White Behavior In Avatar

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

In 1899, the term “white man’s burden” was coined by Rudyard Kipling to depict the social responsibility that white men believed they had towards blacks. Although the term is out of date, the meaning behind it has not left society, as the “white messiah” has come to replace it. Although the connotation of the term is no exactly the same, the basic meaning behind “white messiah” is that a white male protagonist will save a desperate group of people from the evils that superior, white society has placed on them. The “white messiah” figure can be seen in the film, “Avatar”, directed by James Cameron. Even though Avatar deviates from the typical “white messiah” formula occasionally, according to Mitu Sengupta in her article, “Race Relations Light Years From Earth,” one can conclude that the entertainment industry is still perpetuating racial inequalities and racism. By analyzing “Avatar” and the concept of the “white messiah”, one can argue racism still exists in the American society and whites feel guilty about the racial inequalities. Even though they have this guilt, whites will not change if it means that they must give up their “white privilege.”

The movie Avatar is about how the human race invades a planet called Pandora to mine a certain kind of resource and fights with the Na’vi, the race of creatures that live on Pandora. The main character Jake Sulley decides to take his brothers

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

It’s not uncommon for hollywood to use the white savior narrative in their movies. Movies such as The Blind Side, Dances with Wolves, and The Last Samurai all carry this narrative which often misrepresent people of color (Quote). According to the urban dictionary, the definition of a white savior: “refers to western people going in to “fix” the problems of struggling nations or people of color without understanding their history, needs, or the region’s current state of affairs” (urban dictionary). These films often forget to show that people of color are capable of taking care of their community and place a white savior in the film who becomes more superior than anyone else in the film. Specifically, in the film, Dance with the wolves, the main character, Dunbar becomes this hero who begins by sympathizing with the Sioux Indians, learned to become more skillful than they were while learning their culture and ultimately transforms into this white savior that saves them countless of times. Therefore, this film aims to lift any feelings of white guilt by making it seem as if the white people were not the oppressors and taking away their land from them but instead they create a hero who saves the Native Americans from any troubles they had which was stirred up by them.

On Pandora, Jake is told to gain the natives’, or the Na’vi, trust in order to attempt to relocate the tribe. This is necessary because the military wanted to collect a rare, valuable, mineral that lay beneath the Na’vi territory. The specific tribe the movie focuses on is the Omaticaya tribe, which includes the characters seen in the movie. In order to gain their confidence, Jake was put into an avatar body which was created and genetically modified to match a real Na’vi; mixing

Stuart Buck proclaims in his introduction that there are a vast majority of Black students who (after desegregation) are acting white. What Stuart means by the term 'acting white' is that Black students who seek after educational excellence are mimicking the efforts of white children who often times are considered to be more likely to get good grades, be studious, or work hard at educational endeavors. These efforts at excelling in school or gaining a good education are often viewed by the Black community as 'acting white'.

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.

To explore on Pandora, whose atmosphere is very poisonous to people, scientists invented Avatars, who look like the Na’vi and are operated by genetically matched humans. By lying in the machine box, people can operate avatars as if they were living outside like other Na’vi. Jake Sully, a paraplegic veteran, is chosen as part of Avatar program to replace his deceased identical twin brother who worked for the program. Colonel Quaritch promises Jake that he helps them to collect information about the Na’vi and a giant tree called Hometree, the company will

There are several critics towards Avatar which states that this movie contains racist themes in which the white hero once again saving the primitive natives. The editor in chief sci-fi magazines Jesse Washington writes that Avatar reminds her of Pocahontas story which also tells about how the main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens or people of color, and then go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed.

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.

Avatar is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine that is sent to the world Pandora to take the place of his dead-brother's job as a Na’vi avatar pilot. The humans on Pandora use these

In the 21st century, movies present a platform for ideas and themes to be conveyed through a screen. Themes of change, environmental crisis, love, and death are all only a few of the most common themes that circulate through the Hollywood film industry. According to Annalee Newitz in her essay “When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?”, a recurring theme she’s noticed is the theme of white guilt. In her essay, Newitz depicts the movie Avatar as nothing more than a colorful rehash of this (apparently) common white guilt scenario. This is where the main white protagonist leaves the oppressive (white) side to join the oppressed native side upon seeing the error of his ways. Some Americans, including Newitz, believe that movies

The movie Avatar takes place in a world that is inhabited by the Na’vi called Pandora. Avatars are human minds, transferred into the body of the Na’vi species’ so that the humans are better equipped when dealing with the world of Pandora. Humans infiltrate this land to take away this precious stone that is locked away underground. To get to this stone they must take away the homeland of the natives living there. The setting Pandora is a very mystical place and has many animals, or monsters, from a human’s perspective. It is such a foreign place that humans are slowly adjusting to better understand it. The Matrix deals with the human setting of the dystopia, and