The Politics of "Avatar"

By: Dan Farber
Topics: In The News

(AP Photo/20th Century Fox, File)

"Avatar" has taken the country, and world, by storm.

It's playing to sold-out audiences from Beijing to Madrid. Opening night ticket sales for Avatar set a new record in China. It's likely to be the top-grossing movie of all time, surpassing James Cameron's previous blockbuster, "Titanic," which earned $1.842 billion.

"Avatar" has its own language, deity and a growing cult following that mirrors its box office success.

It's also been widely critiqued and analyzed by pundits as well as presidents, viewing the movie through their particular political lenses.

The Vatican takes offense at a fantasy civilization in which a species, the Na'vi, lives with deep connection to their natural surroundings. For example, the "tail" of a Na'vi connects with plants and animals, such as flying dinosaur-like creatures, creating a neural bond, similar to connecting a computer to a network.

"Pandora is the planet that cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium," Vatican Radio said. "Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship."

The Vatican seems to equate the fantasy aliens of "Avatar" with "heathens" — dismissing them as irreligious, uncivilized or unenlightened. Other religions, cults and political movements through the ages, which plug into the same mythologies, archetypes and fears as "Avatar" (and underlie sacred texts), have started from equally strange beginnings.

(AP Photo/20th Century Fox)

Other critics lambast the movie as anti-American or racist.

"Avatar is a thinly disguised, heavy-handed and simplistic sci-fi fantasy/allegory critical of America from our founding straight through to the Iraq War," wrote John Nolte, editor-in-chief of Big Hollywood.

"It looks like a big-budget animated film with a garish color palette right off a hippie's tie dye shirt," Nolte added.

Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, praised "Avatar" as a "profound show of resistance to capitalism and the struggle for the defense of nature."

New York Times columnist David Brooks called "Avatar" a "racial fantasy" that "rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic."

"It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace," he wrote. "It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration."

President Obama saw "Avatar" with his family on Jan. 2. He hasn't commented so far on the film, but he might argue with Brooks' notion that nonwhites and natives living close to nature and unschooled in credit default swaps need a "White Messiah" to lead a crusade as aliens from the another world try to drive them out of their ancestral homes.

But it's just a movie after all, a hallucinatory 3D adventure in which a David beats a Goliath -- the Na'vi natives defeat the evil RDA Corporation. We've seen this picture before — RDA will be back… in the megahit's sequel.

Daniel Farber is editor-in-chief of CBSNews.com.

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by YoureSoWrong25 January 13, 2010 11:39 AM EST: James Cameron's films have their roots in a type of leftist mysticism. THE TERMINATOR was a sci-fi retelling of the Annunciation to the Virgin, TITANIC was fantasy class warfare, and now AVATAR (with its title based in Eastern religions) rejects the economic system that financed its own creation in favor of literal pantheism. He may move on to a film about Hiroshima; I wonder if America nuked Japan in a surprise attack that started WW2?; Reply to this comment


by wheresmycountry January 13, 2010 7:53 AM EST: Now watch the trailer for the Avatar video game. The goal is to shoot everything that moves.; Reply to this comment


by nnggrtt January 13, 2010 3:51 AM EST: No this is not a racist film. Yes, there is african in the tribal people...in the mother, the father a tiny bit...neytiri has some elements of hispanic in her voice and speech and attitude...the people also have the obvious elements of native americanism...the navi were an eclectic mix of different cultures presented in the film...what they were supposed to represent assumably were the ethnic minorities being abused or invaded by the military, white people, europeans etc...this is not racism as it's a symbolic portrayal of what has occurred thruout history and what is still occurring. The 'white man saving the people" is false because...its obvious it was jake's DESTINY to be the rider of the big bird...therefore he in essence was meant to be "na'vi" and he wasnt just some random white guy coming in to save the indigenous people....it was his true destiny and purpose...and him being white was irrelevant in the case...it was more that the navi were a special group of people who any of those scientists would love have been a part of, but weren't allowed in, only jake was...and he was really for a reason b/c he was meant to be....this movie is a lot deeper than just superficial pathetic stereotypes...it was not racist in any way...in fact, it embodied different cultures in the navi people to make them a mix of so many different cultures and races, and sent the message of how minorities are oppressed by people who are arrogant etc....or those who are trying to steal what others have....; Reply to this comment


