Avatar James Cameron, Director of Avatar, Called

Avatar

James Cameron, director of Avatar, called the movie an environmental film. The story of the movie hits all the major points of environmentalism: the threatened rain forest, mining without understanding the ecology of the land, interconnectedness of the planet, imperialism, and overly zealous capitalists who will maim, murder, and rape the land in the interests of profit. To me, one of the most telling scenes that illustrates this is toward the end when the Earth forces decide to move in on the Tree of Life, decimating everything in their path. There is not a care in the world about life forms, consequences, or what this might do to the planet -- only that there is ore to be mined, a job to be done, and nothing can get in the way of that mission.

Part 2 -- The indigenous people of Pandora are called the Na'vi. They are very reminiscent of a conglomeration of Amerindian tribes in their culture, reverence for Mother Nature, hunting weapons, and attitude. Like many Amerindian cultures, the Na'vi do not believe they "own" the planet, but that they are one with the life forms and diversity of Pandora. They are feline in some ways (eyes, ways of movement) and probably equivalent to Palaeolithic humans, but with a more advanced spirituality. The Na'vi describe themselves as part of the "people," meaning that they do not believe they are separate individuals, but a more holistic grouping tied together through their world.

Part 3 -- An avatar is a manifestation of something into another body. The term originated with the Hindu religion, but in computing is the graphical representation of the user that uses an alter ego or character. In the movie, there are two reasons Jake and Grace use an avatar: 1) the environment is not conducive to human respiration, and 2) the gravity, abilities of the Na'vi bodies, and moving in the Na'vi culture are easier if one looks like a Na'vi. The goal of using an avatar is to merge among the Na'vi in a natural manner in which interaction and communication are done seamlessly, as if the humans have always been Na'vi, and are trusted and treated like the People.

Part 4 -- There are many themes representing dichotomy in the film Avatar.

Theme

Positive

Negative

Imperialism/Ecology

Pandora is a virgin planet, at peace and at one with its own systems

Earth forces seek to destroy this balance for the price of ore

Militarism

The Na' vi are hunter gatherers, and as such, use weapons. But they do not waste, they do not kill indiscriminately, and they that the animals for their sacrifice.

Lacks of morality from earth forces, troops keep order and eventually, the military rule. Because the Na'vi seem more pacifist, they are roundly criticized and seen as a backward people.

Property

The Na'vi own very little, but share quite a lot. They want for nothing, but have no reason to hoard.

Earth wants unobtainium at any cost, and feels that their need outweighs the needs of anyone on Pandora. This is the arrogance of owning, and the ultimate cause of an out of balance paradigm.

Religion

Broad spectrum of spiritualism from the Na'vi, the costiveness of some humans and the ability for some humans to make decisions of supreme sacrifice for others.

Religion is capitalism, myth is considered nothing more than stories. Money is God, and profit is King.

Part 5 -- There are actually several conflicts in Avatar. First, the most obvious is the war between the Human and the Na'Vi. We do also get hints that the humans and Na'vi have not gotten alone for years, but it was the attack on the OMaticaya Clan's Hometree that brought their relations o a conflictual head. There is also conflict between the humans- particularly Grace and her cadre of scientists and the military Colonel Quartich. Jake becomes part of this conflict, which is really a model for the conflict between imperialism and socialism.