Overall, this is a great animation. There are great messages of courage, trusting oneself, and the value of friendship (the relationships, while important to be portrayed to the audience, mainly teenagers, can be less all-permeating), all conveyed in a highly entertaining and humorous way. There's a showcase of a great variety of influences from other cultures and even other animations, mostly done in a non-problematic way (even though some 'borrowings' can perhaps be shown in a less careless way).

All the aforementioned positives are overshadowed by the ending, which lasts less than 5 minutes, that's how atrocious I think it is.

First, the chemistry between those two characters involved in the ending... it's been portrayed in a different light throughout all the episodes. Then, it kind of dims the message that relationship, albeit important (especially to teenagers who are exploring it for the first time), is not everything. There's friendship. There's learning. There's so much more. And Aang hails from this culture, which preaches a certain kind of universal love.

Second, the sensitivity the animation has shown throughout towards all other cultures all gets thrown out in the final scene. A monk, depicted and dressed in a way reminiscent of a certain Asian culture, is shown in an action that will not happen in that culture. It's absolutely jarring.

So why did it? Because American animations/movies can never veer away from a cheesy feel-good ending? Because no matter what mainstream songs are about, ultimately it's about the three words?

Puzzling.

Lastly, what makes someone (especially a woman) attractive as well as someone's orientation... can be more diverse (I know this show was created more than 15 years ago).