There's another interesting aspect to this that can tie into a discussion on race/power...
Right before the avatar hero fellow goes off to tame the big dragon thing, he says "I need them.... and they need me!*"
It's interesting to stop and ask why they in fact need him at all. There's an assumption that the indigenous population can't fend for themselves, and need to be "saved" by one of the outsiders (who, incidentally, happens to be a white male, like myself) - Couldn't the girl have gone and tamed the beast and assembled the clans and led the resistance herself, while the avatar fellow served just as the communication link between the two cultures? That could have made for a very different message, while being an equally compelling movie.
Try flipping the roles around in any movie where the sophisticated aliens are attacking humans, like say Independence Day... Does "our side" need a powerful alien figure to break ranks with the oppressors to lead our resistance? No, the general myth is that a "hero" rises from within to lead the struggle... so one could argue that the view presented in this movie is that the "native" people need to be guided by an outsider who knows what's best for them. (This is an assumption that I think many people in power make fairly often, but many of the people that they affect might take issue with it)
If you scroll around a bit through that gallery, you'll see plenty more war and carnage, but then check out picture #24 to see what most people have been paying attention instead. The bigger problem isn't as much with the environment as it is with the media... If we had better media that prioritized things that were actually important (with not just stories of atrocity but also examples of positively engaged communities) then it would be much easier to go on and solve environmental and social problems...
just a thought-
-jj
* I might not have this quote exactly right, as I just saw this movie overdubbed in French last night- but that's how they translated it.
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There's another interesting aspect to this that can tie into a discussion on race/power...
Right before the avatar hero fellow goes off to tame the big dragon thing, he says "I need them.... and they need me!*"
It's interesting to stop and ask why they in fact need him at all. There's an assumption that the indigenous population can't fend for themselves, and need to be "saved" by one of the outsiders (who, incidentally, happens to be a white male, like myself) - Couldn't the girl have gone and tamed the beast and assembled the clans and led the resistance herself, while the avatar fellow served just as the communication link between the two cultures? That could have made for a very different message, while being an equally compelling movie.
Try flipping the roles around in any movie where the sophisticated aliens are attacking humans, like say Independence Day... Does "our side" need a powerful alien figure to break ranks with the oppressors to lead our resistance? No, the general myth is that a "hero" rises from within to lead the struggle... so one could argue that the view presented in this movie is that the "native" people need to be guided by an outsider who knows what's best for them. (This is an assumption that I think many people in power make fairly often, but many of the people that they affect might take issue with it)
I saw this movie with my little cousins, and asked them if this story was imaginary or had any elements of truth.
They thought that it was all fake, imagined. Then I showed them this picture and asked them if it looked familiar: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/12/the_decade_in_news_photographs.html#photo38
If you scroll around a bit through that gallery, you'll see plenty more war and carnage, but then check out picture #24 to see what most people have been paying attention instead. The bigger problem isn't as much with the environment as it is with the media... If we had better media that prioritized things that were actually important (with not just stories of atrocity but also examples of positively engaged communities) then it would be much easier to go on and solve environmental and social problems...
just a thought- -jj
* I might not have this quote exactly right, as I just saw this movie overdubbed in French last night- but that's how they translated it.