Emily's iLog 8: What Does a Technological Identity Look Like?
This is a snapshot of a scene from Avatar (James Cameron 2009). Jake is a paraplegic marine who uses an 'avatar', or a genetically-engineered human-Na'vi hybrid body, which he controls remotely through his genetically-matched mind. Jake is supposed to help collect information about the indigenous humanoid species in exchange for the restoration of his legs through spinal surgery. However, (**spoiler alert!**) he ends up falling in love with a local Na'vi and her culture, and decides to stay on the planet Pandora forever, permanently transferred into his Avatar body with the help of the Tree of Souls.
This image shows Hometree, which contains the biological neural network that controls and flourishes on Pandora. This is the scene in which Jake's human body is being saved by Neytiri, Jake's Na’vi mate, from suffocation by the poisonous local atmosphere. I chose this image because it is a perfect example of how one can create a different identity, in a different world, through the use of technology. It also embodies the notion of an organic, matrix of communication that different bodies can essentially ‘plug into’ in order to communicate (Hometree). Taking a step backwards, the movie Avatar also represents the ways in which historical conceptualizations of race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, ‘othering’, colonialism and oppression influence social domination and normative values and understanding today.
Technological identity can be understood as the intentional representation of self as mediated by technological forces and capabilities, but also as a concept that cannot truly and fully be extricated from the physical body. In this sense, the fact that Jake is paralyzed is inevitably influential to the role that his Avatar plays, the attachments that it forms, and the decisions that he makes.