The thing that annoyed me most about this movie was how Jake just became the leader of the tribe for no real reason. Sure, the tribe's leaders died within days of each other, but why the hell does that make Jake the best choice? He's only been there a few months. I would have preferred the uniting of the tribes to be done by the Na'vi, using Jake as a kind of trophy 'look, we brought him into our clan and he tamed the most wild beast, we did this, and together we can do much more.' or something like that. It's fine to have Jake's inside knowledge of the people help them, it's even fine to have him as the general in the battle, as he knows the tactics and weaponry of their foe better than the natives, he can give them a perspective they would otherwise not have had, not even with the doctor, who didn't come from the military arm, but to have him just marry the princess and become the king was very disappointing.
He was the leader BECAUSE he tamed that great beast (can’t remember the name lol). They state in the film that there’s only been 5 chiefs to do so. Basically being able to tame the beast is seen as getting the green light from Eywa herself, like a sword in the stone kinda thing.
Added to what the last replies were, in one of the cut scenes, the guy designated to become chief told him to take his spot for him, moments before he died.
directors cut shows that asshole na'vi guy who was going to take up the role as chief. jake found him as he was about to die and he told him to take his place
About the Distric 9 one... It's been a long time since I saw the movie, but if I remember correctly the character with the most agency was the alien scientist. He still need Vikus help, true, but Wikus is more of a stumbling antihero (at least until the clumsy final confrontation, where he kind of abruptly decides to sacrifice himself). The alien scientist needs his help, but only to correct a mistake Wikus made and only under prospect of payment. And even then, he only needs Wikus' information about the facility's location. More then a White Savior, Wikus is an idiot messing with things he doesn't understand.
I think you're right there, - it was actually Vikus and his agency who ruined the perfectly decent plans of the Alien - and then he set to redeem himself by righting his wrongs and getting them back on schedule. It was mainly for selfish reasons too, as he only wanted a cure - less about one man saving a culture and more about two opposing characters (from different side of the tracks) coming together for one goal. Of course, there's always a counter point to "art", - interpretation doesn't often deal in facts.
+rageagainsttheturnip Not only that, but even the plan to get the fluid back was from the alien. Which means that not only Wikus was not a saviour, but the alien was the mind behing his own liberation. And also he put the needs of his people ahead of the needs of Wikus
+NyJoanzy Another thing I liked is that the aliens aren't always shown in a positivie light in District 9. They don't just whitstand the oppression with ludicrous dignity. They are dirty, get duped, are confused about the world around them, can respong with violence and so on. They look more like a living species than the Na'vi. And even the CGI is more realistic, mostly because they put effort in trying to show a lifeform with alien phyisology that lives in the dirt instead of the Na'vi, which are actually fairly cliche.
When I saw District 9 I also saw it less as a race allegory and more as an allegory on refugees or extreme poverty, and sure, there is some racial element to that, but when you look at it from that angle, Wikus being cast out of his comfortable life by circumstance and being forced into an underclass living in slums makes a lot more sense then hugging a tree and becoming native american.
This movie would have been drastically improved by making Grace the protagonist. Taking a more athropological approach by having a protagonist simply trying to understand an alien culture and ecosystem while also serving as an ambassador between the RDA and tha Na'vi. Would put all that work thay did on the backroud elemens to good use rather than having it be, well, the backround to 'Dances With Wolves IN SPACE'. Also, because I feel the need to, the Last Samurai isn't quite 'white saviour' since Algren doesn't lead the samurai at any point. He's more of a vehicle for 'look at how awesome these anachronistic samurai are' than 'look at me saving the day'. He also remains the laughing stock of the samurai to the very end.
Though, I did adore the ecosystem the team created. The creatures and environment in early trailers are what first drew me to the movie. So props to creature design!
Pretty sure the ecosystem was what carried this movie to become as successful as it was, along with how fresh the 3D felt back then. Regardless of how bland the plot is, the environments are beautiful, and the creatures still look very impressive.
I do have one major criticism of the film I never hear. Yeah, obviously, it's not calling the mineral "unobtainium". No, it's not the terrible designs for the mech suits (though they are aweful), or the laughably unimaginative creature design. It's the fact that the end of the movie is dumb. While technical innovation isn't the most important thing in a war, if the degree in difference is much greater then it will be the deciding factor. If you have a steel sword and your enemy has a bronze sword you both stand a fair chance, but if you have a simple musket they stand no chance at all. Yeah, the Navi are stronger and frankly have air superiority... but the RDA are space fairing. They're also a mining operation. They could easily just load up a small transport ship with TNT, rocket fuel or a similar, and send it in a controlled orbital drop back down to earth. Hell, if they just sent a few ships down to earth T hat's just one easy way to wipe out the native population that the RDA could achieve with just a handful of people. If they got serious, they could easily wipe out the global Navi population in a matter of months. This is a resource war. You think the earth governments would really give two shits about wiping out a couple thousand aliens? The US invasion of Iraq has resulted over a hundred thousand dead Iraqi CIVILIANS, and that's just the low estimate. Some numbers put it at over half a million. Why this bothers me so much is this. It gives the perception of fairness, where they're isn't any. People need to understand the domination and outright genocide of a technologically less powerful people by a technologically more powerful one is the nature of conflict. The only way we can prevent this is by refusing to allow it to happen. If the movie ended in a realistic way, with the Navi getting outright wiped out, then maybe people would walked out of theatres learning a little something about colonialism, and actually wanting to fight back against it.
Great video! One other thing about Avatar that bothers me is the Cure Narrative. Often overlooked is the fact that Jake starts the film Disabled, a war veteran who lost his legs- you pointed this out yourself, in fact- but then, through the Avatar project, he is "Cured." Reborn into a new body. So at least 50% of his motive for willful assimilation into the Na'Vi is grounded in internalized and externalized ablism. Having legs somehow makes him "whole" again. There are... issues... with this.
No, stop. There is a cure for paralysis in the movie but Jake can't afford it or doesn't have access. But the whole reason he became disabled was because he fought a war on the US behalf, who also got his brother killed in combat. So you have a society that is destroying a new planet after ruining their own, turns people scared by war into new troops again and withholds treatment from people who need it. The movie takes a character who is disabled for most of the movie and allows him to choose to not be a cog in the system.
I don't get why some people don't bring up the fact that the main character never really tried to explain what his job was to the Navi. He just sort of learned the culture at first, and then did nothing until the very last minute
Shaun Zafar Probably would’ve been time consuming if the writers tried focusing on that bit since the movie is already over 3 hours long. And I mean, there was that scene where Jake tried confessing his true mission to them (right after he and Neytiri mated) but before he could, Quaritch disconnected the link.
All good points. Another loathsome aspect of Avatar is the ableist implication that Jake is better off in his avatar body than he is being a wheelchair-user.
