Avatar
As with many “feel-good” movies, Avatar portrays the white man as savior to the oppressed people-of-color.
After hearing so much buzz about James Cameron’s sci-fi drama Avatar, I finally had the opportunity to watch it.
Amazed by the trippy graphics and the dream-like world that blossomed before my eyes, I applauded its anti-war, pro-environment message. Even though I left the theater disappointed that the flowers around me weren’t glowing and that my car was so blasé compared to a magical flying bird creature, I had the strange feeling that something wasn’t right.
I was disturbed by the portrayal of the N’avi people as having a blend of Native American/Caribbean/African characteristics. It was also confusing how the film’s hero seamlessly took over this population, married its most desired princess, tamed the creature no one else could, and was instantly transformed from an outsider into a great leader.
NY Times columnist David Brooks’s critique of the movie as a “racial fantasy” was the first of many that sparked debate all over the internet:
[Avatar] 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.
The “White is Right” Syndrome
It’s not a new story – white person penetrates the culture of noble savages (or inner city black kids), realizes that culture is so much simpler yet more awesome than their own, then ends up saving the population and gains redemption for themselves by way of benevolent paternalism.
This is a narrative that has been played out countless times in films like “Dances with Wolves,” “Pocahontas,” “Fern Gully,” “Dangerous Minds,” and “The Last Samurai.” It’s a plot line that draws easy distinctions between good and bad, framing the white savior as the only character able to cross such lines.
Some critics think Avatar reflects an attitude of white guilt, while others see it as downright racist. Annalee Lewitz of io9.com noted:
Whites need to stop remaking the white guilt story, which is a sneaky way of turning every story about people of color into a story about being white. Speaking as a white person, I don’t need to hear more about my own racial experience. I’d like to watch some movies about people of color (ahem, aliens), from the perspective of that group, without injecting a random white (erm, human) character to explain everything to me.
Others are skeptical and think that the critiques are in themselves a reflection of a constant intellectual game of one-upping on racial sensitivity. A commenter to the io9.com post wrote:
Speaking as a Left-Leaning White Guy™, I can’t help but feel there’s a culture of “white guilt oneupsmanship” in academic criticism these days. It’s like a game to see who can be more guilty. “You think YOU’VE pointed the finger at racism? Ha!…
The problem with Avatar is that it ignores the actual complexity of humanity – that there is oppression within oppressed groups or that heinous acts are often carried out under the banner of good intention. It popularizes the idea that whites can choose a culture to “help” as they see fit, and that they can even dominate it as its hero.
Unfortunately, these collective images radiate far beyond our 3D glasses.
Admiration in Ghana
Photo: US Army Africa
I’ll never forget the day I walked through a village in rural Ghana and was bombarded with children dying to grab my hands and walk with me. It started with a few kids and then built up to 30 or 40; what felt like the whole youth of the village.
Suddenly I was Angelina Jolie or Oprah, surrounded by so many admiring faces, except that I’d done nothing to deserve such attention other than possess skin color something closer to white. Black members of my travel group (also tourists) received no such attention.
It could be argued that this attitude stemmed simply from the novelty of seeing a person with white skin within a largely isolated community, but it was obvious after many interactions that there was an expectation that white equaled answers, sources of aid, and direction in a time of need.
For someone interested in solidarity work, and the promotion of self-determination, such realities are disheartening. Of course, there are many other historical, economical, and sociological factors behind such ideologies, but my concern is that media images like those in “Avatar” contribute to a one-sided lens in a complicated world.
What do you think: is Avatar harmless? Or do these white savior myths have global implications? Share your thoughts below.
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(That being said, I thought Avatar was a predictable and cliched, standard-issue Hollywood epic – which in part is why I’ve been getting so frustrated seeing all these in-depth analyses of its greater meanings. Nobody gives that sort of treatment to Transformers or G.I. Joe.)
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I’m with Eva. The special effects are very good, but the story is very formula. The real question here is what race is associated with the money backing them. Still, it’s immaterial today. Will Smith, Jackie Chan and Antonio Banderas have all played the hero with a huge budget behind them. Denzel Washington’s the hero in the Book of Eli, now playing at a theater near you. So what? That it’s a white guy saving the world THIS time shouldn’t make any difference anymore. This is a slow news day item.
Most of Cameron’s films have a strong female lead, Finally, we have a guy who survives (Michael Biehn, Leo DiCaprio and Schwarzenegger – all dead before the end of the movie, and Ed Harris was dead for a while). DAMN you, James Cameron! I’m so tired of the WOMAN keeping me down…
…EEEEVVVAAAAAA!!!!
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DHarbecke,
Just to clarify…this isn’t a discussion about not having enough racial or gender diversity in lead characters. It’s about a specific popular narrative of colonialized groups unable to help themselves that is cliched and standard issue Hollywood in and of itself.Eva,
Thanks for your perspective.
