Avatar movies a reflection of earth
The James Cameron’s film avatar 2 box office collection, broke all records. over the last years, no Bollywood film earned this much revenue world worldwide, as much avatar 2 earned in India alone. In India, the collection of this film has already crossed 3.6 billion rupees, and if it continues like this, soon it will exceed Dangal’s revenue too. Worldwide, it is projected that this film can earn over 2 billion dollars. There’s no doubt that people are enjoying this film very much. The most appreciated part of the film is the visual effects. The animation used in it is so great that everything looks real. as if it’s a real world come to life. But how would you react if I told you that this is indeed an actual world? not in the sense that Pandora is an actual planet that exists, but in the sense that the world built by James Cameron to show Pandora, is a reflection of our real world, of our Earth. If you pay attention to this film, you’ll notice that even the smallest details shown are a reflection of an issue on earth.
Imperialism and crony capitalism shown in the film
the both Avatar films, isn’t very difficult to grasp. This film shows imperialism and crony capitalism. Colonists move into a new place. and the native tribals living there are forcefully displaced or brutally killed. We witnessed this happening all over the world during the 1500s and 1800s. The East India Company is a major example of this. The East India Company was literally a company with the primary purpose of making profits. and by colonizing various countries, they chased after profits. By exploiting the natural resources there, they made a lot of money. the differentiating factor from present day companies is that EIC had its own private army.
In the film Avatar, if you noticed, the same thing is shown. There’s a megacorporation, RDA, in the avatar universe; it’s said to be the single largest non-government organization. This company works in the field of space and wields more power than governments on Earth have. like EIC had its private army, RDA had a private army too. which they use to start a war in pandora, in the first Avatar film. in this film’s world. it’s said that RDA has monopoly rights to all products, that are shipped, derived or developed in Pandora, or in any place outside the Earth. It is quite similar to the East India Company. the area that they colonized, all the products manufactured there, everything, all crops. The EIC had a monopoly over everything. but these are the obvious parts. Let’s look at the small details. that people may miss out on. If you pay attention to these details, you will see how each scene of the film is a reflection of the real world.
The real forest that inspired Avatar’s Pandora
James Cameron is a known environmentalist in an interview, he had said how in the time spent between Avatar 1 and Avatar 2, it was along tome of 13 years, at one point he considered giving up on film direction. “I almost bailed on being a filmmaker. The thing that kept me in the game was the possibility of the Avatar universe reaching a lot of people with a persistent message and a reaction on the part of the audience to fight for and protect the environment.” but fortunately he didn’t do so, and we got this film, Avatar 2. Since he is so passionate about the environment, the wildlife and plants on earth, and the world of Pandora that he built, compare the floating rocks that you see in Pandora to the hills in China’s Zhangjiajie national forest park. you will clearly see the inspiration behind the floating rocks in Pandora. But this isn’t the only thing. Look at this wisteria in Japan’s Ashikaga flower park. a tree older than 150 years. When this tree bears flowers during spring, it looks beautiful in hues of pink and purple. These trees always look like this, but this one in Japan is huge. And now look at the tree of souls from Avatar; it’s amazing how similar they are. In Avatar, you would have noticed one thing: how everything glows in the darkness. It radiates a shiny, bluish-green light. to show that all living organisms in Pandora have bioluminescent properties. Once again, this isn’t something found only in Pandora.
Bioluminescent lagoons on earth
The bioluminescent lagoon in Jamaica, microorganisms in the water light in a blue color, when you move in the water. Indonesia, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica a part these, in new Zealand, you can see caves light up glowworms. and you can see fireflies in Delhi as well. apart from these, another equivalent of the shining lights on Pandora are the Northern lights. in Nordic countries like Finland and Iceland. These lights can be seen in the sky at times. This happens when the energetic particles emitted by the sun orient based on the magnetic field around the earth. a truly mesmerizing view. Red, green, purple, and many other colors can be seen then.
In Avatar’s second film, we are introduced to a new tribe of aliens in Pandora. the Metkayina reef people. the Metkayina look different from the Navi. Their skin color is more greenish than blueish. Their eyes are larger, and they have a fin-like structure on their forearms and legs. and their trails are more broad, like a paddle. the trails of Navi have hair at the end. This is because it is shown that the evolution of the Metkayina people is different from that of the Navi people. They have adapted to living near the water, whereas Navi has adapted to live in the forest. Do you think all of it is James Cameron’s imagination? no. Even here, he drew inspiration from things found on earth. as revealed by James Cameron himself, while interviewing for national geographic, that the islands shown in the second film. inspired by the Pacific Islands, such as Micronesia and Polynesia. and the Metkayina people, who are inspired by the Sama Bajau tribal folk, found on some islands of Indonesia and the Philippines. they are know as Sea Gypsis or Sea Nomads.
