I wrote this for a film and religious studies class in 2011, at Claremont McKenna College. The course was taught by Prof. Gastón Espinosa and he selected this film as the last one we watched. I am posting it now because I am researching for my paper on the history of disability in America and I find that there are still not many engagements with this subject.
Avatar and the Crisis of Humanity
James Cameron’s epic science fiction Avatar (2010) enjoyed both commercial
and critical success. Many critics and audiences acclaim the film for delivering
environmental, anti-colonialism, and anti-war messages. Some critics also identify
problematic parallels with films such as Dances with the Wolves (1990) and Pocahontas (1995). The New York Times
columnist David Brooks critiques Avatar
as
the par excellence of a “White Messiah” narrative, further perpetrating white
supremacy and other problematic ideologies.[1] Avatar
is disturbing not only because of repeating this narrative, but also because it uses this popular narrative to promote
transhumanism’s pseudo-religion.[2]
The fictional world of Avatar owes to many different ideas. James Cameron mentions in
interviews that he combined the notion of Hindu gods’ reincarnation and the
technological possibility of “injecting a human's intelligence into a remotely
located body, a biological body.”[3]
He does not further explain the film’s connection with transhumanism, an intellectual
movement that affirms the desirability and possibility of changing humans by
developing technologies to enhance human intellectual and physical capacities.[4]
This paper will argue that the film’s connections with the transhumanist ideal have
profound implications for future bioethics discussions and alter the obvious ideological
messages that Brooks identifies.
Like
many lone heroes in White Messiah
narratives who celebrate primitivism as opposed to the mainstream
society, protagonist Jake Sully comes to detest the society for its orderly soullessness.
Professionals working in different areas of a capitalist
spaceship represent the 2154 human society as rational and
technocratic. Compared to the pristine social order of Na’vi, humans work as cogs in the
capitalist machine and without end. While they consume material products of
technology and make progress in the CEO’s reports,
they lack metaphysical sources to justify their being. Moreover, their material gain results from horrendous
colonial efforts such as destroying the beautiful habitat and
driving out the Na’vi population.
Audiences identify with Jake because he does
not actively participate within this system, such as researching. His
paraplegic legs, possibly caused by war, underscore his ambivalence towards
the military. Jake finds the primitive
paradise and ideal social structure in Pandora. Along the plotlines of the
White Messiah narrative, such as The
Matrix, Jake would
find a group of humans
with
similar sentiments and implement
the Pandora order together. However, the hero in Avatar (and the other minor characters who remain in Pandora)
decides that he cannot change the reality; he can only escape from it. While
the film celebrates Jake’s triumph of driving colonialists out of Pandora and
becoming a legendary leader of the Na’vi population,
the rest of humanity’s ethico-religious
condition and fate under militant
capitalism remains unsolved.
James Cameron glorifies secular transhumanists’
idea of technological utopianism in Avatar.
Human consciousness (“the soul”) could be uploaded and shared in computer
hardware, like the USB cords connecting the Na’vis and the spiritual tree, Eywa.[5]
The few good humans, such as Dr. Augustine and Jake, also believe in the transhumanism
utopia of Eywa. Avatar idealizes the
Na’vi people’s soul-sharing relationships with Eywa and each other. With the
help of technology, Cameron suggests that these depictions serve as the ideal
template for future societal relations in real life. Audiences will only need
to wait for sequels of Avatar to
understand this utopia better.
On
the other hand, transhumanism has been heatedly debated in the field of
bioethics. Jake’s ability to escape
from his human responsibilities and achieve spiritual salvation is inseparable
with his decision to break entirely
from
the human body. While Jake’s humanoid
could exhibit the same emotions, knowledge, and psychological conditions as his
old body, many scientists contest this possibility.[6]
Opponents of transhumanism thus believe that becoming an Avatar could eradicate
parts of the non-uploadable “soul,” such as human emotions.[7]
Sci-fi
films explore the negative implications of
bleaker versions of removing human materiality. James Cameron’s The Terminator suggests
a radically different scenario: rather than Jake
Sully’s spiritual triumph separate from humanity, the Terminator cyborg’s commits
Nietzschean violence against humanity.
Physicist Frank Tipler further suggests that the database
of transhumans could simulate reality and perpetuate humanity after the
collapse of the Universe.[8]
During the Hero’s moment of no return, Jake exclaims that “Everything is
backwards now. Like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream.”
