I am one who hardly goes to the movies. Yet I watch Avatar twice. I have read about this movie, produced and directed by James Cameroon. I was curious about the 3D format as well as the cutting edge technology that was employed to produce this epic. It’s about a humanoid race, Na’vi that inhabited the planet Pandorra where the living live in harmony with nature. Human went there to mine a rare mineral through sheer power.
True to my expectation, the movie blew me off, kept me spellbound and I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography and the animation. The setting was just spectacular and the story line is certainly thought provoking.
For the less initiated, viewing this movie purely as a fiction is thoroughly entertaining. To dwell a little into depth, a movie, like any story, comes with a moral behind it. In fact, the message portrayed is far more portent because of the visual impact. From the political and historical perspective, this movie certainly resonated and drew many parallels in the history of mankind.
The thought that came foremost to my mind was the colonisation by European of African, Australia, Asia, North and South America.
The historical parallel was when the Spanish explorers, in search of gold and other precious metal, raided South America. It displaced, subjugated and marginalised the indigenous Indians. Many indigenous Indians were massacred or killed by disease brought in by the invaders. Today the entire continent speaks Spanish except Brazil and the Spanish descendents remained in rich and powerful position.
In North America, the English and the French almost wipe off the entire indigenous Red Indians population through scorched earth policy of slash and burn. There can be no reason to justify this cruel act other than outright greed to seize lands.
The stories were similar across Australia, Africa and Asia. The European, armed with superior fire power and were better organised, were able to steamroll the indigenous inhabitants into submission. It unscrupulously and recklessly plundered the earth resources for its insatiable appetite and forcefully seized and occupied indigenous land.
Another powerful message inflamed by this movie Avatar is the deteriorating world environment. Vast rainforests were destroyed to make way for development, as well as excessive and illegal logging for the tropical hardwood. The movie draws many parallel between the powerful and profit driven conglomerates devouring the earth commodities with very little regards for environmental damages.
In the movie, luckily there is Jake and Dr Grace to save the Na’vi and Pandorra. As anticipated, the villians in the movie ended with death. But in the world that we live in, the legacy of colonisation remained very evident. The Europeans remained embedded in many continents becoming even wealthier and stronger. The indigenous Red Indians, Amazon Indians, Maoris, Aborigines have been permanently dislocated, subjugated and marginalised.
By today standard, the acts of the early Europeans violate all human rights and human dignity. Ironically, today the loudest critics of human rights and the biggest proponents for saving the environment come from these countries.
Nevertheless, Avatar is a fiction movie that will trigger a technological revolution and set new standard in the film industry. Perhaps 3D will be the standard for big screen. Avatar has been nominated for 9 Oscars Awards.
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