The Guilt of the Whites' Atrocities over the Natives - Free Essay on the Avatar Movie

Introduction

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The production of the Avatar, an epic film in 2009 by James Cameron, invites a lot of critics to discuss the subject of polarization. Avatar clearly reveals that the white men conquered the natives, displaced them and grabbed their land and other resources. Avatar gives recall on the crimes that European immigrants did against the native tribes. The reflection on historical injustice in the film production such as Avatar invites various avenues for criticism. However, basing on the events that unfold in Avator, it is incorrect to claim that all the whites are evil just by looking at the available historical events that took place in the past. For instance, Jake Sully, an Avatar and a white, become the leader for the natives. The Westerners are feeling the pinch of the prior inhuman treatment of the natives. As a result, many film producers create a fantasy world of racism to achieve cleanse of the white man’s guilt about the past atrocities committed against the natives. The significance of this paper is to defend the sanity of innocent whites who did not propagate the animosity against the natives as well as critique the intensity of the white's aggressiveness over the natives.

The events that unfold in the film unravel the truth that the westerners are switching position from being the conquerors to leaders of the residents. For example, when the humans were fighting Pandora, with the aim of mining unobtanium mineral, that had to serve as the primary source of energy, a good number of the people did not destroy the natives with bombs and tanks. They rather concentrated on building a good relationship to gain the confidence of the residents. Jake who is a member of avatar pilots prefers to live like Na'vi warrior than life in a state of human marine. The movie shows that the Na’vi community lacked a leader and conscious of their environment, Jake realizes the dire need of a strong leader to protect them against the oppression of Humane Marines aggression. It is, therefore, proof that the whites are changing their agenda of historical cruelty to modernization (Taylor 111). Hence, the existence of the liberal minds among the whites with extreme interests and opinions makes the world a peaceful avenue for embracing cultural diversity. The assimilation of Jake into the culture of the natives is significant in embracing cultural variations; Jake becomes a great leader and a warrior at the same time after leading the Na'vi against the invasion by the human (Taylor 113).

Given that Jake belongs to another culture, he falls in love with the daughter of the chief. Jake thus breaks the marriage boundary that exists between the humans and avatars. It is also critical to debate the cultural rights that take a significant turn in the movie. The whites are now intermarrying with the natives; coming together to make one family is evident that not all whites are evil. Similarly, it is a trending breakthrough in other movies such as the last Samurai, District 9 and Dances with the wolves. In these films, a white guy who conforms to the customs of a closed society of different race and eventually becomes an accepted and useful member of the community. The winning of the native trust, calls for the whites to take courage to perform the cultural activities that exist (Braddock 167). For example, Jake bravely rides the giant bird proving how courageously he is to lead a completely new culture. Anyone can take it to the bank, but the pure and noble minorities among the whites majority remove the doubts that not all whites moves are to damage the natives. The whites' opposition is too loyal to the natives' culture than the western culture.

The movie changes the negative perception of the global audience about a white man. It uses a pro-environment and values the anti-capitalists, pro-gender equality and anti-imperialist. The movie shows that the capitalist mind is to conquer and acquire natural economic resources for their growth and development (Memmi 123). They aim to have the upper hand on in economic activities over other nations. The imperialist goal is to extend state powers using the military to make new colonies. The association between Imperialism and capitalism relates to the white man. Historically, the whites are the major players of colonialism and they are the cause of injustices according to Avatar hence the pressure to cleanse themselves.

In Avatar case, the same white man who is a capitalist and an imperialist takes charge by starting an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist rally against the fellow white people who came to oppress the Na'vi community. Their land was rich with unobtanium mineral that individual capitalist viewed it as an opportunity to seize forcefully. It is a positive message to send to the world that the misuse of heavy military personnel and armor to invade countries is never a solution. A good example is a decision by the former George Bush administration to invade Iraq and Afghanistan (Sanders 100). Civil war in these countries has never stopped loss of life and damage to property proves that invasions cause more harm than good. In fact, it has led to the breeding of other rebel groups that fight the ideals of the western. Avatar is a mockery of shameful government decisions to encroach the foreign lands. Hence, preserves the image of the white man in fighting for peace and political stability.

Avatar movie gives the media production freedom to revisit the past and criticize the action taken by the previous regimes. As much as it seems to be the white man's guilt, it sends a clear message to the world that indeed mistakes happened in the past against the natives. There is scrutiny of damages, and the same white man is trying to correct the public image through film production and awareness programs. It restores the morality of the white America by considering the racial and ethnic minority in an attempt to confront their evils through movies.