Personally, I'd love for someone to do a fan edit movie advertisement for Avatar that mashes together footage from Avatar and Return of the Jedi, so we can have Jake Sully put into the body of an Ewok to fight off the evil Imperial Empire.
I was just getting done reading about the making of this film (havn't seen it yet) and then boom you post this video. I think this is a sign i should watch it finally.
The White Savior narrative was probably what made me eyeroll at the film the most when people couldn't stop talking about it. I have friends who adored it a lot at the time. I know films are subjective, but I remember being SO annoyed how they praised this film for pointing out how awful history and our government have treated the Native Americans. I'm less bitter about it now, LOL but I do find it frustrating that people only seem comfortable with discussing the mistreatment of the Natives when it's a fictional film with the white savior to make it easier to digest. Great video as always, Leon.
I remember when I waited in line to see Avatar, a guy came out of the theatre's previous screening and he was hyped beyond what I considered physically possible, proclaiming stuff like you needed to view it multiple times to get it. I hated that guy when I first saw him, hated him throughout the movie, and this hate is the first thing I feel every time someone brings up Avatar. My hate for this guy is more memorable to me than anything in the movie with its problematic themes, awful delivery of said themes and its boring vision of sci-fi fantasy. Anyway, thank you, Leon, for your analysis. Love your stuff.
I for one think Avatar was actually a ploy by Jake Sully to take over Pandora -Jake Sully was a man who faced no future whatsoever on earth. He was a cripple career soldier with probably a lot of resentement toward the establishement and perhaps mankind in general. (Having basicly ditch himg, but at the same time he was inconsiderate of the ressource needs of his fellow men) -He needed a way out so when he found out that his brother was going to Pandora, he killed him so that he could get his seat on the spacecraft. -Sully was quick to understand that Na'vi culture was one of agression, they are warriors. They constantly fight off dangereous animals for foodand pretty much want to kill invaders on sight. The only reason they hardly ever fight war is because the jungle is too dense and too filed with animals for conflict between na'vi to be ever be worth it giving this false impression that Na'vi are pacifist. However he quickly understood that if he proved himself that he was thoughest and strongesthe could gain power and influence in Na'vi culture regardless of merit. Neytiri basicly told him how he could proves himself as a warrior by capturing a Toruk despiste the fact he proved himself untrustworthy by letting the attack on the home tree happen. His relationship with her also help him gather more power because she was the chief daughter. - Why did Jake never anything to prevent the attack on the home tree? He wanted war between Navi and Humans with him at the head of the na'vi (he oblivously could never hope to become the leader of the RDA forces),the attack on the home tree gave him enough pull to unify every single tribe under his banner -Sully handling of the final battle actually an elaborate ploy. The Na'vi stood no chance whatsoever against the RDA forces. In fact with all the na'vi under his command would have been much more effective if they had fought guerilla style rather than taking the oppoment head on. Why did Sully send all his force in such reckless battle? He was eliminating political competition. A lot of good na'vi warrior died stupidly because of Jake descision and a lot of them were probably the head of the other tribes that could have contested his hold on power after the battle. -Eywa saving the day? Sully actually understood Pandora more than the native (as they lack scientific outlook) his taming of the various creature of pandora showing that just about anything on Pandora could be tame and now he finally had found the center of the nerves systems. He just needed to send his order through his ponytail and eventually every creature on Pandora would turn on the RDA bringing victory despiste the fact he had sent his men to get massacred. -and now here we are the end of the movie, Jake Sully sucessfully control every Na'Vi tribe. His human body was destroyed and is no longer a liability. He may preach the na'vi "peaceful" way but he made sure to keep whatever guns the RDA had brought to Pandora to equip his inner circle and protect himself. The unfication of the Na'vi ensure that the RDA can't try the divide and conquer approach used in the past against native group. Should the humans come back not only does he have a "strong" defensive force along him to better negotiate in the future, but he effectiviely control Unobtanium supply.
Can safely say I have 0% interest in seeing Avatar for myself, now. This reminds me of an essay I wrote about Tim Burton movies (which I love) and how I can love them in spite of their portrayals of minorities. I love what's good about those movies, I am NOT going to defend the stuff that alienates other fans and makes them uncomfortable. Of course, those movies don't usually have heavy topics like race or colonialism drilled into their narrative. It's a little easier to oversee a joke or portrayal of a supporting character than, say, set aside the message of the ENTIRE movie in it of itself and say "it's just a movie" or "it's racist if you point that out". Precisely why I don't like Pocahontas. 90s Disney films were iffy here and there, racially speaking, but Pocahontas is about race relations and it comes off as really insulting.
I'm really torn about whether or not I should at least see Dances with Wolves. I've heard mixed things as far as accuracy is concerned, but I'm not crazy about NA stories told from the POV of the poor, misguided one nice white guy. I wonder if, offensive or inoffensive, it's a better movie than Avatar...
After watching this, one thing that scares me about the trope is that - even in a movie that appears to criticize the American military - an American film is asking its audience to identify with the main character. The result is positioning America itself as the white savior, which could accidentally excuse American interventionism even when it's trying to criticize it. The movie is telling us that the bad guy isn't us, so it's okay if we show up and take charge.
I loved the movie. I was really into it. And I didn't see the trope you did, I just saw someone who spent time getting to know an alien race and help them overcome an incredible threat. Maybe I'm just naive.
I loved this movie and all it's CGI beauty. Please don't take that away from me with ideology. All I see is a human race invading on Alien planet (beautiful, exotic territory) lying to them about why they are there and then threating to steal the resources of their planet. Now what I see is an alien movie being told in reverse.
Another good example of the white saviour trope is "Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise (don´t know if it was in your list). In that movie cruise, a foreigner, learns all the samurai techniques in a matter of weeks and leads them to a rebellion against the other army. It´s really stupid.
I think the 'outsider saving the natives' is overused indeed. Avatar was cool and all but I think it would have been cooler if Neytiri or someone else than Jake would have become Toruk Makto. Would've been less predictable
Any non-indigenous person being culturally superior would be insulting,and like the commentator pointed out,to do it in such a short amount of time is really insulting,i think it's just that people of color are worn out by Hollywood whitewashing other cultures and then the "white savior" makes it worse
I guess it would have obfuscated the white savior aspect to some degree, added a layer of deniability, while keeping the core aspect of the trope. At the end Will Smith's character would still have been an agent of the western world, ironically being from the east in the case of native americans, coming to save the allegorical native americans from the bad westerners.
