I don’t understand how this is exactly military propaganda either, but I do see an argument for dichitomy in it.
Imagine living in the middle ages and you crave to read a book that goes against feudalism, especially the theocratic kind, because you know that the system is corrupt but you can’t quite put your finger on it how or offer an alternative, so you’re searching an answer and then you finally find a book that criticizes Christianity, the dominant religion of your area. Hurray! And what does the book contain? Why a praise for a satanic society of course, because ‘that’s what anti-feudalism is all about when you are against a system where the most military crafty person is being regarded as the one sent by god to rule over you.’
In this story, the Na’vi are portrayed as naïve. It’s in the name.
Their society isn’t better in terms of economics without resorting to imperialism, but that they’re “more in contact with nature”, by having a more primitive society.
But because they’re more primitive, they need a big strong human man to protect them and the hottest hottie will fall head over heels for him, bonus points if she previously was the strongest warrior’s girlfriend and he’ll have to endure from sidelines how he gets cuckolded by our insert-All-Anglo-American hero (not sure if that happens in Avatar, I’ve only seen #2)
Yes, Avatar is critized for just retreading the Pocahontas storyline. But it’s a story after all, a bit of narratization is needed. As for the fact that they need the ‘big strong human to protect them’, yes, that is woven into the story too. Jake has both insider knowledge and intel. He not only knows what the human military contractor is going to do, he also knows the motivations behind their action, how far they are willing to go and what it will take to stop them. As such, his input is crucial to rally the tribes and get nature on his side. Only with the help of Grace’s memories is he able to rally Eywa to their side.
I don’t understand how this is exactly military propaganda either, but I do see an argument for dichitomy in it.
Imagine living in the middle ages and you crave to read a book that goes against feudalism, especially the theocratic kind, because you know that the system is corrupt but you can’t quite put your finger on it how or offer an alternative, so you’re searching an answer and then you finally find a book that criticizes Christianity, the dominant religion of your area. Hurray! And what does the book contain? Why a praise for a satanic society of course, because ‘that’s what anti-feudalism is all about when you are against a system where the most military crafty person is being regarded as the one sent by god to rule over you.’
In this story, the Na’vi are portrayed as naïve. It’s in the name.
Their society isn’t better in terms of economics without resorting to imperialism, but that they’re “more in contact with nature”, by having a more primitive society.
But because they’re more primitive, they need a big strong human man to protect them and the hottest hottie will fall head over heels for him, bonus points if she previously was the strongest warrior’s girlfriend and he’ll have to endure from sidelines how he gets cuckolded by our insert-All-Anglo-American hero (not sure if that happens in Avatar, I’ve only seen #2)
Yes, Avatar is critized for just retreading the Pocahontas storyline. But it’s a story after all, a bit of narratization is needed. As for the fact that they need the ‘big strong human to protect them’, yes, that is woven into the story too. Jake has both insider knowledge and intel. He not only knows what the human military contractor is going to do, he also knows the motivations behind their action, how far they are willing to go and what it will take to stop them. As such, his input is crucial to rally the tribes and get nature on his side. Only with the help of Grace’s memories is he able to rally Eywa to their side.