According to Oxford Bibliographies, “ecocriticism is often used as a catchall term for any aspect of the humanities (e.g., media, film, philosophy, and history) addressing ecological issues, but it primarily functions as a literary and cultural theory,” according to Oxford Bibliographies.
The twisted sort of fun in critiquing any form of media through the lens of ecocriticism is that one may quickly come to realize how non-Indigenous cultures repeatedly disregard and desecrate nature, and maybe it causes the anarchist inside each person to come out a bit, or more. It might even cause you to fight for nature.
Avatar is an entire film just about that, disregard and desecration, coupled with some internal strife and classic rebel nature of “the few” who come from the predominant culture yet decide to veer away from said destructive practices.
In Avatar’s case, the so-called rebels are Jake Sully, Dr. Grace Augustine, Trudy Chacon, and Norm Spellman, a misfit crew made up of the protagonist Sully, the doctor, the pilot, and the scientist. Everyone you need to start a revolution. All of these characters, along with the corporation and military who they work for, traveled across the galaxy from Earth to the planet Pandora.
The theme of natural destruction immediately picks up when it is revealed that the intention of the “suits” and military leader is to collect a mineral precious to them for its ability to make them rich. The Native people of Pandora are understandably skeptical of these newcomers and make it more challenging for them to extract the mineral they came for. Sully and others are recruited to mentally control avatars that resemble the Native people so they can fit in and gain their trust, essentially spying for the corporation.
After Sully spends some time with them, he becomes enthralled with their way of life and culture. It immediately becomes apparent that a connection to nature is very important to the Na’vi. They consider all parts of nature to be equal to themselves and embed that respect and connection into their spiritual beliefs. For the colonizers who came to Pandora, nature is a means to increasing their bank account and pieces of nature that don’t serve a purpose to them can be destroyed without a second thought. The idea that everything being connected and in balance is essential to keeping the planet you are on healthy does not seem to cross their minds. It should be noted that “…the first Law of Ecology: Everything is connected to everything else,” William Rueckert said.
I am under the impression that “media…contain a variety of messages that are encoded (made/inserted) by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences. [T]herefore what we see is simply a ‘re-presentation’ of what producers want us to see,” according to Stuart Hall.
I am under the impression that the writers and director of Avatar intentionally had Pandora be a similar enough mirror to our own planet and traditional Indigenous cultures that it may cause viewers to reflect on the destruction we as humans have been enacting on Earth since industrialization and even somewhat before that.
When the films building climax breaches, the colonizers fired missiles and burned down the Na’vi’s home tree in a fit of rage. The chieftain of the Na’vi is killed by wooden shrapnel from the giant tree as it exploded. That tree was not only the Na’vi’s home but also represents something ancient and nurturing. It provides shelter for the people and animals of the forest and has survived the test of time. Along comes the colonizers who destroy it in one day. It’s something beyond narcissism, it is sociopathic.
The rest of the film can be summed up to a fight for nature to not be exploited, fought valiantly by the Na’vi against the colonizers, until they finally drive them away, but not without the price of losing some of the major cast members who defected from the colonizers to aid the Na’vi. Avatar ends with Sully transferring his consciousness entirely to his avatars body. This can be looked at in a metaphorical sense of completely becoming the environmental steward that you hope to be.
Ecocriticism reading list – https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/10/28/ecocriticism-reading-list
Great place to find environmentally centered documentaries – https://www.waterbear.com
Ruby Cayenne 