Technology versus Environment in Avatar - Movie Review Example

Name: Course: College: Tutor: Date: Analyze a Particular Film: ‘Avatar’ Technology vs. Environment in Avatar Movie The analysis will focus on the film ‘Avatar’. It is a science fiction movie produced in 2009. The originality of the plot, symbolism, innovation techniques, production history, ideological analysis and the meaning of the film will indicate that, Avatar movie contributes to the understanding of the impact of technology on environment. Therefore, the study will critically analyze how the movie has been produced to show how technological advancement influences environment. Avatar is an epic action movie depicting science and fiction in an adventurous way. In the movie, the director of the movie- James Cameron takes the viewers to an impressive world that the viewer is taken beyond his imagination. In the movie, the viewer meets with Jake Sully who is the protagonist in the movie. He is a former marine and he has been wounded and even paralyzed from the waist going down during a combat mission on earth. In order for Jake to be a participant in the Avatar program that would enable him to be healthy, Jake has to travel to Pandora. Pandora is a rainforest environment with abundant with trees and other marvelous forms of life- some of which depict beauty while there are those that terrify. Pandora is the home of the Na’vi- this is a race of humanoid but they are not just primates, they are more evolved when they are compared to humans. The Na’vi creatures are ten feet in height, and their skins are blue in color but they are in harmony with nature and they have not damaged their surroundings. Humans are gradually encroaching into the Na’vi territory and thus, their existence is being threatened because; humans are searching for minerals of value in Pandora. In turn, their abilities to fight are exhibited. Jake is taken against his will and encouraged to encroach Pandora. It is not possible for humans to breathe in Pandora’s air hence genetically bred air has been created referred to as ‘avatars’. In the real world, Avatars are living bodies that breathe and a human is its controller who does so, by linking The producer of the movie- James Cameroon- first wrote the script for the movie of Avatar in the year 1994. According to Cameron, the inspiration was drawn from the science- fictions books that the producer used to read when he was a child. After working through a number of drafts and work treaties, Cameron eventually set out on the actual production of the movie in 2007, February. Considering the length of time that it took before the production was done, it was found out that, there was delay because of the lack of technology that could be used in effectively executing the thoughts that the producer had put into the movie. In other words, in the mid period of the 1990s, the technology that was existing during that time made it difficult for the production to be accurately executed. Furthermore, during that time, there were not virtual cameras that made it possible for the director to observe the eventual outcome of the production by observing a counterpart film that shown the eventual results. The producer was able to gather sufficient amounts of funds that were used in the production of the movie. Avatar is a largely successful film that has been able to earn immense revenues across the globe. Michaelson (2009) states that; It is estimated that the film has earned more than $0.5 billion in terms of revenue. This has been associated with the high level of popularity of the film in different regions across the globe. Despite the positive outcomes of the film, Michaelson continues to note that; there are critics of the film who have generally focused on sensitive issues such as; aliens, colonial corporate military, the use of cigarette and racial concerns among different other issues The film is basically are representation of two contrasting worlds. The first world is the world that is inhabited by the Na’vi people. In this world, the resources have been protected by the natives for a long time before men started to explore and find ways to destroy the existing resources. The other world is the world that has been virtually destroyed by technology forcing men to travel to Na’vi to exploit the resources there. The virtual world that has been shown in the film is a representation of virtual life; for example the second life. In the two worlds, it is important that avatars are used to plug into the space and turn around and act in world of being virtual. Therefore, by causing the film to be virtual, the producer has even able to get into the conscious mind of the viewer and in turn make the viewer have a feeling of secondary being. That is, the virtual bodies of the characters cause the viewer to put away the fragile and the weak body that would make it difficult for the viewer to make a connection with the movie. There are different themes and genres that have been exhibited in the avatar movie. One of them is the conflict between Indians and cowboys. In Scribd.com (2010), regardless of the fact that the film is similar to the film ‘The Searchers’ by John Ford, the ideologies that have been represented in the two movies significantly differ because; Avatar is the movie that was focused on post colonial period. This has been mainly articulated by the relationship that the Na’vi people had with the environment which is a contrast to the relationship between man and