‘Avatar’: Mysticism Masquerades As Militancy

James Cameron’s new movie Avatar is on its way to becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time. In many ways, the content of the movie is secondary. In a capitalist society it is perfectly acceptable for someone to spend $500 million making a movie that will bring in many billions of dollars, while billions of workers suffer every day. The content of the movie is important, however. The movie clearly takes place in an advanced imperialist society. A precious natural resource called unobtanium has been discovered on Pandora where the Na’vi live and the U.S. Marines attack the Na’vi for the profit of a U.S. company. Replace the Na’vi with Iraqi and Afghan workers and unobtanium with oil and the movie would be about contemporary U.S. imperialism.

Avatar has many aspects that PLP members and friends can use to further the discussion: The film depicts soldiers who turn the guns around and fight against their commanders. Importantly, however, this is not a mass, military-wide movement. Only two soldiers rebel and they make no effort to recruit other soldiers to their principled fight.  One of these two soldiers is a powerful Latina character and there is an anti-sexist message. The main female Na’vi character is a warrior who fights side-by-side with her male partner.

Toward the climax of the movie the army attacks the natives with their full force, an attack that is provoked by the unification of multiple Na’vi tribes. On screen and in real life, the unity of workers is what scares the bosses more than anything. The movie also demonstrates the futility of pacifism. The military is relentless and brutal and only by actively fighting back do the Na’vi have any hope for victory.

The movie is draped in a mysticism that gives the movie an overall pro-religious feel. There is a “Great Spirit” that connects all of the living things on Pandora. In the end, the inhabitants of Pandora rely on this Spirit to overcome the imperialist army. In other words, it is religion, not the collective might of the Na’vi that make the difference. Religion, however, is a pacifying not a liberating force for the working class. Only a militant working class, organized around communist dialectical principles, can guarantee it’s own freedom.