I see the white savior and noble/exotic savage tropes in the film from two perspectives - first, as a bit of a ‘necessary evil’ on Cameron’s part to fit in or appeal to audiences and the industry, as well as to actually communicate the narrative in a coherent fashion, and secondly as an actual subversion of what those tropes typically present as.
At its core, Avatar as a franchise is essentially an anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist story. I feel as though the ‘white savior’ criticism doesn’t fully engage with how Jake as a character is presented in the film. From a narrative standpoint, it’s necessary to have the main character be someone from the outside, otherwise it would be much more difficult to introduce Pandora and the Na’vi in a way that makes sense. One criticism I’ve seen is that Jake is a bland character, but it seems to me that this is actually sort of the point - he serves as a vehicle for the audience to experience the story. On the other hand, it’s clear that Jake isn’t invested in the project that’s taking place on Pandora - he’s already alienated at the start, and takes the job basically as an escape from the horrors of living on Earth.
It also doesn’t follow the typical formula of the ‘white savior’ because, in some sense, Jake isn’t an outsider that comes to the aid of the Na’vi through some sense of righteousness or morality and retains his original identity in that conflict… By the end of the story, Jake has actually rejected his former humanity (whiteness, in the metaphor) entirely, obviously something that isn’t possible in the real world, but that’s where the narrative goes. It’s addressed directly in the film in the video log montage as he describes the shift in feeling like his time with the Na’vi is the real world and his time as a human is the dream.
As for the whole ‘noble savage’ thing, I feel like Cameron did as well as he could have, both with constructing the Na’vi from a variety of influences and, well, they’re the good guys, so of course they have to be ‘noble’ in some sense.
i’m trying to think of other white savior tropes that maintain their whiteness, but I agree it seems these recent films definitely make a conscious objection to whiteness, as best as they allow at least.
on the other hand, we have Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now absolutely running the trope ragged with the maniacal cult leader, denying the agency, intelligence and cultural respect of native people to even consider taking a leader like that
and perhaps an indigenous reclaiming, and probably the best “white dude escapes to the jungle and there are consequences” fictional work i’ve known? Embrace of the Serpent (2015)
I see the white savior and noble/exotic savage tropes in the film from two perspectives - first, as a bit of a ‘necessary evil’ on Cameron’s part to fit in or appeal to audiences and the industry, as well as to actually communicate the narrative in a coherent fashion, and secondly as an actual subversion of what those tropes typically present as.
At its core, Avatar as a franchise is essentially an anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist story. I feel as though the ‘white savior’ criticism doesn’t fully engage with how Jake as a character is presented in the film. From a narrative standpoint, it’s necessary to have the main character be someone from the outside, otherwise it would be much more difficult to introduce Pandora and the Na’vi in a way that makes sense. One criticism I’ve seen is that Jake is a bland character, but it seems to me that this is actually sort of the point - he serves as a vehicle for the audience to experience the story. On the other hand, it’s clear that Jake isn’t invested in the project that’s taking place on Pandora - he’s already alienated at the start, and takes the job basically as an escape from the horrors of living on Earth.
It also doesn’t follow the typical formula of the ‘white savior’ because, in some sense, Jake isn’t an outsider that comes to the aid of the Na’vi through some sense of righteousness or morality and retains his original identity in that conflict… By the end of the story, Jake has actually rejected his former humanity (whiteness, in the metaphor) entirely, obviously something that isn’t possible in the real world, but that’s where the narrative goes. It’s addressed directly in the film in the video log montage as he describes the shift in feeling like his time with the Na’vi is the real world and his time as a human is the dream.
As for the whole ‘noble savage’ thing, I feel like Cameron did as well as he could have, both with constructing the Na’vi from a variety of influences and, well, they’re the good guys, so of course they have to be ‘noble’ in some sense.
i’m trying to think of other white savior tropes that maintain their whiteness, but I agree it seems these recent films definitely make a conscious objection to whiteness, as best as they allow at least.
on the other hand, we have Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now absolutely running the trope ragged with the maniacal cult leader, denying the agency, intelligence and cultural respect of native people to even consider taking a leader like that
and perhaps an indigenous reclaiming, and probably the best “white dude escapes to the jungle and there are consequences” fictional work i’ve known? Embrace of the Serpent (2015)