Avatar and The Reality of Sustainability

I just finished seeing James Cameron’s new blockbuster movie Avatar, an amazing piece of film making that imagines what a world and culture based completely on sustainable living would be like.

The story takes place 150 years or so in the future on a planet called Pandora, a forested utopia populated by a humanoid species called the Na’vi, as well as a variety of exotic and often luminescent flora and fauna, all living in a harmonious balance. Of planet earth, Cameron said recently that “Science is unable to keep up with our industrial society. We are destroying species faster than we can classify them.” This movie seems designed to show what we are missing out on. It is a beautiful vision to behold (especially in IMAX 3D).

Several reviewers have pointed out that the Na’vi culture and way of life bear a strong resemblance to those of many Native American tribes and other indigenous peoples. And just as Europeans did in the new world, the earth folks show up on Pandora to mine a rare ore, and consider everything else ready to be bulldozed, blasted, or relocated. Where the Na’vi see abundance, the earthlings see only a hostile world to be exploited and tamed.

The main character – a former Marine named Jake – is sent to Pandora to participate in a science project to learn about the Na’vi by literally going native: he controls a cloned body and becomes one. Jake and a few other non-conformist humans on Pandora (generally the scientists) learn to appreciate and are eventually forced to defend the Na’vi and their way of life. It is a simple good vs evil tale, with natives, intellectuals, and greens on one side, and a profit-driven military-industrial complex on the other.

If only real life were so unambiguous! The obvious irony of the storyline is that the only way humans learn about the Na’vi’s low-tech and ecologically balanced lifestyle is by space travel, cloning, and sophisticated neural networking. The irony of the film itself is that Cameron had to lean entirely on new technologies to create and deliver it. Like most of us, Cameron and his hero long for Eden even as they takes another bite from the forbidden fruit. The greatest potential failure for the sustainability/green movement is ignoring both the benefits and irreversibility of progress. Whether it is traveling by air to learn more about our planet or negotiate a climate treaty, making crops more productive, or advances is health and wellness, there seems to be no going back.

I suppose it’s all about balance. If modern man can’t live like the Na’vi, at least we can recognize when we have thrown our own world and lives too far out of balance. Not surprisingly, there is a better word in the Hopi language to describe this than there is in English: Koyaanisqatsi.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Olivia L.

8:02PM PDT on Mar 12, 2012

True environmentalism is not about rules (e.g. Recycle, turn the thermostat up, get a hybrid, buy Energy Star appliances). These are good things to do, but they ideally come from a love of the Earth and its beauty. As a Christian I believe that God did not want humans to exploit the Earth greedily and carelessly. I believe the verse about ruling over the Earth has been tragically misinterpreted. Good rulers take care of what they have dominion over.

send a green star

Loesje v.

5:45AM PST on Mar 9, 2010

Avatar sounds is great movie but I have never seen it yet.

6:27AM PST on Feb 11, 2010

This is the best movie I have ever seen !. The whole cinema audience clapped when it finished. What I found so moving is that it demonstrated a deep `emotional' connection between the Na'vi and their planet. This goes far beyond recycling and using `sustainable' products. The Na'vi actually tuned into the frequency of their planet, the heartbeat of their `Mother.' They didn't need any laws to tell them how to be `green'. In fact, I think that the `green' movement has become a fashion, where not everything labelled `green' makes a connection to the planet from the heart, quite to the contrary at times. This is a great pity and missing the point completely. In all our `green' thinking we have forgotten what matters most - to understand that everything is connected by an energy from within the earth and surrounding our planet. Our own energy is connected to Mother Earth. In fact, every mineral we find in the earth is found in the human body at the same ratio! We ARE the children of Mother Earth.THIS IS REALITY right now and right here on our own planet and this is what Avatar reminds me of.

My own research into Schumann Resonance has taught me just that. My website www.earthbreathing.co.uk gives further explanation. We are destroying Mother Earth with manmade frequencies which are drowning out her own. We are actually destroying her `energy field' and killing ourselves and Nature in the process. The disappearance of bees is no coincidence and demonstrates this clearly.The g

Jane S.

10:57AM PST on Feb 7, 2010

Namaste' All,

In a word ~ YES!

IN JOY,
Jalus

Barbara B.

6:36PM PST on Feb 1, 2010

I have been sitting here for a couple of weeks now just waiting for all the hoop-de-la to get over with about this movie.....What this shows us is means for others to try and take over self suffient peoples society with violence. This puts us humans right back in the neanderthal ways.....

Jewels S.

12:53PM PST on Jan 19, 2010

I usually don't go to the movies, I wait and watch on video but I think I will go see this one. My kitten keeps attacking 13 yr old cat. Got any tips on how to get him to stop Leia?

Past Member .

7:55AM PST on Jan 17, 2010

great movie. lets try to save our resources so we don;t end up like those humans.

Leia H.

4:55PM PST on Jan 13, 2010

I'd like to address the concept of the exploiting of animals as discussed elsewhere in here. The flying creatures in particular. In the world I wrote about 30 years ago there existed a similar such bonding with one's steed, done entirely through telepathy and chemistry between steed and rider, no fighting or forcing to bond involved, (and the steed also flew). Perhaps such a thing can be real if more than one fantasy writer can "see" it. Another similarity was that the Na'vi, like the people I envisioned (except they were differently hued), looked a lot like cats-of which I have seven, (and they all get along better than seven humans would- no fighting, no racism like "He's orange so we won't play with him"). I also found it interesting that the bonding was done through a neural network in the Na'vi hair braid, which reminded me of something a Native American elder once shared with me about "feeling" with the ends of the hair, and why one braid is better than two. Just some very interesting similarities here. I think it might be time for proud "westerners" to pay attention to some of the ideas offered by indigenous people. If we open our minds and hearts to the threads of spirit that connect us all, perhaps we may have a chance to survive. If we do survive, we may even be able to get along with each other as well as my seven cats do. If CATS can get along, I think we may just be able to get along too as long as we keep our claws in and not point them at each other!

4:09PM PST on Jan 13, 2010

A beautiful and inspiring movie to be sure! It reminded me of a similar paradise world I envisioned as I wrote an epic novel 30 years ago, which I haven't tried to publish yet (it's still in pencil!). Thanks to James Cameron, for introducing this beautiful world to the people of Earth! Now, are we going to learn from this movie or not? If we fail to see the reflection of ourselves mirrored in this timely and wonderful movie (as the military obedient followers of the stripey-haired commander), is there any hope for humanity? Are we going to let the military-industrial complex, supported by the conservative political movement, continue to violently and mindlessly rape our planet? Where will any survivors go after they're done? Will the survivors even want to go on living in a world run by them? Instead, I would like to see an enlightened, harmonious, and self-sustaining society such as I wrote about and what James Cameron sees in Pandora evolve on Earth: A world with no greed, no lies, no power-mongering and where all people are free. People can work together to create such a paradise if they can only believe it's possible. But no giving up allowed! It takes persistence and strong determination, spine, strength, and guts like the conservative movement has, to build. The world I imagined did have an advanced technology used benevolently for the good of all. And it did not run on the concept of money. We need to fix our addiction to money and power before we can create Paradise.

Pat M.

9:32PM PST on Jan 12, 2010

I am greatly looking forward to seeing it