People of Indonesia and Philippines, Sea Gypsis or Sea Nomads
The most amazing fact about them is that they have evolved to survive better near water. They have an amazing ability to free dive. They spend a lot of time underwater. Young children of the Bajau tribes get lacerations in their eardrums from all the diving. The negative impact of this is that when they get old, they develop hearing problems. but the advantage is that they can dive more freely underwater. They can go to greater depths in the ocean. It’s reported that in a day, they spend more than 5 hours underwater. In a study from 2018, it was shown that the spleen of the Bajau people is 50% larger than that of normal people. and their blood contains higher levels of hemoglobin. With its help, they can hold their breath longer when they dive into the water. and in several cases, it has been found that genetically, they can see better underwater. As we’re talking about seeing underwater, the Metkayina people on Pandora are said to have a third eyelid, known as the nictitating membrane. A nictitating membrane is something that’s found in numerous animals. Normally, it is transparent or translucent, and this membrane is for the protection of the eye. so that nothing gets into the eyes while swimming. and the eyes are moisturized and have better visibility. This is found in polar bears as well, where they protect their eyes from ultraviolet rays so that they do not get snow blindness.
The RDA ships is inspired by Ekranoplan
In the film, you can see big RDA ships on the water, used by humans for transportation. These vessels hover over the water; this might seem like futuristic technology. You would wish for them to exist in real life. But how would you feel if I told you that these do actually exist? They are inspired by the Ekranoplan. Ekranoplan that Developed by the soviet in the 1960s. they hover over the water, look like a plane, and the biggest advantage of using it is that neither can they be detected by radars, since they do not fly high like airplanes, nor can they be detected by sonar, since they aren’t in contact with the water. Due to not being in contact with the water, the friction is greatly reduced, which helps it fly at high speed. built by the soviet union, that biggest Ekranoplan was the KM. With 10 jet engines at the front, it could lift up over the water with the help of these jet engines.
But why this isn’t seen now days?
This technology had many loopholes. The Ekranoplans needed a large radius to turn. the sea water corroded the engine. and it was very complicated to operate this plane. By the 1980s, the Soviet government realized that it wasn’t worth it to spend more money on this technology, that their funds were being wasted, and that it would be wiser to use the funds for something else; thus, its development was abandoned there and then.
The bucket wheel excavator mega machine
Another such technology is shown in the first avatar film as well. a large mining machine used by humans to mine for unobtanium on Pandora. Unobtanium is said to be a rare mineral that has a high value. and in the first avatar film, it is said to be the reason why humans went to Pandora. to mine and make money. Well, not humans, but the RDA. This large corporation is to blame for this. The gigantic machine that they used to mine is available on Earth. a bucket wheel excavator known as the Bagger 293 Bagger 293 is the largest construction machine made by humans to date. This can be found in a coal mine in Germany. This machine is so big, it is 96 meters tall. almost one third of the height of the Eiffel Tower. it is 225 m long, and it weight 14000 tones. It mines at an unprecedented rate. It can mine as much as 2,000 tons of soil in a day. And this machine is so huge that to climb on top of it, you will need to walk 1 km. Perhaps the most astounding fact about it is that it is a moving machine. a vehicle of sorts. It can be moved from one place to another. but it can be moved at a speed of 0.1 km per hour. moving is a great challenge, because any place you take this machine to, all roads would crumble under its weight. Recently, people in Germany were protesting against this machine. being used for coal mining.
Aquatic animals in Avatar 2, she is inspired by Plesiosaur
If we talk about the animals on Pandora, they are inspired by the animals present on earth. Ilu, a creature shown repeatedly in the second movie, looks like a Pokemon, but now look at this photo of a Plesiosaur, an ancient marine reptile that lived on earth about 200 million years ago. they have the some features. another pandora creature that played a major role in avatar 2, that is Tulkuns.
Tulkuns inspired by Earth’s whales
Tulkuns can be equated with the whales present on earth. Like Tulkuns, whales are also highly intelligent animals. Dolphins and whales are believed to be more intelligent than dogs. because they have brains. Their brains are bigger in size. in the film, tulkuns are shown to be so intelligent that, the people in Pandora can communicate with them. On earth, the brains of whales and dolphins have a kind of specialized brain cells known as spindle neurons; with their help, it is believed that they can do things, remember them, reason, and communicate. In fact, the part of the brain that processes emotions is known as the limbic system. In dolphins and whales, the limbic lobe is much more complex than in humans. So it is safe to make the assumption that these creatures in the ocean are more emotional than us.
Mirror test
To measure the intelligence of an animal, a mirror test is often used. A mirror is placed in front of an animal to see whether it can identify its reflection. that they are seeing their own reflection in the mirror and not some other animal. This is a rare skill in animals. Other than humans, bottlenose dolphins, chimpanzees, elephants, and magpies are some of the animals that can pass the mirror test. Human children can pass the mirror test after they’re about 12 months old. but dolphin calves pass the mirror test at around 7 months. In their research, experts found that there are some species of dolphins that can identify various members by their names. They’ve created signature whistles for other dolphins; each whistle represents the name of a member. and the young dolphins learn their names from their mothers. and they carry the name throughout their lives. Researchers say that “what they are born with is the ability to mimic and mirror whatever their mother does.” and this is how they learn to survive.” The importance of dolphins and whales is being depicted by James Cameron in the film Avatar 2.
