When Avatar first came out it was clear that the movie contained some
stereotypes, but now that I've watched it umpteen times with my kids I've come
to dislike the movie more and more because I'm seeing more stereotypes with
each viewing. Since so many students have seen the movie maybe Avatar would
make for a good class discussion on this topic. Here's what I see:
The scientists are all (except perhaps Sigourney Weaver) geeky
The military are all beefy ("jarheads")
The soldiers are depicted as not only ignorant of the culture of the Na'vi, but
also uncaring and dismissive of it. I know that there was an element of this
in the US invasion of Iraq, but still, can't one military person show some
concern/interest about the natives of the planet aside from our hero?
Speaking of "natives" - It would be an interesting exercise to list all the
pejorative terms the military use toward the Na'vi during the movie ("blue
monkeys" comes to mind)
The corporate guy is depicted as your typical stereotype of a corporate guy -
concerned only with money, equally dismissive of the Na'vi
I agree with those critics who have criticized the whole theme of "white guy
comes in to save the day for the natives, who are not capable of helping
themselves"
The Colonel of the military isn't just the worst offender of the stereotypes -
he is a really, really mean guy. Why is he given so many opportunities
throughout the film to show exactly how mean he is? What in the world drives
such a mean person? Character development is not something this movie gives a
whole lot of time to.
Michael
Michael A. Britt, Ph.D.
[email protected]
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com
Twitter: mbritt
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