The white savior trope is so ingrained as mentioned in the video essay, that it is very difficult to overcome. In big box movies one action franchise which might go against this pattern are the new Planet of the Apes films. - Maybe to understand the white savior trope, an examination of the noble savage concept might be helpful. One exponent of this was the well known writer during the Enlightenment, Jean Jacques Rousseau. This may be considered a progressive step at the time in that it at least began the attempt to understand nonEuropean cultures on their own terms. And anthropology would proceed later. Romanticizing people of color is a preferred alternative to enslaving / slaughtering them which was fashionable in white societies through the 19th and much of the 20th century. - But the argument can be made that the white savor and noble savage had served their purpose many years ago. Agreed. - Still it's very hard to get the mass audience to accept a hero who isn't white in a major film. The bias of what a movie hero should look like is obvious just by looking at the actors who have gotten top billing in big budget films for the last 20 years. With African Americans, Will Smith in I Robot is the exception instead of the rule. Asian, Hispanic, Indian, Native American actors? Always in supporting roles in big movies. Until that changes, in a big budget film when people of color need to be saved, a white person will keep coming to the rescue.
i like avatar alot .i myself have noticed those allegations before and though its problematic i think it a really good movie.now i dont say that high art or kubrick,bergman ,tarantino good but its highly enjoyable and its world completely consumes me .anyone else whit that opimion
When Avatar first came out, I thought it was an original concept. Then I heard all the people compare it to Dances With Wolves and I realized I was wrong about the film. I still enjoy Avatar but as an action movie rather than a drama.
No barrage of sequels so far...so shew! But we do have more "white savior" movies to add to the list such as: the help, green book, hidden figures and the whole concept of the AVENGERS!! Not only do we ALL need white American males to save us but dammit we need them to come from other planets too!!!
A lot of people pointing out how this or that movie doesn't follow the White Savior Template exactly, but obviously no two movies are going to be perfectly on the mark of the same narrative. It's a loose concept, like 3 act structure, or what a "marry sue" is, but it still says something about the mindset behind it and which one might take from it, especially in repetition.
as a kid i liked the film for its creature design but still noticed that buried Jurassic Park T Rex roar in the giant terrestrial predator that becomes a mount for zoe saldana, but as an adult i found it very long & garish, but I'm glad u put district 9 in your list of movies with the same trope because i only saw it as a kid & completely didnt notice even in south africa a white guy manages to be the savior, & coincidentally literally transform into them, its like hilarious, lazy & offensive all rolled into one
Renegade Cut I've had this screen name for over 5 years and you are the first person to comment on it. For reals though, very interesting video, I always enjoy your work
Somewhat I can draw parallels with GONE WITH THE WIND. I actually read the book. I cannot believe how much I love it, although identifying so much racism.
*rubbing my temple* I have a dyed in the wool Republican conservative aunt who is a total fangirl for anything connected to the film/book. She also has a lantern jockey on her lawn.
It's a very entertaining movie. Good to sit down, and turn off your brain and enjoy. It helps that when the film first came out I was young enough that the plot hadn't been beaten over my head a billion times. Though afterwards I rapidly realized the familiar plot elements and that the whole thing was kinda stupid. I love to pick on it, but I would be lying if I didn't say it didn't make a good popcorn movie. Also the effects haven't aged too poorly. Though Sigourney Weaver's avatar is pretty uncanny valley.
What do you think are the chances that Cameron will address these issues in the sequels? He's said that he wanted to further explore the world he's created and while I doubt the series will move into that direction I think that having each sequel focus in on different issues could make for a decent series in the end.
Also, the characters are flat, and the dialogue is laughable. I adore James Cameron (Aliens and T2 are STILL jaw dropping), but this movie was pretty hollow beneath all the CGI.
I like how 'Half Nelson' seems to call out our protagonist as a 'white saviour' within the film itself. I still really like films like 'The Help' but the 'white saviour' element can't just be ignored. 'Hidden Figures' has some elements of the 'white saviour' narrative, but because of the strength of the black cast it isn't as distracting as it could be.
The sad thing about Hidden Figures. Is the white savior in the movie. Wasn't one in real life. They added a false hood to not make white people back then look so bad in the movie.
I think Lawrence of Arabia is kind of a subversion, because while it starts out like a white savior film, he pretty much fails in the end. Or maybe it's a good enough film to overcome the trope. Avatar sure isn't. There's actually a running joke on sites like Tumblr about how no one can name the characters off of the top of their head, because it's such a forgettable film. Everyone saw it once, was amazed by the special effects, and then promptly forgot about it.
You're probably right. I find Lawrence of Arabia kind of an anomaly because most white savior films tend to be crap or mediocre at best. I'm not saying that great movies can't be racist (in fact you could argue that the majority of them are in some way or another) but this trope generally seems to drag the quality of a movie down.
I definitely agree with you. But to be fair it was 1961. This was a time when you could have Alec Guinness play Faisal and no one would complain. And the thing is Lawrence of Arabia isn't even the worst offender despite the brown face. Although I don't even know if they would do it better today. Arabs are still generally portrayed as either terrorists or victims of terrorism. Even portraying an Arabic person from the the 1910s in a positive light would lead to some right wing backlash. Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back about its supposed diversity and inclusiveness, but the fact is that Orientalism is very much alive in Hollywood. It's just that instead of being the "mysterious orient" the Middle East is now an "axis of evil". The only Middle Eastern country that ever seems to be portrayed positively is probably Israel, because it's more "Western", but even then there aren't really many films about Israel nowadays. For all that people joke about Hollywood being run by Jews, you don't really see that many onscreen.
The film was visually striking which was a big reason for its success. But beyond these problems it suffered from the idiot plot. Rather than attack the Navi from the air the humans could have dug a mine shaft at a slant under the home tree, and mined the unobtainium with the Navi being none the wiser. Jake was an idiot because he knows about the full scope of human weaponry, and the humans aren't going to go away. They need the unobtainium and will return better armed. The writers were idiots because interstellar travel implies a technology level so great that you could synthesize unobtainium.
Those sequels had a better foundation but yeah, let's hope so. I think this critique has been fairly loud so maybe James will turn it on it's head - Aliens and Terminator2 were mostly more of the same though.
And let's not forget the Avatar theme park that's going to be in Disneyworld very soon. I liked this movie at the time but goddamn, it hasn't aged well at all.
Avatar is a strange film. It really only works in the era that it was made. It was never a good movie from a story aspect. South Park said it best when they called it Dances With Smurfs. What this movie is and was is a theater spectacle. If you want proof of this try to watch it on DVD/Blu-ray. All of its flaws are really evident when you are being taken in by the 3-d.
Can we all at least agree that it definitely wasn't good enough to get an entire Pandora-land at Disney World Animal Kingdom? I don't begrudge people who enjoy it, nor do I dispute that it would make a fun ride or two, but an entire 5th of the park devoted to it?
The main trope of this movie is the noble savage one. What you call the white savior is someone who converts to the native culture, fights against his race and even gives up his (white) body to become this tall, athletic, dark-skinned superhero. It's far from white supremacist propaganda.
You know, I think Last Samurai handled the "white savior" issue well. It's been a while since I've seen it, but the way I remember it, Cruise doesn't save the day, and actually gets injured or sidelined at the end. I think the only reason he survives is because the opposition saw this odd white guy there, and didn't want to upset the USA. I don't remember him becoming the primary protector.
now that i know what yr videos are about .... i totally agree with this assessment. Thanks man. i saw the very same thing u r saying here....or a bit of it and u elaborated on it.
