Avatar Essay
By Mackenzie Berry
They say history finds a way to repeat itself, and in this case it might not be for the best. Relying on friendly communication between all peoples the story has been past on from generation to generation, sometimes varying depending on who you talk to. The message is always clear though, the Europeans pushed natives off their land for their benefits and well-being. If you have seen the movie avatar you will know that, the movie is set in the future but shows a great representation of our history. Throughout the movie you will realize that there was a great deal of ethnocentrism, Marginazlition and Apathy on the humans part where as the Na’vi welcomed them with open arms tried to accommodate, acculturate and Integrate the Humans into their culture. Unfortunately we will find this happening for ages and still we will find the situation is different with many of the attributes similar.
When two different cultures come into contact they call it cultural contact. When two different cultures come into contact and join together to make one new and different culture with both attributes from either civilization, this is hybridization. Very few humans posses the talent of hybridization. The group of people who went to Pandora are part of the many, lacking in ability to adapt, the human’s push out all offers to reason with Na’vi. Jake Sully is one of the few humans on Pandora who can integrate. When Jakes Avatar gets lost in the natural maze of Pandora on the very first day he finds himself being rescued by Netyri, a young women from the Na’vi tribe. The Original peoples take him into the Colony as one of them. He learns their ways and how they live day-to-day life in the wild electric atmosphere. Soon he realizes how precious everything on this land is to them, now his agreement with the Colonel, Miles Quaritch isn’t for the best and it will send their world upside down. The whole plant is treasured and respected, every part of life they see as sacred.
The Na’vi opened their world to the humans with friendship and belief that they might adapt well and fit in with the Natives, together they could live as one They offered their land to use and work, play and resided on. To the Na’vi tribes everything is connected and all ties back to the planet they reside on and one day you have to give all the energy borrowed back to the world. Showing zero empathy and taking advantage of the kindness exhibited the humans took out one of the most scared and cherished places to the Na’vi.
For years the White or Europeans have believed that they will conquer all land for ages to come. When the actual time comes they do just that, without remorse or apathy for what land, culture or scared items they disturb or end up destroying. What we don’t realize yet is that we affect everything we set our foot on, if we find something in our path and we have to find a way to minimize that. In Avatar, the humans offered schools and education, just like when the Europeans came to Canada. Slowly the Na'vi started to get pushed to the side, being de-prioritized and ignored. Their needs were no longer important and unobtainium became the main focus. The tribes “system” was irrelevant and could easily be replaced, they could move, they could find new-scared places and they could start over, it wasn’t a big deal. The resources, the mission and to get the Navi out of their way became the reality for the sky people, what they wanted they got.
We as a society carry “white mans burden” anywhere we go, believing that we should dominate and take “care” of other cultures so they can become more like us because we are the “best ‘ society, this end up depopulating tradional people and their beliefs. Rejecting many different forms of branching out when outsiders have reached into our ethnocentrism filled world and offered to accept us and grow together helping one another on the way. Going along with the idea for a while until we realize and get a grasp on the concept, we would soon turn around and use everything to our advantage. Marginalizing other cultures and taking special resources ‘s, not realizing we would be leaving behind a legacy that future generations will not be proud of wrong we have committed. Maybe its time to start realizing what we are about to do before we end up regretting our decision. Make the future peoples proud of what we have done instead of remorse and wondering what if we turned out different.
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