Avatar: Racist vs. anti-American?
January 11, 2010 By: almostgotit Category: Uncategorized, advertising, animal story, art 
Non-starters in this week’s news:
• Why was it wrong for Harry Reid to say that Obama’s light skin and standard American dialect helped him win the presidency? The fact is, our country wouldn’t have elected a man who looked or sounded too black because our country never elects presidents who look or sound too anything, much less anything that is also TOO NEW. (For the record: I voted for Obama.)
• Nor do I understand what’s so shocking about Sarah Palin’s saying she believed that running for vice president had been God’s will. Is there anyone alive who has not yet heard that Sarah Palin believes in God? So wouldn’t it be more interesting to find out that she’d accepted a nomination she believed was AGAINST God’s will? (For the record: I did *not* vote for Sarah Palin.)
• And now, Avatar the movie, one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen recently, is coming under fire, and from weirdly opposite directions. However, anything so wildly popular is going to be criticized, if only to help journalists pay the rent. (For the record: no one is paying me a cent.)
First criticism: Avatar as anti-military. The narrator TELLS us at the beginning that “this was not the military: these were hired guns.” It’s IN THE SCRIPT, people: this is not an anti-military movie, it’s an anti-corrupt-mercenary movie.
And let’s not forget that the Na’vi natives are just as vicious with their knives, arrows and Large Strong Animals as the humans are with their machinery… vicious enough that the Pandorans actually BEAT the humans, after all. And did any of us hate those battle scenes? I rest my case.
Then there’s the “Avatar as anti-American” critique. What interests me most about that one is the way these critics would have us all define “American.”
If “American” equals “Unrelentingly murderous, sadistic capitalists,” then I’ve understood these critics correctly, but few will agree with them. The rogue Jake Sully is the American hero we identify with, not his employers. I would venture to say that most Americans, conservatives especially, believe that America is the land of the free. We LOVE that about ourselves, and when we go to war, the reason most conservative Americans will give – and the principal that most Americans in general are particularly passionate about– is the preservation of freedom and democracy.
Not that Americans are always very good at preserving freedom and democracy when they go to war, but it would be wrong to conclude therefore that the entire country is sadistic enough to make the destruction of freedom and democracy its central purpose.
So if the conservative critics are wrong, how about the liberal critics? Is this movie racist? True: the hero is white, and most of the Na’vi are played by (and resemble) people of color. However, I can’t remember if the other humans in the movie were predominantly white or not, though the American military (my strongest model, as I too am American ) is extremely diverse — in fact, it is one of the most racially diverse populations in the world. Therefore, I don’t remember the human invaders in Avatar as “white” but as “human.” But is even a human vs. Na’vi contest race-neutral enough, given that it took a member of the advanced, imperialist human race to save the naive, native Pandoran one? But were the Pandorans really so naive, were the humans really so advanced, and did Jake Sully really represent “A White Messiah?”
Perhaps it would have been more graceful if Jake Sully had been played by a black actor. I am willing to concede that point: I didn’t pay much attention to Jake Sully’s race, but that alone may be telling. Perhaps we all could use some fresher imagery.
What I did notice was that a 6 foot tall familiarly-colored person fell in love with a 10 foot tall bright blue person, and that seemed pretty multi-cultural to me.
I also watched Jake Sully roll around helplessly on the ground, leaving his Na’vi wife and Pandora’s native deity to make the decisive moves in the final battle. Which, as I’ve pointed out, they win. If Avatar is indeed racist, it seems to be the human race that takes the hardest knocks in this movie.
No matter what some critics are saying, people of all political stripes are flooding the theatres in record numbers to see Avatar. The real question about the movie, therefore, is what makes it so much fun to watch?
January 11th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
very nice blog. i haven’t followed the harry reid story. i assume from what you wrote that he was describing the situation rather than why he liked about obama, or what others should like about him. in that case i totally agree with you. and sarah palin. it’s weird, because i was pretty CERTAIN god was a democrat, but of the centrist persuasion. and now she says s/he’s more or less a sarah palin republican. total bummer. i haven’t seen avatar but now i want to see it. (for the record: i am a human of european descent.)