Terrifyingly powerful aliens come from space, and use force you can't hope to counter to take what they want and kill anyone who gets in their way. One of their race, who has gone native, sticks up for the people of your world, and has the means and/or knowledge to fight them on their own terms. The native people rally around this one 'savior' and help him fight as best they can. Which movie is that? Avatar? Or Superman 2? Or Man of Steel? Or Thor? Or Thor: the Dark World? Or He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? Or a ton of other alien savior stories? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the analysis in the video, its on point really. But another way to look at it, especially if you put humans in the Na'vi role, is that Avatar is essentially a super-hero story. Sully has advantages the natives do not; alien technology, knowledge of how humans and their technology works, what it would take to counter them, and so on. And it even makes sense in that context for the world-mind to pay attention to him in a way it wouldn't a native: he's an *alien*. His thoughts are going to really stick out and likely be paid more attention to simply because his mind would be a gigantic outlier in the system. Though the criticism of 'white saviors' is very valid, this type of story is very common across all cultures and mediums. A native son goes somewhere foreign, makes a good impression, does something heroic that's inherent to the (perceived) virtues of his homeland to prove himself. While Avatar should be criticized for using the trope in such a cliche manner, i personally don't think its a particularly egregious example of it.
The bones of the story are common, but what sets Avatar apart from a superhero story like Superman is that Avatar deliberately uses imagery and narrative conventions meant to purposefully evoke indigenous cultures and colonialism. Once you have a story treading in those waters, you invite criticism, especially now when a good portion of the viewing public is quite aware of the trope, and of its inherent (if well-meaning) offensiveness. 30 years ago, few people in the general public would blink at a movie like Avatar, but people are more savvy now. Of course, that people are more savvy didn't stop the film from making metric tons of money.
Problem is he doesn't fight the humans on their own terms. He fights them with the natives weapon. After getting on the top of their social structure in a matter of months. I don't think Pandora needed Jake's white brain to think of sending animals to run at the humans.
Might be the future, if Dani isn't the Twist Final Villain/Boss Battle of Game of Thrones, we have been there for a long time. Her entire story is Avatar, except she isn't a man, and so that excuses everything else...
You know, I'm actually curious how many "white savior" offenders feature female leads. Dangerous Minds is obviously on the list, especially after Leon brought it up in this essay.
I agree with everything you said in this video. however, I have a broader question. Do you think that every film should be looked at through a political lense ?
I understand the concept of the white saviour trope...I acknowledge its presence...what I don't understand is why people who call it out don't acknowledge that the white saviour character prefers the culture they assimilate into... the white saviour renounces his "whiteness"....so what's that supposed to mean?
"It borrows bad ideas." True, and I hated this movie. Typical "bad guys," typical "good guy," typical love story. I was unimpressed by the supposedly awesome visual effects - finding them more like the point of the movie, with types and tropes stuck in to justify the effects. yawn... As in real life, I am disgusted by this attempt at pandering to the base aspects of human nature (especially relating to the big empires of the Earth).
My main criticism's of the movie was the story was unoriginal and the characters were too obvious as to who was playing what role, the protagonist and the antagonist etc.
To a point, Algren didn’t save the Samurai themselves. However, he did “save” their culture. A white man literally taught the Japanese emperor want it meant to be Samurai. The real issue is the need of Hollywood to insert white characters in stories revolving around non-white people as point of view characters. Hollywood assumes white people won’t be interested in stories that don’t directly involve someone who looks like them.
Avatar is basically Pocahontas meets war of the worlds only the war of the worlds aspect of it is more of a role reversal at least that’s what I got from it.
Well, you could still talk about how utterly shallow all the characters are and how cynically everything is designed to influence on a superficial emotional level, without attempting to provide any depth whatsoever. Honestly, I loath almost every aspect of this movie.
Fair enough! I enjoyed this film as it was the closest I'll ever get to a Panzer Dragoon movie on the big screen. But then again, I'm caucasian so I didn't even notice the white messiah thing, I was just watching a dude on a dragon fight the empire!
I think the trope he's talking about is all about white guilt. But if you want a movie that's more self aware about that sort of thing, try "Dear White People".
Magus Marquillin I've been meaning to see that one! But I thought white guilt was more about the Shame white people carry for the crimes they've done to ethnic and racial minorities?
danman1950 white guilt is actually more about white people making discussions of racism focused on how guilty they feel, diverting attention from how people of color are affected by racism
I don't see why so many people dislike Avatar. I thought it was a very good movie, not deep or meaningful in the slightest, but still fun and beautiful.
The thing that annoyed me most about this movie was how Jake just became the leader of the tribe for no real reason. Sure, the tribe's leaders died within days of each other, but why the hell does that make Jake the best choice? He's only been there a few months.
I would have preferred the uniting of the tribes to be done by the Na'vi, using Jake as a kind of trophy 'look, we brought him into our clan and he tamed the most wild beast, we did this, and together we can do much more.' or something like that.
It's fine to have Jake's inside knowledge of the people help them, it's even fine to have him as the general in the battle, as he knows the tactics and weaponry of their foe better than the natives, he can give them a perspective they would otherwise not have had, not even with the doctor, who didn't come from the military arm, but to have him just marry the princess and become the king was very disappointing.
He was the leader BECAUSE he tamed that great beast (can’t remember the name lol). They state in the film that there’s only been 5 chiefs to do so. Basically being able to tame the beast is seen as getting the green light from Eywa herself, like a sword in the stone kinda thing.
@@Space_CowboyHD we both know that's a plot contrivance to justify him becoming king.
Added to what the last replies were, in one of the cut scenes, the guy designated to become chief told him to take his spot for him, moments before he died.
directors cut shows that asshole na'vi guy who was going to take up the role as chief. jake found him as he was about to die and he told him to take his place
Space racism? Spacism!
Andrew Webb That's spacist. +1
About the Distric 9 one...
It's been a long time since I saw the movie, but if I remember correctly the character with the most agency was the alien scientist. He still need Vikus help, true, but Wikus is more of a stumbling antihero (at least until the clumsy final confrontation, where he kind of abruptly decides to sacrifice himself).
The alien scientist needs his help, but only to correct a mistake Wikus made and only under prospect of payment. And even then, he only needs Wikus' information about the facility's location.
More then a White Savior, Wikus is an idiot messing with things he doesn't understand.
I think you're right there, - it was actually Vikus and his agency who ruined the perfectly decent plans of the Alien - and then he set to redeem himself by righting his wrongs and getting them back on schedule. It was mainly for selfish reasons too, as he only wanted a cure - less about one man saving a culture and more about two opposing characters (from different side of the tracks) coming together for one goal.
Of course, there's always a counter point to "art", - interpretation doesn't often deal in facts.
