Ethics in AVATAR

By BARCODE 2x

James Cameron's latest examination of human hubris arrives this week in theaters. Avatar is his sprawling, monumental new world of technology and visual storytelling. The film expands upon his ongoing message about the dangers of our society's colonial mentality. An enduring image from his Titanic is of the sinking ship from a high aerial view. The tiny ship in the big dark ocean, powerless against the forces of nature. Mankind's attempts to build bigger and better machines will always be hindered by Mother Nature. Cameron is creating large-scale  cautionary tales for our times.

Cameron has been confronting the question for years. What are the limits of human discovery? And what price are we willing to pay to answer the big questions of science? In both of his Terminator films, Cameron demonstrates the danger of artificial intelligence. Avatar is more along the lines of The Abyss and Aliens. In these three films, military force is used to confront a mysterious indigenous threat in a foreign world. The mission is thwarted when the government fails to realize the force they are dealing with. And then lots of people get blown up.

An avatar is a physical shell controlled by forces from the outside. In the film, paraplegic marine Jake Sully's (Sam Worthington) mind/soul is placed inside the body of a genetically modified alien creature. He can control the massive and beautiful body, and is sent to infiltrate the native people on the lush planet of Pandora. They control the precious metal unobtanium, worth billions to the humans.

In this grim future, Earth has been destroyed and is uninhabitable. Jake embraces this new life on a foreign world where he can be physically mobile again, and can step into the shoes of his dead scientist brother. Jake is a soldier, and is a bit of an avatar to begin with; the government has privately employed marines like him and soldiers of fortune to invade Pandora and rob its riches. They are physical extensions of destructive military minds. They are all avatars, pawns, robotic dogsbodies of a cruel, unseen governmental agency.

The ethics of a scientist can be measured by the degree to which they are willing to work with the government. A doctor (Sigorney Weaver) has started a school on Pandora, a kind of benevolent colonial and diplomatic enterprise. The military/corporate leaders want the planet's resources, including a rare, mysterious tree that is the natives' source of spiritual life. The tree is a kind of fiber-optic cable connecting the natives to the spirits of the jungle, and protecting the tree becomes their priority, and Jake's too. Both she and Jake turn on their human counterparts and try to join the natives.

 In his giant blue body, Jake is free. And he loves the People of Pandora. He has gone in to warn them about the coming invasion. And he goes on to unite indigenous tribes all over the region to fight back.

This is Cameron country, with heavy metal, noise, explosions, and carnage on a massive scale. This huge film holds nothing back, assaulting the viewer with dizzying 3-D visuals and bone-rattling sound. The IMAX film is really a full-body experience, and draws us into this very real and dense world with startling power. The iridescent plants, the gorgeous flora and fauna of Cameron's planet are truly a sight to behold. This is a film that will never be the same on a television. It must be seen on the big, BIG screen.

I have to hand it to James Cameron for pushing his anti-war stories to the masses like he does. Many big filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Peter Jackson are using big-budget cinema to push a political agenda. These are anti-war activists with cameras and computers. Large-scale cinema is hard to do. It is a technical medium, with strict deadlines and release dates, so how any director can succeed in making a clear, human story with all these toys is really astounding.

Cameron wants us out of the jungle. He wants us to stay on planet earth. The People of Pandora are not as clear in their message as the Terminator or the gentle sea creatures of The Abyss. Those magical beings tell us directly that we had better stop this foolishness before we destroy everything. A lover of the natural, particularly in the deep seas, Cameron is a crazed environmentalist too, rabidly attacking human colonial mentality and urging us to go back where we came from. The Terminator wants us to stay out of the business of Artificial Intelligence. The creatures of The Abyss want us to give up nuclear warfare and genocide.

The People of Pandora are more like the Aliens. They have their operation, and it is going along just fine. They are physically superior to us, and they have it all under control. Any attempts to mess with them will be avenged. The aliens and robots win in Cameron's films. They teach us all a lesson, they send us packing, and make us all very very sorry we ever showed up in the first place.

Benevolent scientists need autonomy too. The brains of society are the ones holding real power. The government's involvement in science is for monetary gain here. There is no humanitarian aid, no exit strategy. Just bombs, lots and lots of bombs. In Avatar, we are sent back to our destroyed earth. Our punishment for messing with Mother Nature is to wallow in our own pollution and filth. 

The film is a wonder to watch, and a nice reminder that war is not the answer. In case anyone was wondering. Cameron is a scientific, technical filmmaker, but with a heart, despite his cruel, taskmaster reputation. He is a scientist fighting against the government.