Interesting enough, before this, James Cameron had made a documentary for National Geographic, Secrets of the Whales. another proof of the fact that James Cameron was doing this intentionally. showing the importance of whales in Avatar 2. In the film, you can come across this interesting scene. This is also inspired by a real-life photo of a whale. and how important it is to protect these whales, has been reflected in the film.
The dangerous harpoon gun
We know that in the 1600s, commercial whaling was made popular by the British and the Dutch. Humans caught a sperm whale for the first time in 1712, which was significant because sperm whales are normally found in deep oceans. so one has to make a long journey to catch them. Humans hunted down whales to extract whale oil. It was in high demand in the 18th and 19th centuries because it was used as a lubricant in factories and to illuminate homes. It was only in 1879, when petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania, that the demand for sperm whale oil went down. but decades later, the demand for whaling went up again when the fat supplies for making soap were running low. At the beginning of the 1900s, each year, 20,000–30,000 whales were hunted by these humans. Norway had become influential in whaling, and Sven Foyn, a Norweigan, was the one to invent the first steam-powered whale-catcher ship. He patented the harpoon canon on the ship; the harpoon was headed by a granite to kill the whale, and the dangerous harpoon gun looked like this. If this looks familiar, it’s because similar equipment is used to kill Tulkuns in Pandora in the avatar.
James Cameron wants to save the whales
Moving ahead, After World War II, whale oil became very important to Europe. and whale meat was in high demand in countries like Japan and Russia. More than 80% of trade was controlled by the British and Norwegian governments. and their success attracted more countries to whale hunting. Netherlands, the Soviet Union, and Japan Around this time, humans realized that, if such whale hunting continued, the whales would one day go extinct. In 1946, the International Whaling Commission imposed a limit on the number of whales that could be killed in a year. It was very difficult to impose the limit. The cap was set at 15000 blue whales. Later, it was adjusted to 2300 blue whales in 1962. but soon they realized that the population of whales was dwindling. They were on the verge of becoming extinct. In 1963, humpback whales were protected. In 1965, blue whales were protected, and in 1982, commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission. With the help of the ban, some whale species have recovered tremendously. such as humpback whales. They numbered less than 500 in 1950; today their individual numbers exceed 25,000. The whales have been downgraded from endangered to least concern status. and their original population has recovered up to 93%. Unfortunately, the same did not happen to all whale species. Blue whales are still endangered. Sperm whales are still vulnerable. Despite the commercial whaling ban, three countries continue to refuse to accept it. Iceland, Norway, and Japan Of them, Iceland poses the least concern because it is expected to begin commercial whaling next year.
On the other hand, Norway supports the hunting of minke whales for their meat. and Japan allows commercial whaling for scientific purposes. Japan uses scientific purposes as an excuse because whales killed for research and scientific purposes have their meat extracted and sold as food. Between 2010 and 2020, Japanese ships encroached on Antarctica’s conservation zone numerous times for the purpose of hunting whales. An environmental conservation group known as Sea Shepherd sent their ships to the whaling ships. sent their ships to stop the whaling ships—to literally and physically block them. If there was a Japanese ship hunting whales there, they placed their ship in front of the other ship to stop it and protect the whale. Founder Paul Watson revealed how Japan has declared it an act of terrorism to get within a 500-meter radius of their whaling ships. This changed in 2018, when Japan left the International Whaling Commission. “We decided to resume commercial whaling from July 2019 and to withdraw from the international convention for the regulation of whaling.” This justification for whaling for scientific purposes was shattered. Today, the IWD considers Japan to be a “price-whaling country” that acts against international law. On the other hand, Japan claims that IWD didn’t do enough to promote sustainable commercial whaling. According to them, protecting the whales should not be the sole purpose. and that we need to allow hunting for whales to some extent.
You will ask how this is connected to the film Avatar?
There is a deep connection. Perhaps none of you have noticed this detail, but on the RDA ships that hunt Tulkuns with harpoons on Pandora, the name of the harpoon company is written in Japanese. and the colors of the Japanese flag are used. James Cameron points out how Japan is the only country to still support whale hunting. and the scene of Tulkuns hunting in the avatar is shown in such detail because of this. so that people understand how whales are killed.
Did you know that James Cameron is one of the few people who has sunk a submarine into the deep ocean? In 2012, in the submarine “Deepsea Challenger,” James Cameron went to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. He is the first person to go this deep alone in a submarine, to the deepest part of the world. His love for the ocean and the earth’s biodiversity can’t be doubted. Saving the earth is the message that he wants to convey in his films. In his own words, “the coral reefs will be a thing that exists only in films in 50 to 75 years, in most places around the planet.” That’s not okay. When I was a kid, I aspired to become a diver so I could go and see this wonder and this beauty myself. and then I spent decades exploring and enjoying that world. My kids and my grandchildren won’t be able to do that. “And so, it’s to remember, to celebrate, to fall in love with again, and therefore, to remember to protect that which we’re losing.“