+rageagainsttheturnip
Not only that, but even the plan to get the fluid back was from the alien. Which means that not only Wikus was not a saviour, but the alien was the mind behing his own liberation.
And also he put the needs of his people ahead of the needs of Wikus
+NyJoanzy
Another thing I liked is that the aliens aren't always shown in a positivie light in District 9. They don't just whitstand the oppression with ludicrous dignity. They are dirty, get duped, are confused about the world around them, can respong with violence and so on.
They look more like a living species than the Na'vi. And even the CGI is more realistic, mostly because they put effort in trying to show a lifeform with alien phyisology that lives in the dirt instead of the Na'vi, which are actually fairly cliche.
When I saw District 9 I also saw it less as a race allegory and more as an allegory on refugees or extreme poverty, and sure, there is some racial element to that, but when you look at it from that angle, Wikus being cast out of his comfortable life by circumstance and being forced into an underclass living in slums makes a lot more sense then hugging a tree and becoming native american.
This movie would have been drastically improved by making Grace the protagonist. Taking a more athropological approach by having a protagonist simply trying to understand an alien culture and ecosystem while also serving as an ambassador between the RDA and tha Na'vi. Would put all that work thay did on the backroud elemens to good use rather than having it be, well, the backround to 'Dances With Wolves IN SPACE'.
Also, because I feel the need to, the Last Samurai isn't quite 'white saviour' since Algren doesn't lead the samurai at any point. He's more of a vehicle for 'look at how awesome these anachronistic samurai are' than 'look at me saving the day'. He also remains the laughing stock of the samurai to the very end.
I actually really like Avatar. HOWEVER! I am not going to ignore the great points made in this video. Well done as always.
Though, I did adore the ecosystem the team created. The creatures and environment in early trailers are what first drew me to the movie. So props to creature design!
Pretty sure the ecosystem was what carried this movie to become as successful as it was, along with how fresh the 3D felt back then. Regardless of how bland the plot is, the environments are beautiful, and the creatures still look very impressive.
I do have one major criticism of the film I never hear. Yeah, obviously, it's not calling the mineral "unobtainium". No, it's not the terrible designs for the mech suits (though they are aweful), or the laughably unimaginative creature design. It's the fact that the end of the movie is dumb.
While technical innovation isn't the most important thing in a war, if the degree in difference is much greater then it will be the deciding factor. If you have a steel sword and your enemy has a bronze sword you both stand a fair chance, but if you have a simple musket they stand no chance at all. Yeah, the Navi are stronger and frankly have air superiority... but the RDA are space fairing. They're also a mining operation. They could easily just load up a small transport ship with TNT, rocket fuel or a similar, and send it in a controlled orbital drop back down to earth. Hell, if they just sent a few ships down to earth T
hat's just one easy way to wipe out the native population that the RDA could achieve with just a handful of people. If they got serious, they could easily wipe out the global Navi population in a matter of months. This is a resource war. You think the earth governments would really give two shits about wiping out a couple thousand aliens? The US invasion of Iraq has resulted over a hundred thousand dead Iraqi CIVILIANS, and that's just the low estimate. Some numbers put it at over half a million.
Why this bothers me so much is this. It gives the perception of fairness, where they're isn't any. People need to understand the domination and outright genocide of a technologically less powerful people by a technologically more powerful one is the nature of conflict. The only way we can prevent this is by refusing to allow it to happen. If the movie ended in a realistic way, with the Navi getting outright wiped out, then maybe people would walked out of theatres learning a little something about colonialism, and actually wanting to fight back against it.
Yes...
Every time the white savior trope pops up Big Trouble in Little China becomes that much better.
Great video!
One other thing about Avatar that bothers me is the Cure Narrative. Often overlooked is the fact that Jake starts the film Disabled, a war veteran who lost his legs- you pointed this out yourself, in fact- but then, through the Avatar project, he is "Cured." Reborn into a new body. So at least 50% of his motive for willful assimilation into the Na'Vi is grounded in internalized and externalized ablism. Having legs somehow makes him "whole" again.
There are... issues... with this.
No, stop. There is a cure for paralysis in the movie but Jake can't afford it or doesn't have access. But the whole reason he became disabled was because he fought a war on the US behalf, who also got his brother killed in combat. So you have a society that is destroying a new planet after ruining their own, turns people scared by war into new troops again and withholds treatment from people who need it. The movie takes a character who is disabled for most of the movie and allows him to choose to not be a cog in the system.
I don't get why some people don't bring up the fact that the main character never really tried to explain what his job was to the Navi. He just sort of learned the culture at first, and then did nothing until the very last minute
Shaun Zafar Probably would’ve been time consuming if the writers tried focusing on that bit since the movie is already over 3 hours long. And I mean, there was that scene where Jake tried confessing his true mission to them (right after he and Neytiri mated) but before he could, Quaritch disconnected the link.
All good points. Another loathsome aspect of Avatar is the ableist implication that Jake is better off in his avatar body than he is being a wheelchair-user.
3 years later and this is still the dumbest comment in this comments section
Avatar: That One Movie. You..you remember? That one movie.
That Disney is making a theme park wing for.
Oh...you mean the Shamalan film?
Personally, I'd love for someone to do a fan edit movie advertisement for Avatar that mashes together footage from Avatar and Return of the Jedi, so we can have Jake Sully put into the body of an Ewok to fight off the evil Imperial Empire.
I was just getting done reading about the making of this film (havn't seen it yet) and then boom you post this video. I think this is a sign i should watch it finally.
nice video! I never heard of the white savior paradigm before. Thank you for introducing it to me, Leon.
The White Savior narrative was probably what made me eyeroll at the film the most when people couldn't stop talking about it. I have friends who adored it a lot at the time. I know films are subjective, but I remember being SO annoyed how they praised this film for pointing out how awful history and our government have treated the Native Americans. I'm less bitter about it now, LOL but I do find it frustrating that people only seem comfortable with discussing the mistreatment of the Natives when it's a fictional film with the white savior to make it easier to digest.
Great video as always, Leon.
I remember when I waited in line to see Avatar, a guy came out of the theatre's previous screening and he was hyped beyond what I considered physically possible, proclaiming stuff like you needed to view it multiple times to get it. I hated that guy when I first saw him, hated him throughout the movie, and this hate is the first thing I feel every time someone brings up Avatar. My hate for this guy is more memorable to me than anything in the movie with its problematic themes, awful delivery of said themes and its boring vision of sci-fi fantasy.
Anyway, thank you, Leon, for your analysis. Love your stuff.
“With the sequel coming out next year (allegedly)”
Hello from November 2019! Still no sequel (not that it’s a bad thing)!
People seem to miss the fact that unobtainium is an actual word that has been widely used in engineering circles...
