AVATAR: 4 Perspectives on the Top Grossing Film Ever

Avatar is now officially the top grossing film of all-time worldwide, making (so far) $1,849,317,325 at the box office – that’s 1.85 billion dollars. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and was captivated simply by the sheer epic proportions of the film, let alone the wealth of meaning and metaphor behind it.

Since Avatar’s release bloggers, journalists and critics have attempted to analyse and reflect on the meaning behind the film. Here are four very different perspectives I’ve read recently, which all bring a different insight into the film’s setting and storyline:

The White Messiah Complex

David Brooks of the New York Times writes that Avatar utilises a plot concept which is in common usage in film, but which is actually highly offensive. The “White Messiah formula”, as he calls it, is the idea that “natives” can never be the heroes of their own storyline but always need their own “white messiah” to lead them and show them the way to their own liberation:

…would it be totally annoying to point out that the whole White Messiah fable, especially as Cameron applies it, is kind of offensive?

It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace. It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration.

“I See You”

Musician, Steve Bell, reflects on one particular aspect of the movie where, within the culture of the alien Na’vi the standard greeting between people, and in particular the two lovers, is “I see you”. He reflects on some stories and memories drawing from this idea of openness and understanding of each other:

A moment in Avatar that struck me was after the obligatory love-interest couple overcame a conflict that threatened to sever their covenant. Once reconciled, the words they speak to each other are, “I see you.” And it is understood that both seeing and disclosure are sacred gifts. I have a lovely memory that was triggered by this line, I see you.

The Holocaust We Will Not See

For activist/journalist, George Monbiot, Avatar is a clear metaphor for the story of the Native American people – except that the historical ending wasn’t quite as Hollywood or as happy as in the movie. He is disappointed that others who have been quick to praise the film and its plot-line haven’t been quite as aware of the film’s application as they could have been:

This is why the right hates Avatar. In the neocon Weekly Standard, John Podhoretz complains that the film resembles a “revisionist western” in which “the Indians became the good guys and the Americans the bad guys.” He says it asks the audience “to root for the defeat of American soldiers at the hands of an insurgency.” Insurgency is an interesting word for an attempt to resist invasion: insurgent, like savage, is what you call someone who has something you want…

But at least the right knows what it is attacking. In the New York Times the liberal critic Adam Cohen praises Avatar for championing the need to see clearly. It reveals, he says, “a well-known principle of totalitarianism and genocide – that it is easiest to oppress those we cannot see”. But in a marvellous unconscious irony, he bypasses the crashingly obvious metaphor and talks instead about the light it casts on Nazi and Soviet atrocities. We have all become skilled in the art of not seeing.

A Metaphor for Evangelism

Blogger, Florin Paladie, sees Avatar as a metaphor for a model of evangelism, where, in contrast to the inflexible and crude methods of the rest of the humans, the main character Jake approaches the alien culture in a way which is sensitive and organic.

He argues that this stands as a valid model for cross-cultural mission as opposed to the, perhaps too eager, missionary methods of the 19th and 20th centuries:

This is where the Avatar movie is a great metaphor for what evangelism could and should become. Although Jake Sully entered Na’vi world initially with an agenda in mind, he got to appreciate their way of life, its beauty so much so that he wanted to become part of it. Eventually his presence there really helped to save them. But it was something organic.

Evangelism should really be a two way street. We enter the other’s world because we really believe we are enriched by the interaction and our horizons will be enlarged.