Avatar,
released in 2009, soon became a huge phenomenon in the world of media and movie
production. The response that this movie received is mixed. Even the ones who
criticized the movie are aware about the fact that it did something that never
happened in Hollywood till date on such a grand level. Whereas the movie is
praised for raising many social concerns, many have seen it to be taking an
age-old stereotypical path to attain these shared goals. The duality is very
apt if one sees the movie from different perspectives. Humanism is one of the
major issues in this blockbuster which is intertwined to the whole plot. There
is always present in human an urge to class themselves into a universal
framework of “Human” which does not suit them because human are characterized
by individualism and personality. In this paper, I would like to dwell upon the
two trajectories possible to trace the essence of Humanism in the movie. The
first portrays Cameroon as the Messiah figure who has tried to mobilize the
masses against everything that has a tinge of imperialism and other ideas
related to it; those which are still existent in our world. However, the second
suggests that he is nothing more than a liberal humanist who could not think of
a society without the intellectual and powerful assistance of Whites.
When viewed from one
perspective, this movie is anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism. The human beings
in the movie actually stand for degraded humanity where the society is divided
in two halves; one headed by the superiors, ruling over the marginalized other for
their personal benefits. Colonel Miles Quaritch heads this
devilish face of ideas Cameroon is against. The instructions and information
provided by the Colonel to the soldiers when they land on Pandora is the only
source the newcomers have to know about the new planet and its inhabitants. The
Na’vis are portrayed in the darkest light; they are compared to the savages.
They have even been belittled to a state where they are nothing more than
“trees that move”. The Colonel, manned in his metallic gadget, gets bracketed
together with advance vicious machines. This hegemonic faction could be
represented by technological excesses put on use for self-centered benefits. They
depict the evil side of human, where the main concern of the RDA Corporation is
to acquire an expensive element Unobtanium
from the sacred planet of Na’vi. They don’t care about the losses
incurred to the humanity as a price paid for their selfish motive. It is a
material gain that is primary and everything else is of no consequence to them.
The humanoids, Na’vis are presented as a
binary to the mercenary selfish human. The aborigines of this innocent planet
are still in congruence with the nature. Neytiri,
the teacher to Jake as an avatar, told him that there is a “network of energy”
flowing in the whole planet. The harmonious relation between the planet and its
inhabitants is just opposite to what the humans are up to. As opposed to how
they are portrayed by the Colonel they are not savages. They have their own
distinct religion and culture. They also have acquired a distinct language
which exist only orally and thus binds the people on the planet together
besides everyone’s intimate connection with Pandora. There exists an
electro-chemical connection between the people and the planet whose epicenter
lies in the sacred tree. This tree even unites the whole planet into one larger
unit spiritually. Although this is different from Christian theology, it gives
a sense of religion and ethics. It is shown that there exist a sort of bond
between every creature, even between cultured or wild. This unconventional
bonding is highlighted when the Na’vis were on verge of losing the battle
against the humans. It is at this time they were joined by the wild creatures
of the forest. The inhabitant live by the mantra of necessity and not
abundance.
One even finds that the scientific team financed
by the very RDA Corporation are outsiders in their chaotic society which has an
affinity for war and destruction. They chose to change sides for they could see
through the hidden wretched face of the mining works—symbolic of constructive
efforts generally. They got closely connected with the natives while working
for inhumane institute. This team unites under Jake Sully’s leadership to fight
against the erroneous system. This is shown in their effort to save the
natives, even at the cost of their own life. They help the ignorant residents
of the planet about the limitlessness of the power possessed by the attackers
with their huge army and havoc-creating weapons. The head scientist, Augustine
is
genuinely interested in the mysterious phenomenon on the planet. Her attempt is
not directed for selfish benefits but for the advantage of the whole society by
advancing the boundaries of science. She represent the scarce existence of
positive implementation of the scientific advancements. This small but
determined band of really altruistic people belong to the class which stands
for antagonistic characteristics. This feud inside the system maybe an attempt
to show the incompetency of the Corporation as it cracks from within. This
small group gets teamed with the Na’vis in their struggle for freedom. The
Na’vis are pictured as a prototype of the colonized people, oppressed by the
formulations and rules laid down by the cruel and selfish colonizers.
