Is Avatar Racist?

Dan Koelsch,

The political and social message of James Cameron’s Avatar is not exactly subtle. The premise of a big corporation (or government) willing to kill natives (or invade a weaker country) for a natural resource has been used in many films before, and the Internet has been a buzz for months about this unoriginal story. This has been one of this film’s few criticisms, with it going as far as some right wing conservatives saying it’s anti-American, but there have been some other outlandish arguments since the film has been released.


You may remember that a few weeks back someone actually claimed Avatar was homophobic, though the argument was thin at best and absurd at worst. While that blogger continues to make that point, the more recent and popular concern has been whether the film is actually racist, as mentioned in a Telegraph article. Is this argument any more reasonable?





The detractors say that the Na’vi are portrayed as helpless, dumb, religious folks who need a white male savior to rescue them. Again, this is a very common theme in movies for decades (Pocahontas, The Last Samurai, and Dances with Wolves are given as prime examples), and a stereotype racial activists have been fighting against for just as long. What makes this argument stronger is that the main Na’vi actors (including Zoe Saldana and Laz Alsono) are black. Many are arguing that someone should make a movie where the natives/minorities can actually save themselves without the white man.


What does Cameron have to say about all of this? Here’s his quote in the Telegraph.

Cameron strongly denied any racist intent. He said that his film “asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message.”



What do you think? Is this story racist or just unoriginal? Let us know in the comments below.

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Comments (27)

  1. I do think Avatar can be viewed as racist simply because the indigenous aliens (na-vi people) seem to be of african american descent and the film in my opinion is not anti-American I find it to be quite the contrary America has always sought out Countries and Continents with valuable natural resource(s) and attempted to conquer them genocide, slavery, destroying and rebulding enviornments and societies have just been the price to pay for the wealth of a nation built with bloody hands just as most other’s its easier to call the film racist than to be frank and call it the truth.

  2. “Paying(attention) can you provide me a list of the drugs you are taking, must be some good stuff. So the film is anti american because it says exactly that there are corporations/goverments “America” killing native peoples “Iraq,Palestine etc etc…” for powerful crystals “oil”. And yes the US does those things but we don’t say it is for oil, no we are bringing “democracy, peace and stability”. To your second point Avatar is racist, you are wrong again. So if the Navi are “people of color” Then why in the movie does the white man fail horribly until he embraces the Navi “people of color” even going so far as to destroy his white body or “whitness” to become a Navi. If anything the movie is on its face anti-racist.

  3. Ok, James Cameron’s Avatar is a sci-fi fantasy film with many different themes, and one theme I did notice seem to be about racism sort of like Enemy Mine movie (but like what Chad said, it’s anti-racist). What’s interesting about this movie is that the main protagonist (Jake) could’ve been played by any race and it wouldn’t really matter if Jake’s character was black, asian, hispanic, etc. If the soldiers from the mining colony weren’t people but robots, would it make any difference? The point I’m trying to say is that the movie did talk about racism, but to say the movie is racist seems ignorant because the lead character could’ve been any race since the story takes place in a futuristic environment. PAYING (attention), you should look into Avatar the Last Airbender by M. Night (no relation to James Cameron’s Avatar). Not to get off topic, I do feel M. Night’s Avatar is racist because it’s based on the animated show that has heavy asian/inuit theme but the lead heroes in the live action version went to white actors while the villains went to mostly people of color for some reason.

  4. OK, PAYING (attention), you need to buy some periods and place them accordingly so we can make some sense out of your comment. Next, you need to insert some evidence along with your accusations so that you will have some leverage, and a foundation to support your theories.

    But getting to the point, I don’t know any black people that are green and ten feet tall. In fact, black people do not look anything like the characters in the movie.

    As for the race, would it make everyone feel more comfortable if the roles had been reversed? What kind of sense would it make to mix voices of all of our different cultures in order to imitate an imaginary race? And furthermore, it takes a lot of gall and audacity to automatically assume that every time a mass group of individuals gather to create something artistic and meaningfull, it is an insult to a particular culture.

    I can see right now that if I ever decide to write a script about a segregated culture, I’m going to have to hire little people to play the roles. Oh wait, that’s been done – The Wizard of OZ. Well, maybe some Vietnamese. Nope, they’re still making those, no originality there. Canadians? Would people from Mexico (I don’t dare call them Mexicans, that’s a whole new can of worms) have added some flavor to it?

    Oh wait, I know! An all English race on a far away planet. BRAVO! Nothing offends those guys.

