“It’s not up to me”: James Cameron Said His ‘White Privilege’ is Why He Won’t Even Defend Himself after Avatar 2 Racism Controversy
James Cameron’s billion-dollar baby which is the Avatar series kicked off back in 2009 with the visually stunning epic that formed the first iteration. Featuring the initial attack of human-beings on the naturally-blessed planet Pandora in the year 2154, Cameron has often described his epic creation as a historical retelling of North and South America in the early colonial period.
However, with the release of its 2022 sequel, The Way of Water, Cameron was criticized in part by Native communities, who claimed that the movie effectively glamorized colonialism and was disrespectful with its portrayal of the blue aliens that called Pandora its home.
Of course, that sort of stance had also been taken with respect to the original, and Cameron had sought to make improvements with his depiction for the sequel. However, upon being criticized after the release of The Way of Water, the acclaimed director, despite appreciating the historic struggles of the natives, also suggested that they were wrong, even if he himself did not want to be the messenger.
James Cameron found a way to subtly defend portrayal of Pandora’s Na’vi
While The Way of Water gained huge critical acclaim and earned a whopping $2.3 billion globally (Box Office Mojo), familiar criticism once again was aired by a range of people, which majorly revolved around the depiction of Na’vi, the humanoid species that call Pandora their home.
The real-life inspiration for the same was found by Cameron in the Maori, the Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. After being accused of romanticizing colonization, James Cameron, via an interview with The Washington Post, claimed that he had no doubt that historical victims had a point, but he also claimed that they were wrong, even if he himself did not want to communicate the same:
The people who have been victimized historically are always right. It’s not up to me, speaking from a perspective of White privilege, if you will, to tell them that they’re wrong.
While it might be hard to defend the depiction in the strictest of senses, considering the Na’vi were blue and had a range of indigenous-communities-inspired cultural and religious symbolisms, specific aspects of The Way of Water led to the continuation of the same kind of criticism. It was related majorly to the depiction of culturally significant ‘moko’ tattoos, that are sported by the Maori.
James Cameron’s The Way of Water did not escape criticism despite improvements, box office earnings, and positive reviews
The first movie featured the character of Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington, in a somewhat ‘white-savior’ role. However, after being pointed out, Cameron had sought to move past it and do better with The Way of Water. Still, considering the sheer amount of indigenous-inspired elements that the series and The Way of the Water is bound to include, some mistakes cannot be helped.
This time around, the criticism majorly revolved around the reduction of the moko tattoos to meaningless patterns and symbols with respect to the Na’vi, as it was claimed that the culturally significant symbols were reduced to aesthetic pictures, which did not sit well with a part of the audience.
However, considering the franchise itself is a work of fiction and only takes inspiration from real-life elements, such a strict perspective may as well not be fair, for both the Avatar series and its creator, James Cameron. That is exactly what the director also seemed to suggest, considering that he himself did not want to make a statement that might invoke further wrath.
Both of the Avatar movies are available to be watched on Disney+.
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