Avatar Racist?

By the time this post is published it is likely that a few more thousand people have watched James Cameron's Avatar. As the biggest movie of 2009, it is on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie of all time. This type of pop culture phenomenon with this much visibility in mainstream media says a lot about the culture in which we live.

One of the major critiques of the movie Avatar is its strong (and offensive) racial undertones. Now many critics have come out saying that the film is grossly patronizing and surprisingly offensive in its use of stereotypes. The Navi are supposedly the protagonists of the film because of their peaceful interaction with nature. They are a society similar to what we associate with African tribal culture. They don tribal necklaces, wear their hair in dreads, use face paint for war, hunt with bows and arrows, and perform ritualistic dances to worship a nature God. All of these representations are historically associated with native, tribal culture generally attributed to Africa. In addition to this, the Navi are casted in the movie by black actors. With this as the background, the plot of the film revolves around a white male who gains entrance and trust from the Navi, becomes their most powerful member and then saves their society from destruction. This plot implies that these natives (as in history) are incapable of defending themselves against whites unless a sympathetic Caucasian is willing to rescue them. The irony behind a movie which seemingly criticizes white colonialism of non-white populations but at the same time requires a white male saviour is too great for words. This movie says a lot about the omnipresent nature of racism and marginalization in our society. So even an entertaining movie, with eye-popping visuals, anti-war message, and eco-friendly themes it’s hard to ignore the overt racial tones of the film.