Cartoons nowadays mostly serve the purpose of light entertainment, but some cartoons possess profound knowledge used to educate the new generation through the use of speeches or morals. One of such cartoons is Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show on Nickelodeon that aired during the years 2005 to 2008. While the show itself is centered on the character of Aang, the avatar and the last of the airbender race, the character known as Uncle Iroh serves as the mentor and teacher figure throughout the series. Iroh’s speech during episode 9 of season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is indirectly used to persuade children to look at the cultures of others in order to better understand themselves. This is done through the use of symbolism, ethos and some logos. Iroh’s speech to Zuko during episode 9 of season 2 is directed to persuade children, as the primary demographic of the show is children 7 years old or above. The TV rating for the show is TV-Y7. TV-Y7 means that the cartoon is designed for children age 7 and above, and may include mild fantasy violence or may frighten children under that age (TV Guidelines, 2017).
In order to understand the meaning behind the speech, one must first look at the context of the show. Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in world run by four separate entities: The Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe, and the Air Nomads. Each entity is represented by the element of nature that its people control. Such people who can harness the
It goes without saying that The Hero's Journey is an intriguing path for a story to follow. The Hero's Journey is a narrative pattern created by Joseph Campbell. James Cameron’s Avatar is a story about Jake Sully. Jake's brother was killed and because the two share the same DNA, Jake must take his place as an Avatar. Throughout this movie, friendships are formed, enemies are made and many lives are lost. In this essay, the path of The Hero's Journey will be looked at. Specifically, the Ordinary World, Meeting the Mentor, Tests, Allies and Enemies and the Ordeal. Avatar perfectly captures The Hero's Journey throughout the movie. From the Ordinary World to the Returning with the
Introduction: As long as there have been civilizations, there have been stories, myths that are told to children. These stories are usually the basis of the cartoons characters except some which are from creator’s imagination. This story telling is a means of not only comforting and amusing a child, but of teaching the child the societal norms of their nation. These are memorized by children and remembered forever. Children idolize their favourite character, the character they have most in common with and are best able to identify with, and try to emulate that character’s
In the year 2009, James Cameron wrote and directed one of the most remarkable films I have ever seen ‘Avatar’. This science-fiction saga has a story line that is engaging and captivating for its audience. Avatar took place on a moon called Pandora. Humans discovered very valuable natural resources on Pandora and did whatever it took to obtain what they needed from Pandora. The people of Pandora are Na’vi’s, a 10 foot tall, blue-skinned humanoid alien group that lived in the rainforest or Pandora. The Humans found a way to interact with the Na’vi’s by artificial yet organic avatars that were controlled with a human mind and conscience. Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine who was given the task to manipulate the Na’vi’s into leaving their home. Sully entered
The world of film has changed dramatically over the last fifty years, both in technology and perceptions on how the industry should work and how it is viewed by the public. The ending of the production code in Hollywood started the cultural change in the industry. With this restrictive institution gone, many directors chose to take advantage of this in many different ways. My favorite of these is Mel Brooks; he chose to break and push boundaries both socially and comedically. Brooks’ style often includes crude humor inlaid with deeper jokes and meaning, many fourth wall breaking moments such as the “We’re in now now” scene of Spaceballs, to stand out in the world of comedy. His masterpiece, Blazing Saddles, is one such film that did just that. Through its new found sense of humor in the post production code era and its twists on common genre tropes of the time, Blazing Saddles was able to find its place into the New Hollywood Cinema.
Avatar uses a variety of film genres and styles. One of the styles is the Cowboys versus Indians theme. It is clear that Avatar is a product of post-colonialism: it shows the Na'vi as the relatively harmless yet environmentally respectful and spiritually in tuned indigenous population, while the humans are a corporate military whose only goal is mine the resources of Pandora. The film presents an anti-military narrative. The soldiers are portrayed as cruel, violent, and brainless brutes, with only mercenary intentions. They are the stereotype of the ultimate warrior. They perpetuate the “might is right” myth. All of them are males, except for a female helicopter pilot, who ultimately defects to the
Set on the planet Pandora, Avatar is a science-fiction story of a money-hungry corporation’s attempt to conquer and excavate the land of humanoids known as Na’Vi. Jake Sully is a paraplegic, who is sent to space to complete his deceased brother’s mission because they share the same genome, which is necessary to navigate the expensive avatar that had already been cloned. We learn that the avatar is basically a mind-transporter used to be a part of and learn about the Na’Vi community. During his first expedition in the land of the Na’Vi, Jake gets lost and encounters one of the main female members of the tribe who ends up taking him under her wing and
In James Cameron's film Avatar, the protagonist, Jake Sully, undergoes a change throughout the narrative, this being from an apathetic soldier to person who thinks about and cares for the world around him. Jake is important to us because he allows us to understand the dangers of our actions. This idea is represented to us through characterisation and dialogue.