In the tree of souls/uprising of the planets scene I think it’s telling that no-one within the N’avi culture was ever able to appeal to that higher power except Sully. I think Sully’s main role in the film is to be the “relatable” character because it was probably assumed that having the N’avi completely save themselves without interjecting him into the narrative would be anti-climactic and less appealing.
I think its precisely movies like Avatar, GI Joe, and Transformers that make their way around the world much more than independent, or less popular nuanced films (ie. Precious). I’d argue that they contribute to skewed perspectives and narrow views of complicated subjects, particularly in places where people don’t have the opportunity to travel and see the world for themselves. But there’s also plenty of people who don’t think popular culture has that kind of power or ability to spread messages that go beyond their story lines.
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I think Daniel’s point is relevant – for me at least, that point being, that the Hollywood hero-rescuer cliche goes well beyond race. And, as he and I both pointed out as well, Avatar (and James Cameron’s work in general) doesn’t actually adhere perfectly to that standard storyline – Sully isn’t the savior in the fullest sense of the word.
I absolutely believe that movies have the power to impact our perspectives. I just don’t believe that Avatar has a negative message to offer. I really don’t.
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DAAAAAANIEL!!! Man, I should watch more Cameron movies. I was thrilled when Neytiri delivered the knockout punch instead of Sully – so, so sick of the helpless female, am I.
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I think it is worth noting that the white people were also the ones destroying the planet. The fact that one of them realized that what his people were doing was wrong does not make it racist. Also it is very much the outsider is Messiah just like dances with wolves and the last samurai but it is also a message that modern industrialization is destroying the planet. In the movie it is said that the humans have killed their planet long ago. The combination of Native American, African, etc. groups is kind of necessary. There aren’t many tales of white people having a deep spiritual connection with the land.
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I too was thinking of Last Samurai and Pocahontas while watching Avatar. The whole is just a really snazzed-up cliche of every other “foreigner mets girl, gains acceptance, saves the world…” Sure, we might want to be Sully, but we’ve seen guys like him so many times I wonder why James Cameron wanted to make this in the first place.
It really does break down environmental issues into black and white, but I think Cameron really sees it that way (many do); we’re destroying our world, so what right do we have to do so to another?
As far as the white messiah is concerned, I guess even when our society gets to the point that there are no more “spiritual and athletic” cultures to save, we’ll still be thinking about where to go to find others:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103587/
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Never mind the Na’vi – who’s gonna save OUR culture?
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Haha! I love South Park…so sarcastically on point with social realities.
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Wow, that’s the smartest thing I’ve ever read by David Brooks.
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Brooks has lost his authority to comment on racial issues in my, uh, books. (Heh.) What does more tangible harm – Avatar’s happy ending, or Brooks blaming the Haitians for their own misfortunes?
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Yeah, I guess some people do better analysis in the ivory tower.
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I think this is a wonderfully written article. It’s thought provoking and comprehensive. The title threw me off a bit though and doesn’t portray the content of the article in the slightest. This would explain some of the defensive comments.
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Thanks Gregory! I didn’t pick the title, though I can agree it could make some people uncomfortable from the beginning. I would of picked something more like “Avatar-A Racial Fantasy?”
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After all the hype I was really disappointed in Avatar. I thought it was cheesy and predictable, the characters had no depth, and good and bad was far too black and white.
For a much better film that addresses racial tensions in the premise of aliens vs humans, I would recommend District 9. That is if you can live without the pretty colours of Avatar.
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“but it was obvious after many interactions that there was an expectation that white equaled answers, sources of aid, and direction in a time of need.”
Having worked in Kenya I couldn’t agree with this comment more. I think the pervading culture of the ‘white saviour’ is one of the most detrimental forces in many developing countries. If Avatar really wanted to create a fairytale ending Jake Sully would have been told to hit the highway from the start. Rather than creating a world where a white man had to come in and save the day, why not write a story where the Africans (sorry, Na’vi) managed to fight off the colonial powers and keep their natural resources without having to be saved by the very powers that tormented them?
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While I enjoyed the film, and support its pro-environment and anti-war/colonialism messages, I came out of the cinema thinking the film was ‘racist’ against ‘white culture’.
While you can argue that it uses a white saviour myth, you could just as well argue that it mostly develops the myth that only ‘white culture’ wages war and doesn’t care about the environment.
Sully also manipulates and deceives the Na’vi at first, and then is redeemed when he starts to ‘think their way’.
While the Na’vi ethnic culture is portrayed as principled, fun and magical the ‘white culture’ is shown as aggressive, destructive and greedy.
The ‘white culture’ military aggression was even called Valkyrie, bringing up Nazi connotations, after they hijacked Viking mythology.
Scandinavian countries dominate the lists for being the most peaceful and environmentally friendly in the world; as well as having the most equality, freedom of speech and press freedom; so if anyone is complaining I think it should be them.
