How Avatar glorifies erasing disability
Avatar (2009) ends with Jake transferring his consciousness to his Avatar body, ultimately erasing disability in this society and planet. Angry Hippie emphasizes the ability to move consciousness is a profound question and says, "While many thought they were being clever by dissecting this movie to exploit its' flaws, they were merely peeling the first layer of the onion." (AVATAR: In-Depth Analysis)
In my opinion, there are layers of ableism that Angry Hippie missed. His favorite scene is when Jake (who has paraplegia) runs for the first time in his Avatar body. This scene I dislike the most falls into tropes of disabled people wanting to be "fixed" or "better." I cannot speak to how it feels to become disabled later in life, as Jake was. But I can say that these ableist messages portraying disabled people as weak and valuable only as inspiration are not helpful for anyone, disabled or not.
Internal ableism comes from society. Angry Hippie points out that Jake running as a person with paraplegia is only surface level. This I agree with, but he goes on to say, "it was a brilliant way to build an emotional connection to the audiences" and "on a deeper level, however, the visual representation of Jake, a crippled man, is a reflection of the state of the human race." (AVATAR: In-Depth Analysis)
In my opinion, the word "crippled" is somewhat offensive, but others have reclaimed it. The comments here demonstrate ableism because he's saying that Jake running is inspirational or at least emotional for the audience. Inspiration is what disabled characters are usually meant to convey on screen. My first impression of the film was that the disabled representation was adequate because the film did not revolve around disability.
That is a double-edged sword highlighting the line between erasing disability and presenting a fully realized character that happens to have a disability.
Sources
Angry Hippie. (2018, October 22). AVATAR | In-Depth Film Analysis: Neohumanism & Ayahuasca | Humanity vs Alternate Humanity [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4c8avw6qo8
