The Avatar Movie Summary and Review
The Avatar movie summary essay is a critical analysis of James Cameron's Avatar, a science fiction epic that is set in the alien world of Pandora. The plot revolves around the conflict between human invaders and the indigenous Na'Vi population. The humans are trying to extract a valuable mineral known as unobtainium, but in doing so, they destroy the forest, which is the source of life for the Na'Vi. The Avatar program is created as a means for humans to infiltrate and learn about the Na'Vi culture. The protagonist, Jake Sully, a paraplegic veteran, is sent to Pandora to replace his deceased twin brother as an Avatar driver. As Jake spends more time with the Na'Vi and falls in love with Neytiri, he begins to question his loyalty to his own species and takes a stand for what is right. Though there are multiple themes reflecting modern environmental and political problems, the themes are woven together into one common theme of self-discovery.
When Jake was first arriving on Pandora, he was a former marine paralyzed with no purpose in life. He felt as though he was able to do anything due to his legs and decided to become a part of the avatar project not just to honor his brother who had been murdered but also to escape his melancholy life. He seemed as though he was mainly performing in the project of his mobility since he continued to be paralzyed back on Earth since he did not have enough money for a corrective surgery. Jake did not know it yet, but the Avatar project would soon put him on the path of self-discovery. Humans come to colonize Pandora for its natural resources, which threatens the natural balance of Pandora. After Jake falls in love with no just Netyiri but also their way of life, he soon will have to pick a side which makes him question his own identity. Jake first is all gung ho with his mission to infiltrate the Na’Vi people’s culture, to be accepted by them, until he is shown what being an Avatar is all about.
Neytiri finds Jake, in his Avatar, in the woods fighting for his survival. Neytiri ends up saving Jake and soon after Jake thanks Netyiri, but Neytiri does not accept his thankfulness, her response is “No! You should not thank me, you don't thank for killing. ” This right here is Jake’s first lesson for one the most important cultural aspects of the Na’Vi culture. Just like the Native Americans, the Na’Vi people value all life around them. Every life is a sacred one not just your own life, from the smallest bug to the biggest tree, all life is sacred. The Na’Vi worship a sort of God of nature which they call Eywa, who’s spirit embodies all of nature. Eywoa is the most important aspect to the Na’Vi culture. Here James Cameron depicts religion as not just a divine being but a divine spirit which is in everything living being, showing the audience how important nature is in our lives today and how significant it is to preserve nature. There are certain areas in which the Na'Vi can 'upload' their memories into the 'Tree of Souls. ' For many of the Na'Vi this is one of the holiest and spiritual places in all of Pandora which the natives can physically connect to Eywa. Between Ewya and the sacred sites, the Na'Vi population has an advanced and complicated religious system which the colonists do not understand causing the colonists to stereotype the native population as savages.
Later in the movie, Jake finally starts to see the importance of Eywa not only to the society of the Na’Vi but also for his own self-identity. Jake discovers throughout the movie that preserving the culture is a vital part of the Na’ Vi people. Later when the colonists decide to decimate the Home Tree, where the Na’Vi tribe lives, for their own selfish needs, Jake chooses to protect the Na’Vi by joining forces with thindigenous population. In doing so that particular moment Jake finally understands who he is and what he stands for. He understands the importance of the culture of the indigenous population and how advanced they truly are unlike the colonist who think the natives are “fly bitten savages. ” Here, director James Cameron shows us the importance of religious literacy in order to have appreciative knowledge. He shows that the colonists have no sense of religious literacy and assume the natives are not as advanced as the colonists who've landed on Pandora. Overall, Jake discovers his morals throughout the movie and understand the spiritual importance of Eywa to the Na’Vi’ people, which relates to the importance of preserving nature over destroying it for other natural resources.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I thought the movie had a great plot and parallels to the real world. To me, the aspects that stood out the most were the parallels to nature and colonization for natural resources. It reminds me a lot about the amazon rainforest or when the English came over to the “new land” and came in contact with Native Americans. The English thought the natives were savages since they only wore a limited amount of clothing and were not as technologically advanced as the English were at the time. I even found the clothing of the Na’Vi to be very similar to the Native Americans as well as their religion. The Native American religion has a heavy focus on the importance of life in all living creatures and the importance of nature to the balance of the universe. To me, this film has a message to preserve nature to which I have a special bond with since I have been involved in a project in Belize to tag sharks in order to help fight the fin trade. Nature has a fine balance to it which can be easily tipped one way or another, so special care must be taken into consideration. The main takeaway of this movie for me was to not only treat nature with respect but also to take care of nature as it does to us. It is also important to consider other cultures which may be new to us and not to assume the indigenous population to be savages or pagans but as the respectable humans they are. Overall, Avatar was an extremely interesting and thought provoking film.
