“Avatar” Sequel’s “Cultural Appropriation” of Indigenous Cultures Triggers Activists

James Cameron is facing the wrath of so-called activists who are accusing the director of “cultural appropriation” in his new blockbuster, “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

The award-winning director faced similar criticisms in 2009 with the release of Avatar, alleging that the film perpetuates the “white savior complex” narrative and appropriates Indigenous themes and imagery, reported Newsweek.

There have been calls for a boycott from Native American influencer Yuè Begay, who claims that the movie appropriates culture “in a harmful manner” to satisfy a white man’s “savior complex.”

“Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water,” she tweeted. “Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film.” 

“No more Blueface!” she adds, calling back to the term used during the release of the 2009 film that compared the representation of the franchise’s “Na’vi” people to the racist imagery of “blackface.”

Cameron himself stated in 2012, in response to a legal claim that he stole the idea for Avatar, that the film was “a science fiction retelling of the history of North and South America in the early colonial period.”

“Avatar pointedly made reference to the colonial period in the Americas, with all its conflict and bloodshed between the military aggressors from Europe and the Indigenous peoples,” the Director said. “Europe equals Earth. The native Americans are the Na’vi. It’s not meant to be subtle.”

Many have pointed out that the film features a predominantly white cast, with some notable exceptions being Zoe Saldaña, a Black Latina actress, and Cliff Curtis, who is of Maori descent, as well as Emmy-nominated actress CCH Pounder.

A tweet from self-described “woke-critic” Kathia Woods regarding the prevalence of white actors was widely ridiculed by Twitter users.

“At some point we gotta talk about the cultural appropriation of Avatar and white actors are cos playing as poc,” Woods tweeted. “It’s just a mess and so not necessary & no amount of visual effects/CGI is gonna erase that. Bad Lace fronts/Dry synthetic braids. Jesus fix it.”

The mocking that followed was relentless, to the point that Woods made her Twitter account private, a move she has since reversed.

“James Cameron didn’t even try to find native blue people to play these roles smh,” Andrew Kerr of the Washington Free Beacon tweeted.

“Only nine-foot-tall blue aliens can play nine-foot-tall blue aliens in movies, apparently,” joked radio host Dan O’Donnell.

Newsweek highlights an Indigenous Twitter user who says that “Avatar is good,” adding that “The movies are versatile enough for the general public to swallow the big pill of talk around colonization.”

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