Are Avatar Director James Cameron’s Politics As Flawed As His Film?
This past weekend, mediaINDIGENA was one of the first outlets to break the news of the emerging alliance between Hollywood heavyweight James Cameron and indigenous people affected by the Alberta tarsands. It comes after similar lobbying efforts by Cameron for indigenous people in Brazil.
But regular readers of this blog may find this script a tad familiar. As we explored in a previous post, Cameron’s billion-dollar blockbuster Avatar has had its share of critics, mainly for its recycling of that old cinematic stereotype, the ‘Lone White Man Who Saves the Indians.’
So let me put the question out there: is Cameron a genuine force for good here, selflessly standing shoulder to shoulder with indigenous peoples’ struggles, as he nimbly employs a kind of political judo that leverages the system’s own forces against itself?
Or, is Cameron simply guilty of the alleged sins of his film, becoming just the latest in a long line of white men coming ‘to the rescue’ of otherwise ‘inadequate’ Indians?
Might life be imitating art here? We at MI would love to hear your thoughts.
[Image via Atossa Soltani / Amazon Watch, by way of europanewsblog.com]
First of all, I don't think that Western society likes to be openly put into that perspective. Yes, it is another film that looks at Indigenous culture from the outside, it's not an inside perspective. Yet, it exposes how western society exploits resources on Indigenous lands, but Cameron is also making a substantial profit from Indigneous cultures by making films about them.
I applaud the Native actors that we have, who are making films that are more realistic and show an inside perspective to our culture.
uggh. sometimes good is just good. let us join together to work hard to celebrate successes. Let us work together to avoid setting unrealistic impossibly high standards. i fear that this type of thinking leads to widespead apathy and lack of volition. For me, the fear of not reaching impossible standards actually petrifies me.
Your bias is evident in the framing of your question which almost leads me to want to vote for the latter. However, having just watched the movie last night with my mixed blood children, myself being a half-breed creation of a “white man” and “indigenous woman”, my children loved it for the broader theme, which is the colonization, oppression and exploitation of an indigenous population, the rape and pillage of a beautiful mother planet in the name of profit and civilization, and of course simply the tragedy in the loss of life, liberty, culture, tradition and homeland, which they immediately were able to compare to the experience of their own history that I've taught them and that they know of the Cree of which they are a part. I have no problem debating the political in/correctness of some rich, white man coming to the rescure of some poor Indian but I prefer instead to just appreciate for what it is: An art form, a vision of an artist to tell a particular story inspired by truth and knowledge, a visual story.
And besides not all white men are evil you know just as you know not all Indians are inadequate. Anybody who is going to join the mission to raise awareness to the exploitation and abuse of indigenous population, and bring their networks into the struggle, and all their resources, skills, talents and knowledge, and good will of course, would be welcome in my home any time. Because its not about me and what I think, its about doing what needs to be done to co-exist as best we can in a peaceful, respectful and honest way, and hoping that those around us all are striving for the same thing. Cause whether we like it or not, we are all here to stay and share the land; we might as well get along.
I thought a major point of fighting the Tar Sands and land exploitation was to bring on board all types of people to further the cause. Everyone on this planet has a role, and I think having someone as high profile as Cameron is a blessing. Humans discriminate too easy. Let em'all help. Our sandbox has room.
Allies are those committed to the cause. Exploiters are squatters who use the issue to further their own self-interests and then move on at the first sign of public opinion change. It remains to be seen which of these Cameron is, but if his Hollywood brethren are any indication, it's the latter.
Mere attention is not what's needed, actual support for Indigenous activists is whats needed. Such support includes resources, further education on the issue, lobbying, etc. Telling stories that romanticize and fetishize Indigenous peoples and cultures right out of 18th and 19th century eurocentrism is not support, it's just telling the same story that led to the mess we are in the first place. Stories, of course, matter. They can be taken in any direction. Some, like Inezvs, take it in a smart, critical direction, but I would guess that most do not. I had someone come up to me after seeing Avatar and say, “That's so cool how Cameron handled Indigenous issues! So real! I should get involved.” Then, when I asked what kinds of issues and how they could help, they said, “I don't know, so many of these issues are so long ago.”
At the same time, this person was holding a Starbucks cup (see: http://www.greens.org/s-r/25/25-17.html), standing on land procured by flawed treaties who excluded and exploited far more than anything else (http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/hts/tgu/pubs/t1-2…), and drove away in car filled with gasoline (http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/50/Bolivia.html).
My point is not that “art” has a duty to directly educate, but that telling a sterile, silly story about magical Indigenous people “at one” with nature is a ho-hum tale known all too well. Cameron in fact could be accused of simply lifting this story from the pages of the Dances with Wolves screenplay, which did it better and with more melodrama.
So it remains to be seen which Cameron will be, but my feeling is that we'll see the latter and not the former. But I have been called a pessimist in the past… lol
Counterpunch recently published a piece on Cameron's “commendable stand on indigenous issues in the rainforest,” and hoped the director would consider taking “his activism to the next level and shoot a film about the Amazon.”
There's nothing different with what Cameron has done than with the other non-native directors who steal our stories and profit from them by making movies and documentaries about us.
We are talented enough to tell our own stories thank you.
Production companies should be supporting US to tell OUR own stories.
There's nothing different with what Cameron has done than with the other non-native directors who steal our stories and profit from them by making movies and documentaries about us.
We are talented enough to tell our own stories thank you.
Production companies should be supporting US to tell OUR own stories.