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| Avatar Movie Poster Photographer Unknown |
Have you ever wondered what makes us human? Well, human is defined as “a person as distinguished from an animal (in science fiction) an alien; of or characteristic of people’s better qualities, such as kindness or sensitivity”. Nevertheless, what if a colony of individuals was found who posed the same characteristics of a human, who inherited their identities and inequality through the environment they inhabited. There are all different kinds of people living on this planet, and no matter what we all do and believe, I believe that no one should use anthropocentrism in a way to detour other creatures. We all should "see" at the same level. What made me discovery this fact was in a recent film showed in class.
There is no doubt that the most inspiring box office film of 2009, came under the direction of James Cameron. The film Avatar, took in $760.50 million at the box office, with a whopping ten-year span to create such a marvelous production. However, it is not the breakthrough of developing this film through 3D viewing and stereoscopic specially designed cameras, but the underlying science-environment fiction of the theme. The interdependence of components of nature and the protection of biodiversity by native people fighting against imperialism. According to the film director, it shares themes with “At play in the field of the Lord and the Emerald Forest”, “which feature clashes between cultures and cultivations”. I acknowledge the film’s connection with the movie “Dances with wolves”, in which a battered soldier finds himself drawn to the tribal culture he was initially fighting against.
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| Avatar, ( Neytiri and Jake) Photographer Unknown |
The story of the film starts on Pandora an earth-sized moon, where one of the fictional gas orbiting can only be breathe by the inhibited tribe. Human being than cannot survive in the atmosphere of Pandora without using a breathing device. The indigenous people on Pandora belong to a tribe called Na’vi; creatures that are blue skinned and live in harmony with the nature of Pandora. They worship mother Goddess Eywa. Nonetheless, what makes Pandora special is its rich precious mineral reserve of unobtainium. Humans then seek to exploit this endemic mineral resource and biodiversity of Pandora, and organize a human corporation employing former marines and soldiers under Parker Selfridge, who tries to use a paradigm of conveying the Na’vi as enemies, who is trying to kill them. In the scene when Jake arrives at the presentation of the strategy. The main character in this film Jake Sully, is paralyzed below the waist, and is convinced into taking a diplomatic mission of obtaining the trust of the Na’vi clan to convince them to abandon their home tree, that sits over the large deposit of unobtainium.
However, as every other superhero movie, Jake falls in love with a Na’vi named Neytiri, and learns how to become what leads up into a powerful leader in their world. Jake then assembles a large number of Na’vi to fight with human forces, and prays to Eywa to support Na’vi in the battle. The wildlife of Pandora launches a mass attack suddenly and humans are defeated and forced to leave Pandora. The soul of Jake is transplanted from the human body to his avatar body near the tree of souls. With this, the film ends, thus showing victory of biodiversity on imperialism. In addition, this film the master narrative was easy to catch. The dominant story that offered a unifying and total explanation of the world’s history, present structure, and ultimate purpose came from the anthropocentrism of the white man, portrayed through the eyes of the characters, Jake, Grace, Selfridge, Tsu’tey, and Colonel Quaritch.
However, as every other superhero movie, Jake falls in love with a Na’vi named Neytiri, and learns how to become what leads up into a powerful leader in their world. Jake then assembles a large number of Na’vi to fight with human forces, and prays to Eywa to support Na’vi in the battle. The wildlife of Pandora launches a mass attack suddenly and humans are defeated and forced to leave Pandora. The soul of Jake is transplanted from the human body to his avatar body near the tree of souls. With this, the film ends, thus showing victory of biodiversity on imperialism. In addition, this film the master narrative was easy to catch. The dominant story that offered a unifying and total explanation of the world’s history, present structure, and ultimate purpose came from the anthropocentrism of the white man, portrayed through the eyes of the characters, Jake, Grace, Selfridge, Tsu’tey, and Colonel Quaritch.
Nevertheless, this summary can be broke down into a much simpler meaning. In an in class reading of “On Biocultural Diversity: Linking language, knowledge, and the environment”, by Luisa Maffi and Jeffrey Wollock, the theme of this film and the concepts of biocultural conservation and ethnocentric go hand-and hand. Ethnocentric is evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture and beliefs. On the other hand, biocultural conservation understands the biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity as fundamentally interconnected, different manifestations of a single, complex whole that have developed over time through mutual adaptation, co-evolution. Thus, the conservation of endemic environments goes hand-in-hand with conservation of endemic cultures and languages, as these embody systems of inhabitation and knowledge that are more likely suited to an endemic environment than foreign ones.
This may have come from the extinction of experience, as stated in Maffi passage, that “This phenomenon has been called the “Extinction of experience”: the radical loss of the direct contact and hands-on interaction with the surrounding environment that traditionally comes through subsistence and other daily life activities.” Like the white man of Avatar, who do not care about destroying the indigenous planet on Pandora, because they have already destroyed their own Earth. In the opening scene, when Neytiri saves Jake from being attacked by the animal, she tells him “it’s your fault; you’re like a baby, making noise, don’t know what to do.” The fact that it was he’s fault and that the creature was not meant to be killed. However, Jake has an underlying narrative self that distinguishes him from the other humans; he has a strong heart.
By the white man applying the indirect driver of trying to give the Na’vi medicine, education, and roads, to figure out what they want, they try to order them to move out of their village. However, the direct driver behind this would lead to the destruction of bringing down the home tree. In its realization by Maffi, “conservation biologists and ecologist were becoming familiar with the concept of biocultural diversity, especially since the role of indigenous and other local peoples in the conservation of biodiversity found its way into international instruments…” (Maffi, pg8).
Encounter to that Wollock explains that “It is ethnocentric to assume that, to the extent that a culture has not shaped its environment as we have, it is merely because they did not know how to. This ignores the basic psychological fact that desire comes before achievement “(Wollock, pg 249).
However, Jake makes a point to absorb and integrate the Na’vi people, ideas, and culture through assimilation. Though the Na’vi places dualistic perspectives in their tribe, it is not as a greater factor than the emphasis that the humans create. In Pandora, there is a relationship drawn between man and women, sky people and Na’vi, mind and body, but there is no relations drawn between mother Eywa and man. Like we place here on Earth, between man and nature. The controversial over whose hierarchy over the other. Even the Na’vi is defined as relational, because they support the fact of caring for their environment.
Through this film and the reading by Maffi and Wollock, maybe humans can better defy the true meaning of life and the environment around us. It is an important aspect to break the interpretation of man’s master narrative what we "see" through our eyes, but instead figure out what people like the Na'vi in this instance "see". Sometimes as seen in this film, we can destroy the biocultural reserve of a thriving society, just because of the greediness of “us” humans.
Listed below are References and for More Information:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=avatar+movie&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&wrapid=tlif130075433194110&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qu-HTdHFD7C10QGqwMjiDQ&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1362&bih=583
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/avatar-cameron-environmental-green-themes-reviews-making-of.php
Wollock Jeffrey, Luisa Maffi. "On Biocultural Diversity: linking language, knowledge, and the environment." Maffi, Luisa. On Biocultural Diversity: linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Washington : Smithsonian Institution, 2001. 1-259.
By Briana Echols
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