About 13 years ago, renowned filmmaker James Cameron released a cinematic masterpiece called Avatar. The science fiction movie starring Sigourney Weaver, Zoë Saldaña, and Sam Worthington was visually groundbreaking as the production team introduced a litany of never-seen-before technology and 3D practices in order to bring the imagery moon-planet of Pandora to life. The 2009 motion picture became the highest-grossing film of all time en route to claiming numerous honors, including Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Critics Choice Awards. One year later, Time Magazine named James Cameron one of the most influential people in the world.
The success, notoriety, and overall presentation of Avatar provoked a significant amount of controversy as activist groups, and influential figures from various Native American Indian tribes alleged that James Cameron and the executive producers of the movie had appropriated their sacred culture to gain a profit. Although the famed filmmaker openly admitted that the successful film was greatly inspired by North American Indian culture (and the European settlers that came during the Colonial period), the depiction of the fictional race of indigenous humanoids known as the Na'vi caused an uproar that ignited boycotts nationwide. Not only were the campaigns centered around cultural appropriation, but the initiative also brought more awareness to the protester's displeasure with actors/actresses who are not Native American Indians portraying roles based on Indigenous culture.
Avatar: The Way of Water, a follow-up effort to the 2009 classic, dominated box offices on a global scale upon its December 16th release. But for James Cameron and 20th Century Studios, the return of an Avatar production to the masses also signifies the return of backlash from the Native American Indian community. Prominent figures representing numerous tribes have already spoken out about the film and the way in which they find the material highly offensive.
"James Cameron apparently made Avatar to inspire all my dead ancestors to 'fight harder,' tweeted a college professor named Dr. Johanna Brewer. "Eff right off with that savior complex, bud. And everyone, please go watch a real native movie instead of that badly appropriated blue trash."
Other leaders from the Native American community also offered pushback to the film.
"We should've been the ones whose faces and voices appeared onto the screen," Wrote another college professor named Yué Begay to James Cameron in an Instagram post. "We are the experts in portraying our hurt, suffering, and, more importantly, our resilience."
"I won’t be seeing the new one," Tweeted a Native American civil rights attorney named Brett Chapman. "It does nothing for Native Americans but suck oxygen for itself at our expense..."At the end of the day, he's not exploring anti-imperialist, anti-colonial themes..he's making movies to make money."
According to reports, James Cameron has already filmed the third installment of Avatar, which will drop in December of 2024. The fourth episode of the franchise is set to be released shortly thereafter. The controversy surrounding the film's Na'vi humanoids isn't the first time that a science fiction fantasy film and caused a stir socially. Back in the early 2000s, Amad Best, the actor who portrayed a fictional character by the name of Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace received so many accusations of perpetuating Black stereotypes that he strongly considered committing suicide. In contrast, another science fiction film of note as it relates to this topic is the Summer blockbuster on Hulu's streaming service called PREY. Unlike the first two Avatar films, this Predator prequel starred an all-star cast primarily made of Native American Indian actors/actresses such as Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers. Although the storyline was fictional, the setting and plot honored their culture. Hence, Indigenous film critics and outlets like A Tribe Called Geek lauded PREY and the contributions that were made by the executive producers on and off camera. Therefore, the Avatar films are not being viewed in the same light as PREY by the Indigenous community in North America.
Source: MSN