The movie could simply be put into the
framework of colonization. One could never find any instance in the movie where
Cameroon is seen empathizing with the exploitative group RDA Corporation. The movie becomes a tool through which one barges
into a zone of ‘No Entry’. The audiences get a feeling that they are peeping at
secret enterprises of colonizing company. The mask of altruism that generally
conceals the mercenary objective of colonizing enterprise is exposed.
The director identifies himself with the blue colored Na’vis who are certainly
representing a better alternative. The natives’ way of life is emblematic for
the world that is on offer by the utopian view of the director. The marked
contrast added by Cameroon while constructing two poles of his binary world
enhances the vividness of his portrayal of bestiality. This animalistic
character of human defines the world as it exists today—the world that is ever
on the verge of war and destruction. According to him, the human being presents
the true picture of human as they exist today and the Na’vis presents the world
that is desired. Gilad Atzmon has rightly said in his review of the movie that
this movie “puts Wolfowitz, Blair and Bush on trial without even mentioning
their names.”
However, there often remains a question
that is beyond a concrete reply. It questions not the theme that comes to the
forefront in the movie but it interrogates the process through which James
Cameroon has reached the end result that is Avatar.
There is no denying the fact that the movie raised a loud cry against war,
colonization and imperialism. The problem arises when one analyzes the methods
and techniques used by this white man in painting his pictures and his
characters to present such a remarkable story that was able to attract
audience’s attention. After all, one knows that James Cameroon is no social
activist, he is a successful director making movies in Hollywood and his prime
motive would always be that his movie should do well. Despite, the remarkable
message that got spread through the movie, it is not such an innocent effort as
it appears because there is a force working, at least on a subconscious level.
Cameroon is definitely enmeshed in the stereotypes that work on beliefs that
are old but they appear in a new garb.
Cameroon has been charged for excessive
expenses by many film critics for making this movie. It is ironical that the
movie itself talks against excesses in human’s life. The natives are not able
to fight their enemies with bows and arrows. It is only when they use the
weapons used by their rivals that they could hope for winning the war. The
finger that the movie is pointing at ideas it is against is now actually
pointing towards itself. It roughly took the director a span of around five
years for developing the technologies that were needed to produce a movie of
such a grand scale! Paul Tatara has compared James Cameroon to Eric Rohmer where he
shows the simplistic approach taken by the later. He pointed to the major
ecological disturbance that should have resulted from the carbon footprint just
in order to give a visual statement against such practices. The movie is made
on a very grand scale which captures the human life at the time of crisis. This
has always been a secret mantra of success for Cameroon. The same happened in
the climactic scene in Titanic. The
scenes of Colonel Miles Quaritch waging war and the one
of destruction after the sacred tree of Pandora is pulled down gives a
sentimental touch and an aura of awe to the movie. The director could easily be
branded as a liberal humanist in terms of his characterizations. The white man
will always play a heroic role in the life of a struggle of “the other” in
their emancipation.
When one traces the plot of the movie
into its simplest fiber, one finds that the Na’vis are actually portrayed as
savages. The myth of noble savage finds popularity once again with Cameroon.
The natives have become a subaltern who cannot speak for themselves and are
beyond exclusive action against the hegemonic domination. It is obvious that the
movie cannot not show them succeeding in the end if it wanted to do well at the
box office. When the question arises, who will be the emancipator; it is
neither Neytiri nor her parents
who are the head of the clan. They are actually “white man’s burden”. So, the
savior is no other than a white man even when he is crippled. Rather, his
deficiency becomes a tool for alienating him from evil human beings. Further, his
crippled self plays no role when he is transmuted into avatar’s body. Without
Jake Sully
the inhabitants have no hope for victory against the powerful human supported
by weapons of mass destruction. The story is simple enough; a white man stand
for the blacks against the whites. This format is generally presented as a
white man’s confession of the ill his people have promulgated. It rather
unhinges the hidden beliefs harbored by whites about their own superiority. This
self-consciousness of recognizing one’s own mistakes and trying to correct is
inferential to suggest that it could only be expected from people with wisdom,
the whites.