by Tensigh January 13, 2010 12:11 AM EST: I enjoyed this film when I saw it in 1990 under the title "Dances With Wolves". Of course, it wasn't in 3-D and it lacked the special effects, but the main gist of the story was there.

It's kind of sad. James Cameron used to push the envelope in both special effects AND storywriting (Aliens, The Abyss, T2), but now he seems to focus on the former at the expense of the latter.; Reply to this comment


by Michael88888 January 12, 2010 11:03 PM EST: Over-analysing any movie is bound to yield all sort of extreme connotations and the popularity of 'Avatar' makes it a prime target. I didn't take 'Avatar' to be racist or anti-American. The character of Jake Sully is a plot device to draw the audience over to see another point of view, not brainwash the audience to believe in white supremacy. There is a simple message about respect and conservation over greed. Geez, that's an Earth shaker. Like 'Avatar' is undermining a worldwide need for more greed. If that really is anti-Americanism, then we should be worried.; Reply to this comment


by stormerF2 January 12, 2010 10:02 PM EST: It was a movie for gods sake.All good movies have good vs evil and the corporation who wanted the glob was willing to go to extremes to get it.It was not the American Army,they were Ex-military hired out to run security and be a force to accomplish what the Coporation wanted.; Reply to this comment


by tuathadedannan January 12, 2010 8:21 PM EST: There is nothing wrong with the media creating works that invite us to ask questions about our own society. The Twilight zone was great at that as was All in the Family. But the media no longer invites us to ask questions, it now provides the conclusions it wishes us to come to as well. The Hollywood establishment seems to feel that they are so far above the rest of us that it is their duty to enlighten us until we have risen to their level of perfection. Americans should be insulted by this. We do not need Hollywood telling us what to value, how to think, or what to think.; Reply to this comment


by steeepe January 12, 2010 7:20 PM EST: Man, people are taking this spectacular bit of entertainment way too seriously. It's a movie! I like the series "24". Does that make me pro-torture? No, it's a TV series!; Reply to this comment

by kansas1946 January 12, 2010 7:12 PM EST

LOL. Well, I heard from a friend of mine who saw the movie, that the aliens were the "indians" and the humans were the "cowboys." So maybe a young native American will someday kill over the move. PLEASE.

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by ToolMangler1 January 12, 2010 8:32 PM EST: Why??? We got over it. We are quietly getting your money the American way. (in our Casinos)..
Our African brothers could do the same thing, but they are to busy fighting society to use it.


by ToolMangler1 January 12, 2010 9:08 PM EST: Why does it 'always' have to be about America? You do realize the Spanish conquest of South and Central America in the 16th century was as bad or worse than the European conquest of the North American continent.
Under Hernán Cortés a force of some 500 men with 16 horses conquered Mexico's Aztec empire. A force under Pedro de Alvarado subsequently subdued Guatemala. Francisco Pizarro defeated the Inca in Peru with 180 men and 37 horses; his companion Diego de Almagro led an expedition to Chile. Further expeditions extended Spanish rule over much of South America. Though renowned for their bravery, the conquistadores remain notorious for their avarice and the destruction they wrought on native populations and civilizations. They were soon replaced by administrators and settlers from Spain. That is where the Avatar movie is rooted. (For the Spanish, it was 'Gold" that brought them in)

by pdxdave January 12, 2010 6:28 PM EST

The message of the film: Humans are evil.

Typical Hollywood brainwashing.

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by ToolMangler1 January 12, 2010 8:20 PM EST: Wrong!
The message of the film is "Power corrupts and total power corrupts totally"
Everything else is found in our history....