The world of Avatar

In 2009, filmmaker James Cameron brought forth his long gestating vision of Pandora. The film ‘Avatar’, considered one of the most expensive films ever made at the time, introduced us to the Na’vi people, the inhabitants of this world, their way of life and their conflict with the human invaders.

With the Earth facing ecological collapse in the distant future, this new world, Pandora,seems like the Earth’s only hope for redemption largely due to the presence of a mineral called ‘unobtanium’. The plan is simple: send in the US military to extract Pandora’s resources. The atmosphere of Pandora, however, isn’t suitable for human beings. So they use Avatars, lab grown look alikes of the Na’vi that are mind controlled by the humans. While operating their Avatars, they experience the physical world as the Na’vi would.

Watching the images of US soldiers in a foreign land, it is clear that this film is an allegory for modern politics. Director James Cameron hasn’t shied away from the subject of imperialism. He has used as a reference the invasion of Iraq by the US, a reference solidified by a character calling the brutal bombing of Pandora ‘shock and awe’.

Furthermore, the Resource Development Administration (RDA) a corporate entity whose sole purpose is to purge the planet of its valuable minerals has a stark resemblance to The East India Company, which was formed to initiate trade with Asia. The East India Company took control over large portions of the Indian subcontinent and ultimately colonized and looted India. However, the goal of the RDA isn’t just to colonize and purloin, but to settle on Pandora and replace its native population (by force) and create a new human society in the image of the Earth like what the European colonies did to the native population in the Americas. This is known as settler colonialism.

James Cameron, an ardent environmentalist, wanted to make a modern epic depicting our relationship with nature. Therefore, it is clear that his sympathies lie with the Na’vi.

The Na’vi live in harmony with their environment. They believe that everything around them is alive and part of a global consciousness they call ‘Eywa’ who maintains the balance of life.

There is a connectedness between them, a oneness that is never more apparent than in the way they greet each other. ‘I see you’ they say as a sign of respect for each other as they acknowledge the presence of one in another and see beneath the outer cloak and into the individual soul. Even when they kill an animal to feed themselves, ‘I see you’ they say, acknowledging its sacrifice and offering gratitude. This connection is made literal by the physical act of bonding with their ‘queues’. Not unlike a tail, their queues are an appendage that have tendrils with which they can create a neural bond with everything around them. From the creatures they mount to the act of mating, this bonding process further emphasizes a global interconnectedness among the inhabitants of this planet.

There is a general apathy on display by the humans towards the Na’vi. They see them as no more than primitive savages. Thus, beyond the central conflict of the film, the film also emphasizes the conflict between two ways of life.

Nature versus Technology.

Peaceful Equilibrium versus Relentless Expansionism.

This conflict manifests itself in the protagonist of the film who starts of in the barren, desaturated world of humans, run exclusively on modern technology and then finds himself in the verdant landscapes of Pandora. He is caught between the rampant greed of his species and the love he develops for the Pandoran way of life. Ultimately, through the protagonist we see the spectrum of humanity. Humans and Na’vi both represent a version of human nature. It is up to the audience to decide which version it would choose.

The film, however, is not without its flaws. Despite borrowing a lot from indigenous cultures, its depiction of indigenous people lacks nuance thereby portraying them as ‘noble savages’. This is an idealised version of indigenous people who are ultimately portrayed as no more than stock characters, thus taking away their agency and leaving the door open for the ‘white saviour’. Maori academic Rawiri Taonui agreed that the film portrays the native population as simplistic and unable to defend themselves without the help of ‘the white guys and neo-liberals’. It is clear that there is an urgent need for representation in cinema today where indigenous people can tell their own stories.

Avatar, along with films like ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Ad Astra’, is also guilty of prioritising space exploration in the wake of ecological catastrophe. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, two of the richest people on the planet, have enough money between them to solve some major problems plaguing this planet. However, they have spent billions on space projects that have had a deleterious impact on the environment and may further increase the severity of climate change. Furthermore, they offer no real solutions to the problems we face. Our planet is the only one we know of that can harbour life. Therefore, we should look for ways to preserve and protect what we have.

Whatever its flaws maybe, the film has had a positive effect. From former Bolivian President Evo Morales calling it a "profound show of resistance to capitalism and the struggle for the defence of nature" to the activists who ran ads in the Hollywood newspaper Variety comparing the Na’avi to India’s forest-dwelling indigenous tribe, the Dongria, whose territory is threatened by a planned bauxite mine and Environmentalists Lori Pottinger who compared the story of Avatar to the Brazilian government’s plans to build dams in the Amazon Basin.

But 14 years after the release of the film and all the progress made, we still have a long way to go.

While watching the film, we root for the Na’vi to win against the aggressive corporate militarism of the humans. Yet, in reality the indigenous people of the world, on whom the Na’vi are based, continue to find themselves fighting against capitalistic greed.

The protagonist of the film looks beyond the differences between the humans and the Na’vi. He realises that the world isn’t just theirs to protect. Ultimately, he is faced with the choice: to side with humans and usher in the destruction of Pandora or side with the Na’vi and fight alongside them against rampant corporate greed.

Today, we are faced with a similar choice.