I for one think Avatar was actually a ploy by Jake Sully to take over Pandora
-Jake Sully was a man who faced no future whatsoever on earth. He was a cripple career soldier with probably a lot of resentement toward the establishement and perhaps mankind in general. (Having basicly ditch himg, but at the same time he was inconsiderate of the ressource needs of his fellow men)
-He needed a way out so when he found out that his brother was going to Pandora, he killed him so that he could get his seat on the spacecraft.
-Sully was quick to understand that Na'vi culture was one of agression, they are warriors. They constantly fight off dangereous animals for foodand pretty much want to kill invaders on sight. The only reason they hardly ever fight war is because the jungle is too dense and too filed with animals for conflict between na'vi to be ever be worth it giving this false impression that Na'vi are pacifist. However he quickly understood that if he proved himself that he was thoughest and strongesthe could gain power and influence in Na'vi culture regardless of merit. Neytiri basicly told him how he could proves himself as a warrior by capturing a Toruk despiste the fact he proved himself untrustworthy by letting the attack on the home tree happen. His relationship with her also help him gather more power because she was the chief daughter.
- Why did Jake never anything to prevent the attack on the home tree? He wanted war between Navi and Humans with him at the head of the na'vi (he oblivously could never hope to become the leader of the RDA forces),the attack on the home tree gave him enough pull to unify every single tribe under his banner
-Sully handling of the final battle actually an elaborate ploy. The Na'vi stood no chance whatsoever against the RDA forces. In fact with all the na'vi under his command would have been much more effective if they had fought guerilla style rather than taking the oppoment head on. Why did Sully send all his force in such reckless battle? He was eliminating political competition. A lot of good na'vi warrior died stupidly because of Jake descision and a lot of them were probably the head of the other tribes that could have contested his hold on power after the battle.
-Eywa saving the day? Sully actually understood Pandora more than the native (as they lack scientific outlook) his taming of the various creature of pandora showing that just about anything on Pandora could be
tame and now he finally had found the center of the nerves systems. He just needed to send his order through his ponytail and eventually every creature on Pandora would turn on the RDA bringing victory despiste the fact he had sent his men to get massacred.
-and now here we are the end of the movie, Jake Sully sucessfully control every Na'Vi tribe. His human body was destroyed and is no longer a liability. He may preach the na'vi "peaceful" way but he made sure to
keep whatever guns the RDA had brought to Pandora to equip his inner circle and protect himself. The unfication of the Na'vi ensure that the RDA can't try the divide and conquer approach used in the past against native group. Should the humans come back not only does he have a "strong" defensive force along him to better negotiate in the future, but he effectiviely control Unobtanium supply.
Can safely say I have 0% interest in seeing Avatar for myself, now.
This reminds me of an essay I wrote about Tim Burton movies (which I love) and how I can love them in spite of their portrayals of minorities. I love what's good about those movies, I am NOT going to defend the stuff that alienates other fans and makes them uncomfortable.
Of course, those movies don't usually have heavy topics like race or colonialism drilled into their narrative. It's a little easier to oversee a joke or portrayal of a supporting character than, say, set aside the message of the ENTIRE movie in it of itself and say "it's just a movie" or "it's racist if you point that out". Precisely why I don't like Pocahontas. 90s Disney films were iffy here and there, racially speaking, but Pocahontas is about race relations and it comes off as really insulting.
I'm really torn about whether or not I should at least see Dances with Wolves. I've heard mixed things as far as accuracy is concerned, but I'm not crazy about NA stories told from the POV of the poor, misguided one nice white guy. I wonder if, offensive or inoffensive, it's a better movie than Avatar...
Thank you for a well thought out take on an uncomfortable subject.
After watching this, one thing that scares me about the trope is that - even in a movie that appears to criticize the American military - an American film is asking its audience to identify with the main character. The result is positioning America itself as the white savior, which could accidentally excuse American interventionism even when it's trying to criticize it. The movie is telling us that the bad guy isn't us, so it's okay if we show up and take charge.
I loved the movie. I was really into it. And I didn't see the trope you did, I just saw someone who spent time getting to know an alien race and help them overcome an incredible threat. Maybe I'm just naive.
Glad this video is back up!
I loved this movie and all it's CGI beauty. Please don't take that away from me with ideology. All I see is a human race invading on Alien planet (beautiful, exotic territory) lying to them about why they are there and then threating to steal the resources of their planet. Now what I see is an alien movie being told in reverse.
Another good example of the white saviour trope is "Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise (don´t know if it was in your list). In that movie cruise, a foreigner, learns all the samurai techniques in a matter of weeks and leads them to a rebellion against the other army. It´s really stupid.
Plus, Tom's involvement didn't change the inevitable. He was just a witness to the Last Samurai, not a savior who solves all of their problems.
To be fair, Lawrence of Arabia was a pretty accurate true story.
I think the 'outsider saving the natives' is overused indeed. Avatar was cool and all but I think it would have been cooler if Neytiri or someone else than Jake would have become Toruk Makto. Would've been less predictable
Man, this film's CGI was exactly 5 yeas too early.
Would this theory apply if, keeping everything else the same, Sam Worthington's role had been played by Will Smith?
Any non-indigenous person being culturally superior would be insulting,and like the commentator pointed out,to do it in such a short amount of time is really insulting,i think it's just that people of color are worn out by Hollywood whitewashing other cultures and then the "white savior" makes it worse
I guess it would have obfuscated the white savior aspect to some degree, added a layer of deniability, while keeping the core aspect of the trope. At the end Will Smith's character would still have been an agent of the western world, ironically being from the east in the case of native americans, coming to save the allegorical native americans from the bad westerners.
The white savior trope is so ingrained as mentioned in the video essay, that it is very difficult to overcome.
In big box movies one action franchise which might go against this pattern are the new Planet of the Apes films.
- Maybe to understand the white savior trope, an examination of the noble savage concept might be helpful. One exponent of this was the well known writer during the Enlightenment, Jean Jacques Rousseau. This may be considered a progressive step at the time in that it at least began the attempt to understand nonEuropean cultures on their own terms. And anthropology would proceed later. Romanticizing people of color is a preferred alternative to enslaving / slaughtering them which was fashionable in white societies through the 19th and much of the 20th century.
- But the argument can be made that the white savor and noble savage had served their purpose many years ago. Agreed.
- Still it's very hard to get the mass audience to accept a hero who isn't white in a major film.
The bias of what a movie hero should look like is obvious just by looking at the actors who have gotten top billing in big budget films for the last 20 years.
With African Americans, Will Smith in I Robot is the exception instead of the rule. Asian, Hispanic, Indian, Native American actors? Always in supporting roles in big movies.
Until that changes, in a big budget film when people of color need to be saved, a white person will keep coming to the rescue.
i like avatar alot .i myself have noticed those allegations before and though its problematic i think it a really good movie.now i dont say that high art or kubrick,bergman ,tarantino good but its highly enjoyable and its world completely consumes me .anyone else whit that opimion
When Avatar first came out, I thought it was an original concept. Then I heard all the people compare it to Dances With Wolves and I realized I was wrong about the film. I still enjoy Avatar but as an action movie rather than a drama.
