Avatar, the film, sending both the Pope and atheists into a tizzy : the racism angle

Anything that sends the Pope and the more thoughtless of atheists into a huge tizzy together can't be all bad, and so it is with the new film, Avatar. The movie is very good in its production; you should really make sure to see its 3D version in a cinema, so as to get the full view. I myself had no problems viewing the 3D version, no nausea at all. The 3D was not over-done; there were no big things screaming out of the screen at the audience all the time, though I was mildly startled once when a teargas canister shell went bouncing forwards in 3D to the lower right corner, but then teargas canisters appearing to come near me always do make me nervous (a long story, don't ask).

Now exactly why should an SF flick get so many people's knickers in a twist? Avatar has been damned by the Vatican, the Vatican issuing the following statements through various organs:

Then, no doubt just in a spirit of inter-religious, ecumenical, harmonious brotherhood, there are quite a few atheists only too willing to damn Avatar, including of course PZ who in his usual bitchy snark style warbles on intimating in his usual theme how of course he is more intelligent than the film, his oft-expressed superiority indicating perhaps some central gnawing envy on his part. Of course the Hindus have to get in on the action on this as well, worrying that Avatar is dissing their religion; and then there is an excruciatingly funny and absurdly hysterical opinion piece damning Avatar as a recruiting film for eco-terrorists. If all that isn't enough, various people are lining up to condemn Avatar as racist, a particularly absurd charge from those who cannot handle SF, let alone deep thought. And then to top it all off, there is utterly nonsensical hystera about alleged bestiality in the film. Naturally, accusations of both Marxism and bestiality are a hit with the more extremist Christians.

Let's look at some of the charges together. Since this is going to be a very long subject, it will take many more than just one blog post to do it in. Let's take the racism angle at first here; many people seem to totally miss the point that films and books are usually produced for those within a particular culture (which is why movies and books are not usually filmed or written in Esperanto or Láadan. The films Apocalypto or the snuff porn The Passion of the Christ from Mel Gibson were very much an exception, and were of course subtitled, which rather proves my point.)

Now, since a book or a film is usually produced foremost for members of a particular culture, it will most often use characters who are recognisably from that culture, so readers and viewers can more easily emotionally relate to and self-identify with the piece. That this should need pointing out is ludicrous; it is indicative of just how much some people are wanting to condemn Avatar for very bogus reasons. Their condemnation has more to do with different reasons, and here racism is only the stated reason, but often not the real one.

Now, if members of the reading or viewing public are to self-identify or relate in any way with a book or a film, it helps if the protagonist is someone to like in some sort of way.

And so it is with Avatar; one of the main protagonists, Jack Sully (played by Sam Worthington), is recognisably a white American male, but then another not-so-minor character and one is one of the heros / heroines is Trudy Chacon (played by Michelle Rodriguez), not so recognisably "white" at all. I personally was rather pissed off that Trudy gets killed off; but she was there in her own right, and acts morally and rebelliously in an ethical way in her own right. She also takes care to be rather striking and attractive in a Freudian way.


There are other non-white or non-pure-"white" characters in the film; and of course, Jake Sully has to be actually rescued and educated by a very tall blue alien woman, Neytiri, played by the very non-"white"-indeed and also highly attractive Zoe Saldana.



To claim that this film represents some sort of racist, sexist story where a white male American hunk goes in and rescues a whole native people just by being his hunky self only shows the accuser really did not bother watching the film carefully whatsoever. in the accuser's rush to write a piece demonstrating their rightwing "sensible" or leftwing PC credentials. What the film shows is multiple characters, some human, some alien, learning from and helping each other. There is no one set way, and no one set saviour; certainly Jake Sully does his bit, but then a crucial part is essential help from quite unhuman, alien animals of small brain but much brawn, the Hammerhead Titanotheres.


A film that has a white American male as one of the leading characters does not indicate necessary racism on the part of the film, even if that character dares use any talents to save others; moreover, the leading and central characters saving people (including alien people) in the film include a good deal of non-male and/or non-"white" characters.

To accuse Avatar of racism indicates either a terrible banalization of the important concepts of racism and anti-racism, or indicates only a very sloppy rush to be trendily disdainful.

That about wraps up the racism accusation angle; and in my next blog posts, I will tackle the other angles.
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Edited to add:

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Should you wish to comment here on my blog post, you are very welcome to do so and I would be very glad to see comments; guests are able to make comments, the answer to the "random question" is always "Heathen", exactly as given but without the quotation marks.

All my blog posts on aspects of Avatar (a few more will be added soon):

Avatar, the film, sending both the Pope and atheists into a tizzy : the racism angle
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Avatar, the film: sources, themes, origins, inspirations
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Possible origins of the artwork in the film Avatar for landscapes and creatures
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More on convergent evolution and the art and artwork of the film Avatar