Plot Summary:The basic story behind James Cameron's Avatar is that white colonial invaders have arrived on the planet Pandora to mine some kind of mineral. However there happens to be a race of native peoples, the Navi, living right on the area they want to mine. The whites, portrayed as violent and militaristic, begin efforts to relocate the Navi. Not surprisingly the Navi don't want to move, so enters the hero Jake Sully, a former marine who has lost the use of his legs. Jake is chosen for a reconnaissance mission where he will attempt to blend in with the Navi, gain their trust, and convince them to relocate. In order to do this he is 'transferred' into the body of what appears to be a Navi native, thus the movie's name Avatar is understood. Jake spends long days in the body of his avatar with the Navi people who accept him into their tribe and teach him their spiritual and athletic practices.
Jake eventually falls in love with the native woman Neytiri and ends up betraying his orders in an attempt to save the Navi from annihilation. In the end he decides to permanently become a Navi and never leave the body of his avatar again.Gender Analysis:
First of all, it has been (rightly) pointed out by many critics that Avatar is offensive because of its racist colonialist/native dynamic. Is it really appropriate to tell a story in which the native people are portrayed as totally reliant on ONE white man to save them from the other white invaders? The Navi are initially portrayed as extremely athletic and skilled fighters, however, when it comes time to battle with the military invasion it takes Jake to point out that they should "band together" with the other native tribes. Uh...really? Thank you white man.
Dragon Riding:
When Jake is hanging around with Neytiri learning how to be a Navi, she teaches him how to ride dragons. This involves climbing a sheer cliff-face into the nest of a local population of dragons and then leaping on to the back of the one who wants to kill you the most.
Well apparently there is an even meaner and bigger population of dragons, but nobody ever gets to ride them except for some of the most honored tribal elders who are very skilled warriors...Oh yeah, and Jake.
Why couldn't it have been Neytiri who became the dragon rider in the tradition of the great warriors of her people? After all, she was the one who taught Jake everything he knows. Instead she ends up hitching a ride behind Jake on his sleek new dragon and flying off into the sunset.
Sigourney Weaver:
Also disappointing was the treatment of Sigourney Weaver's character Dr. Grace Augustine. She plays the part of the doctor assigned to help with the complicated process of transferring people into their avatars. She also loves the Navi people and encourages Jake to take their side against the military. It is hinted that she has spent some time with the Navi and even formed some relationships within the tribe, but we never get to see any more about this and then she dies. Another potentially really cool female character wasted.
and Michelle Rodriguez:
Who is known for being killed in every movie she made in 2009, also dies in Avatar about the same time that Weaver dies. Really the only survivors are Jake and Neytiri. Neytiri has submitted to Jakes manly prowess and her tribe has accepted him as their savior.
The End.I just couldn't get the bad taste out of my mouth after walking out of Avatar. Clearly I was not in t
he 'target demographic' for this one. But I have a good guess at who is the target demographic...
I just saw Avatar today and totally didn't think about it that way. I'm kind of disillusioned now.
ReplyDeletelol, sociology class can occasionally make it hard to sit calmly through Hollywood films...
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're reading though! :)
Hey, I can definatly see the points you are trying to make but honestly I think they are undeserved of Avatar. For eg. as far as there being gender stereotypes. We have Neytiri who is a warrior within her tribe. She saves Jake more than once. From those strange panther like creatures, when he has not entered his body and the forest destroying bulldozers are coming etc. She is shown to be strong and independent. She kills many enemies with her bow and is incredibly vicious (not very woman like behavious now is that?). Grace is a tough woman and stands up to her boss till the end. She goes off into the jungle on her own and unafraid. She gets annoyed with all these trigger happy marines that she is surrounded by. She is a very intelligent character and the most scientifically minded person in the movie. As for the pilot, Trudy, she is also a strong woman who can fly heavy military machines and can fight very well. Gender stereotypes... please think things through before raging about nothing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the offense of colonial/native situations. That happened so let's not deny it. Let's realize technology if misused is a bad thing. There is something more than just this realm everyone knows that there is something spiritual, there is a God. As for Jake saving the day it was because he knew what his people could do and the natives didn't they didn't know how strong helicopters, walkers or machine guns are. They didn't go to get help because they thought they could fight them alone. Together they are strong but one small tribe is weak. He is able to ride the great Toruk because He was crazy enough to try something no one would consider. This movie was well thought out and that is why it is one of the greatest movies ever. Go make a better movie if you have so many issues with it! But you can't so please respect James Cameron and don't slam the movie.