Unveiling the Real-Life Inspiration Behind Avatar’s “Ba Sing Se”

Key Takeaways:
– Creators of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, drew heavy inspiration from real-life experiences.
– The city of Ba Sing Se, including “Lake Laogai,” in the show, was fashioned after Beijing and its notorious labor camps, respectively.
– The duo stepped away from the Netflix adaptation of “Avatar” due to creative differences, impacting the delivery of the show as originally envisaged.

Ba Sing Se: A Reflection of Historical Beijing and Labor Camps

Setting new standards in children’s television programming, Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino’s popular animated series, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” is lauded for its deep narrative and enriched universe. Much of this is owed to DiMartino and Konietzko’s extensive research and dedication to authenticity. The city of “Ba Sing Se,” stands as a prime example of this commitment, with chilling references drawn from the realities of Chinese labor camps.

For the uninitiated, “Ba Sing Se,” or the impenetrable city, is the capital city of the Earth Kingdom in Avatar’s universe. Its architecture and design are influenced by Konietzko and DiMartino’s trip to Beijing and visit to the Forbidden City before starting the second season. Intriguingly, the notorious Lake Laogai in Ba Sing Se is an eerily accurate portrayal of China’s labor camps, drawing parallels with real-world atrocities.

Revealing The Horrors of Lake Laogai

Introduced in Season 2, Episode 17, Lake Laogai alludes to a gruesome chapter in China’s history. The real-life counterpart, Laogai camps, were a form of forced labor and reformation institutions spread across the People’s Republic of China since the ’50s. They were infamous for gross human rights abuses before getting abolished in 2012. The animated replica, Lake Laogai, resonates with this history, making Ba Sing Se one of the most nerve-wracking locations in Avatar’s universe.

The Depiction’s Role in the Series

The inclusion of such real-life parallels echo the creators’ commitment to provide lucidity, especially when it came to the show’s darker and realistic aspects.

Behind the Scenes with DiMartino and Konietzko

Based on a report from FandomWire, Konietzko and DiMartino devoted two years to the making of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of “Avatar.” They eventually severed ties with the project, citing creative differences as the primary reason. This step away is evident from the shifts seen in the first released season, which deviates from the duo’s original vision.

In an open letter, DiMartino expressed disappointment with Netflix’s commitment to honoring their original ideas, “Netflix’s live-action adaptation of ‘Avatar’ has the potential to be good… But whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”

With confirmed follow-up seasons on the line, fans of the show hope the adaptation will do justice to the creators’ memorable work. In the meantime, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” remains a streaming favorite on Netflix, ready to take the audience on a trip to Ba Sing Se and beyond, visually manifesting the intertwined realities of a fictional universe and historical facts.
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