Brief Synopsis of the Film Avatar - Essay Example

I. Brief Synopsis of the film Avatar The setting of the film was largely located on planet Pandora which is a lush Earth-like moon orbiting the planet Polyphemus, a blue planet similar to Jupiter. Humans frequently go to Pandora because of its mineral unobtanium. The atmosphere in Pandora, however, is poisonous to humans while its inhabitants, the Na’vi, do not only survive but live in commune with nature under the rule of their goddess Eywa. For humans to explore planet Pandora, they have to link with their own avatars (courtesy of the Avatar Program) which is a “genetically-bred human-Na'vi hybrid”, and “function as if they were a Na'vi native” (IMDB). Colonel Miles Quaritch who heads the Earth’s security force, however, found the rich source of unobtanium which is the Na’vi’s sacred gathering place and attacked it. Jake joined in defending Hometree that led to the eventual retreat of the humans. Jake was later transferred to his avatar permanently through the help of the Tree of Souls. II. Intersection of two issues: racial and gender discrimination Humez and Dines theorized that mass media which are the radio, television and film help form our identities that includes the way we see the world, relationship with it and the values we hold and cherish (2002). In essence, media has so much influence that it could dictate our perception and value system particularly the film because it immerses its audience in the reality it portrays and thus, inadvertently influences its audience of the cultural and social perspective of the film. In James Cameroon film Avatar, there are two distinct cultural and social perspective of the film that causes injustice and subjugation wrought by greed and social stratification. These two distinct issues that were obvious in the film-that is the discrimination of humans against Na’vis who were viewed by humans as primitive and with condescension whose race is taken as an impediment in their quest to harvest the mineral unobtanium. This relationship between the humans and Navi’s become unjust because it perpetuated a system of inequality whereby it restrict some people while privileging others (Magner qtd. in Weber 13). Another subtle issue that was present in the film was the gender issue of stereotyping of women as people who are often subjugated to men. This became an injustice because Na’vis imposed a social stratification that subjugates a gender (female) to another gender (male). These issues intersect in a way that the race and a particular gender is relegated to another which in this case are the Na’vis and the women to be belonging in the lower strata as represented by Neytiri, the chieftain and the spiritual leader’s daughter . Although the Na’vis are not from earth, the discrimination against them by human beings can still be construed as racial because they were segregated or treated with hostility because of the difference in their appearance and culture. They were perceived as primitive and without technology, their religious practices were viewed as paganistic and obscure. In fact, their religious practices were not even respected or even considered because the Hometree, which is a sacred gathering ground for the Na’vis is nothing to the humans but just a rich source of the mineral unobtanium. For the humans, it has no religious or social significance other than a rich source of unobtanium mineral and those who worship there (god Eywa) are being looked down as fatalistic. The humans blatant disregard about the Navi’s was evident when they found where the Hometree was located. They attacked it wantonly without any consideration that it is holy ground for the native Na’vis. The closest parallelism of the movie Avatar can be likened to the discrimination against black African Americans who were discriminated just because of their skin color and country of origin (Krieger 1711). In the same manner that humans attacked Hometree in their quest to get the rich source of unobtanium, early black Afro-Americans were sold as slaves for profit and sheer dislike for the color of their skin. In the same vein, Neytiri’s role maybe amiable in the film Avatar but her role is a stereotype. She is kind, graceful, and beautiful but nothing more than a support to Jake and the spiritual leader’s daughter. The issue with her role is that women are type casted into the typical stereotypes where they are merely nurturers and cannot assume leadership of their society nor make any important decision that affects the general welfare of everybody. Her status is supposed to be elevated in Na’vi society being the daughter of the chieftain and spiritual leader which in our modern society can be likened to the President’s and Pope’s (if popes were allowed to marry and procreate) daughter rolled into one. Yet, it seemed that she cannot go beyond the role of being nice and sweet reinforcing Zwiech’s thesis about women as “Women earn less and hold lower positions in organizational hierarchy” (93). While feminine traits of grace, kindness and beauty are desirable, they can also be a liability when taken into the extreme and used often that it stereotypes women to be no more than these descriptions. Without question, the film Avatar was cutting edge in terms of technology and story telling. The technology used in the film was so cutting edge that it allowed its audience to immerse in an alternative universe that is more than a cinema represents (Mulrooney 201). It won several awards that include best picture, best director etch. But if we are going to analyze beyond its visuals and go down to the bottom of its plot, it is really just a narrative of hierarchy and unbridled greed. Humans were running out of resources and when they found a rich source of a mineral that could supply their needs, they became greedy. They disregarded and discriminated the natives of the host moon where their needed resource was located. They looked down on the Navi’s as primitive and without regard to their religious practices dismissing them as irrelevant and primitive. This was evident when Colonel Miles Quaritch knew where the Hometree was and he did not think twice nor hesitated in attacking the Na’vis to get what he wanted. James Cameroon might have meant well in projecting Neytiri as a kind hearted Na’vi woman who saved Jake and even extended her charity to initiate Jake as one of them, but her role is one that is below of men. The trouble with this type casting is that it defeats the struggle of women to be equal among men in having opportunities in life. The Na’vi women, including Neytiri who was supposed to hold the second highest stature in Na’vi society (second only to her mother) are relegated to nurturers even if Cameroon had beautifully portrayed them. But still, the reality remains that they cannot make decisions on behalf of the tribe nor take up major responsibilities. Theirs is just to commune with nature. Thus, the issue that intersected in the film Avatar is the subordination of race and gender via discrimination and societal hierarchy. Works Cited IMDB. Synopsis for Avatar. 2009. Web. 20 Oct 2012. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/synopsis Humez, Jean M. and Gail Dines. Gender, Race and Class in Media, Second Edition. Sage Publications, Inc. 2002. Print. Krieger, Nancy, et al. "Racial Discrimination, Psychological Distress, and Self-Rated Health among US-Born and Foreign-Born Black Americans." American Journal of Public Health 101.9 (2011): 1704-13.  18 Oct 2012. Print. Weber, Lynn. “A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 22.1 (1998). Print. Mulrooney, Jonathan. “The Sadness of Avatar.”  Wordsworth Circle 42.3 (2011):201-204. Print. Zwiech, Patrycja. “Discrimination against Women in Professional Life in Selected Theories of Class Structure and Stratification.” Economics and Sociology, 3.2 (2010): 92-100. Print. Read More