Avatar Review

I was one of the lucky few to catch the James Cameron flick Avatar late last night.  I didn't come laden with huge expectations, nor armed with film reviews or analysis of the flick. I did hear that there was an Indigenous element to the film and that it was  in 3D and sci fi, and well of course involved avatars, and I was sold.

The theater was packed with geeks young college boys who looked like they could be gamers. A loud, excited chatter built up to the film as we waited the half hour for the film to start. Once it did, the whole audience quieted down to complete silence for the entire film (with the exception of suggested on-screen sex, then everyone tittered).

I was hooked on the film within the first 15 minutes, as we got right into the action of the Na'vi world. I was drawn into the graphics, the 3D effects, and the fantasy elements. The story revolves around one character, Jack Sully (Sam Worthington), a wheelchair-bound ex-marine who gets put into an avatar operation to interact with the Na'vi people and learn their ways so that the corporations can begin to extract their resources.

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The story just reeked of colonization from the first moment. When the ex-marines were being sent to the unknown land, Pandora, they were giving them speeches that was reminiscent of when the British sent out men to conquer and settle on the then uncharted North American lands. The Na'vi are the Indigenous peoples of Pandora and are referred to often as 'savages', and even as 'blue monkeys.'

When Sully lands among the people he is brought to the leader of the people, who's cadence sounds exactly like an old Indian chief (voice is by Cherokee actor Wes Studi). He is brought there by his daughter, Neytiri,  who speaks her Native tongue and English. It's like she's walking between two worlds (groan). She begins to take him under her wing and teach him about energy flow, and understanding the spirits of animals. I actually expected a song like 'Colors of the Wind' to suddenly erupt in the script.

If you follow the movie closely, it can almost become a trivia game to figure out which elements of the movie are appropriated borrowed from Indigenous cultures of the world. Yelping while hunting - Native Americans as seen through a Western Hollywood lens, chanting while cross-legged on the ground - Tibetan, Mohawk hairstyles - Iroquois, feathers in hair - Native Americans. And so the list goes on. The best is the Indigenous flute music that floats through certain scenes.

All cheesiness aside, the message of the film is that the land of the Na'vi peoples is sacred and has a greater value than the resources that the corporations want to take from it. That is something that we all need to take to heart in this current climate of environmental change. The movie was a whopping two hours and 40 minutes but even when it was done and it was 3 AM on an early Friday morning, I couldn't help but want more.

by Lisa Charleyboy from Urban Native Girl Stuff