Avagendar



James Cameron's Avatar strives to create a world that is from our wildest imagination but he believes our imagination can only portray male and female characters plane as black and white. All Males in the film play strong, aggressive roles while female characters are casted with sexy, sassy, spiritual parts. These masculine and feminine gender roles are seen in our modern day society as stereotypical and as an outdated ideal.

So why did Cameron make his male and female characters so one dimensional and gender stereotyped?

He did this because he needed to spend as little time as possible developing the characters as he could. Cameron knew his audiences already had preconceived stereotypes about gender in their minds, so he made all the males in his film play typical masculine parts and all the females play typical feminine parts. This allowed the audience could get the big picture simple and quick. The big picture being "women are smart and attractive thus worth fighting for and men are strong, aggressive and ready to fight for their cause." Having those character traits programed quickly into the minds of the audience allowed Cameron to create and insert plot and setting information whenever necessary without having to worry about a lack of character development.


I am locutus of Navi



Jake Sully in Avatar exists in two completely different worlds after being introduced to the Avatar interface. When logging into his Navi form Jake leaves everything he is as a human in an alternate space, that body no longer seems to exist to him when he is a Navi. It is easy to imagine how he could become so enveloped by his Navi persona that he forgets about his human form. The two bodies are so different, he's human body is handicapped, lonely, meek, and can't breath alien air in contrast his Navi body is strong, fast, popular, and blue! This forgetting of ones original persona is unheard of when compared to logging onto a digital medium of today's technologies. When a person enters the realm of cyberspace today they are merely doing it through a digital interface that is only controlled by the output of the users original mind and body. Jake only appears to use his mind when controlling a Navi.

When comparing the Avatar's in the film to a web page it is easy to compare some aspects. Logging into a Navi from the human body through a series of electro connections is very similar when comparing information being carried though the Word Wide Web. Also when comparing the ability for Jake to be able to customize his personal Navi with earth clothes, Navi tribal atire, or war paint to best suit his personality or mood it is very similar to the different customizable options often found on popular social sites. But the comparisons of web pages to the Avatar would have to differ when comparing the use of the Avatar in live mode. When existing as a Navi you do not exist in any form of real life, nothing the world can throw at you can affect you in any way. This is because this Navi Avatar is a second life, if it dies it does not effect your true body in any way. On a web page Online networking is an extension of the user. Anything that happens online directly affects the user sitting in front of the interface. The Navi Avatar works more like a video game at an arcade, if you die just put in another fifty cents and play again.

Avatar. Dir. James Cameron." Perf. Sigourney Weaver,
20th Century Fox: 2009, Film.