Jake appeared as a messiah. His sermons
and his prayer are powerful and they work because he is a white man. He
surpasses the natives in his accomplishments. This is a myth prevalent in West
that they know more about the East than they themselves know. The huge amount
of literatures and reports where the oriental views of West tries to construct
its “Other” is a proof of such convictions. We also come across one such attempt
in the course of movie also. Augustine has gathered her researches done on the
Na’vis in a form of book. This is what humanism does; it turns the living
organism into the pages of a book. The written tradition brings with it a scope
for loss of innocence that exist in the oral tradition—one adhered to by the
Na’vis. It is quite rebuking to find that the all the actors who played as the
inhabitants of Pandora belonged to native America or were Afro-Americans. There
is discrimination at work not only in the movie but at a larger level as well. This
duality which is functional even beyond the plot of the movie could not wholly
be unconscious. Cameroon knows what he is doing with his movie and he surely is
also aware as to what he is doing in his movie.
The natives are painted on the model of
the people of Eastern civilizations. Whatever is connected with the Na’vis has
a touch of exoticism. One cannot ignore the inherent “Orientalism” at work
while creating the planet Pandora. The natives are portrayed as absolutely
diverse from the Westerners. There is a stable amalgamation of wild and serene
on the planet. This has always magnetized the West. The vegetations in the forests
of planet glitter when touched. The hovering mountains add to the beauty of
Pandora. The flying animals that are domesticated by the denizens also present
a scene that is dream-like. The mercenary people are attracted towards this
planet due to Unobtanium whereas good
people from West will be taken aback by these exotic scenes which will make them
utter, “Oh My God!” One can know the effects of such locations when they are
viewed in 3-D. The movie appears closer that it actually is; ironic indeed. The
audience seems to merge with this exotic world of Pandora. There is an attempt
to attaching oneself with these mystic creatures where in the end it reaches
the climax. We find that Jake has finally turned himself into a Na’vi, a
complete transformation. He is an avatar when the human and the animal unite in
him. He is beyond everyone else in the movie and he can never be unsure of the
victory.
The whites will definitely love to see a
white man trying to salvage the blacks, not in the real world but on an
imaginative planet. The downtrodden people fighting and winning a battle to
gain their freedom against the oppressors could not be such an interesting plot
for the West. The displacement of the settings to an alien land makes it
palatable, or rather enjoyable for the people who are in some way mocked at in Avatar. Even the name of the movie says
that. Additionally, by borrowing a lot of ideas from different section of the
world’s beliefs and ideas, Cameroon ensures that his movie is appealing for a
wider audience, across the globe. The Pandora has been compared by many
reviewers to the Garden of Eden. It amazes me that no one saw the connection
between the name of the planet with a mythological story that talks about the
chest of miseries; Pandora Box. There was a box that kept intact all negative
forces of the world until it was opened. It is paradoxical when this Pandora is
presenting everything that is not evil in the movie. This will surely invoke in
the audience’s mind that the Na’vis cannot actually be as innocent as they are
represented in the movie. The name says it all to them.
Therefore, in the end it could be said
that even when Avatar might be a
great success as a movie with an equally great moral message to endorse to the
audience. However, one can always question this claim of promotion of awareness
for lessons are learnt in a silent ambience and not in theatre were one is
simply swayed and enticed by the great technologies used in the movie and one
is equally not in one’s sanest of self to comprehend moral messages with all
the war cries and reverberations of the gun fires. Now, it is worth noticing
that in the last two sentences I have used “great” thrice for the movie. This
is what happens with it. The audiences are in such an awe to be literally blind
to the other facet of the movie that is equally important because there are
huge efforts on director’s part to make such revelation invisible to them. One
needs to be able to look through the motives of any act. Avatar is a movie that uses the same ways that it is criticizing.
This is the crux of all the arguments. I would conclude by saying that there is
a need to alienate ourselves from the things that appear on the surface if we
want to reach to the deeper and truer version of objects under observation. We
need such avatar that would allow us such freedom.
