Read any MG/YA novel.
Watch, too, any film/serial adaptation of a MG/YA novel (theatrical release and/or streaming). Or, indeed, any film or show ostensibly directed at younger audiences. For instance, watch Sabrina or Stranger Things or Shadow & Bone or Gravity Falls or Dead Boy Detectives or Lemony Snicket, post 250 words about it below, and get extra credit. It's that easy!
4 comments:
A series that I feel sits on the fence between MG and YA is “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. It is a nickelodeon show that was originally intended for younger audiences. The show, even as a “kids shows” dealth with a lot of horrific topics including genocide, kidnapping, and losing loved ones due to war. In the first season of the show you can definitely tell that they were trying to tune it down, but as the universe of that show progressed, the creators dealt with more serious issues such as depression in the spinoff “Legend of Korra”. The great thing about the fandom of that show is that the children that used to watch it have grown into adults and now it seems to have shifted from a children’s show to a more adult animated series. The creators have gone on to make comic books and novels, and the novels are supposedly extremely dark and violent. This is why I feel that, beyond the original series, the whole Avatar universe sits somewhere between MG and YA, because I feel like dark topic like suicide, genocide, and kidnappings, while they occur in the MG category, are so teisted and dark in their portrayal in this universe that it is more YA. Likewise, the universe refrains from dealing with certain stuff like sex or showing blood in the animated series, which definitely keeps it closer to MG. I know the line between MG and YA isn’t always crystal clear but I find it really hard to place this show/universe in one bucket or the other because it’s not so extremely one or the other it’s a little bit of both: child-like but not too childish and deals with a lot of emotionally complex topic but doesn’t veer too far off into the complexity of adulthood. I tried comparing it to a show like “Invincible”, which is very obviously an adult show, with cursing, sex, and very violent scenes with blood. Even though Avatar has violent scenes, it is rarely that graphic. So to sum up, I believe the series lies right in that gray area between MG and YA.
Hi Shady,
ATLA is a fan-favorite for so many reasons! Some of which you mentioned in your response. One of the biggest reasons is that the creators of this show didn't treat kids like they were stupid. They weren't afraid to talk about war, death, and the erasure of culture/tradition, like you mentioned. Kids watching Nickelodeon could see this, and appreciate this, even if they were not consciously aware of it.
A fan-favorite character and a perfect example of this is Prince Zuko. His backstory is revealed to be immensely traumatic, as his father is responsible for the horrific burn on the side of his face. (Katara and Sokka too, they begin the series having lost their mother to the Fire Nation's war!) But what is really compelling about his character is the complex storyline he is granted, about redemption and what really matters to him in life. He battles with his own self to understand what he really holds dear. This is not a simple idea at all, but kids can handle it, and they often enjoy it most of all.
Even the condition of being the avatar---mastery of all four elements, mastery of the SELF---is something that can be thought of on many levels. Real thought went into the storylines and character arcs for this series, and that is why it was so successful. When compared to what currently airs on Nickelodeon today, the difference is so clear. Creators, the majority of them at least, seem to have forgotten that kids are a lot smarter than they seem. ATLA knew this though. Great idea to bring it into this discussion!
-Destroyer of Worlds
I started rewatching Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts recently. It’s sort of a hidden gem on Netflix (I’ve never met anyone else who’s watched it before I introduced them to it) produced by Dreamworks and released in 2020. The story is set in a post-Apocalypse Earth where sentient mutated animals rule the surface and humans hide in underground bunkers, or burrows. It follows Kipo Oak, a 12 year old girl who accidentally gets sent to the surface and has to try and find a way back to her burrow while trying to survive in a world where giant rabbits stomp through cities and anthropomorphic frogs formed a mafia.
The story does lean into the fantastical side of this apocalypse with bright colors and jokes. There are old cities completely overtaken by flora and giant forests with trees as large as skyscrapers. It also has many heartfelt moments as Kipo bonds with the other humans on the surface (Wolf and Benson) and the mutated animals. Kipo is the perfect main character for this type of story, naive and kind and willing to see the good in everyone despite the division on the surface.
The show also isn’t afraid to embrace some heavy themes. There’s the obvious ecological themes, where the world has been overtaken by giant fauna and flora, pushing humans away. But there’s also an emphasis on identity and the threat of losing it. Both major villains aspire to take away people’s identities and free will, and even Kipo has to grapple with newfound information about her parents and her new strange powers. Just because its a kids show doesn’t mean its scared to deal with these concepts, and that makes it so much better.
For this assignment, I rewatched the 2010 live-action Percy Jackson movie. Let me just say, I had terrible taste as a child. My favorite movie at that time was Lemonade Mouth to give you an idea of how bizarre my taste was. But even I knew how terrible that movie was. The movie shows that it absolutely did not understand why Percy Jackson became such a much beloved series at the time. The charm of the book lies in middle-grade age Percy Jackson's snarky and relatable voice as he grapples with feeling like an outsider and a perpetual mess. His voice was so relatable and relevant to me when I was middle grade age and it really speaks to the worries that most children have at that time. It ages all the characters up and in doing so shows that it doesn't understand what about those characters resonated with the novel's target audience. Te worries and struggles of a 12 year-old is very different from that of a high schooler. The plot felt rushed, the stakes felt forced, and worst of all, the characters felt flat. It frustrates me how much the movie misses about what makes the book great. It's okay, that they aged up the characters to me. I know it's difficult working with child actors and not all of them can be like the kids from Home Alone or Harry Potter. However, the movie shows no real trust or faith in the source material. They make weird bizarre changes that show they didn't understand why the source material resonated with so many people. Grover's characterization, no Clarrisse, no real exploration of the mythology and camp system, and turning a mysterious adventure into a simple fetch quest. This movie is a perfect guide to how not to adapt a book.
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