Avatar is racist

[chernabog_ca]

well according to these morons it is

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/f...of-racism.html

Critics claims the story of a white US Marine who saves an alien race perpetuates the "white Messiah fable" and suggests that non-whites are primitives incapable of helping themselves.

Hundreds of blogs, YouTube videos and Twitter postings have sprung up on the subject since the film's release three weeks ago, with one writer dubbing the 3-D extravaganza "a racial fantasy par excellence".

Avatar is set on a distant planet populated by the Na'vi, an eco-conscious, blue-skinned alien tribe with no understanding of modern technology. A disabled Marine, played by the Australian actor Sam Worthington, is sent to infiltrate the tribe but soon "goes native" and leads them in a defence of their homeland against the white invaders.

He also falls in love with an alien woman, who rejects a Na'vi suitor and becomes his wife. The main Na'vi characters are played by black actors, including Zoe Saldana and Laz Alonso.

David Brooks, a columnist writing in the New York Times, said: "Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence ... It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace.

"It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration."

The ruthless treatment of the Na'vi has been interpreted as a metaphor for the plight of American Indians. Brooks said Avatar followed a long tradition of "white Messiah" movies which began in the 1970s with A Man Called Horse, starring Richard Harris as an English aristocrat who is captured by a Sioux Indian tribe and becomes their leader, and which includes Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves and the Tom Cruise film, The Last Samurai.

Robinne Lee, a black actress who appeared opposite Will Smith in the film Seven Pounds, is also among Avatar's detractors.

Likening the film to Pocahontas – "the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the saviour" – she said: "It's really upsetting in many ways. It would be nice if we could save ourselves."

Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of io9.com, a sci-fi website, said: "The main white characters realise that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, aka people of colour ... then go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?" Cameron strongly denied any racist intent. He said that his film "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message."

The controversy has done little to dent Avatar's remarkable run at the box office. It took just 17 days to pass $1 billion in ticket sales – a new record – and to become the second highest grossing film of all time behind Titanic, also directed by Cameron.

[chernabog_ca]

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...-s-burden?bn=1

Some movie fans are crying the blues about Avatar, claiming James Cameron's billion-dollar blockbuster is racist.

What started out as a few online comments exploded into a cyber phenomenon Monday, hitting Google's top 10 searched items as writers and bloggers weighed in on whether the film about a white solider who helps the 3-metre-tall, blue-skinned Na'vi people fight a human invasion of their planet is racist.

"I think it is racist, in the same way I see (racism) in Dances With Wolves," said blogger, author and York University student Orville Lloyd Douglas.

Douglas posted about the issue on his blog, GayBlackCanadianman and said he first became aware of the controversy through British blogger Will Heaven, who decried Avatar's "racist subtext" on the London Telegraph website in late December.

"The movie is another one of those white-saviour movies," Douglas added.

In Dances With Wolves (1990), Kevin Costner plays a white soldier who assimilates with a Sioux tribe and ultimately saves those who were unable to protect themselves from the invading U.S. Army.

What's raised the hackles of the Avatar critics is the central plot about the American military's plan to invade the planet of Pandora to mine a priceless mineral deposit under the most sacred site to the native Na'vi.

The army sends in a soldier in the blue-skinned avatar identity as of one of the Na'vi in an attempt to win them over. He becomes a sympathizer and bonds with the natives, eventually helping them fight back. The fact a white man is sent in to save the day for natives unable to help themselves isn't lost on Avatar's detractors.

Actress Robinne Lee (Seven Pounds), who is of black and Chinese ancestry, told the Associated Press the movie has echoes of Hollywood's version of the Pocahontas story – "the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the saviour.

"It's really upsetting in many ways," added Lee, who does not appear in Avatar. "It would be nice if we could save ourselves."

Simone Browne, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a former Toronto resident, believes Cameron was aware these issues would spark debate.

"It was very deliberate in its design and I don't think we can dismiss it as innocent," said Browne.

"I think it may be racist in its effects, because it is still containing the same old tropes about the white man's burden."

Michael Zryd, associate professor of film at York University, isn't convinced the movie is racist, but he sympathizes with the argument.

"I understand where the critique is coming from, while I disagree with it," he said.

"He still has the white man coming in to save the day," observed Zryd. "It's kind of a no-win situation for Cameron."

Critics also complained that non-white actors play the five key Na'vi roles. The man who rescues them, played by actor Sam Worthington, is white.

For his part, writer/director Cameron said in an email to AP that his film "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message."

The debate extended far beyond movie websites. A golf blog, Party of Fore, put talk about greens aside to discuss white and blue.

"The movie clearly stereotypes Smurfs," sniffed a blogger.

[michalz00]

Well, the pre-oscar smear campaign has begun...

After reading this I want to betray my species.

[j7wild]

so is most of John Wayne's and John Huston's western films involving 'cowboys and indians'!!

so what exactly is their problem with Avatar?

[michalz00]

The problem is, it's making too much money

The haters needed 2 weeks to regroup after Avatar crushed them and the best they can come up with is "racist".

Nonsense.

[Mithrandir01]

After reading this I want to betray my species.

[jacques1400]

I wish these idiots would get a life!!!!!,

it's a story, it's a movie, anyone can find racist undertones to anything if they want....
Someone is fishing for Bass is racist because he doesn't care about catching anything else.
The garbage pickup is racist because they only pick-up yellow garbage bags (user pay system) and wont touch the green ones.

Need I go on????

There will always be injustice in the world, it's human nature, so please give me a break, comment on the excess, not entertainment, great white hunter or not, it's a goddam movie, not propaganda.....

Mod Edit: And I can say what I want about it because I am part American Indian, so there, eat this.

[redbear]

some people just need to STFU ... i'm willing to bet this Robinne Lee wanted a part in this movie and didnt get one and has sour grapes ... can't make a name for yourself by being a good actor, you can always bash other actors/directors and make one that way.

[j7wild]

I'm Racist!

I don't like Blue People!!

[jacques1400]

I'm Racist!

I don't like Blue People!!

We already know that, specifically Blue Penises!!!

[redbear]

We already know that, specifically Blue Penises!!!

that was me...

[jacques1400]

that was me...

, my bad, but I'm sure J7 does'nt care for them either.....

[j7wild]

if are a blue person or even feeling blue, don't come into my stores!!

[odj_310388]

*yawns*

Idiots.

[Kn'thrak]

I rather the green women than the blue women!! I'm racist that way!

But if anyone wants to get deep into it... load the guns cos I'm ready to discuss!!!