Avatar (2009) by James Cameron and Interbeing Through Nature

Avatar (2009)

Director: James Cameron

Writer: James Cameron

Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver

Official Trailer for James Cameron's Avatar

It is only necessary to watch the first 3 or 4 scenes and scene at 4:35 through 4:46.  However, please watch the rest of them.

     The movie Avatar (2009) reeks of the concept of Interbeing.  Avatar in general gives the audience a new, but similar world with which we have no previous opinions or morals attached, in order to give the audience an unbiased view of a very important and controversial issue in our world today, which is that we don't appreciate our connectedness with the world.This montage of clips alone show many examples.
     In the first clip, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) playfully interact in their avatar bodies.  As Jake's first time in the body, Grace throws him a fruit native to the Pandora World.  He catches it with delight and savors the juices happily, as if experiencing eating for the first time.  In this way, Jake is also experiencing the Buddhist teaching of mindfulness, which is complete attention and focus in the present moment.

Neytiri teaching Jake about the Seeds of the Sacred Tree

     In the second clip, Jake and Neytiri (Zoë Saldana) have a conversation on the tree.  The Seeds of the Sacred Tree start falling towards them and Jake's first reaction is to swat them away.  Neytiri scolds him for doing so and he lets the seeds gently fall on him.  The seeds are peaceful as they fall and they interact with him in a natural way, as do butterflies and other insects in nature.  Neytiri says that the seeds are very pure spirits.  This scene shows that nature in our world is very important and we should not destroy it.  Plants and animals are alive, just like we are.  We are connected to nature, as Jake shows when the seeds land on him and when he touches the plants when he follows Neytiri.  When Jake touches the plants, they light up, showing that we have an impact on everything we touch and therefore are connected to them as well.

Pandora

Jake and Neytiri in Pandora

     It is easily understood that Pandora is a beautiful place.  The plants light up and things land on you and fly away.  This world is a metaphor for the world we live in, which, if looked at hard enough, is just as beautiful if not more beautiful.  James Cameron uses this necessary metaphor in order to send the message that our own world is beautiful and we are just as much connected to it and a part of it as the plants and animals that live there.  This message, when reaching enough people, can change the way people view nature and environmentally-unfriendly habits, which I believe was James Cameron's message.

Jake fighting for the Pandora people while riding an ikran

     The third clip portrays Neytiri teaching Jake about "tsaheylu" with the "ikran." Tsaheylu is the connection the Pandora people make with the ikran.  They connect with the ikran through the end of their braid, which must be attached to the rest of their body.  Although people cannot physically connect with animals in this way in real life, in Pandora, this connection is essential.  This connection symbolizes the need we have for nature and its connection to us.

Neytiri drinking water from a flower

     The last clip (starts at 4:35) shows Neytiri drinking water from a flower as Jake voices over saying that he realizes the people have a connection with nature and their Pandora world.  He tried to understand it for himself.  It doesn't mention this in the clips, but this movie takes place in a time where our earth is no longer a place where people can actually live freely.  It is a place where the plants have all died and one can't really live on the planet anymore without being indoors.  Jake cannot understand the connection with nature because he does not know of nature and that type of connection on his own planet.  Again, this is a metaphor to show what can happen if we don't appreciate the nature we have now before we destroy it and it is all gone.
     Even though the movie Avatar portrays a connection with nature in a world unlike our own, it's definitely a metaphor to how we also connect with nature in our own way.  This movie portrays a very physical, in-your-face connection with the world around us, but we must understand that we have a connection with nature, too.  Although it is not Buddhist, Catholics put ashes on people's foreheads on Ash Wednesday to symbolize that we come from the Earth.  Although this ritual comes from a story in the Bible where Adam is physically made from the dirt, this story and ritual can also relate to the Buddhist idea of interbeing.  We come from the dirt because when we die, our bodies mesh with the ground.  The moisture from us rises to the clouds and becomes rain.  Our decaying bodies can become food for plants and we can become plants.  We do come from our earth in many ways and Avatar demonstrates that we connect with nature more than most people realize.

Sources:
Avatar. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver. 2009. DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
"Order of Interbeing." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2012
     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Interbeing>.


Image Credit:  
http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/ob/Avatar-001.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2009/12/11/1260530840038/Scene-from-Avatar-2009-001.jpg
http://www.rexanne.com/Graphics/AVATAR-MAIN.jpg
http://www.onegraphics.com/media/inspired-by-avatar/welcome_to_pandora_by_d0ll_fac3.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROS8lCnb0RL16K5eH21GLkT8GVqY3NWUEZc4Wjl0hpjCpu2gmufyJGn8wb