Every review Iíve read of the movie mentions the beautiful use of CGI in James Cameronís ìAvatar,” but few have mentioned the disturbing picture its story paints.
Nathan Comstock í10 wrote a† recent film review that touched on the uncomfortable racial politics of the film. The aliens of Avatar, known as the Naívi (ìnative,” I guess?) combine exaggerated stereotypes of African, Native American and other marginalized cultures into a not-so-alien species.
The movie ìSherlock Holmes” is remarkably similar to ìAvatar.” Just as Guy Ritchie revives a well-worn fictional character, James Cameronís sci-fi epic returns to an overly indulged myth: the noble savage.
The Naívi are blue, humanoid folk with skimpy clothing and tightly braided hair. They are expert hunters and spiritually enlightened, ìgood” guys because they are simpler and earthier than the advanced human race that tries to take their land. James Cameron may lightly imply they have fewer societal injustices than humans because they are so thoroughly divorced from technology.
Conclusion: the Naívi are ìbetter” people because they are less advanced.
Then an everyman from the human invaders, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) gains access to their exclusive culture, learns from it, gains leadership in under a few months and saves them.† He is ìinferior” to their spirituality and nobility, but superior in every other way.
The humans/colonials, through the character of Jake Sully, still win without technically winning.
ìAvatar” is misguided, but not irredeemable. At the storyís core is an innocent wish-fulfillment fantasy often trotted out in films and books: one hero, despite little to no prior training, becomes the leader of a kingdom/people/rebel group/high school and defeats the antagonists.† This idea isnít a bad one, as it appears to work very well if given the right characters and setting, but ìAvatar” saturates the concept with toxic vanity.
The execution of the story is messy, insulting and undeserving of a Golden Globe for Best Film.† Computer-animated backgrounds and lovely motion capture wonít save ìAvatar” now and wonít keep it from being outdated within the next decade.
Gillian Daniels is a regular contibutor for the Voice. She can be reached for comment at GDaniels10@wooster.edu.