However, it is guilty of the white that compels them to turn against their race and comfortably join the natives. The new form of the white enlightens them to view issues in a different angle. They recognize the destruction of cultures, population, and the habitats. As a result, they become enemies of their race and leaders of the people they once tortured. It is not a call of duty but rather the rising pressure to lead the natives from the inside without using external force. Therefore, oppressing the citizens makes it difficult to become a leader in such circumstances. More so, the argument arises as to whether the movie shows the might of a white man or a liberal leader. The movie subdues the Na'vi Warriors as a team that lacks direction and a strong leader. It is only after the visitation by Jake that awakens them to fight strong. The white should not always be the head in the different color nation (Mann 156). They should give the different race to appoint their leader, and in the case of the need to lead better, logistical assistance can then be provided by the Western. The active role of the whites in leadership should be advice on how to rule better rather than take full control of governance. It is a little propagation of the western supremacy over the other races and nations. The Avatar film to extend paints a clear picture of the European countries dominating other nations in political, economic, social and technological aspects (Palmer 103). Today, there is a bigger rift between the West and the East because of the whites' involvement in their political, economic, technical and social structures.

The whites' supremacy continues to hold ground in the film setting as well as the real world. Jake becomes the white savior of the blue-skinned aliens. Given the scenario, the white is technocratic and rationalize. Their way is the only true way and not the misguided way of the native victim. Palmer states that “the handling of the Na'vi in the film implies metaphorically the suffering of Native Americans”. Richard Harris who is an aristocrat is captured and detained by Sioux Indian tribe, later he becomes their leader. The notion of the white messiah saving the natives who doesn't understand the modern world stereotypic and increases tension in the western countries about the minority tribes. As much as we brand the whites as oppressors, the new look in Avatar film names the white man as a savior for the blue-skinned aliens. Jake masquerades himself to be a member of the Na'vi race. He didn't betray the Na'vi culture but rather geared those to face the human invaders who were trying to grab their land and natural resources forcefully. They join efforts to fight against the oppressors rather than detaining and torturing the white man.

The character of Jake Sully likening to Obama, a protagonist, is torn between two races, the black and the white. Although Jake represents the figure of a white guy, he ends up assimilating into an aboriginal in Pandora, an imaginary planet that the events in avatar take place. Just like Obama, Jake’s profile occupies the position of anti-capitalist and anti-white. But the movie tries to solve the guilty of a white man. The division of the whites include the liberal white messiah and the maniacal mercenaries, who turns into a native, leads the community to a successful war against land grabbing and preservation of the way of life, and the evil maniacal agenda is to destroy the environment, property and cause a massive loss of life respectively. The movie background setting is fictional, but it seems to take place just at the door of America. It digs out the Americans lack racial consciousness to other culture and nations (Braddock, 29). The division in the Whites' view of racism protects the dignity of a white man that indeed not all whites are trouble makers.

The movie shows a character that represents a white man trying to cleanse the past injustices against the natives (Taylor, 32). Jake abandons his culture knowing the repercussion of being a traitor of the race. It is evident that a white man is ready and willing to fight for the other minority cultures through a strong defense to fight against aggressors. The essence is that a white man fights for what is fair and acceptable to all conflicting parties. Drawing a standard line of understanding is what is best for a noble white man. It is not an easy move to abandon selfcultural beliefs; it needs a modernized character that understands the benefits of co-existing with other cultures in a broad sense of knowledge and experience. He is selected as a leader because he did know the enemy very well. Guilty is the driving force the whites expose, he, therefore, fights against his culture with an expectation of redemption (Holtmeier 26). Isn't worthy to fight for what is right? Morally upright man will always fight for what is right. Therefore, they should not be victimized basing on the past evils committed by selfish westerns.

Ways to Prevent the Whites Guilty

The film makers should refrain from producing guilty movies that cannot prove the innocence of a guilty white man. Instead, the film's agenda should purely rest on the people of other race and their social life. The reintroduction of a white race turns everything back to old days. Movies like Avatar face criticisms because of the whites' aggression against the natives. Bringing back the old memories over and over again opens up scars of the long healed injury. It avoids cases of racial profiling and discrimination as well as break down the pillars of the whites' supremacy. Hollywood should cease from stigmatizing individuals on racial lines. The institution should rather promote diversity and correctional films that heal the wounds of the American historical injustice.

The postcolonial amnesia is a setback and trauma that the native people are unable to talk about the past sin. The wounds of injustice heal only if the silence on invasion breaks. The transnationals are the best solution to critiques about the whites atrocities against the natives. The harmonization of the western and the non-western countries is essential in eliminating the whites' guilt (Sanders 134). It surpasses conflicting claims against the westerns and narrows down to a more positive perspective. It doesn't make the old injustices irrelevant but makes them a major understanding of the country’s identity and relationship with the foreigners. The improvement in technology has several platforms that act as the voice to the voiceless. For example: Youtube, and Facebook. Consequently, such improvement, resolves the conflicts due to isolation and racial discrimination between the natives and the whites.

The motive of the whites to invade should change along with the tactic. For example, most European countries have a high consumption of fuel (Holtmeier 30). In Avatar, for instance, the human aim is to mine the unobtanium mineral and not to kill the blue people. The motive is to find the fuel source. The whites’ extractive industry should look for alternative means to generate a source of fuel rather than invading native homelands to exploit the natural resources. For example, US rely on the crude oil supply from the Middle East. The US can boost fuel supply by embracing humanitarian measures that are negotiable rather using military tactics. The world’s economy is changing the demand and provision of critical minerals and other natural resources such as Uranium for the purpose of building a strong defense against the external aggression.