‘Avatar’ and Beyond

I recently saw James Cameron’s $400M niche film Avatar in 3D. Overall, I’m glad I watched it. I was sufficiently entertained to not demand my money back*, and I’ve since thoroughly enjoyed reading like-minded critiques of the film which I would have skipped had I not seen it myself. As expected, the special effects were spectacular and titillating; I’d go so far as to include Avatar in the growing sub-genre of Special Effects Porn (SEP), with the likes of Transformers, 2012, Hulk et al. Such was the intensity and quantity of eye candy fan service on display. The dialog was cliched, and stiff at times, but never so jarring as to distract from the focus of the film: its special effects. The plot, though somewhat derivative, was tolerable, standard blockbuster fair. A coarse summary would be: “Dances With Wolves meets Star Trek, with a big dollop of Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth on steroids.”

There are several angles for a valid critique of the film and its cultural implications or lack thereof. The one that I’m most interested in is the ‘Colonial Gaze’ angle as exposited by super nerd Annabelle Newitz on io9. She notes the frequency of narratives wherein a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member, I’m tabulating examples of such narratives. Feel free to let me know of any others I should include; they don’t have to adhere strictly to the formula, merely have strong narrative parallels:

* I watched it for free. I brought my own candy snacks to the theater, but in a moment of weakness I did buy an overpriced Coke and a warm pretzel.