the environment. The movie of avatar shows that the movie is showing what is expected to happen in the future whereby man will have focused on different issues and in turn ignored the environment. Therefore, we get to know that the Na’vi people have been presented as being harmless creatures but humans are cruel and inconsiderate and that explains why they left their deteriorating resources to go to Pandora where there are still resources. The movie is a representation of a narrative that is against military. When watching it, the soldiers have been presented as being cruel, aggressive and they even mute brains with the objective of undertaking malicious missions including infringement into the Pandora. The military want to take advantage of the available resources and use them for the generation of dollars. Regardless of the fact that the military engages in the immoral activities, there are those military who decided to join the good side. Scribd.com (2010) insinuated, some of the males and one female moved to the good side and went against the cruel activities that would deteriorate the available resources that are being used by the Pandora. The defected humans from the military then started to seek to protect the native population against the intruders that would cause deterioration and eventual collapse of the Pandora. One of the main meanings that are derived from the meaning is the conflict that exists between technology and the environment. The humans and the Na’vi people in the film have been used to highlight the differences. Saba (2009) specifically writes that, the humans in the film have been used to represent technology because; the movie shows how man has used technology to undertake destructive and violent activities. The use of avatars by the men in the film is also a symbolic representation of technology. We know this because; it is the advancement in the technical world that has led to the development of avatars and their manipulation. The technology has consequently been used to communicate and instruct the avatars to take over the indigenous aliens so that they can have the freedom of excavating the valuable resources that are under the feet of the aliens. We observe the Na’vi people representing the environment or nature. This is because; they have been shown in the film as having a strong spiritual and psychological bond with nature and that is why they have been able to protect the environment for a long time and making sure that it is not damaged. The Na’vi, according to Scribd.com (2010), basically is capacitated to engage in physical and mental bonding with creatures and that is why they cannot be able to destroy the environment. In enhancing the meaning of the movie, the producer has effectively used Mise-en- scene. That is, the lighting, costume and make up improve the understanding of the movie. Cameron created Pandora in the movie in an interesting way so that Pandora is bigger than the earth hence showing that Pandora is more significance than the earth. The station at Pandora has been fenced to keep off Na’vi and for men to exploit the resources; the arrows in the tires of the truck show that they are attacked. In addition to the setting, the other mise-en scene is the costume in such that, the Na’vi people are blue to signify how they are in agreement with nature. Tribal characters shows that the Na’vi are living in a native way indicated by the way that they relate to the natural resources. Further, Colonel Miles has been dressed to appear to have scars accruing from intense military activities. Based on the setting and consume, it is clear that there are two different worlds. The earth and Pandora are contrasting worlds whereby, the resources in Pandora have been protected and now that the humans on earth have exploited their resources, they are going into Pandora to do the same. They put a fence so that they are not watched or caught. At the same time, the blue color shows that the Na’vi have not interfered with nature and the scars on Colonel Miles is another indication that technology has impacted the physical appearance of the people on earth. Conclusion Conclusively, Avatar is a movie that has been spoken about in various parts of the world and it is apparent that it is not only an entertaining movie that is watched by people for the sake of pleasure, but it is also an educative movie that informs people about a number of societal issues. For example; after watching and analyzing the movie, I realized that, there are detrimental effects of technology on the environment hence, it is important that sustainable measures are implemented to facilitate for the protection of the environment in the long term like in the case of the Na’vi people in the Avatar movie. It is a movie that is suitable for all, although it may be quite difficult to understand if you are not conversant with science and technology. Works Cited Michaelson, Jay. The Meaning of Avatar: Everything is God: A Response to Ross Douthat and other Naysayers of Pantheism. Retried December 5, 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-michaelson/the-meaning-of-avatar-eve_b_400912.html Saba, M. (2009). The Not-so- Brief History of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’. Retrieved on December 5, 2011, from http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/12/a-brief-history-of-james-camerons-avatar.html Scribd.com (2010). A Critical Analysis of Avatar. 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