I actually forgot about this movie.
No barrage of sequels so far...so shew! But we do have more "white savior" movies to add to the list such as: the help, green book, hidden figures and the whole concept of the AVENGERS!! Not only do we ALL need white American males to save us but dammit we need them to come from other planets too!!!
A lot of people pointing out how this or that movie doesn't follow the White Savior Template exactly, but obviously no two movies are going to be perfectly on the mark of the same narrative. It's a loose concept, like 3 act structure, or what a "marry sue" is, but it still says something about the mindset behind it and which one might take from it, especially in repetition.
as a kid i liked the film for its creature design but still noticed that buried Jurassic Park T Rex roar in the giant terrestrial predator that becomes a mount for zoe saldana, but as an adult i found it very long & garish, but I'm glad u put district 9 in your list of movies with the same trope because i only saw it as a kid & completely didnt notice even in south africa a white guy manages to be the savior, & coincidentally literally transform into them, its like hilarious, lazy & offensive all rolled into one
Yeah! This film is so awesome! One of my favorites!
Thank god that you, a white man, saved us from our backwards thinking
Renegade Cut I've had this screen name for over 5 years and you are the first person to comment on it.
For reals though, very interesting video, I always enjoy your work
If your name was the topic of a conversation, I'd want to know if five other people beat you to the O.W.P. name.
lol this comment made me think a lot actually
Somewhat I can draw parallels with GONE WITH THE WIND. I actually read the book. I cannot believe how much I love it, although identifying so much racism.
*rubbing my temple* I have a dyed in the wool Republican conservative aunt who is a total fangirl for anything connected to the film/book. She also has a lantern jockey on her lawn.
Dances with Smurfs.
thought provoking, thanks
It's a very entertaining movie. Good to sit down, and turn off your brain and enjoy. It helps that when the film first came out I was young enough that the plot hadn't been beaten over my head a billion times. Though afterwards I rapidly realized the familiar plot elements and that the whole thing was kinda stupid. I love to pick on it, but I would be lying if I didn't say it didn't make a good popcorn movie. Also the effects haven't aged too poorly. Though Sigourney Weaver's avatar is pretty uncanny valley.
What do you think are the chances that Cameron will address these issues in the sequels? He's said that he wanted to further explore the world he's created and while I doubt the series will move into that direction I think that having each sequel focus in on different issues could make for a decent series in the end.
Also, the characters are flat, and the dialogue is laughable. I adore James Cameron (Aliens and T2 are STILL jaw dropping), but this movie was pretty hollow beneath all the CGI.
When you want to go onto Patreon and support one of your favorite internet shows but you're a high schooler with no money 😁👍
I like how 'Half Nelson' seems to call out our protagonist as a 'white saviour' within the film itself. I still really like films like 'The Help' but the 'white saviour' element can't just be ignored. 'Hidden Figures' has some elements of the 'white saviour' narrative, but because of the strength of the black cast it isn't as distracting as it could be.
The sad thing about Hidden Figures. Is the white savior in the movie. Wasn't one in real life. They added a false hood to not make white people back then look so bad in the movie.
I think Lawrence of Arabia is kind of a subversion, because while it starts out like a white savior film, he pretty much fails in the end. Or maybe it's a good enough film to overcome the trope. Avatar sure isn't. There's actually a running joke on sites like Tumblr about how no one can name the characters off of the top of their head, because it's such a forgettable film. Everyone saw it once, was amazed by the special effects, and then promptly forgot about it.
I remember James Cameron being very agitated about that, let's hope he takes it on board for Avatar 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7 and 8.
You're probably right. I find Lawrence of Arabia kind of an anomaly because most white savior films tend to be crap or mediocre at best. I'm not saying that great movies can't be racist (in fact you could argue that the majority of them are in some way or another) but this trope generally seems to drag the quality of a movie down.
I definitely agree with you. But to be fair it was 1961. This was a time when you could have Alec Guinness play Faisal and no one would complain. And the thing is Lawrence of Arabia isn't even the worst offender despite the brown face. Although I don't even know if they would do it better today. Arabs are still generally portrayed as either terrorists or victims of terrorism. Even portraying an Arabic person from the the 1910s in a positive light would lead to some right wing backlash. Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back about its supposed diversity and inclusiveness, but the fact is that Orientalism is very much alive in Hollywood. It's just that instead of being the "mysterious orient" the Middle East is now an "axis of evil". The only Middle Eastern country that ever seems to be portrayed positively is probably Israel, because it's more "Western", but even then there aren't really many films about Israel nowadays. For all that people joke about Hollywood being run by Jews, you don't really see that many onscreen.
The film was visually striking which was a big reason for its success. But beyond these problems it suffered from the idiot plot. Rather than attack the Navi from the air the humans could have dug a mine shaft at a slant under the home tree, and mined the unobtainium with the Navi being none the wiser. Jake was an idiot because he knows about the full scope of human weaponry, and the humans aren't going to go away. They need the unobtainium and will return better armed. The writers were idiots because interstellar travel implies a technology level so great that you could synthesize unobtainium.
James Cameron has great success with sequels: Aliens and Terminator 2. Let's hope Avatar 2 has better characters, story, emotion, etc.
Those sequels had a better foundation but yeah, let's hope so. I think this critique has been fairly loud so maybe James will turn it on it's head - Aliens and Terminator2 were mostly more of the same though.
And let's not forget the Avatar theme park that's going to be in Disneyworld very soon. I liked this movie at the time but goddamn, it hasn't aged well at all.
Avatar is a strange film. It really only works in the era that it was made.
It was never a good movie from a story aspect. South Park said it best when they called it Dances With Smurfs.
What this movie is and was is a theater spectacle. If you want proof of this try to watch it on DVD/Blu-ray. All of its flaws are really evident when you are being taken in by the 3-d.
There was an Avatar sequel in 2018! Wow! I need to..- Oh, wait... damned it.
Oh Christ, there's going to be even more than the sequel?!
Can we all at least agree that it definitely wasn't good enough to get an entire Pandora-land at Disney World Animal Kingdom? I don't begrudge people who enjoy it, nor do I dispute that it would make a fun ride or two, but an entire 5th of the park devoted to it?
Leon, do you think that Dr. Strange and Iron Fist also fall into this genre?
Avatar is straight up the worst, emptiest, most incompletely made movie I've ever seen. I still think about its singular awfulness sometimes.
The main trope of this movie is the noble savage one. What you call the white savior is someone who converts to the native culture, fights against his race and even gives up his (white) body to become this tall, athletic, dark-skinned superhero. It's far from white supremacist propaganda.
The Will Smith Version of I Am Legend bucks the white saviour trait.
