Letters on the Environment, the Family, and the Indigenous People from a Western Perspective

The Avatar film series, which was first released in 2009, represents a modern reading of indigenous culture, their relationship to the land, and their harmony with nature, as opposed to the culture of colonial invaders who are less aware of the environment. Its second edition, which moves from the world of forests to the world of seas, supports the concept of solidarity among members of society and its importance in preserving the homeland and its resources.

Wolves in the face of invaders

The events of Avatar take place about 200 years after our present time on a hypothetical moon, called Pandora, which is similar to Earth and is located within the Alpha Centauri star system. The series predicts that the Earth’s resources will diminish as a result of their depletion by humans, which makes them rush to invade distant planets and moons, such as Pandora.

The people of Pandora (the Na’vi people) are at war against terrestrial invaders in defense of their homeland and its natural resources, and to protect the “Ewa” tree, which is a huge biological memory to which all life on Pandora is linked and keeps its ecosystem in perfect balance.

Jake Sally, the film’s central character, is a paraplegic young man whose advanced technology allows him to inhabit the body of one of the Na’vi people who has been cloned remotely. As in the plot of the movie “Dances with Wolves”, Sally witnesses the greed and brutality of his fellow invaders, so he joins the Na’vi people and leads them to defend their land, then he merges into his new body and forms a family with Neytiri, the princess of the Na’vi people.

Actor Jake Sally, who plays the savior hero in “Water Road” from the “Avatar” series (AP)

From the first shot in the film, its makers promote its direct environmental message, which did not prevent the production company from asking director James Cameron to reduce the scenes of the Ewa tree embrace. To support the film’s message on the ground, the producing company later launched the “Home Tree” initiative, which includes planting one million trees around the world, in cooperation with the “Earth Day” network.

The “Avatar” series has messages that are much deeper than just planting trees, as it adopts the philosophy of deep ecology that sees the human race as an integral part of its surroundings, and argues for its need to control nature. The basic principle of deep ecology is based on the belief that the entire living environment should be respected and endowed with inalienable legal rights to survive and thrive, regardless of its benefits and human need for it.

The series goes beyond the issue of awareness of environmental issues to the concept of “ectopia”, or environmental utopia, which emphasizes finding a radically new way to live with the natural world, and not at its expense. Environmental utopianism makes nature the focus instead of man, and replaces it with the logic of “sufficiency” logic. It suggests that human well-being is not in material progress, but rather in spiritual, cultural and intellectual development, through communication with others in society and through the vital relationship with nature.

The series presents Pandora as an inherently pivotal environment, because the Na’vi people do not see themselves as a center of knowledge or power, but rather as part of a flowing energy network in which all beings, including animals and trees, are equal. It is clear that the invading humans have nothing to offer the people of Navi, because they live in perfect harmony with nature that provides them with all their needs, and they do not consider human experiences of real value to them, because their lives are based on rituals and spiritual practices that contradict the concepts of consumption and expansion of the invaders. .

This philosophy, which was dealt with in the “Avatar” series, is marred by the problem of stereotyping, as in all American Western films that call for the dedication of the supremacy of the white man. And while the role of the indigenous people (the model of the American Indians and the Maori people in the Avatar series) is negative, or marginal at best, we find the savior hero (Jake Sally) a white person coming from the midst of the colonists themselves.

James Cameron does not hide his arrogant view in this regard, as he indicates that the first “Avatar” movie was inspired by the events experienced by the Lakota tribe (one of the indigenous tribes of America known as the Plains Indians), especially the “Sioux” war in 1877. Which imposed dominance of the US military. “I can only believe that if the Lakota leaders had a window of time to show them the future of their children, who currently commit suicide at the highest rate in the country out of desperation and blindness, they would have fought a lot more,” Cameron said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.

Whales and crocodiles flying in the water way

Aside from the state of visual dazzle of the second part of “Avatar”, which is currently being shown in cinemas under the title “Water Road”, the plot of the new film is based on recalling many dramatic scenes that have become entrenched in the viewers’ memory, starting with the attacks of the Redskins on the trains that abound in them. American westerns, passing through the jungle boy (Tarzan) who grows up among monsters, the adventures of Captain Cuticle with the whale Moby Dick, and ending with the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic.

Standing on the shoulders of previous novels does not seem successful in the current part of “Avatar”, as its ideas seem illogical, although this type of film is not subject, in principle, to logical judgment. On the other hand, the shift from the forests in the first part to the seas in the second part represents a distinct approach that sheds light on a world that we do not know much about, although it occupies 80 percent of the Earth’s surface.

In addition to preserving nature and guaranteeing the rights of indigenous people, the new film discusses many contemporary social issues, perhaps the most prominent of which is the issue of displacement and integration into new societies that appear in the Jake Sally family’s resort to the Mitkayina sea tribe inspired by the Maori people (the indigenous people of New Zealand). The Sally family faces rejection from the new community to which they have been displaced, then this rejection turns into an outward acceptance, and in the end Sally (the hero-rescuer) leads the Myitkyina tribe in repelling the attack of the invaders. The stereotypical western vision of the indigenous population dominates the exoticism in James Cameron’s latest films, including the long braids and braided hair attached to strange bodies, and the bodies bearing the “ta moko” type tattoos, which are known to the Maori men. And this vision extends to imprint all “avatar” beings with their character, as whales, for example, bear Maori tattoos as well!

Amidst the many subplots, bizarre character names, and Pandora’s versions of tattooed whales and flying crocodiles, literally and figuratively, “family” emerges as the film’s overriding thesis. “Avatar” can be considered one of the few Western films that entrench the concept of family cohesion, even though the children in the film go about their daily lives as if they were soldiers in their father’s army. This approach, although it is not wrong at all, provides an additional negative view of what is supposed to be a family that represents the indigenous culture.

In contrast to the wild fantasy of the “Avatar” series, “National Geographic” is currently presenting a documentary series on nature under the title “Super-Natural”. This TV series represents a major project for James Cameron in his capacity as executive producer, and it is in line with the “Avatar” series in inspiring people and encouraging them to take care of nature again.

On the points of convergence between the two series, Camron points out that “Avatar” films create a fantasy world in which animals can see in ultraviolet light, fly around the world, and many things that cannot be ignored. And he adds, “As for the documentary series, the squirrel, for example, can not only fly, but can also recognize its peers in the moonlight through the ultraviolet rays that are reflected from the lower surfaces of their bodies. Suddenly, we discover how amazing our world is, and we remember how important nature is to us.”

The new “Avatar” movie achieves record returns at the box office, which may exceed what the first part achieved, which is considered the most profitable movie in the history of cinema. Surprisingly, the two impressive films revolve around nature and environmental protection as their scenes.

The release of the new film raises fears of a re-emergence of “post-Avatar depression syndrome”, where people suffer from a disaffected melancholic mood after watching the film, as a result of the longing for the beautiful world of Pandora, which is in stark contrast to the reality on planet Earth.