‘Avatar’ is Screenwriter and Director James Cameron’s latest movie. Since its release, Avatar has become the fastest movie on record to achieve more than US$1 Billion in ticket sales at the box office.
There is no doubt that Avatar is technically brilliant. The cinematography and CGI is absolutely stunning. Cameron has constructed a world that is both surreal and utterly convincing (see the film’s preview below). The use of 3D projection technology gives the viewer a sense of being immersed in the movie. It imbues a life and depth to the fictional planet of Pandora that would be unimaginable on a 2D canvas. The purpose of this article is, however, to look beyond the special effects to see how Cameron addressed some key themes, particularly the nature of men, power and violence.
The movie’s subtext contains clear political statements about globalisation, corporate greed, international relations policy between powerful and dependent nations and human relationship to the environment. Cameron’s allegiance to left-wing ideology is clearly evident, as is his adherence to ecofeminist principles. We can see this in the way he contrasts the brutality of the humans on Pandora with the harmonious relationship between the Na’vi (the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora) and their environment. Given his ideological stance, one would have expected Cameron to present a progressive image of men, power and violence. It seems he tried but, in the end, Cameron trotted out the same tired image of the white male hero (Jake Sully) leading his troops to war against a backdrop of patriarchy and sex role stereotypes.
New species, same patriarchal social patterns
Central to Avatar’s plot are the Na’vi. The Na’vi are humanoid beings who maintain a symbiotic relationship with the plants and animals in their environment. Given their harmonious relationship with nature, we could expect hegemonic power structures to be absent from the Na’vi’s society as well. It seems, however, that Cameron has unconsciously constructed a highly patriarchal society.
The leader of the Na’vi, Eytukan, is a masculine and authoritative figure. His wife, Mo’at, is the spiritual leader of the tribe and is portrayed as being sensitive and caring. Their daughter, Neytiri, falls in love with Jake after she is given the role of teaching and caring for him. Tsu’tey, Neytiri’s betrothed and Jake’s chief rival among the Na’vi, is portrayed as a powerful figure who uses his physical strength and fighting prowess to maintain his warrior status in the tribe. Thus, in the Na’vi, we see an almost subliminal reflection of western patriarchal norms and sex roles, where men use force to maintain positions of power and the women take on caring and nurturing roles.
To be fair, it should be noted that Cameron did make some attempts to challenge sex role stereotypes in the film. Neytiri’s elevated status in the tribe, for example, seemed to be partly because of her skills as a hunter and warrior. This is in itself problematic, however, because it presents a normative construction of social organisation based on hierarchy in which those who demonstrate dominant masculine traits have power over others who don’t.
Colonialism and masculinity
As in many other Hollywood movies, Cameron presents an overt colonialist image of Jake Sully, the white man, leading the indigenous people to victory in a battle against their oppressors. This is unfortunate. Couldn’t the Na’vi have found a third way, through diplomacy or other means of peaceful resistance, to reason with their oppressors without outside interference? This was not explored – resistance through violent battle was the first and only solution offered by Jake. But, how did Jake come to be leading the Na’vi in the first place? This is interesting when we analyse it through a lens of gender and power.
In the beginning of the film, Jake is portrayed as a disempowered man. We learn that his twin brother was a top scientist, while Jake was, in his family’s view, a lowly marine. As a marine, Jake was injured in battle and confined to a wheelchair. It is clear that he desperately wants to be able to walk again, but he cannot afford the operation. When Jake first encountered the Na’vi, they considered him to be powerless in their society too, because he could not fight or hunt.
Throughout the movie, Jake is in constant conflict with Tsu’tey the hunter/warrior who is betrothed to Jake’s lover Neytiri and expected to be the next chief of the Na’vi tribe. At one point, their conflict results in physical combat. Jake is defeated. When the humans attack the Na’vi, Jake is further ostracised by the tribe. From this powerless position, however, he soon rose to become leader of the Na’vi.
Jake realised that, in order to be powerful among the Na’vi, he would have to make an extreme display of masculinity that would grant him mythical status and power. Jake knew that, according to the Na’vi, a powerful leader would arise in times of trouble, and that leader would be recognised because he could ride a Toruk, the most fearsome of flying beasts. “The way I had it figured, Toruk is the baddest cat in the sky. Nothing attacks him.” Jake explained. Jake took an extreme risk to capture the Toruk, which gave him immediate power over the tribe, including Tsu’tey, his rival. After that, it was easy for Jake, the white man, to convince the indigenous tribe to go into battle against the other humans.
Conclusion
While Cameron makes a lot of positive political statements about oppression and resistance in political, environmental and social spheres, he was probably less conscious about addressing issues of gender and power and thus, presented no challenge to the patriarchal norms evident in many societies.
I believe Cameron missed an opportunity to portray the Na’vi as a race that has an egalitarian relationship, not only with nature, but also with each other. Rather, he constructed a tribe with a strong social hierarchy based on patriarchy and power. Through various scenes, Cameron reinforced and affirmed the role of competition and overt displays of masculinity in gaining and maintaining power in society.
Cameron also played on our love of violence as entertainment. When we go to the movies, we have been conditioned to expect that problems will be solved with a violent solution. As movie goers, would we have been satisfied if Avatar was a story about the Na’vi and humans seeking a diplomatic solution to their problem? Would we have preferred Jake and Tsu’tey to sit down and discuss their conflict rather than resort to physical combat? Unfortunately, most people would answer “no” to these questions- what does this teach us about the nature of men and their love of violence?
In the end, Cameron created a wonderful, immersive fantasy world in 3D, but unfortunately, the image he constructed of men and masculinities was lacking in real depth and decidedly 2D.
References and Further Reading
Cameron, J. 2007, 'Avatar', available[online]:http://www.foxscreenings.com/media/pdf/JamesCameronAVATAR.pdf, accessed:16/01/2010.
Fox, 2009, 'Avatar Official Movie Website', available[online]:http://www.avatarmovie.com/index.html, accessed:16/01/2010.
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