Most of us have heard about “Avatar,” the movie that practically made a new genre of movies. It is a wonder how writer and director James Cameron was able to create such an original thrilling and out-of- this-world experience. Or is it? Although I was not able to watch the movie in 3-D, I still found “Avatar’s” effects deserving to be praised as amazing. After watching it three weeks ago, I couldn’t stop telling my friends how they too should watch it. Many of those I tried to convince told me that it’s not their kind of movie but I tried my hardest to convince them. A week after I watched it, I got a phone call from my good friend Mary, who recently moved all the way in the Midwest. As we were trying to catch up, we started talking about “Avatar.” I asked her if she had seen it yet and she replied with an awkward “yes.” I then again rambled about how great I though it was, but she did not seem to agree. I asked her what she thought of the movie and I was surprised at her reply. She brought to my attention something I had totally missed and perhaps many of you did too. She said the effects were great but the story line was just like the Disney movie “Pocahontas.” I stopped and thought, no way! But we further discussed it and here I am forced to reveal it to everyone else. In “Avatar,” Jake Sully and the other American scientists and soldiers pursued Pandora for its treasures. They believed that there was some kind of precious material and they wanted to mine the land. If you look at “Pocahontas,” the Englishmen who went to the Indians’ land went there in search for gold, and just the same they wanted to mine throughout the land. In “Avatar,” the locals known as the Na’vi are very in touch with nature, believed that everything was connected and would not let outsiders harm their land. In the process they denied every hearing about the precious material found in Pandora. Looking back at “Pocahontas,” the Indians were also in touch with nature and just as lyrics of the song “Colors of the Wind,” from the “Pocahontas” original sound track says, “The rainstorm and the river are my brothers. The heron and the otter are my friends, and we are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends.” They believed that all life on Earth is connected. Also, in “Pocahontas” the natives denied the presence of gold in their land, as they had no clue to its presence and value. Moving onto another similarity, as “Avatar’s” leading female Na’vi, Neytiri meets Jake Sully and introduces him to Pandora. She shows him how she communicates with their mother nature they call Eiwa by connecting herself to one of the trees in the forest. These events can also be found in “Pocahontas,” where lead character Pocahontas meets Englishman John Smith, shows him around the forest and introduces him to Grandma Willow, who happens to be a tree.
In both movies the locals, Neytiri and Pocahontas, and the invaders or explorers Jake Sully and John Smith, despite a sour first meeting, eventually fall in love with their respective counterparts. So much for the spoiler from my friend Mary’s keen observation that also spoiled her own “Avatar” viewing. It is quite amazing how these two movies are so alike. It makes me rethink “Avatar’s” originality, if Cameron ever realized the similarities, or if he subconsciously used the same storyline and was not aware of it. I guess it’s just too hard to come up with something original, especially with the stories already engraved in our culture. The chances are most novels, movies, and stories of all sorts are one way or another similar to another work.
By Anna Biaritz Roldan
Opinion Editor
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