Avatar Reaction Paper

Matt Santoro

Coach Morrell

English III

12 September 2012

Avatar Reaction Paper:

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting article to read, with opposing views  of the movie Avatar.  But, in my opinion, this is a simple story of the U.S Marines (humans) trying to exert power and steal land and resources from the Na’Vi (cat) people.  Jake Sully, the main character, transforms into the Na’Vi people in order to infiltrate their group.  Jake does not see color or cat faces when he falls in love with one of them and is enlightened about the errors of his human comrades. He then makes a conscious decision to abandon his allegiance to the thoughtless humans and fight for the moral opposition.

            I strongly disagree with Newitz who stated that “this is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare… It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.” I believe that this story has nothing to do with black vs. white, man vs. cat, it is about a guy named Jake who switches sides because he realizes that the Marines were being shortsighted and they were trying to unfairly exert their power on the peaceful Na’Vi’s.  This is why I agree with Eric Ribellarsi, “This is not a story about a white man who goes to lead native peoples as their condescending savior…. It's a story about a backward white man who is transformed and takes up armed struggle against imperialism alongside them."  When a person dreams of flying or takes flight, it resembles freedom, Jake becomes one of the Na’Vi by flying with his new mountain banshee.  When he flies it resembles freedom, he is transformed and becomes one with nature, and realizes that the Na’Vi are preserving the land while the Marines are trying to destroy it.  This is when Jake switches sides and tries to take down the humans.                                                                                           

I disagree with the Moving Image bloggers statement, "By the end of the film, you're left wondering why the film needed the Jake Sully character at all.  The film could have done just as well by focusing on an actual Na'vi native who comes into contact with crazy humans who have no respect for the environment."  I challenge this “crazy humans” storyline, because the underlying theme was enlightenment.  Jake became an enlightened individual when he became a Na’Vi and realized the error of the humans, and tried to fix what his human counterparts were doing by trying to take down the humans and destroy their plans.  Without Jake, this story could not be told as the enlightened, love story that it is. 

In my opinion, the movie should be seen for entertainment purposes only. This movie was a sci-fi, romance and drama, it was not racially motivated, just a story about a man who switches to the opposing side and fights for what’s right, with his love by his side.