Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources: Ethiopia retracted from previously reached agreements within the framework of the negotiating process on the Renaissance Dam.
Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation: The tripartite ministerial meeting regarding the Renaissance Dam did not achieve progress.
Gaza Ministry of Health: 6 Palestinians wounded by IOF fire east of Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: A batch of incendiary balloons were launched towards settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
Turkey's Defense Ministry: 5 Kurdistan Workers Party members killed in an airstrike in northern Iraq.
The Iranian Intelligence Ministry says its forces raided several terrorist hideouts in Tehran and Western Azerbaijan and arrested 28 elements.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry says the terror attacks were aimed at undermining Iran's state security and showing Iran as a destabilized nation.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry says it foiled a terrorist plot being planned for Tehran, with all the culprits getting arrested.
Iranian Defense Ministry says has missiles designed with the intention of striking the Israeli occupation, namely the Hajj Qassem Soleimani missile.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The Israeli occupation forces raided Birzeit University and arrested three young men in its vicinity.

Native Americans call to boycott Avatar over cultural appropriation

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Dazed
  • 23 Dec 2022 23:17

The movie which came out on December 6 in the UK and December 18 in the US reported profits of almost $400 million internationally.

  • Native Americans call to boycott Avatar over cultural appropriation
    Native Americans call to boycott Avatar over cultural appropriation

Native Americans and other Indigenous groups are calling for a boycott of the recently released movie of Avatar: The way of the water which features blue-skinned aliens over claims that the film is an attempt to whitewash colonialism.

Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water

Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film. Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner to satisfy some 🏳 man's savior complex.
No more Blueface!
Lakota people are powerful! pic.twitter.com/NmHVU565u3

— 🌽Asdzáá Tłʼéé honaaʼéí🌽(She/Her)🌽 (@asdza_tlehonaei) December 18, 2022

The movie which came out on December 6 in the UK and December 18 in the US reported profits of almost $400 million internationally.

But several critics, including Indigenous and Native American activists, have been calling for a total ban on the movie, which they argue contains elements of cultural appropriation.  

Some of the parallels that have already been noticed include associating human marine characters in the movie with real-life colonizers. 

Read more: Mexican 'Black Panther' star is in quest of fighting racism at home

In the movie, after humans had depleted all of Earth's resources, they move to colonize the Na'vi's home planet of Pandora to exploit its natural resources. The Na'vi's succeed in warding off humans after Jake, a human falls in love with Neytiri, a female Na'vi.

In The Way of Water, the story takes place a decade after the first film, with events similar to the first sequel, where humans clash with Na'vi's again and Jake is once again the movie's hero.

Related News

Dakota tribe to reclaim Minnesota land after 160 years

523 US schools forced Native American children to assimilate

So parallels are traced between humans and colonizers, and the Na'vi with indigenous peoples - although Cameron has previously said that the film is "a science fiction retelling of the history of North and South America in the early colonial period."

"The Avatar films are increasingly harmful, as they pretend to be anti-colonial but simultaneously uphold the same colonial narratives," Dr. Autumn Asher BlackDeer, 28, from the Southern Cheyenne Nation, told Dazed magazine. "The underlying storyline still positions Indigenous communities (like the Na’vi) as these primitive and uncivilized communities. Thus, it justifies colonialism in order to ‘bring progress’ to help the poor Natives."

"[Avatar] presents colonization as a noble and heroic deed – like how Jake is another white savior who ‘becomes Native’ to save the day… it’s a colonial fantasy,” Dr. BlackDeer added. "Both movies show that non-Natives can infiltrate our communities, speak over us, and try to make us play victim so we’ll see white people as our only hope. That’s colonial bullshit."

Read more: Almost 50% British youth afraid to dispute White privilege

It was further revealed that James Cameron had himself a narrow understanding of colonialism. In 2010, while describing his encounter with indigenous peoples in the Amazon, he said in an interview "I felt like I was 130 years back in time watching what the Lakota Sioux might have been saying at a point when they were being pushed and they were being killed and they were being asked to displace and they were being given some form of compensation."

"This was a driving force for me in the writing of Avatar – I couldn't help but think that if they [the Lakota Sioux] had had a time-window and they could see the future… and they could see their kids committing suicide at the highest suicide rates in the nation… because they were hopeless and they were a dead-end society – which is what is happening now – they would have fought a lot harder," he added.

"My Lakota relatives were one of the most powerful people the United States came across. They did fight. They won," Yué Begay, who is a Navajo artist and co-chair of Indigenous Pride Los Angeles, wrote in an open letter. "Their ancestors would be proud of their descendants for thriving, living, and just existing with their culture intact. But you do not show that in your films. Instead, you choose to show or glorify colonialism."

"James Cameron is guilty of [favoring] non-Indigenous folks to play Na’vi, an alien race based on many Indigenous cultures he [appropriated] from," she added. "This is a form of racist caricature known as ‘Blueface’ [...] where a creator appropriates many non-white cultures, blends them together indiscriminately or blatantly and has white people play or voice them using fiction as a medium to necessitate and validate their worldbuilding."

"Indigenous people know what’s best for our communities, we can tell our own stories,” Dr BlackDeer said. "We don't need some ole racist Jim telling his version of colonialism."

Read more: Indigenous America: The US kills its victim and walks in its funeral

  • Native Americans
  • Racism
  • Avatar
  • Colonialism

Most Read

Ukrainian soldiers ride an APC on the front line near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on June 5, 2023 (AP)

US sees Ukrainian army demoralized, no chance to win: Seymour Hersh

  • Europe
  • 21 Sep 2023
Russia destroyed leopard tank in Ukraine with fully-German crew

Russia destroyed leopard tank in Ukraine with fully-German crew

  • Europe
  • 23 Sep 2023
Blinken’s ‘Variable Geometry’ for a New Cold War

Blinken’s ‘Variable Geometry’ for a New Cold War

  • Analysis
  • 24 Sep 2023
British mercenary in Ukraine killed by another Brit

British mercenary in Ukraine killed by another Brit

  • Europe
  • 18 Sep 2023

Coverage

All
Morocco & Libya Disasters

Read Next

All
1982 Beirut welcomes invaders with 3 bullets and a cup of coffee
MENA

1982 Beirut welcomes invaders with 3 bullets and a cup of coffee

The effects of the Israeli occupation forces' raid on an office affiliated with the Student Council of Birzeit University were reported on September 24, 2023. by Palestinian media.
Palestine

IOF start arrest campaign targeting Birzeit University Student Council

French Barkhane Air Force mechanics maintain a Mirage 2000 on the Niamey, Niger base on June 5, 2021 (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
Africa

France to withdraw ambassador and troops from Niger: Macron

This picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, shows the "Martyr Hajj Qassem" missile in an undisclosed location in Iran (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)
Politics

Iran possesses missiles designed to target 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS