James Cameron’s “Avatar” was largely hailed as a momentous achievement with regard to the technological advancement involved in its production, and it happened to be the first movie that I ever saw in 3D. Given its status as a veritable cinematic feat of the future, it’s ironic that Avatar contains so very many of the tired tropes and stereotypes imbedded in our cultural consciousness with regard to gender and the environment. From the very beginning of the movie, even before we meet the Na’vi, the characters’ views about nature align stereotypically with their gender identity. Parker Selfridge is male, and the head of the mining operation on Pandora. He is clearly the human symbol of environmental destruction, and he shows almost no empathy for the Na’vi, even when it becomes clear that their efforts to mine will kill them. The other main antagonist of the movie is Colonel Miles Quaritch. Also male, he embodies stereotypical masculinity. He is scarred, scowling, and unapologetically brutal. In contrast to these two, Dr. Grace Augustine is a biologist, and she is devoted to growing and maintaining peaceful relationships with the Na’vi, even going so far as to live with them and learn their language. When we look to the two main character, Sam (a human who spends time in Na’vi form) and Neytiri (a Na’vi female), we find the same dynamics. Sam is an intruder and an imposter in the world of the Na’vi, and his original purpose there was to covertly further the destructive aims of the mining operation. Neytiri, however, is portrayed as having a unique connection to nature. Under her increasingly-flirtatious tutelage, Sam comes to a deep appreciation and understanding of the Pandora version of nature. By the time his double-agent role is exposed, Sam is in love with both Neytiri and her way of life, both of which are symbols of nature and a harmonious, symbiotic relationship with it. As we discussed in class on April 7th, 2010, these gendered relationships with nature echo an idea that women (and native peoples) have an intrinsic connection to nature, and especially more so than their male counterparts.
Elements of the avatar story also echo the ideas about the earth as a single, collective organism (Gaia Theory) that are expressed in the Gaia Girls series book, Enter the Earth, in which a ten year old girl named Elizabeth is designated by Gaia to fight for the wellbeing of the earth, beginning with her family’s farm. Gaia teaches Elizabeth to connect in a profound way with the rhythm and harmony of nature, in order to make it conform to her will. Similarly, the Na’vi use a deep and almost spiritual connection with nature in order to live in harmony with it. In both stories, this connection is portrayed as elemental and timeless. This is the same romanticizing of nature that we discussed in class on April 14th, 2010.
In these ways, Avatar does not deviate from traditional depictions of the relationship between colonizer and colonized, man and woman, manmade and natural.
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This posting and even the movie made me think about stereotypes as well. While watching it, I couldn't help but be reminded of all the movies just like this one. How the men were soooo manly. The smart, sympathetic, caring ones were usually female. Others were directly connected to the land, and they were not human or white or spoke language. Seems familar...
ReplyDeleteGreat job of summing up some of the major issues in this film! I actually hadn't connected Grace to gendered constructions of the environment before, so that was interesting to read. It's also important, I think, to note the underlying racial stereotyping Avatar perpetuates. The automatic association of native peoples with nature is probably the most talked-about problem with this film, but it's still worth mentioning, especially when the film's conclusion adds a layer of White superiority to the noble/naturally-enlightened savage archetype (even with this great bond they have with nature, the Na'vi need a reformed white man to save them; that's a real earth-shattering message you're giving us there, James Cameron). I could discuss this movie's flaws for hours, seriously.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic analysis of Avatar. The movie was wonderful (and the 3d was great, as you mentioned) and did related to nature directly. (Something I hadn't come to notice until now.) I want to mention that it is interesting to me that the person sent in to begin the drilling operation was a man (Sam). I also find it interesting that the part of nature he met (and also fell in love with) was Neytiri.
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