Thoughts on Avatar

source: Yahoo

I'm not going to talk about the religion/worldview of the movie, whether it is pantheistic or something else. I don't have anything against the moral of the tale, or the exaltation of those who live in community and in harmony with nature over the industrialists who seek only to consume natural resources and nature without limit, destroying creation in the process. What really irritated me about the movie was the other aspects of PC multiculturalism. The accents of the Na'vi? At least one Native American (West Studi); I don't know about the accents of the chief's wife and the suitor. (African and Caribbean?) Were the Navi all speaking one language?

The mercs and the representatives of the evil side of the corporation? With the noticeable exception of one black colonial marine/mercenary, everyone else was a white male. Sure, on the good side there is Sigourney Weaver, who is white, but also female. Michelle Rodriguez is Latina. The other Avatar driver and the lab tech are white, and so is Sam Worthington's character, the protagonist who ultimately switches sides to defend the natives of Pandora. Jake Sully is a cripple. The other two white guys are rather beta; Sam Worthington is a former alpha who becomes an alpha by inhabitating another body. He is no longer handicapped with respect to his body and mind, but is freed by being Na'vi.

Let us think about this -- the story takes place in the future, and we are to think that the Colonial Marines are dominated by white people? Unlikely, given present demographic trends. But could James Cameron and the others involved in making the film go after Asians or Africans, or representatives of America's current minorities? No. It's safest to pick on white males, for the sake of not alienating anyone else and losing their movie money.

Can we justify this by saying that if the hero is white, then the villains must also be white? Then why include any non-white characters at all?

What is even more laughable is the setting up of an egalitarian "tree-hugging" tribe which has no real parallel in human history. In Na'vi society, the women are warriors, and in charge of religion as well. If Cameron was going to justify this, he should at least depict the women as being equal in size to the men; but no, the females are smaller in size and build than the males, as is the case with human beings. Tribes on Earth had clearly defined sex roles, and many, by considering women as absolute inferiors, did sanction the mistreatment and exploitation of women.

As for Eywa intervening to defend the planet and repulse the human attackers... that seemed rather fantastic, even if it makes sense within the context of the film. Up to that point, was the battle plausible? I'm not sure.

The movie would have been more enjoyable if the story hadn't been so overwrought and predictable; that Cameron is another enforcer of the cultural Marxist orthodoxy is disappointing.
He spent all that time and effort to make this? I was expecting more.

Over at The American Scene: Avatar Offers Us a Unique World Where We Can Reflect on the Inescapable Conflicts Man Always Has And Always Will Face