Avatar Ideological Analysis

I. Marxism Theory

Ideology itself represents the "production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness," all that "men say, imagine, conceive," and include such things as "politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc.. Ideology functions as

the superstructure of a civilization: the conventions and culture that make up the dominant ideas of a society. The "ruling ideas" of a given epoch are, however, those of the ruling class: "The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of their dominance". Humankind's history fundamentally is a struggle between social classes. The productive capacity of society is the foundation of society, and as this capacity increases over time the social relations of production, class relations, evolve through this struggle of the classes and pass through definite stages (primitive communism, slavery, feudalism, and capitalism). The legal, political, ideological and other aspects of society are derived from these production relations as is the consciousness of the individuals of which the society is composed.

II.

Synopsis of Avatar

In the year 2154, a big corporation is mining on the distant world called Pandora. Because humans can't breathe on Pandora, scientists have developed clones of the natives of the planet called avatars from hybrid alien and human DNA which are possessed by human controllers. The humans consciousness scientifically incarnates a Navi body, to infiltrate the native population in order to lure them to relocate from their
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sacred territory. The avatars are designed to look like the native people of Pandora, the Na'vi, who are blue, ten feet tall, and have tails.

Crippled Marine veteran Jake Sully is called in after the death of his brother to operate the avatar designed for his twin because his DNA will match and allow him to run the avatar. In this form, he can walk again. He is sent out with an expedition to explore the strange world of Pandora. In his avatar form, he gets lost and his life is saved by Neytiri, who introduces him to the local Na'vi clan.

In avatar form, Jake looks like one of the Na'vi and they begin to accept him. The Na'vi are considered primitive, but they have a strong bond with nature and environment. Sully is first sent to learn their ways, but is soon asked to try to convince the Na'vi to leave their home, so the company can plunder the precious mineral deposit that lies beneath their sacred tree. Sully is soon torn between his duty and his growing respect for the Na'vi and his love for Neytiri. Sullys loyalties change when he is introduced to a different culture, grows to understand and respect that culture, and falls in love. And now, he must make a choice whether to carry out his orders or protect the native people of Pandora whom he learned to love and care for. III. Analysis of the film using the theory of Marxism

The age-old tale of an indigenous tribe being exploited because they live on land that contains desirable resources wanted by a more powerful civilization is hardly a new concept. This was just restated in the movie Avatar. The movie contrasts the humans

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with the Navi, who, even in hunting for food, consider themselves one with the creatures they hunt. There are Navi versions of prayer and worship throughout the movie, which are presented as if theyre something noble and beautiful. In contrast, the humans in the film are mostly driven by greed and materialism with their pursuit for money and power. The good humans come to have great respect for the deity worshipped by the Navi, including the concept of being one with the trees and animals. The bad humans want to destroy the sacred site where the Navi worship their false goddess. The humans in Avatar are all presented as unbelievers. Its as if humans have no God while every Navi worships Eywa the goddess. The movie then wants to show us that the Navi are the good yet oppressed people, while humans are the bad capitalist who were all moneydriven. In the film, a dying earth represents a Western influence characterized as polluting, all-consuming, and ultimately self-destructive. The military serves as the muscle behind the havoc of amoral capitalist corporate greed. Therefore, we can say that the movie has an anti-capitalist worldview. The film teaches us that the only choice the natives have is to be saved by the human beings or to be destroyed by them. In other words, they can choose either to be the victim of imperialist and capitalist reality, or to play their allotted role in the humans fantasy. Human society is portrayed as reliant on primitives for its salvation, and the primitives are hopelessly dependent on the colonialists as saviors.

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Avatar Ideological Analysis

Marx argues that in capitalist society, an economic minority (the Humans) dominates and exploits an economic majority (the Navi). Marx argues that capitalism is exploitative, specifically the way in which unpaid labor is extracted from the working class. In the films case, the Navi can be considered as the proletariats because they were commoditized by the humans, wanting to create an arrangement of transitory enslavement and subordination among them. The humans want to colonize Pandora in order to attain the mineral deposits which will bring them money, not thinking about the welfare of the primitives living there. The film poses to be providing fullness for the revolutionary angst of the oppressed, and a story of human imperialist attack on a rich land of aliens, and their attempt to plunder the valuable mineral resources by using sneaky strategies. The theme of the movie is somewhat anti-colonialism, antiimperialism, and anti-capitalism. At a socio-political level, one may say that Avatar includes a highly-crafted anti-capitalist message.

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Reference: Felluga, Dino. "Modules on Marx: On Ideology." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Date July 2, 2002. Purdue U September 24, 2010.

http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/marxism/modules/marxideology.html David C. Ward. Does Avatars Message of I See You Enlighten or Blind? April 22, 2010. Purdue U September 24, 2010. http://www.jashow.org

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