Going Native

[Nuke_em_05]

I almost think it is more racist to say the Native Americans we weak, unintelligent, taken advantage of, and were "conquered" so easily, and then imply that it required the benevolence and assistance of "rogue" conquerors to allow them to survive.

History of Conflict = Economics: Rationing of finite resources. The way we tend to ration these resources is war.

Killing and conquering has been part of civilization since, well, it started. Two warring groups of people would fight each other over something; whoever won got it. None of them were "fair" fights between equal forces, but not always did the strongest and largest win. It is how all the "great" ancient empires were built, and most "modern" nations in Europe and Asia formed. The Native Americans were doing the same thing across the pond; costal natives had a very well defined concept of property ownership/territory. Europeans arrive and the saga continues on an intercontinental scale; and the Europeans won.

 

[-Datura-]

"The moment the intangible "meh"-ing of Avatar's pre-release crystallized was with the debut of its trailers, which brought with them the revelation that the film's top-secret plot seemed disappointingly conventional."

REVELATION??????

1) The Avatar treatment has been on the net SINCE BEFORE WE USHERED IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM.

2) Avatar made list after list of "Best Movies Never Made".

3) Fans have been waiting for this movie for YEARS, DESPITE knowing it back to front.

4 If Avatar's shortcomings is all you see, there really is no hope for you. Feel free to dive into traffic.

5) Just in case you weren't aware of this crucial bit of trivia -- mankind IS a pack of malevolent cocks. Today, right now, as we speak -- the age of "liberty" and "reason" -- there is more slavery going on in the world than ever before. EVER.

 

[Bretty]

The world is because of what the colonization nations did.

I think the world and our civilization is amazing and am happy to say that my family, generations ago, decided to help with the conquest of Canada and North America.

Movies like this just piss me off really and are better left with the bleeding heart left... which is obviously who it was written for. Because after watching this movie the only good thing I got from it was the cool effects. I felt that I had sat through a 2 hour lecture about how I and people like me are bad.

 

[SonicKoala]

Wow, this article was fantastic; even movies which appear to show sympathy for the plight of indigenous peoples still have a slight undercurrent of racism - what a profound idea, I never thought of it that way.

 

[matrix3509]

But..but...but I LIKE being an imperialist!!!

 

[ccesarano]

So you're saying you can comfortably judge me without ever having met me? Or are you saying white people are uniquely pre-disposed to racism? After spending so much time viewing movies are you suddenly taking a turn as a projectionist?

Good as always, up until that last line, which seemed to engage in the very sort of sloppy thinking you'd just so eloquently demolished.

EDIT: After re-reading my own comment: Wow. This came off as WAY more snarky than I intended. I was just trying to do a funny little, "NO U!" for the ending. I loved the article, much love, etc.

I did want to second this, because it depends on the context. One of the reasons that stuff happened in history is because the common populace didn't know any better, the leaders were looking to profit and the soldiers were afraid to go back against orders (if we're going to be as broad in our generalizations as possible). Yet look what happened in Vietnam simply due to the television broadcasts. Look at how many people criticized Bush for going into Iraq.

While the extent of what citizens will do may or may not have an effect on things (I can never remember which school it was during Vietnam where the protesters were shot and baaaaad joojoo went down, which created a lot of political backlash; whereas today no one does anything more radical than marching down streets and holding dumb looking signs), the fact of the matter is we are more aware than citizens had been in the past.

The difference is, where is our awareness focused? It's not broad. As someone mentioned earlier, there's a bunch of bad stuff going on in the world that we don't know because it doesn't generate views or profit for the news media.

And from here I could keep going on to make more and more statements, but you get the idea. However, with how things are in America as they are currently, I don't see too many people being willing to die for another race.

Plus, once you put space travel into the equation, well, broadcasts and news reporting becomes a little less frequent, so who knows if we'd revert back to earlier days of colonization or not.


Also, someone brought up The Last Samurai, which I have always linked to Shogun (which I've never fully read or seen but has similar concepts). Japan, though, was sort of an interesting real world example where a nation's closing itself off put it technologically behind the rest of the world, and in a desperate attempt to keep up and be a major military power they started abandoning a lot of their traditions. It's a twist on an old fiction, except it happened in real life.


