final draft

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Social 10-1 Position Paper _ Avatar
By: Ronni Burrows

             The greatest challenge we face today is ensuring that globalization becomes a positive force among all the people in the world, but what might happen years from now? The movie Avatar; created by James Cameron, shows a comparable attribute between our historical globalization, where we are now, and what has yet to come. This movie has rooted a large amount of messages and hidden judgments of what our world has been doing to past civilizations. As well, what we might continue to do if we don’t grasp into each others diversities and try to work with what we have. I’ll be contrasting Avatar to historical moments in time, including cultural contact, ethnocentrism and the thoughts of “White Man’s Burden”, according to Rudyard Kipling, and how it all relates to the aspects of globalization.

Clashes between cultures and civilizations have taken place throughout time in our humanity. In the movie, Avatar, humans and unfamiliar species are forced together by venture. Set on the planet of Pandora, Sky People are sent out to threaten the existence of the local tribe, Na’vi and take what they call unobtanium, a valuable mineral that would give the Sky People a quantity of money. How does this relate to our world?  In our North American history, Europeans were dispersed out to settle land, and during that time the Europeans discovered what they referred to as, “savages.” Like portrayed in the movie, Sky People also referred the Na’vi as ‘savages’ and they were known for their relationship to the land just like the First Nations. In our past, Europeans take over First Nations’ land and found a place in their civilization without the approval of the First Nations people. They took what resources the “savages’” had and traded them for Europeans’ wants. The Europeans made up written treaties to try to make agreements with the First Nations people, as well, the Sky People in the film tried to get the Na'vi to overlook their true intentions and listen to their offer of agreements. In neither situation did it turn out good in all aspects of civilization.

In today’s society we can see cultural contact a bit differently. Cultures merge and unite to create a society where people of different ethnicity can share and people can be their own individual or collective identity, in most countries at least. What we can call creating a mix of 2 different cultures crafting a new one; hybridization, was shown during Avatar when the bodies of Jake and a few other trained individuals are made into a combination of their previous human body and a mix of an Avatars structure. The term, “I see you,” a meaning spoken by the Avatars, expressing I see into your soul, your heart, and we are one. "I see you," is a phrase with a deeper meaning along the lines of "I understand who you are." This film represents the idea that we are all connected to each other as human beings. However, when Avatars and Sky People acculturated and adapted to one anothers traditions I noticed a sudden depopulation after such previous events such as the war. In the end, only a few Sky People were chosen to stay since not all were willing to accommodate. Which brings me to my next point, ethnocentrism.

While many people recognize the problem, they may not know that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and every day in our civilization. We all are born into a human culture, and it is the culture that shapes our self-awareness and understanding of other individuals. Ethnocentrism is a key reason for the division amongst groups in our societies today and in our past. Long ago, Europeans oversaw other races and marginalized them to a lesser importance.  Traces of this sense of European ethnocentrism are still evident today. In the film, Na’vi fought heavily armed machines with bows and arrows, which displays the difference in their tradition and also displays how much more powerful the Sky People felt they were compared to the Na’vi. Today, we all are ethnocentric when we use our cultural standards to make generalizations about other peoples' cultures and customs. For example, as stated by Southern Nazarene University, most Canadians and Americans often talk about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of the road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand side"? With most current events such as the ongoing war and terror, it is difficult for some members of our civilization to think of the “less civilized” nations as anything but oversimplified labels. What I believe Avatar becomes about is the intention to show that the western world’s society should advance itself into learning more about those who it looks down upon, because like the movie showed, the Na'vi may of been able to teach the Sky People invaluable lessons about things they did not yet know anything about. We can’t all be considered the best ethnicity, and some people won’t ever be able to accept that.

“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” a quote that the public use all the time in our civilization. Humans’ appear to give the urge to improve things that aren’t in need of improvement. White Mans’ Burden, a term spoken by Rudyard Kipling, a meaning implying that an ethnicity feels they have the responsibility or duty to take care of another race. In the film Avatar, the Sky People believe that it was there obligation to give the Na’vi people schools and teach them English. That somehow the Na’vi weren’t adequate enough before the Sky People showed up. It is also portrayed in the motion picture that they are in need of someone else to save them in the end, someone that isn’t one of their own ethnicity. But why didn’t the film portray the message as the Avatars saving themselves? In our past, a lot of what has happened to our world has been because of a “White Man’s Burden.” One’s own ethnicity believes it’s okay to assimilate another culture, and that marginalizing another race was of their best interest. Being a part of a European background, I’ve learned lots about colonialism and looking at my own educational knowledge, I can relate back to when the Europeans decided the First Nations needed to drop their own identities and learn European ways. Europeans didn't give the First Nations the option of choosing to receive education or the option to practice their own traditions and make their own identity.

Our world has suffered many implications in its existence. Comparing the award-winning movie Avatar to our past, present, and future civilizations, you really do notice a lot of positions taking place. Not only does the film hold many hidden communications but our world also has countless hidden messages we still need to discover and release.  After discussing these aspects of globalization, cultural contact, ethnocentrism, and white mans burden with you, I leave you with these questions. Who are the savages, who are the best nation, and who are the uncivilized?