It's been a while, but I've got a hot take on James Cameron's Avatar that I NEED to share, so hear me out.
I've heard multiple people refer to JC's Avatar as "Pocahontas in space". I've never quite agreed with that take, but also never had the words to explain WHY I didn't agree. Today, that changed. Here's the difference: Jake Sully takes the time to learn and grow to appreciate Omatikaya culture, even going so far as to be adopted into the clan and making their enemies his own, whereas John Smith basically just saw a pretty, exotic girl and thought "she will be mine". Really, the two are nothing alike. (Yes, I know Jake did plenty of panting over his own "pretty, exotic girl", but he went about "bagging" her in a MUCH more respectful way than John EVER did, no matter the retelling. He learned about her and her culture, about what she found important, he learned to look at the world the way she did, and when he saw how beautiful it was, how special, how endangered it was, he realized he was on the wrong side of the equation and did what he could to make things as right as possible. Jake Sully may have started out like John Smith, but he very much did not stay that way.) So yeah, Avatar isn't space!Pocahontas, and I refuse to allow such slander to continue. No no, I'd argue that, if anything, Avatar is space!Atlantis.
Think about it! Main character leaves behind his dreary, dead-end life on someone else's dime, ends up meeting a beautiful warrior princess who threatens him before showing him her home. During their time learning from and teaching each other, the people he's associated with open up aggressive negotiations on her people, looking for riches buried beneath their home. The head military-adjacent guy kills the warrior princess's father during his opening attack, and reveals he's packing more firepower than the MC was expecting. During said opening attack, the MC's friends turn against the head military-adjacent guy after the MC reminds them of where the boundary line of their morals should be. MC and Friends rally warrior princess's people to go on the attack against head military-adjacent guy and his crew, utilizing their special flying creatures/technology. Secondary battle ensues over a culturally significant relic/site, and the head military-adjacent guy ends up dying in the conflict. MC and Co drive off the corrupt, greedy foreigners, and MC adopts the culture of the warrior princess, stepping up to help her lead her people in the wake of her father's death.
So yeah. JC's Avatar is space!Atlantis, not space!Pocahontas.




