January 12th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
I’ve thought the same thing about the ending of “Avatar”. I’ve seen lots of complaints about the white guy coming to save the native population, but in the movie that *I* saw, the white guy pretty much got his butt handed to him by the humans, and the *PLANET* saved the native population.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:22 am
You present this in a very unbiased manner. Thanks. I haven’t seen the movie yet. My daughter said it was a bit preachy, but I’ll have to go see for myself.
Mary
January 13th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Colin Powell, two weeks after refusing to run for President, said in a speech I attended that his race wouldn’t have been a problem because he is light skinned and from Jamaica and “so I’m not that scary a black man”.
Post-racial? NPR and Pew reported a survey yesterday where most whites saw Obama as mixed race and blacks, to a much greater degree, saw him as black.
Come back in 50 years…. our voting populace will all be a lovely shade of ecru… or burnt sienna….. and “flesh” will not automatically send the brain to white. Well, that’s my dream, anyhow.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
@David: Thanks for your comment. I’ve been waiting for a Pandoran of Na’vi descent to comment as well, but so far no luck.
@Dennis/James: You put it much better than I did. I liked your review of the movie as well (on your James Viscosi blog – http://jamesviscosi.wordpress.com/)
@Mary: Thanks in return. “Avatar” probably is a bit preachy, but I can’t quite decide what FOR. Mostly it was just a real fun movie.
@Ashleigh: INTERESTING NPR/Pew result! In other words, as I understand you, both blacks and whites really want to identify with Obama. That’s a good thing, right? I also conclude (from the “mixed race” thing largely being only recognized by whites) that ALL races need to work on being “post-racial.” But probably the race with the most power has to take the lead. (to those who have been given much, much shall be required.)
January 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I so agree that Avatar is visually lovely, the most beautifully “imagined” thing I’ve ever seen on film and I want to see it again. Heck, I want to buy it. And a big screened TV to watch it on. For a 60+ year old lady who’s addicted to quiet little British films, that’s saying a lot.
I had the impression that Cameron and crew did everything humanly possible to avoid racism in the movie. The Na’vi (naive) bore some resemblance to every aboriginal population known to anthropology and their customs were suggestive of several such cultures. The creators of Avatar even managed to avoid dissing the disabled. Only Blackwater came out looking noir.
I’ve talked myself into going back to see it today. And I’ll be back here, too…just found you and most gratified.
January 13th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Heavens, what movie was I watching when I thought it was Avatar? All I saw was a root-for-the-underdog film which spent more money on special effects than on dialogue. But then my species is Canadian, maybe that’s it.
January 14th, 2010 at 4:51 am
There were a few things in Avatar that made me uncomfortable. The first being Jake’s betrayal of his own people – his own comrades. I felt a bit conditioned and manipulated into believing it was justified and righteous. But, there was something perverse about it that I can’t quite explain.
I also thought it was depressing to watch Jake abandon his human body curled up in a fetal position under a tree. Does he visit occasionally? What was wrong with that body? It seemed perfectly functional to me. Jake may be ten feet tall in his new blue body, but he’s still a weeny.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:03 pm
What was interesting about Harry Reid’s comments was the fire storm of reaction in the media channeling the so-called reaction to HR’s comments. I’m with AlmostGotIt; the American people would never elect Wanda Sykes, Richard Pryor, Stokley Carmichael, or Jesse Jackson. And, oh yes, racism is American as Mom’s homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
As for Avatar, well, alas, all I could think of was “Dances With Wolves” computer cross-dressed up into a sci-fi flik with lots of images from other sci-fi / fanatsy fliks from the past 20 yrs blended in. Alas I’m simultaneously disappointed and entertained. Sigh.
