Avatar: an Anti-Review
Avatar: The Way Of Water is James Cameron’s latest groundbreaking movie… or so they say. I will not be delving into the new technology James spent years developing so that I could add glasses to my glasses. I will not dissect the satire of colonialism that isn’t one (Let’s face it. Have all the Na’vi die at the end of the saga and then your audience might begin to have a feel for the atrocity that colonialism was/is - or even better enslaved them, put them in camps and erase their culture and heritage so as if they had never existed. Too far?). I will not shed any queer tears on the tragically underused Kate Winslet. I will let others talk about the racist misrepresentation of the indigenous tribes, there is a lot to say. I will neither comment on the poor dialogue, terrible plot and the 192 minute runtime, as many have done more brilliantly before me. I will, however, throw in my two cents on what should henceforth be referred to as Avatar: The Way Of Patriarchy.
In this latest instalment of the Avatar franchise, the writers pretended to move away from plot to character driven arcs. And what great characters they are! (Are you sensing the sarcasm? You should be sensing the sarcasm). Here comes a list:
Neytiri, captured-played by Zoe Saldaña, is portrayed as a hysterical mother who dares to cry her eyes out when (spoilers ahead!) her first born dies. She can only possibly be brought back to reason by her stoic husband as he and only he can see the big picture. She is also never to have an opinion other than contradicting her husband with half-arsed reasons before siding with him. He is the man, afterall. Do you get it? He is in charge, the man is in charge. The blue-face white man is in the charge! “Look after the kids, woman, I’ll teach them how to use a bow and arrow to fish even if you’re much better skilled than me”. It seems that most fall for it because she is also a fierce warrior - See, it’s not sexist, she has many manly qualities! She can kill too.
Ronal, played (played is probably too grand a word) by Kate Winslet, is another hysterical woman who needs her man to calm her down and make her see sense. Her husband, Tonowari, spends the entirety of the movie pleading with her with his sad puppy eyes. Because you should be scared of your wife! I am starting to sense a pattern. Your wife isn’t your equal.
Kiri Sully is the hybrid daughter of Sigourney Weaver and Pandora’s equivalent of Gaia (a Mary Sue who instinctively knows how to do impossible feats). She is a naive and sensitive soul in touch with the Earth. A gendered role only ever attributed to women because they’re so nurturing.
Colonel Quaritch is the returning dead villain that had been cloned and forced to inhabit the skins of the people he so enthusiastically cherished annihilating. He didn’t need any time to adjust to his death or his new condition. He is the movie makers’ version of toxic masculinity/colonialism and you’re made to hate him on the spot. Because: why nuances? You’re too busy focusing on the binary to realise that all the men and women in the movie are playing heavily gendered roles.
Jake Sully is the perfect example of that binary. As an audience, we are so enthralled in wanting the Na’vi to succeed (because humanity is evil, did you get that humanity was evil?) that we are made not to see how he is turning his sons (he barely interacts with his daughters) into dickheads. He turns to one in the movie and rewards him for being violent and having beaten someone else’s arse. “I’m proud of you son! You showed me that even though you disobeyed everything I said and put our entire family’s stability in jeopardy, you were a strong man and beat up the other guy. If you hadn’t won the fight, I would be even more disappointed in you! I don’t care about your feelings, I care that you show strength. Follow my example: hide any feelings and treat your wife as your inferior! You’re the man, you’re in charge! A father protects his family!” - That’s right: a father protects his family. Not a father loves his family. Not a father raises his family so that they can be well-adjusted adults and think critically and learn when to defend themselves.
The youngest daughter (does she even have a name?) is a stereotypical sweet little girl who is the only one who cries because she has been taken away from everything she knows and loves. She is given no time to adjust. For a tribe so in touch with the world they live in, able to physically, emotionally and spiritually connect with other species as well as plants, they completely disregard the feelings, emotions and needs of their young ones.
Neteyam and Lo’ak, Sully’s sons, are boisterous bros who repeatedly call each other “bros” and if they don’t, I feel like that is all I heard throughout the movie. “Bro this, Bro that” - We’re bros, do you get it? We’re alpha males and we’re gonna be in your face about it! Our daddy has shown us the way and we will continue to be toxic little shits. When Lo’ak sees the Tsireya for the first time, the underage character is shown sensually exiting the water the same way Ursual Andress did in Dr. No in 1962. The male gaze in all its glory. We have truly come a long way in the last 60 years: we went from objectifying women’s bodies to also objectifying underaged girls’ bodies.
James Cameron and his teams of white American Boomers and Gen Xers (I checked) are selling us the Patriarchal Dream. The man is the head of the household and takes all of the decisions. The woman is there to nag, to make it difficult because she simply doesn’t get it. Soon though, fear not, she will see the error of her ways and will side with her man. Boys are bros and little girls are sweet and innocent. The gendered agenda is not hidden because everyone accepts it. It is the norm, is it not? The patriarchy isn’t just damaging to women, it is damaging to men too and to our society as a whole.
As I’m writing these words, Avatar: The Way of Patriarchy has made $1.444 billion worldwide pushing their agenda to the four corners of the globe.
And remember: my opinion is not a fact.
