Fate vs. Free Will

So about a week ago, the series finale of a really great kids show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, aired the whiz-bang 2-hour conclusion. It was pretty awesome. Now, I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but I will say this: the main character, Aang, is facing a very difficult choice at one point, and struggles with how to solve it. In the end, a series of coincidences and accidents aide Aang and basically make the choice for him.

Avatar may be a TV show, but it still has writing, and that writing is directed at young audiences. I had a problem with this particular bit of writing, and have discussed it with several other online buddies.

The problems are solved by fate. It's out of the character's hands, and therefore I have no real interest in the outcome and am more than a bit disappointed. If a writer has everything happen according to fate or destiny, his character's actions mean nothing, because no matter what, they are on a railroad to the inevitable outcome. So they can do just about anything, or nothing, and it'll all turn out as it should in the end. Yawn. Boring.

I like free will. I like consequences. I like things not going as planned and the character, and reader/viewer being surprised.

I didn't like the writers' answer to Aang's problems because Aang never made a decision. He had a decision handed to him, so he didn't grow as a character. He wasn't dynamic, he was passive. I mentioned this to my buddies and some of them replied "Well, he's a kid. sometimes kids just wait and see."

I'm not interested in the characters who wait and see. I want them to be decisive, to drive the story and events through their actions, not sitting on the roadside waiting for the answer to pull up. Kids are capable of making decisions, and since they're young, they are often the wrong ones. That's something any kid can relate to. Screwing up is just part of growing up. I will respect a character that has the balls to make a decision on his own, then live with the consequences. Even if that decision is really, tremendously stupid, if the outcome and fallout and the character's reaction are real, I am still on board.

I will not respect the character that hides and waits for his problems to solve themselves.

So if you are a writer, just say no to Fate.