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Outline

Introduction

• Summary of the movie
• Thesis Statement: The movie greatly portrays the theme of noble savage and the exploitation of the indigenous people as opposed to their support by the humans.

Body

Human exploitation of the Navis through camouflage

• Knowing their ways
• Blackmail
• A change of heart after achieving the goal
• Relating the movie with the real world

Noble savage

• The battle between civilization and non-civilization
• The advantages of civilization to the Navi
• Relating the movie to the real world

Conclusion

• Repetition of the thesis statement
• A recap of the main points

Introduction

The themes in James Cameron’s movie Avatar can be discussed at book long by the majority of the analysts in diverse fields including the religious, political, social and cultural ones. The film revolves around unobtanium miners in a place known as Pandora, in the star system known as Alpha Centauri. In order to increase the mining territory, the humans plan to invade the Navi Tribe territory (Dagris, 2009). Although they plan to know their ways so that they can convince them into relocating, the main idea is to take control of this part of the land. Such themes as imperialism, religion, spirituality, property rights, corporate greed, patriotism, militarism and racism have all been displayed in this movie (Mahoney, 35). However, there have been arguments that have been brought concerning the display of some things. These arguments lie between the themes of pantheism versus Christianity, pro-American versus anti-American, the hackneying versus the praising of the spiritual concept, amongst other arguments. The argument of whether the Navi portrayed the support of the indigenous people or it brought the theme of noble savage has also been brought. The movie greatly portrays the theme of noble savage and the exploitation of the indigenous people as opposed to their support by the humans.

Discussion

Human Exploitation Through Camouflage

The majority of the viewers and especially those in countries where there are indigenous groups such as the United States and Australia can identify with this movie. The people entering an already occupied territory mostly have the aim of taking control of the land with the inclusion of it resources. This was the main aim of the humans. They wanted to learn the Navi and their ways so that they could find a way of convincing them to move from their land peacefully to the advantage of the humans. Like the earlier days, one of the ways of knowing the Navis was to be like them. This is why the avatars were made.

Grace’s avatar acts as the Navi’s teacher. She engages the young Navis into school-like activities where she tries to teach them how to read and write. Additionally, she feels that they are illiterate and uncivilized thus the need to civilize them (General Books, 25). Although the majority of the people argue that this was an act of concern and kindness to the Navi people, another analysis of this situation reveals otherwise. Grace might also have wanted to show these acts so that she would learn the people from a closer angle. By interacting with them directly, she would know their weakest points and thus she would be able to approach them in the right way. If she were concerned about them, she would not feel the need to civilize them. After all, it was the world of the Navis and not the human’s world. If they had survived without being civilized, then they did not need civilization.

When the first Americans came into the United States, they first learnt to intertwine with the Native Americans before taking over the land. They learnt their culture, their ways and the way they thought so that they would easily manipulate them into subduing a land that the Native Americans had called their own for a very long time. After they were able to accomplish this and thus got the land they wanted, they started discriminating against the same Native Americans. This kind of experience has been experienced in other parts of the world that have gone through the same processes.

The movie is a good depiction and a critic of the events, which are taking place or have already taken place in the real world. Through the actions of the movie characters, the concerned audience is able to condemn their own actions. For example, when watching the movie, the audience would condemn Colonel Quaritch’s actions of blackmailing Jake with restoration of his limbs function, if he agrees to gather information about the Navi’s occupancy of unobtanium; yet such actions take place almost everyday. The developing countries have been seen to manipulate the developed countries into changing their policies, systems, governance, amongst issues, in exchange of donations, loans, or other crucial needs.

Just like the way the colonel is using Jake’s weaknesses in manipulating Jake to accomplish his (Colonel) desires, the developed countries use their economic empowerment to manipulate the developing countries into ‘feeding’ their neo-colonialism ego (Davidson 13). They (developed countries) dictate on the price to buy coffee with yet they are the buyers. They take their armies into the warring nations, with or without the host country’s wish (as in the case of Afghanistan). This latter scenario, especially, can be viewed in the scene where the colonel takes in the ex-militants into the land of the Navis after realizing that Jake had betrayed him.

As constantly mentioned, the humans wanted to manipulate the Navis through the common deceit of first being friendly in order to know their ways. After doing so, they (humans) would then turn their back on them (Navis) by subduing the few resources they had on their land. Some people might argue that the humans, who are represented by Jake, actually turned their back on the perpetrators (Colonel Quaritch and his group). However, Jake, like the other humans, had no interest in the Navis. He saw the Navis as a gateway to another chance in his life where he could walk again. However, his love for Neytiri gave him a change of thought for his initial intention. If he had not fallen in love with Neytiri, he would most probably have carried own with the original plan.

In the real world, many situations go through with the original plan. The European countries colonized the African countries amongst other countries even after they had come under the deceit of being missionaries and bringing literacy and disease solutions to the people who had survived by the use of herbal medicine and other modes of education. These countries turned their back on their hosts and turned them into their slaves. In today’s world, neo-colonialism is the most significant. These same countries are still controlling the economically struggling countries in the name of offering donations and relief. They then turn their backs on the same countries when they refuse to adhere to their policies and wishes.

Dr. Grace Augustine who is heading the avatar program and an exobiologist, is a supporter of peaceful relations. The avatar creation is her idea and she does this in order to make the integration with the Navis much easier. According to her perception, convincing the Navis to get off their land willingly was easier and friendlier as compared to forcefully chasing them away (Olivier 10). However, the original idea was to evacuate the Navis from a place they had called home for many generations. This action was being taken for the benefit of the humans and not for the Navis benefit.

