Stability For Our Time

I'm amazed that Hollywood was able to produce a movie with such explicit racism in the plot. Usually the studio heads try to stay away from any taint of racial bias, but it flowed through Avatar as strongly as it did during the old Tarzan movies.

Jake Sully, a paraplegic in a borrowed body, was able to do things that the native Na'vi couldn't even dream of doing, as shown when he mastered the biggest baddest flying reptile on the planet. We're led to believe that Sully is an average guy, wityh no exceptional skills or intellect, yet he excelled almost without trying among the Na'vi. He mastered the skills required to be the greatest of hunters in less than three months, skills a normal Na'vi took years to acquire. He mastered their culture, and on a part time basis mind you, as he spent a considerable amount of time in his human body reporting back to his superiors.

Even more incredible, as the movie drew towards the end, he was able to pray to their god better than they were, and to arouse that god to take action, something no Na'vi had ever done before.

So what does it say when an average human can come in, master the culture in a short period of time, master all the skills to be a leading member of the tribe, perform legendary feats of prowess that few natives had ever dreamed of trying, much less dared, rise to a position of battle leader despite being a known liar, and also communicate to the gods more effectively than the high priest?

Humans must be superior to the Na'vi. So if, as speculated, the humans in the movie represent Americans, and the NA'vi represent indigenous peoples, such as the American Indians, what message is James Cameron trying to send, exactly?

You ignore the detail that the scientist and joined Pandora's god which Jake specifically mentioned in his "prayer".

And he was trained as a marine before that. His twin brother was a scientist qualified to go there so presumably he was not a dummy, genetically speaking.

There is no question that Avatar can be seen as an allegory for the last 500 years of history. But it is more about who had the technology and who didn't than racism.

You don't hear White economists saying that accounting should be mandatory for all kids or for all White kids in the schools. What are these cheap computers for?

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