The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

165 loss of life. However, her callous heart softens while in Pandora and soon overflows with compassion for the victims. When Grace finally awakens to the destruction looming over the Na’vi tribe, she pleads with her cruel leader Quaritch, “You need to wake up. The wealth of the world is not in the ground. You need to understand them!” (Cameron). Throughout the film, Pandora works like a poultice to draw out the poisons from Earth, healing Jake and Grace. Despite these facts, however, charges against Avatar continue. Upset by the fact that the indigenous population cannot save themselves and instead rely on Jake to lead them, audience members cite this “white man messiah” element as the greatest indicator of racism. But they deny the fact that, although Jake does step in to lead the native people to victory, he relies extensively on the Na’vi woman who has stolen his heart. It is only because of Neytiri’s training and guidance that Jake learns to hunt, speak the native language, and survive off the land. In fact, in the storyline she saves his life on three separate occasions. Without Neytiri’s intervention, Jake’s first encounter with Pandora’s vicious creatures would have cost him his life. At the end of the movie, the fierce heroine battles Quaritch on Jake’s behalf and also rescues her unconscious lover from suffocation. In fact, it is Neytiri’s arrow that pierces Quaritch’s heart, saving Pandora and the entire Na’vi race from destruction. Delivering the final blow to Avatar’s racist accusations, Jake utterly abandons his status as a 6-foot Caucasian man and embraces life as a full-blooded Na’vi. In Pandora, the natives rescue Jake’s spirit from his crippled human body, magically transporting it into an agile, gorgeous Na’vi form. This dramatic twist suggests that joining the indigenous race brings more pleasure and fulfillment than continuing to live as a Caucasian individual, which clearly contradicts the typical ethnocentric position. When James Cameron released Avatar, many critics pointed their fingers and labeled his film racist; however, its messages advocate quite the opposite. The movie cries out against imperialism, encourages Americans to embrace differences among races, warns against the dangers of technology, and applauds environmentalism. The movie raises thought-provoking questions, such as, “How well do we as Americans respect other cultures and the differences within them? Are we allowing arrogance to blind us to the lessons and