Controversy Surrounding Avatar

It has been hailed as a beautiful film, full of amazing special effects, and a leading example of what Hollywood can be putting out if they only take the time and dedication that James Cameron has.

With all big movies there is controversy to go with it. Here is a look at some of the leading stories, and a reply from someone who has watched the movie.

Hindu Faith

During production a small group of Hindu adherents asked Cameron to be careful how he used the term Avatar for his new film, fearing he would disgrace something that is central to their religion.

Avatar is a mainstream word in the English language for any device or creature used as a remote outlet of themselves. We call our characters in Warcraft or Second Life avatars. In science fiction avatars have been used in movies, TV, and books, notably the Andromeda series that had a whole race of creatures that were avatars of celestial bodies. They chose this film to be worried about?

Promotes the Worship of Nature

The Vatican has disclaimed the movie Avatar as blatantly encouraging the worship of nature.

James Cameron has been open about the fact that he wanted to encourage stewardship of the planet, an idea that has become more mainstream as the effects of industrialization without restraint have become realized. However, stewardship isn't a new idea. The very words are found in the bible, right from the beginning where Adam is given the earth to work and TAKE CARE OF. That is the idea behind stewardship, not to worship, but to take care of.

The images in Avatar may seem extreme in some terms. They have a direct connection to their "god", but didn't Adam and Eve walk in the garden with theirs?

Also, it is a science fiction movie. To assume that other races on other planets would have ideas, values, and religions on par with our own is egocentric. Part of creating a new planet in a new universe is not just character design, but a whole system of living.

Stolen Storyline

Similarities from a 1957 science fiction novella, Call Me Joe by Poul Anderson, have brought up accusations that the storyline was stolen.

Truth: several stories exist that have the same use of avatar like technology, including the afore mentioned Anderson novella, and a Piers Anthony novel, "Viscous Circle". Both have the spy mentally inserted into an alien body to discover information on the alien creatures, and both go native. This isn't a new concept.

The fact of the matter is, the more you read, the more movies you watch, the more similarities you will find simply because there isn't a whole lot new under the sun. It's reworking, refreshing, revitalizing old story lines, and trying to find a new direction entirely.

With how much effort went into creating the world around Avatar, the sheer volume of all the plants and animals within the eco-systems, it's very hard to say he "stole" the story.

The Race Card

There is a striking similarity between Avatar and "Dances with Wolves" or other films in which the big bad white man comes in, learns the natives' way, and then leads them to victory because the natives can't seem to do it on their own.

This is a point of view argument. If you want to look at it like that then that is what you will see. However, there is another way to take this.

Avatar does not make use of race so much as species, and military verses the indignant people. You could compare it to white men coming to the Americas, or to soldiers of one country entering another country to take over. Both are probably good analogies.

However, the second part, the white man saving the incompetent natives, is sad. I watched Avatar in all its beautiful special effects and what I saw was this: a man from one way of life learning to respect another's way of life, and their right to have it, and going to war with them, not for them, so that they could keep it.

Sully did not save the Na'vi, rather he joined with them, gave them some insight into the invaders tactics, and fought beside them. He couldn't do it on his own, and the battle scenes depict a nation fighting against another, not Sully verses the world. To use the race card seems to cheapen what could be a beautiful commentary on respecting individuality.

Conclusions

Controversy will surround anything that tries to rise above the pack. If Avatar hadn't been such an ambitious undertaking, or grossed so much in the box office, then no one would have cared.

However, with the special affects lending themselves to a beautiful panoramic world filled with lively and wonderful creatures and a race of tall, graceful beings that many people wish they could be, it is no wonder that Avatar and their Na'vi have become so popular. Take the controversy with a grain of salt, watch the movie for yourself, and decide on your own what message you want to take away from it.