Avatar, Rain Forests, and the Myth of Nature's Harmony

Introduction: Humanity's Fascination with the Rain Forest

The tropical rain forest is a place unlike any other on earth, and for that reason its vegetation has attracted more attention from writers than any other vegetation type anywhere on the planet. As Whitmore (1990) states, "more 'purple passages' have been penned on lowland evergreen rain forest than any other vegetation type" (p. 40). Through this lens of human fascination with the wonders of the tropical rain forest, one can see why James Cameron took such care to bring the tropical world of Avatar to life. Cameron's film is an ode to nature — to the wonders of the environment. It is a science-fiction reimagining of what our world could be like if only we stopped trying to loot and plunder the natural world.

As the villains in Avatar demonstrate, nature is corrupted by the external influence of people who seek to exploit it and create disharmony where harmony should exist. Though Whitmore shows numerous examples of nature itself displaying a kind of smothering conflict — for example, the strangling fig growing over a host tree in order to find light for itself (Whitmore, 1990, p. 41) — Cameron takes the position that it is better to live in harmony with nature than to try to destroy it. Ironically, Whitmore shows that in falling in love with the verdure, one can miss the reality of nature: that there is cruelty within it. The strangling fig is an example of that cruelty, smothering the host tree beneath it in order to send its roots to the earth below and its shoots upward toward the light of the sun.

Avatar as Allegory: The Strangling Fig and the Na'vi

James Cameron's Avatar is almost an unintentional allegory of the strangling fig described in Whitmore's book. The humans from planet Earth are like the fig tree, looking to exploit the resources of the moon on which the Na'vi live. They want to mine Pandora for its valuable resources, and in doing so they are willing to destroy anything that stands in their way. The Na'vi are, ultimately, in the way. Like the host tree smothered by the strangling fig, the Na'vi and their tree of life are attacked.

In Cameron's romantic take on the tropical rain forest, however, the host tree — the Na'vi — fights back, and the strangling fig — the humans — is put in its place. Cameron wants to show in Avatar that nature is good, and that respect for nature is what the guiding spirit of life, the Eywa, demands of everyone. Living in harmony with nature is possible, and this harmony is depicted in the film's final battle, in which the wildlife of Pandora unites to defeat the humans. In other words, nature resists the strangling fig in Cameron's film. In reality, as Whitmore shows, the strangling fig is part of nature and is not resisted; rather, it smothers the host tree and dominates its way to the top. Cameron romanticizes nature and the concept of the tropical rain forest in Avatar, while Whitmore reveals its true colors through the image of the strangling fig.

Wade Davis and the Reality of Nature's Conflicts

Wade Davis in One River likewise shows how nature is not quite as harmonious as Cameron would have his audience believe. Instead of union and unity of purpose, there is the sense that beings in nature will dominate and take over in spite of obstacles. The example Davis gives is that of a Cubeo settlement, where the women take a venomous snake killed by the men and "create nourishment out of poison" by pressing the venom from the snake (Davis, 1996, p. 468). The women do not live in harmony with the snake in the way that the natural world of Pandora lives in harmony with itself. On the contrary, the women see the snake as deadly and make use of it — just as the strangling fig views the bigger tree as an obstacle to its own survival.

The strangling fig takes over the larger host tree in order to survive, using the host's girth and strength to fortify itself — just as the Cubeo women make use of the snake to fortify themselves. That which would otherwise kill them is killed by the Cubeo, who profit from its death.

Conclusion: Romance Versus Reality in the Rain Forest

The reality of the wilderness — of the vegetation of the rain forest, which has attracted the fascination of so many artists over the centuries — is that there is no real harmony in nature in which all organisms and species exist side by side in peace, as though no Fall ever took place. The Fall is evident in the strangling fig, which climbs up and shoots down over its host so that it may live. In Cameron's film, the humans represent the strangling fig — but they are defeated, and the host tree, the Na'vi, survives. The Na'vi return to their peaceful coexistence with Nature.

In Whitmore's book, however, the peaceful coexistence that Cameron believes in is more myth than reality, as the image of the strangling fig makes plain. The strangling fig does not seek coexistence: it seeks dominance. It seeks life for itself. It seeks to be the one that reaches up to the sun, even if that means smothering another organism. Cameron's Avatar would reject this kind of Nature, while extolling the beauties of the rain forest in a sentimental display.

References

Davis, W. (1996). One River. Simon & Schuster.

Whitmore, T. C. (1990). An introduction to tropical rain forests. OUP Oxford.