An animated television series that ties into Transcendentalism with the concept of oversoul. In the series, the fantasy world is divided into four nations that are based on the four classical elements shown throughout many common ancient philosophies. Each generation there is one person who is capable of controlling and manipulating all four elements, the Avatar. The Avatar possesses a unique ability, that allows him/her to be able to gain knowledge, powers, and abilities of all the past Avatars that opens his/her mind, during times of need or meditation. With this ability, the Avatar’s purpose is to keep the four nations harmonious and to maintain world peace.
Archetypes are characters, symbols, and situations that represent universal patterns and symbols in human nature. These symbols and patterns appear in countless pieces of literature and media. The 2009 film, Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron, is a modern-day prime example of a hero’s journey also containing many character and symbolic archetypes. Avatar is a science-fiction in which humans have drained all of earth’s natural resources and have been searching exoplanets and their moons for vital materials to sustain the human population. The protagonist and hero, Jake Sully, is sent to a moon of the gigantic exoplanet Polyphemus named Pandora, which has a poisonous atmosphere and hostile native species, but holds a valuable metal, unobtanium. There he has to take his twin brother’s place controlling an avatar in the Avatar Project, a system of mind controlled bodies made up of cross-bred human DNA and the DNA of the natives. In his Avatar form, Jake is accepted into a tribe of the natives known as the Na’vi. Though his mission
Avatar is a blockbuster film from 2009 and one of my most favorite Sci-fi films of all time. The film was directed by James Cameron, who is known for directing films like Titanic (1997), Aliens (1986), and the Terminator (1984), all of which helped shape the film industry into what it is today. Although at the time, there was a recession and people were trying to save money, this movie became the highest grossing film in at the time. The movie provided stunning 3D technology unlike any other movie and this was one of the reasons that made people want to go watch the film. From visual effects to the camera angles, James Cameron directed this movie to make the audience feel like they are in the movie. Although the film looked amazing, there were messages and themes inside the film that made it such a success. The film provoked discussions about various messages and themes embedded inside the film, such as terrorism, Imperialism, religious connections, and connections to current world. Such messages can be clearly seen throughout the plot of the movie.
Have you ever seen the movie entitled “Avatar” by James Cameron? This would be our entry point to understand this thesis very well. In the movie, Human beings had already depleted Earth’s natural and mineral resources which make them to have their expedition in the other planet called Pandora to extract minerals. While extracting minerals, the inhabitant of the place called “Na’vi” which has the highest regards on nature, becomes angry to these invaders. Human being doesn’t care about it and just continue on exploiting the minerals in the planet. Human beings also begin to attack the home of the Na’vi especially the “Tree of Soul” which the human found out having the highest percentage of the minerals they needed for the people of the earth to survive. However the Na’vi won’t allow the humans to destroy their home, so they defended what belongs to them. In the end, human beings lose the battle against the Na’vi because “Eywa” ,goddess of nature, sends a very strong wave of reinforcement of wild beasts which destroys the powerful artillery of the human beings. The humans are sent back to their planet empty handed.
Besides all the awards and the technology this movie has presented, the clear depiction of Orientalism idea in this movie becomes the main reason Avatar is chosen to be the subject of this study. The plot of this movie tells about the exploitation done by human towards Planet Pandora, the place in which the valuable mineral can be obtained. In that place, human has to face and overcome the struggle of the native called Na’vi who opposes the land exploitation. Human scientists invent the avatar program which enables human to drive their avatar body, a genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrid, and therefore human can freely observes and persuades the native to surrender their land. Here, the idea of Orientalism clearly depicted in the way human represents the native as primitive and uncivilized and how human tries to educate and build the native in the way human believes to be the best way.
While analyzing Avatar, it’s safe to say that there isn’t one main theme, but plenty. One main theme of Avatar is the flow of energy and the beauty of nature. “She said all energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back,” (Cameron, 2009). Another huge theme in Avatar is the battle between Mother Nature and humans. “Our Great Mother does not take sides. She protects only the balance of life,” (Cameron, 2009). This quote is said by the Na’vi character Neytiri when Jake tries to ask Mother Nature to help him in his battle against the humans. In the end, Mother Nature does end up taking a stand and fighting for the preservation of life. Issues like corporations destroying nature for profit, the lack of respect for living creatures, and the failed policies of "military diplomacy" that the USA continues to pursue are just a few of the other themes behind Avatar. It would be ridiculous to say that the deep, meaningful themes from Avatar are just a copy of the weak, childish message from Pocahontas.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated show that is set in a magical world. The world is divided into four elemental powers. The elemental powers are earthbending, airbending, firebending, and waterbending. The world is made up of humans and animals. The show is fun to watch and it was made by nickelodeon. There are a lot of people in the story to the cartoon was hard to make because the architecture of the world is very complicated.
Most of the science fiction works contain a crucial message that the writer wishes to convey to the viewers. There are two categories of film message, one is positive and the other is negative. A positive message is one that is expected to have favourable outcome to the audience, and continuously aiming to promote better societal changes. In contrast, a negative message is one that could deliver threats or unpleasant information to the audience, which could have significant impact on the normal order of the society. This essay will argue that if the message contains positive elements, then it is not a bad sign to embed science fiction works with a message. First, this essay will suggest that the well-integrated message within a particular