March 20th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I think on the white messiah thing you’ve got the wrong end of the stick a little. The argument is more one of disagreement with the whole post-colonial patronising attitude to other races which this could be regarded as. The fact that the natives are unable to win without the assistance of one of the colonisers undermines the basic point that the natives are not inferior. Its the same problem as in blood diamond and many other films. ‘Oh look at these poor na’vi, africans, native americans etc; what they need is a white man/human to sort this out’. The allegation of racism (which i think is a bit much) is based on that not a simplistic who is fighting who argument i feel. The need for a western/white/human to lead the poor put upon natives to victory could be read in this way or just as a plot device to involve the audience. If the film was just the Na’vi kicking ass on there own the audience might have more difficulty siding with them. The same applies for the whole curiously human concept of love and relationships and the fact they’re bipeds on a planet where everything else has six legs.
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I really like the Avatar 3D film, especially the story line, not solely it brings a totally new sensation however inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to watch it again…!
May 14th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Personally I don’t think Cameron consciously tried to avoid racism or not, I don’t think the idea ever entered his mind. He was telling the story he had/wanted to tell. We need to get over the idea that anything that has the slightest hint of racism means that the perpetrator was a closet racist. This society was pretty sexiest and racist for a long time, and that doesn’t go away overnight. It might take a century. We didn’t all become enlightened because of the new millennium. When I saw Avatar for the first time, I didn’t necessarily see racism, but I did notice immediately a perpetuation of the white, Western ideal, that I had noticed in movies like The Last Samarai , and to a lesser extent in Dances With Wolves, where exposure to a “white guy” who in his own country is mediocre at best is able to become a better embodiment of his adopted culture than any native of that culture ever born. (sometimes this takes years, but Avatar managed it in mere months) Then because he possesses knowledge of his culture and his adopted culture he is able to “save” this culture. (or if one isn’t creating alternate history prolong their survival, or be the only survivor and go back and get the native girl)
I liked Avatar well enough. Visually I was in awe, but I don’t have any desire to see it again, or to buy it. There are a ton of better movies that I haven’t even seen yet, and many more than I could watch again. In fact I think I’ll go and watch the Maltese Falcon one more time.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Avatar…dances with wolves in space fits the plot, but boy oh boy the special effects were stunning! Really impressive use of light and color. Visually on a par with the movie “what dreams may come”…but in 3-D. Wow!
May 30th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
If everyone who saw Avatar as such an offensive anti- their-shitck movie just went in with absolutely no political biases they would “see” why everything controversial was in fact NOT and had a point. This movie isnt at all about ripping a new one on society. Im not going to dissect this argument but i know the author is right in the hypocracy of the angry conservatives. About the actual movie: As a serious actor I instantly connected to and understood our own avatar, the charachter Jake. Because this movie is all about his journey i was able to clearly sense every thought and emotion he had as the story progressed. I understood why he fought, loved, explored, and changed on a very human level. To help you get into Jakes head, here’s his story: Jake is a former marine, due to being paralyzed in a future war in venezuela. He was a grunt, but a commited marine and a hero. He loved fighting for what is right and taking action. As a handicap, he now comes to grips with how awful his world is. What he fought for got him a cold, clauserphobic apartment in a filthy, toxic, and industrialized city, more so, a whole planet. He lives each day shuffling through his dying world, repeating the phrase that sums up the rest of his life “the strong prey on the weak.” His brother, an elite scientist named Tom Sully dies for something as sad as “the paper in his wallet”; the “insanity” of our greed and hostility echoes throughout this movie, starting here. Because the Avatar program is an extremely important and expensive corporate/government project, the RDA immediately offers sully the job to compensate. Sully is a twin of Tom so he can at least make up for the loss by using the genetically compatable avatar for missions. The reason jake accepts id because of his marine spirit and the paycheck that will grant him the surgery needed to get his legs back. He dosent care about pandora, or the reason hes doing this, he has needs, thats it. And there you have it, now go see Avatar as the immersive masterpiece that it is and ENJOY it! Avatar is a deep, emotional, and thought provoking peice of Sci-fi and i cant wait to see whereelse Cameron takes his creation.