  5. Joe is amazing and I had to laugh my self to tears, because he states the incredible truth of the situation. GO JOE!!!
    Saw Avatar TWICE. Love it.

  6. James Cameron, thank you for bringing to us one of the most beautiful films in many years. It has been a long time since I walked out of a cinema saying I would come back to watch Avatar on the big screen.

  7. I think this movie goes well beyonde racism. People that call it racism is because tehy don’t understand the whole scope of manipulation in this movie. THE FACT IS, THAT THE ABORIGINAL NATION IS SAVED BY A MARINE. THE MESSAGE OF THIS MOVIE IS DISCUSTINGLY PRO-IMPERIALIST.
    IT NOT ONLY PORTRAITS THE AMERICAN EMPIRE AS INVENCIBLE, BUT IT ALSO PORTRAITS THE MARINES AS A SUPERIOR RACE OF WARRIORS ADMIRED BUT EVEN THE MOST NOBLE PEOPLE ON ANY PLANET. I THINK I’M GOING TO VOMIT.

  8. The idea that this movie could possibly, by any scope of the imagination, be considered racist OR pro-imperialist is absolutely beyond absurd. You are missing the crucial point of the movie. The Na’vi aren’t portrayed as ignorant or helpless. Their society is portrayed as having a far better understanding of their world than we ever will. They are happy and harmonious, unlike the American invaders. The film spoke more to the ability of the modern military to interrupt and destroy beauty than anything. Bruce, you also seemed to have fallen asleep for the first half of the movie because the natives were saved not just by a marine, but by a marine who had come to understand the essential purity of their lives and had opened his heart to accept a culture entirely different from their own. I suggest you try to look a little deeper into things yourself before you become disgusted next time.

  9. Ok, this is crazy. One at a time, i guess.

    PAYING(attention) [hereby Patt, because it sounds better], what? Are you saying that because they live in a forest and are connected with nature that they must be of African-American descent? Because of all the black people I know, none have turned out to be giant, blue alien-creatures. I believe that your assumption of their descent is probably the most racist thing that I have heard in a long time. That’s quite impressive. Also, if you want to make a comment on the imperialistic tenancies of a nation, maybe you shouldn’t be so American-centric yourself? I mean, did you skip European history between 1600 and…1950? If we’re going to comment on genocide, slavery, environmental/societal destruction, why must we point fingers? I know the force in Avatar is clearly American, but that really just isn’t the point. You make a futile argument which really holds no backing whatsoever.

    Bruce, also, I must say, what? You know, maybe I vastly misunderstood the point of the movie, but weren’t the bad (read: imperialistic) guys the antagonists? Wasn’t the whole point that the Na’vi were fighting their power and evil motives? Also you say that it portraits (sic) the American Empire as invincible. Well, let’s ignore the fact that it was said the whole conspiracy was from a private company. Didn’t they…you know…lose at the end? I kind of find that hard to ignore when reading your comment. If I remember correctly, it was implied that the Na’vi were saved by the higher power (what is their religion), the network of the entire planet. The marine came as a messenger to forewarn them and help with their intense battle. The marine was also, as Melissa said, a convert towards their way of life and their society and culture. It’s the equivalent of having a spy in the enemy’s headquarters that could tell you exactly what their next move was. And he wasn’t even admired or noble until the ending. Most of the Na’vi really disliked the fact that he was an intruder. You just make little sense here, sir.

    Why must we completely ruin a good thing? Avatar was at the surface a commentary on the smarter, ecologically minded people fighting from a large overpower. Deeper it could have been any number of things. A minority rising up against oppressors (racial things aside, please)? The effects of ecological destruction? A fight back at the man? It was a great movie, the likes of which we might never see again. Calm down and let it be.

  10. Power to Jeremy! And Bruce, you completely overlooked the beauty and concept of the movie… It’s people like you that ruin amazing movies like Avatar because of stupidity and apparently ignorance since it seems like u missed half of the movie enough to misunderstand that it’s main theme on how imperialism is a horrible creation that came out of human greed and desire for power.

    And really? how is this movie racist. People never cease to surprise me on how much they can overlook such a beautiful movie only to make irrelevant assumptions.

  11. The trouble these days, certain people will always read into movies and books for hidden meaning that does not exist. If you want to find racism you could probably find someone to watch Toy story and find something they don’t like. If you ask me these are the people who keep racism going round and round,
    I mean should the actor who played the main character been be shunted just for being white? Would it have really mattered to the story if he had been black or grey or purple. At the end of the day this kind of conspiracy nonsense has to stop!
    Can’t it just be a great movie, At the end of the day that’s all it is a movie.

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