures corresponding to the real world examples they resemble. For example, the Fire Nation lives by a strict honor code, not dissimilar to Japanese samurai, and will fight to the death in an Agni Kai if someone insults them ("The Southern Air Temple"). The Inuit, who bear similarities to the Water Tribes, often believe in shamans, or medicine men who can heal the sick through magic, and some waterbenders can heal wounds through waterbending ("The Deserter"). One of the most explicit references to Asian culture is the spirituality of the Air Nomads. They believe heavily in Chakras, pacifism, meditation, and reincarnation, which follow Buddhist beliefs ("The Storm"). In fact, the very nature of the show, with heavy emphasis on reincarnation through the Avatar as well as balance in the world between all peoples, is very similar to Buddhist rhetoric, creating a clear correlation between the show and Asian culture.
Asian totalitarian Government
A map of the Avatar world, consisting of the Earth Kingdom,
Air Temples, Water Tribes and Fire Nation.
The totalitarian government of the Fire Nation in Avatar bears many similarities to governments in East Asia,especially China, Japan, and North Korea. Karl Friedrich described the 6 main characteristics of a totalitarian government as "an ideology, a single party typically led by one man, a terroristic police, a communications monopoly, a weapons monopoly, and a centrally directed economy." The Fire Nation embodies all of these characteristics through their ruler, the Fire Lord, the censorship that serves to glorify the country in their pursuit of new territory, and their incredible military superiority through advanced technology. These characteristics also embody several East Asian governments at different points throughout the last century.
One example of an autocratic government was mid-century China. The country fell to communism in 1949 with Mao Zedong leading the people towards a loss of power in government, a cultural revolution that killed thousands of anti-communists, and a wall of censorship between the people and the west for quite a few years ("China"). In addition, Kim Il Sung of North Korea effectively cut his people off from the outside world, so effectively that North Koreans can't access the internet or even talk to Americans candidly without risking being turned over to the police and condemning your entire family to a labor camp ("North Korea"). Finally, when the West began to invade the East in pursuit of an empire at the end of the 19th century, Japan realized that it needed to prove to the invaders that it was a force to be reckoned with and began to build its own empire. Its totalitarian government and empire would grow until the United States retaliated against Pearl Harbor during World War II.
All of the East Asian governments above are totalitarian and all have different similarities to the Fire Nation, showing how the writers use the allegory of the show to reveal the "monster" of totalitarian government.