[Slate] Repeated Indian and Whale Tragedies in Pandora

Director James Cameron's 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Presents the Essence of Civilization and Savagery Through the Na'vi's Ordeal
Also Highlights Indians Who Coexisted Without Forming Nations... New Desires and Obsessions Expressed Through Whaling

'Avatar: The Way of Water' is a warning about a dehumanized civilized society. It transposes the history of slaughter and destruction committed by humanity onto the planet Pandora. The lush forests quickly turn into a sea of fire, and the Na'vi tribe falls dead from gunfire. Humans harshly reject sympathy or curiosity. They consider it a natural phenomenon occurring in the process of establishing a new home. Despite experiencing extinction, environmental pollution, and climate anomalies on Earth, they repeat the vicious cycle.

In a world dominated by winner-takes-all and survival of the fittest, the logic of coexistence has no room to break through. It might be a concept that could never bloom in the first place. The advocacy of the powerless is nothing but an empty echo. To humans, the Na'vi are merely savages. This is a common perspective even now under the rule of financial capital. People who are not incorporated into the commodity economy system are labeled as 'uncivilized.'

△ The Painful Ordeal of the Na'vi Tribe

Civilization and savagery are extremely relative concepts. In the case of the American conquest of the West, from the opposite side of the 'frontier,' it is the painful ordeal of the Native Americans. The land that Americans considered barren was the ancestral home where Native Americans had lived for generations. The term 'barren' was merely a name created by white settlers. They expelled the original owners, destroyed tribal villages, and transformed the land into what they called uncivilized territory. The cruelty of uprooting the Native Americans' living grounds is the essence of the frontier.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is not bound by artificial constructs. He is free from the yardsticks of savagery and civilization. Therefore, he fully appreciates the tangible and intangible values of the Na'vi. When faced with the threat of destruction, he heads to the sea village with his family to preserve and sustain their way of life. This is Metkayina, where the tribe lives in Baroo. The Sully family, belonging to the Omaticaya tribe, occasionally clashes with different lifestyles, appearances, perspectives, and cultures. These conflicts do not escalate into major fights. They bicker but ultimately acknowledge their differences and practice mutual aid.

Native American tribes also formed similar relationships and coexisted. Battles that involved driving rival tribes into uncivilized lands only appeared after the 19th century. Before that, boundaries of territories were vague, and most disputes were about these borders. There were hardly any cases where survival was threatened. Rather, they confronted each other to avoid greater violence. Wars involving violence tended to escalate into brutal forms. However, they knew how to protect both themselves and their enemies in the worst situations causing suffering. One of these methods was ritual (祭儀). Between duelists who wished their demands to be recognized, reconciliation and mediation followed. Lawyer Yuchiheon explained this in his book 'Indian Village Republic' as follows.

"There was a paradox hidden in ritualistic wars where the goal of fighting was reconciliation. Wars did not occur as a result of fragmented groups competing for scarce resources to survive, but rather, Native American society waged wars to maintain fragmented societies. The main purpose of intertribal wars was to preserve the differences existing between tribal societies through the means of war."

The depiction of humans in the previous work 'Avatar (2009)' is quite different. They develop the planet Pandora to obtain a new energy mineral called Unobtanium. European settlers who crossed the Atlantic in the 17th and 18th centuries had similar objectives. There was almost no usable vacant land in their homeland. What remained were mostly forested areas and lands abandoned due to flooding. Agriculture was the main source of income, but many people had to work as day laborers due to lack of land. Fed up with oppression caused by unequal land ownership, they undertook a long journey.

After arriving in North America, their views on land ownership changed. There was endless land without owners. Once the Native American issue was resolved, they could have it all. This ample possibility united the settlers. To guarantee their land as property rights, they willingly accepted greater violence and the emergence of rulers. The ruling class that emerged in this way created the country called the United States.

△ Advice from Whales and Tulkun

Humans in 'Avatar: The Way of Water' also come to recognize Pandora as a new home. Director James Cameron expresses emerging desires and obsessions through whaling. He introduces the Tulkun, a creature resembling a whale. It is a massive sea creature with a substance in its head area that prevents skin tissue aging. Humans, craving eternal youth and wealth, line up to board the ship.

Whales had a similar fate in the past. Once the extracted oil became valuable, their numbers dwindled. Whale oil was used in various ways because it had lower viscosity than vegetable oils. It lubricated the gears of textile and metal factories, facilitated wool washing and leather tanning, and illuminated street lamps without smoke. As factories lit up, working hours increased, and shops extended business hours into the night. Whaling transformed industry and commerce into modern forms and, furthermore, triggered environmental destruction.

Most whales die from harpoons. The word 'harpoon' originates from the Basque word 'alpoi,' meaning 'to kill quickly.' Contrary to its original meaning, whales suffer prolonged painful deaths. Harpoons are not powerful enough to pierce vital organs. While they do not cause fatal wounds, their effect is significant. Sharp blades spread like morning glory flowers and deepen wounds as they are pulled, embedding the harpoon deeper. Whales are dragged while hanging from whaling ships, dying from increasingly severe wounds and excessive bleeding.

Serious deaths continue even today. Whales have become reservoirs of fat-soluble toxins by ingesting various marine debris and pollutants. They breathe by surfacing, making them vulnerable to carcinogens like cadmium, chromium, and nickel, which are released from oil refineries and chrome plating factories and float in the air. They are true victims of pollution. Nature's cycle sometimes reverses the flow of pollution. Discarded and forgotten pollutants return inside the bodies of humans who consume whales. This is the wild cycle of human life and oblivion. Whales and Tulkun seriously warn us. Reflecting on their tragedy, they urge us to seek the possibility of change.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.