In normal circumstances, the one in need makes the move but not the one with the answer. In this case, the one without the need is the one being inconvenienced. Instead of the humans taking their time to learn the language of the Navi people, the humans set up a school to teach the English language. This shows the humans’ perception of themselves and of others. They thought that their ways were the right ways hence the need to enlighten the native people. In other words, the humans did not want the peaceful interventions for the Navis’ sake, but rather they wanted these peaceful relations for the sake of themselves. Evacuating the Navis in a peaceful would not bring any psychological tortures as an aftermath.

In the current situation, such scenarios can be witnessed. The widely used languages are from developed countries as opposed to the developing countries. Languages such as English, French, Spanish, Italian and Deutsch, amongst other languages, are the most used all over the world. The majority of countries in Africa speak either of these languages as a national language. They are also the languages offered min most of the learning institutions worldwide. In other words, some languages are conveyed as being more important than other languages. Instead of the foreigners adjusting to learn the language of the inhabitants, the foreigners have made the inhabitants see that the foreign language is more to learn that the native language. It is easier to communicate with English or French than it is easier to communicate with Hindu.

Noble Savage

As constantly mentioned, theme of civilization versus non-civilization has constantly been portrayed. The humans represent civilization while the Navis represent non-civilization. In this movie, Cameron tried to convey the purity, the innocence, the harmony and other positive characteristics that come with being uncivilized (General Books 27). The Navis are portrayed as people who are willing to do anything in order to take care of their natural habitat. They are people who bring believe that they are one with the nature surrounding them. Additionally, they believe that they are not superior to the wild animals or the trees in their habitat. They prefer to co-exist with the nature rather than using it for their benefit entirely.

From one perspective, the Navis have been portrayed as ready to do anything in order to protect the nature. On the other hand, the humans, who represent civilization, have been portrayed as people who would do anything in order to make sure that nature works for their benefit. In other words, civilization brings the destruction of nature while non-civilization brings forth the growth of nature. The humans have come to search for more resources in the land of the Navis since they have already exhausted the resources in their land. Additionally, due to their greed for wealth and their selfish ways, they do not see the significance of the home tree where the Navis go to worship. To the humans, the unobtaniun (fruits of the land) are more important than the source of the unobtanium (the land itself).

This same perception was seen when the people colonial countries took over the colonies in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. They were so interested with the fruit of the land that they were not interested with the people who had inhabited the land nor were they interested with taking care of the land. For their greed of wealth, the chopped down the trees in the forests so that they could create more land for farming in the countries that had a good arable land and consistent rainfall. They dug more and more quarries in the countries that were rich with minerals. After some time the land was not the same again. Since they had greatly influenced the native people with their civilized way of life, the people continued depleting the resources of the same land without taking care of the source of these resources thus the emergence of the problem leading the humans to the land in the moon.

Cameron has greatly tried to show that being uncivilized has its advantages after all. The Navis know how to take care of their environment. They do not kill the animals for the sake of it. As seen, during the first encounters of Neytiri and Jake’s avatar, Neytiri says some sort of prayers as he kills the animals attacking them. He also seems to be with unhappy with the fact that she has to kill them for Jake’s sake. Additionally, she goes ahead and shows Jake’s avatar that each animal’s can be tamed of the person connects (nervous connection) with the right animal (bird-like). Although they seem to be uncivilized, the Navis have found a way of taking care and respecting the environment, so that it can take care of them (Taylor & Adrian, 2010).

Since the human’s will power to acquire the unobtanium blinds them, they fail to see that powerful weapons and technology (an outcome of civilization) may not always be the solution to all challenges (Olivier 5). Their lack of civilization has enabled them to maintain their resources as well as enjoy them even though they have been around for many years. Unlike Dr. Augustine perception, which depicts that the Navis tend to learn from the humans, it should be the other way round. The human should learn from the Navis. Additionally, noble savage does not kill them. It is the civilization brought by the humans in form of big weapons and machines, which destroys them and their land (the destruction of the home tree).

Conclusion

The movie greatly portrays the theme of noble savage and the exploitation of the indigenous people as opposed to their support by the humans. The humans did not start relating with the Navis because their interest in them as a people who had a culture and a life, but rather they were more interested in what they had or what the stepped on. They only wanted to find a peaceful way of evacuating the Navis from the place they had called home for many years. Instead of learning their ways and their language, the humans were more interested in making the Navis conform to their civilized ways.

Majority may argue that the humans were trying to civilize the Navis since civilization made life easier. However, the humans portrayed something contrary. Civilization had depleted their resources back on planet earth and now they were in another people’s land. Additionally, the Navis seemed to survive quite well without the intended civilization. They had survived without it for many years. The humans, led by Jake’s avatar, may have reconsidered their intentions at the end. However, their initial intentions were as selfish as the colonel’s intentions. They were in the land of the Navi’s because they wanted resources that would only benefit themselves without much care of the Navis.

 

 

Works cited

Dagris, Manohla. A New Eden, Both Cosmic and Cinematic. New York Times, 2009, December 17. Web. April 10, 2012.

Davidson, Rjurik. “‘avatar’: Evaluating a Film in a World of Its Own.” Screen Education. (2010): 10-17. Print.

General Books, LLC. Inigeneous Peoples: Themes in Avatar, Inuit Culture, Tradditional Knowledge, Uncontacted People, List of Indegeneous Peoples, Adolf Feilberg. General Books, LLC, 2010. Print.

Mahoney, Kevin Patrick. The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Avatar, James Cameron’s Epic Movie. London: Punked Books, 2010. Print.

Olivier, Bert. “Avatar : Ecopolitics, Technology, Science, Art and Myth.” South African Journal of Art History. 25.3 (2010): 1-16. Print.

Taylor, Bron & Adrian Ivakhiv. Opening Pandora’s Film. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2010, Vol. 4, 4: Avatar and Nature Spirituality.

 

 

 

 

 

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