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings.php
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians_avatar↵ -
Marc,
I agree with your point as well. I think the film was completely composed of binaries: good vs bad, noble/spiritual vs corporate/militaristic. I was somewhat trying to address other facets when I wrote:
“The problem with Avatar is that it ignores the actual complexity of humanity – that there is oppression within oppressed groups or that heinous acts are often carried out under the banner of good intention.”
I chose to look at Avatar within the white savior myth narrative because it’s so prevalent in a large collection of Hollywood movies and the similarities are so obvious, but certainly it could be deconstructed from many other angles where the misrepresentation of complex cultural issues is obvious. However, I also think that the global image of African or indigenous cultures around the world being noble and helpless, basically in need of being told what to do, is more culturally prevalent than that of Scandinavians or white people in general being violent.
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Hi Gabriela, thanks for your response, and see where you’re coming from, and how you tried to include other facets.
Maybe you’re right about Hollywood movies, but I think that Avatar is more like a 1960s/70s western than a 50s one. In the affluent and conformist 1950s there had been no questioning of society in Westerns, but in the 1960s unease and alienation with the establisment brought westerns that criticised the loss of individuality to corporate domination, and the declining freedom on the frontier. It was the American frontier for the Westerns, and a planetary frontier in Avatar.
In society I think the opposite to the white saviour myth can also be argued, at least in most of the UK and Europe, and I think for at least half of the US: when Obama was running for office and became President it was like he was part of a black saviour myth.
I think that the dominant ideology about Africa in the UK is that that the people have been victims of colonialism and are at the mercy of the elements. I don’t think many people in the UK today advocate telling Africans how to live their lives, and Nelson Mandela is probably the most popular international figure, along with Obama.
On cultures’ warmongering ratings, the Iraq War played into the hands of those who want to portray the US led West as aggressive colonists, and a film like Avatar can reinforce that for those who don’t follow international affairs closely.
I really liked the film, and don’t think it’ll have that much effect either way really, and will mostly be remembered for the great effects.
For cultural criticism films about US history, war, culture and the environment I prefer the real thing in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and The New World.
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Brilliant article!
The film has little ‘vision’ in this way, all it does is seek to localize the dispute and plot of the film into a form of colonial imperalism we understand and know about. Thus, he pulls out the age old cliche of african tribe/ white men conflict. In this sense the film is dissapointing, instead we’re not taken to another planet we’re still firmly on earth just with a very different landscape. I believe Cameron was trying to bring a great message but he needs to shed the process applying anthropomorphism to his ‘alien’ characters and create something a bit more orignial.
Why would a tribe resemble that of an African one just because they live in tribal fashion, so did everybody before citadel civilization. Therefore, why didn’t it resemble a Saxon tribe or a Celtic tribe, or really push the boat with a whole new creation. Furthermore, it wasn’t just with racial things either- why would they kiss the same as humans? Thus, the need to localize the racial conflict into a historically relevant one for viewers is quite patronizing I believe and underestimates our capacity for the new.
Also just an extra theme that wasn’t mentioned in the article: The issue of schooling. The colonials think that if they can ‘educate’ the Navi, then they can negotiate and communicate on a civilized level. This belief isn’t just attributed to the ‘bad guys’ either, Sigourney Weaver’s character (can’t remember her name) believes in this too- she’s the teacher. A belief that shouldn’t really be rearing it’s ugly head again.
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Great points Gemma. Bottom line: Cameron spent all his time on SFX, and very little on storytelling; a common complaint with most big budget Hollywood flicks.
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Gabriela, excellent analysis and helpful insight. Thank you.
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It seems the Western white culture has, for the most part, forgotten this important message – everything is connected – people and the entire rest of the natural world.
If it takes a movie like Avatar to bring this to our attention, even with the gratuitous violence overplayed, then so be it. Scully learned something. When will we learn and what will it take? Is Pandora our future? Will we mess it up again? Tune in to the natural world around you and learn from it. Without it we will cease to be.↵ -
I think you’re right about the western white culture largely losing its way Carolyn, but I think it’s also true worldwide, and some cultures are even worse at the moment.
Even countries with great forests left are asking for money not to clear it. When it comes to money, medicine and the other benefits of civilisation versus trees and nature there only seems to be one winner most of the time.
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Great article, Gabby. I thought the same exact thing except if the story were true to most the NAVI would have died in the end or been forced into some kind of servitude. Like others said, the story is two dimensional and does not show the complexity of the situation. But the attitudes of the characters are pretty consistent with history, if not milder than what really happened. The movie is a technical masterpiece but a cliche script.
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DHarbecke, since I can’t reply directly to your comment for some reason… Antonio Banderas is a Spaniard. He is European and is not in any way Latin American. This a common and ignorant assumption that Americans constantly make. All Spanish speaking people are not from Latin America; some actually come from Spain(you know, that country in Western Europe where the Spanish language and people originated from).
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I see a few comments relating this to colonialism, as if western governments aren’t oppressing poor countries and cultures now…
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i love watching GI Joe, both the cartoon series and the movie. I am hoping that they would make a sequel. `
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