I do also wonder if making protagonists white by default is really a bad thing. Whenever I come up with a story of some sort it's what I do, but that's because I don't even think about it. I'm not black, I'm not Asian, I'm just plain white boy. Maybe it's just that other nationalities aren't joining in on the band wagon? Or something else? Yet another topic that could go on for pages of pages of discussion (and let's face it, well beyond the education of most of this forum's members).

 

[UtopiaV1]

Great article as always Bob, fantastic reading. And also, i agree, that 'dances with smurfs' thing is so worn out and stupid i think people miss the fact that it was made in jest, not as a serious criticism. It's a shame that south park's social-sometimes-philosophical examination on human condition is watched mostly by douchebags for whom the point goes straight over their collective heads.

Can't wait to see this film tho. I'm a technology nut, so really i'm only going to see the latest technology hollywood is implementing in CG these days (which is why i really like Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, for which people give me weird looks...). But thankyou for the analysis on the actual story/themes/tropes within the film, a very though examination.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Feel like you've heard Avatar's story before? You don't know the half of it.

Ok...

I'm going to put out a feeler here.

Could this story be equally placed to the Declaration of Independence?

Let's face it, the basic story of Race A gets transported to new world, makes friends with Race B and then fights against Race A could be quite easily seen as that...

And I know the irony of saying that from a Race A to a Race B.

Or could we also say the Roman occupation of England, or...most touchy-feely films back to Ferngully.

 

[paragon1]

Oh white guilt, will you ever cease to amuse me and bum me out at the same time?

I find I frequently have to tell myself, over and over again, that "I didn't do it. Not my fault. Just remember to not be a dick to people because they're different, and everything will be fine."

 

[snuflufagus]

As for the "white man saves the natives" story evolution, there's something similar but not quite like that in U.S. history.

Twice (that I can think of) civilized men have allied with and fought bravely alongside different native people, to the survival, if only temporary, of said native peoples.

The first occurred in the south with the Seminole Indians - black men who escaped slavery often found themselves joining local tribes and bringing agricultural technology, new ideas, and, for lack of a better word, new blood to the tribes, with many of them advancing to lead war bands and to become chieftains themselves against their former owners. As all Marines are NOT taught (the Corps only teaches us that we went south to kill the Indians) we lost the war and many tribes got to keep their land.

The second occurred in the Philippines shortly after the Spanish-American War. We had seized the Philippines from Spain and were in the process of killing lots of people in Luzon to secure our position when, once again, some black men (conscripted and sent to fight) left our side to join the natives against us. One man even gained some notoriety in fighting his former masters, and if I remember correctly, his surname is Fagan. This one did not work out quite so happily since we had more of a technological edge (gun lovers will know this is when the M1911 came into existence) and better naval support.

But in both cases, it is interesting to note that it's not often white men who will turn and fight for the locals, although you can certainly find historical cases of white frontiersmen fighting the good fight, but rather those men who are most disenfranchised from the cause of the colonizing nation who develop the kind of moral bravery that we now sing of.

 

[doctorwhofan]

My Great Great Great Grandmother walked the Trail of Tears... and my Grandfather was so shamed to be native American that he destroyed all pictures with any family member dressed as an Native American. My mother foundthis out when she was doing genological research on my Dad's side of the family.

Technically speaking: I am 1/16 Native AMerican, and the rest is Scottish, English and German...every one there before the Revolutionary War and I am sure there was a slave owner in the mix. As for "shoulda fought harder," comment, little hard when what is fair play and civilized to you, is not the same of others. I won't even get into the inbalance of weaponary and equipment.

Do I condon the treatment of Native Americans in the past? no. BUt it is the past and it should NEVER be forgot. Besides, the Indians are making sure the desenants of those who got ran off their land are paying it back with gambling. Natives that have problems now? Ask the Alaskian and Hawai'ian...they didn't get the same deal.

This is all neither here or there. TO the OP...I thought the plot looked familiar... and Mr. Costner and Mr. Greene are far better actors.

 

[Ericb]

Sure... just keep telling yourself that.

So you're saying you can comfortably judge me without ever having met me? Or are you saying white people are uniquely pre-disposed to racism? After spending so much time viewing movies are you suddenly taking a turn as a projectionist?

Good as always, up until that last line, which seemed to engage in the very sort of sloppy thinking you'd just so eloquently demolished.

Although I laughed at the final line in Bob's article, I get Shamus's (Shamuses) reaction to it.

