Title: Avatar
Director: James Cameron
Text Type: Film
Response Number: 2

In the film
“Avatar”
by James Cameron, the story unfolds in the future in another planet named Pandora. Here human soldiers and scientists are involved in a mission to obtain supplies of an immensely valuable mineral called Unobtainium, but their progress is affected by local “savages” known as the Na’vi tribe. These so called “savages” appear three meters tall with striped cyan coloured skin. They are a race which bears a close representation to human qualities. Former crippled marine Jake Sully is a part of the project to access the Unobtanium but changes allegiances as he discovers the Na’vi people are not “savages” and realises the lengths his own race is taking to own the substance, as the humans are destroying the Na’vi village for it. This enabled me to see that despite the Na’vi people of Pandora presenting not even a remote threat to the humans, they react by sending heavy armoury to attack the locals for the valuable
Unobtainium, illustrating their greed and selfishness. Cameron also portrays important messages conveyed with a minimum of telling and a maximum of showing ­ such as the spiritual sign from Eywa, which is a strong belief for the Na’vi tribe. This shows us how important religion is for The Na’vi.

It astounded me that an established race such as the humans, still want to destroy another entire race just to grow their civilization more. Despite the Na’vi not being as advanced as the humans they still want to take away what little they have, to gain even more power and wealth. This allows me to see the effects that money has on the majority of people ­ becoming selfish and greedy. “Avatar” showed me the lengths to which people will go, including crippling others just to have more money or power, which
I could see go hand in hand. Greed to me personally is one of the most disgusting traits a person can have and unfortunately is rampant in the society we live in today. An example of this greed in todays society are loan sharks; who offer money to people at extremely high interest rate and more often than not to people who are not in a position to take on loans. Societies will always be at risk when power is abused highlighting the greed that hides beneath.

I think the idea of what “you” personally believe in plays a major part in the film. Jake realises who the real enemy is in this conflict and begins a whole new embodied way of life ­ “One life ends, another begins”. Jake Sully develops through the film, from a marine “knock off” to the leader of the Na’vi after facilitating communication, showing a tremendous amount of courage throughout the film. I think staying true to yourself is important because letting other people's decisions influence your own can leave you vulnerable to manipulation. It also leaves you susceptible to being someone else’s slave, where all your actions are not yours, but instead theirs but completed by you.
Staying true to yourself is important everyday in modern society; making decisions you personally support deep down so you can live your life to its fullest.

During the film I realised that everything seems connected on the planet Pandora on a