Jake cannot discern between the human experience as “dream” world consciousness
or as “true world” materiality. In light of the uncanny name of the film, Avatar, which means the graphical
representation of the computer user, one
could also compare Pandora with the computer simulation in The Matrix. The possibilities of the dystopian simulacra in The Matrix and evil cyborg Terminators
committing apocalyptic genocide haunt audiences who believed in technological
utopianism.[9]
Scholars with similar ethico-religious concerns
criticize transhumanism’s lack of eternal truths or fundamental moral values.[10]
By itself, Transhumanism is pseudo-religion and leaves “humanity adrift in a
foggy sea of postmodern cynicism and anomie.”[11]
However, James Cameron understands the importance of giving audiences moral
messages. He supplements the transhuman technology with values of religious
naturalism that sustains a sacred, ecological paradise. Avatar’s wide reception owes to this religion for two reasons.
First, ecological moral responsibilities in the film resonate with the new set
of environmental ethics that emerged in the response to global warming.[12]
Secondly, visions of sacred places dominate grand narratives in American pop culture.[13]
Cameron incorporates these values with transhumanism philosophy and creates a positive
religion that “considers nature to be sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and
worthy of reverent care.”
While this religion idealizes the society of Pandora,
some maxims are subversive to American mainstream values, such as secular humanism.[14]
Neytiri tells Jake that Na’vi people perform rituals for the hunted prey; this has
been interpreted as a religious naturalist’s respect for the interdependence
between the Na’vi people and the ecosystem. [15]
However, in an attempt to revere all creatures, the soul of the killed prey
shares the same place with the souls of Na’vi people in Eywa’s database.[16]
Furthermore, Neytiri says that “I See you Brother, and thank you,” a similar expression
with the “I See you” Neytiri and Jake exchanged to express loving emotions.[17]
From a stretched point of view, the Eywa religion of naturalism does not
necessarily prohibit cannibalism or bestiality since all animals and Na’vi
people are part of the ecosystem. Luckily for James Cameron, most audiences do
not mind the incompatibility of Pandora’s religious naturalism with their
values. After all, religion only supplements Avatar’s overarching ideal of technological utopianism. Cameron
made the highest-grossing film in history as a visual spectacle with advanced technology,
which is more than a coincidence in regards to technological utopianism.[18]
Without its flashy aesthetics, the Na’vi religious values and culture would not
have appealed to most audiences.
While dystopian sci-fi films such as The Terminator remind audiences of
consequences of their actions, utopian sci-fi within the “White Messiah”
narrative provides a desirable, alternate reality. Both Jake Sully and the
audiences can escape from bleak reality of planet Earth if they have the right
technological products and self-righteousness.[19]
The film’s idealization of transhumanity and moral implications are rather
afterthoughts.
End Notes
[1] Brooks, David. "The
Messiah Complex." The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html (accessed April 24,
2011).
[2] "Transhumanism."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[3] Keegan, Rebecca.
"Q&A with James Cameron." Tech Reviews - TIME.com.
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1576622,00.html#ixzz0a69HUhNB
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[4] Transhumanism."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Fukuyama, Francis.
"Transhumanism." Foreign Policy.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2004/09/01/transhumanism (accessed April
24, 2011).
[8] Ibid.
[9] "The Matrix."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[10] "Transhumanism."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[11] Taylor, Bron. "Toward
a natural religion." St. Petersburg Times.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/toward-a-natural-religion/1056081
(accessed April 24, 2011).
"Transhumanism."
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[12] Rampton, James.
"James Cameron: King of all he surveys." The Independent. http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/features/article2087309.ece
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[13] Ibid.
[14] "Secular humanism." Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism (accessed
April 27, 2011).
[15] "Avatar’s Success:
Romantic Narratives and Dark Green Religion." TheoFantastique | A meeting
place for myth, imagination, and mystery in pop culture.
http://www.theofantastique.com/2010/01/27/avatars-success-romantic-narratives-and-dark-green-religion/
(accessed April 24, 2011).
[16] “Your spirit will now be
with Eywa, but your body will remain for The People.”
[17] “Avatar Script.” IMSDb.
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Avatar.html (accessed April 24, 2011) “He looks
into her enormous eyes, and the emotion between them is powerful and pure.”
[18] “List of highest-grossing films.”
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films (accessed April 27,
2011).
[19] Mendelsohn, Daniel. "The
Wizard." The New York Review of Books. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/mar/25/the-wizard/
(accessed April 24, 2011).
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