Though I don't think Bob meant to say that caucasians have a genetic tendency to be racist, there's definetely something to say about how the ratio between white-man-turned-native hero and the native-freedom-fighter one is quite disproportionate.

 

[Jenx]

What I wonna know is why do I suddenly have to feel bad for being white? Because some other white people, long ago, did bad things and because some white people are doing bad things now? What the fuck did *I* do that I should feel guilty of...anything?

(Hell I'm not even from the States. So no "lol indians" argument works either)

 

[standokan]

well funny story, avatar didn't copy anything, james cameron already had the script of avatar before making the titanic, so it ain't no copy of anything, its the other way around, it has been copied (no not really really copied because nobody knew 'bout the script exapt james cameron and is film crew of 15 years back ,but still)

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

in this case, mecha-piloting space marines versus blue-skinned aliens
"Ah, see? I'd never be with those mean, colonizing, indigenous-displacing bad guys... I'd be that one guy who fights with the natives!"

Wait, "mecha-piloting"?

Yeah, screw the natives. I'm siding with the team that gets mechs.

 

[kementari]

While this is an insightful read, I'm kind of surprised you didn't at least touch on the OTHER obvious-as-hell-from-the-trailers "message" Avatar is bringing to the table with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer. High-tech, almost exclusively white soldiers, with an equal mixing of Hollywood and Southern accents, raping a foreign land full of people who don't look like them for its energy source - what evil people, I'm sure glad I'm not one of them! Or, oh, wait...

One-sided hyperbolic allegory for a political dead horse the American public has almost totally lost interest in: the reason I'll be Netflixing Avatar, if I bother to see it at all.

By the way, FernGully.

 

[Doug]

An interesting read; It is something of a dark spot in my country's history, the whole colonial thing. Even though we were the first major power to outlaw slavery, we maintained a vast network of colonies up to the 21th century. Although I will add that we were probably no worse that the native despots who ruled before us.

Btw, on the subject of native Americans in fiction/sci-fi, Bob, you might be interested in the "Vampire Earth" series. Its a story of the human armies of Earth trying to take back a planet invaded by an alien species - and the main character is native-American. Whilst I wouldn't say their great novels, on par with the greats of sci-fi (like Dune, for example), there an enjoyable read and good books.

 

[G1eet]

Just finished seeing it.

I think "deliciously terrible" sums up my opinion. The plot is nothing but formulaic and predictable, but it makes for great watching. If I had chosen to take a toke, like my friends, my experience could have been enhanced tenfold.

 

[Kollega]

Sure... just keep telling yourself that.

So you're saying you can comfortably judge me without ever having met me? Or are you saying white people are uniquely pre-disposed to racism? After spending so much time viewing movies are you suddenly taking a turn as a projectionist?

Good as always, up until that last line, which seemed to engage in the very sort of sloppy thinking you'd just so eloquently demolished.

EDIT: After re-reading my own comment: Wow. This came off as WAY more snarky than I intended. I was just trying to do a funny little, "NO U!" for the ending. I loved the article, much love, etc.

Yeah, QFT. Would i side with land-grabbing imperialists or blue vaguely catlike aliens? Aliens, of course. And not only because of moral side. I like both cats and aliens - when there's cat-aliens, sign me up! Plus, i don't like greedy douchebags even when racism isn't involved.


In short, that i'm of Caucasian descent does not mean i am, as Yahtzee put it, a greedy exploitative fuck.

 

[Falseprophet]

See, normally stories with tree-hugging, "we must love and respect every living creature on the planet" protagonists rub me the wrong way. It oversimplifies the real belief systems of indigenous peoples and glosses over their shortcomings at the same time. I like my anti-biotics, heated house, running water and reliable food supply, thank you very much. And clearly the Na'vi have shortcomings. They're being threatened by offworld invaders, and the clans can't unite against the threat unless somebody exploits one of their ancient legends first? Does This Remind You Of Anything?

In this case, though, the Na'vi can neurologically interface with all the lifeforms on their planet. They can transfer their memories and experiences into trees, and access them at a later point. That means the trees are more than just their homes or a symbolic representation of their goddess. The trees are their libraries, archives, museums, and classrooms. So the destruction of their environment isn't just attacking the symbols of their culture--it's attacking their actual culture. The mining company is perpetrating a crime equal to burning down the Library of Alexandria. So who are the savage rapacious Visigoths in this scenario? (Yes, I'm aware I'm mixing my history here.)