You know, I think Last Samurai handled the "white savior" issue well. It's been a while since I've seen it, but the way I remember it, Cruise doesn't save the day, and actually gets injured or sidelined at the end. I think the only reason he survives is because the opposition saw this odd white guy there, and didn't want to upset the USA. I don't remember him becoming the primary protector.
Last Samurai is worst because it tries to sell feudalism as something cool.
White savior films make me uncomfortable through out. Avatar was a teeth-grating in the theater example.
Great work.
now that i know what yr videos are about .... i totally agree with this assessment. Thanks man. i saw the very same thing u r saying here....or a bit of it and u elaborated on it.
Don't forget, there's a theme park land coming to Disney World's Animal Kingdom this summer!
...that's important, right?
You too can experience the magic of being a white savior!
I love Avatar.
Terrifyingly powerful aliens come from space, and use force you can't hope to counter to take what they want and kill anyone who gets in their way. One of their race, who has gone native, sticks up for the people of your world, and has the means and/or knowledge to fight them on their own terms. The native people rally around this one 'savior' and help him fight as best they can.
Which movie is that? Avatar? Or Superman 2? Or Man of Steel? Or Thor? Or Thor: the Dark World? Or He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? Or a ton of other alien savior stories?
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the analysis in the video, its on point really. But another way to look at it, especially if you put humans in the Na'vi role, is that Avatar is essentially a super-hero story. Sully has advantages the natives do not; alien technology, knowledge of how humans and their technology works, what it would take to counter them, and so on. And it even makes sense in that context for the world-mind to pay attention to him in a way it wouldn't a native: he's an *alien*. His thoughts are going to really stick out and likely be paid more attention to simply because his mind would be a gigantic outlier in the system.
Though the criticism of 'white saviors' is very valid, this type of story is very common across all cultures and mediums. A native son goes somewhere foreign, makes a good impression, does something heroic that's inherent to the (perceived) virtues of his homeland to prove himself. While Avatar should be criticized for using the trope in such a cliche manner, i personally don't think its a particularly egregious example of it.
The bones of the story are common, but what sets Avatar apart from a superhero story like Superman is that Avatar deliberately uses imagery and narrative conventions meant to purposefully evoke indigenous cultures and colonialism. Once you have a story treading in those waters, you invite criticism, especially now when a good portion of the viewing public is quite aware of the trope, and of its inherent (if well-meaning) offensiveness. 30 years ago, few people in the general public would blink at a movie like Avatar, but people are more savvy now. Of course, that people are more savvy didn't stop the film from making metric tons of money.
Problem is he doesn't fight the humans on their own terms. He fights them with the natives weapon. After getting on the top of their social structure in a matter of months.
I don't think Pandora needed Jake's white brain to think of sending animals to run at the humans.
When I first watched it and when Neytiris dad died I thought she would become the leader
I think I will refuse to see any Avatar sequel. It's far too problematic to be redeemable.
Ugh...don't get me started on Gran Torino.
**nods in agreement**...thanks for not killing me btw.
This is the only movie who 3d version is really good. It's another movie in 2d.
Might be the future, if Dani isn't the Twist Final Villain/Boss Battle of Game of Thrones, we have been there for a long time. Her entire story is Avatar, except she isn't a man, and so that excuses everything else...
You know, I'm actually curious how many "white savior" offenders feature female leads. Dangerous Minds is obviously on the list, especially after Leon brought it up in this essay.
I agree with everything you said in this video. however, I have a broader question. Do you think that every film should be looked at through a political lense ?
is The Last of the Mohicans white savior fim? I hope you do analysis from Memories of Murder some day and Keep up the good work.
6:22 The Navi are LITERALLY people of color. The color is blue.
I understand the concept of the white saviour trope...I acknowledge its presence...what I don't understand is why people who call it out don't acknowledge that the white saviour character prefers the culture they assimilate into... the white saviour renounces his "whiteness"....so what's that supposed to mean?
"It borrows bad ideas." True, and I hated this movie. Typical "bad guys," typical "good guy," typical love story. I was unimpressed by the supposedly awesome visual effects - finding them more like the point of the movie, with types and tropes stuck in to justify the effects. yawn... As in real life, I am disgusted by this attempt at pandering to the base aspects of human nature (especially relating to the big empires of the Earth).
imagine if the main character was Black, or Native American?
it wouldn’t have made anything better, no
My main criticism's of the movie was the story was unoriginal and the characters were too obvious as to who was playing what role, the protagonist and the antagonist etc.
Oh god the cgi in this movie has not survived the test of time...
10:11 made me laugh
Would it be better if the main hero was played by a Native American actor?
*Dances With USBsticks*
Still, it was gorgeous in 3D.
Is Algren san from Last Samurai a white savior?
Well, Katsumoto's group are all dead by the end, so...
To a point, Algren didn’t save the Samurai themselves. However, he did “save” their culture. A white man literally taught the Japanese emperor want it meant to be Samurai.
The real issue is the need of Hollywood to insert white characters in stories revolving around non-white people as point of view characters. Hollywood assumes white people won’t be interested in stories that don’t directly involve someone who looks like them.
It's funny how the people that produce and star in these kinds of films call everyone else racist lol
Sequel still not out!
Papyrus!
But Jake is a defector so he knows the enemy and can win. Just saying
Besides all the hack writing and predictable plot, this was the main reason why I disliked Avatar so much, FX eye-candy aside.
Avatar is basically Pocahontas meets war of the worlds only the war of the worlds aspect of it is more of a role reversal at least that’s what I got from it.
I wonder what this video's content would have contained if the main character were played by a native american actor.
Well, you could still talk about how utterly shallow all the characters are and how cynically everything is designed to influence on a superficial emotional level, without attempting to provide any depth whatsoever.
Honestly, I loath almost every aspect of this movie.
Fair enough! I enjoyed this film as it was the closest I'll ever get to a Panzer Dragoon movie on the big screen. But then again, I'm caucasian so I didn't even notice the white messiah thing, I was just watching a dude on a dragon fight the empire!
Do you any good movies about white guilt? I feel that would be the counterbalance to this Hollywood ideological formula.
I think the trope he's talking about is all about white guilt. But if you want a movie that's more self aware about that sort of thing, try "Dear White People".
Magus Marquillin I've been meaning to see that one! But I thought white guilt was more about the Shame white people carry for the crimes they've done to ethnic and racial minorities?
Yes. So I guess the story isn't "about" white guilt, but it's a big factor in the reason this sort of story exists.
danman1950 white guilt is actually more about white people making discussions of racism focused on how guilty they feel, diverting attention from how people of color are affected by racism
So is Ben Sisko being the Bajoran's emissary to the prophets in Deep Space Nine a black saviour trope?
The director cuts was better
I don't see why so many people dislike Avatar. I thought it was a very good movie, not deep or meaningful in the slightest, but still fun and beautiful.
I found the planet very boring looking
I'm very early
Do Avatar 2??