Avatar: How "causey" is it?

The highest grossing film of all time is ripe with stunning visuals and amazing 3D effects. Critics have raved over the exotic alien world of Pandora, but is the movie just a popcorn fantasy flick or political statement? We say both.

Is it “green”?

Definitely. The film hits all the important environmental talking-points:

  • the story is set in the year 2154 when Earth's inhabitants have used up most of their natural resources through decades of living in excess,
  • virgin rain forests threatened by shameless exploitation,
  • indigenous peoples that the developed world could learn a great deal from (including how to live at one with nature),
  • a planet which functions as an interconnected organism, and
  • evil corporate interests that are trying to destroy it all without consideration of the repercussions or the lives lost.

So, yes, there is a blatant call to environmental activism just beneath the adventure-story surface… but if you consider the film’s estimated $230 million budget (which some have estimated at up to $500 million), you may find yourself wondering how many resources were used and how much waste accumulated in the making of the movie… and then you might deem the director James Cameron a hypocrite.

Is “anti-war?”

There is little doubt that Avatar takes a jab at President Bush’s War on Terror:

  • The earthlings send in a crew of special-forces mercenaries armed with guns, bombs, and other sophisticated weaponry to attack and conquer the Na’vi humanoid aliens, despite the fact that they represent no direct threat to the inhabitants of Earth. Does this sound familiar?
  • At one point, the blood-thirsty Colonel Quaritch proclaims, “We will fight terror with terror!”

Does it have racist themes?

The plot line involves the Na’vi, a blue-skinned people who wear "tribal" jewelry while sporting dreadlocked hair, being saved by a noble white man. If it sounds familiar, it’s because the theme has been visited in movies like Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves.” A white man has to save a less developed race because they lack the intelligence and strength to overcome their enemies by themselves. So, is it racist? You tell us: Do you think that Avatar is revisiting racist themes?