From the Beginning

Some of the most critical scenes in any movie are the opening ones. Avatar, to me, does not escape this trend. The opening of Avatar sets up this long, life-changing adventure, but also plays into different political meanings right away. When showing us the new human development on Avatar, we see many things. The most prominent, to me, was all of the huge machinery and technology. We follow a jet through the mist and see all beautiful green landscape. The jet then leads us to where the humans live and we see dirt and metal. Already we are introduced to destruction on Pandora. It reminded me of the story of the "discovery" of America. Europeans brought in all of this new technology, guns and more, much like in the movie we see heavy machinery and guns brought in to this green and enriched environment. We have all heard of this story before. This archetype of taking over America or in this case, the taking over of Pandora, is displayed right in the beginning.

Another very brief, but important scene I noticed was that of the aircraft bringing Jake and others into Pandora. Behind it stood tall, dark smoke stacks, with smoke slithering out. Although it was brief, it made me think of all the things that this could represent. Literally, it shows already, the humans living on Pandora are polluting the air in this new found world. They have moved in and claimed this space as their own, despite the fact that the land was previously occupied by the Na'vi and all of the other creatures and organisms of Pandora. Figuratively, the pollution represents pollution of the land, and of the people. By being careless, not understanding the ways of the land or its people, and just plain ignorance, the military especially, have polluted Pandora and all of its inhabitants.

Right after this, we see Jake arriving and wheeling himself out of the aircraft in his wheelchair. He says, "Back on earth, these guys were army dogs, marines fighting for freedom. Out here they're just hired guns, taking the money, working for the company." This stood out in my mind. I took this as on earth, we had something good worth fighting for; our freedom, our families. On Pandora, it seems, they kill for money, "for the company."

Overall, it seems that the makers of Avatar may be trying to create a sense of uneasiness about humans on this new planet. Not only do they display the human settlement as a slab of concrete, dirt, and machinery among a lush, green forest, but even Jake's first impression of the "hired guns" leaves a lasting impression. Without knowing it perhaps we are already set up to dislike the humans who have invaded this new found world of Pandora.