The new film Avatar: The Way of Water is finally here. However, it appears that some Native Americans have decided to boycott James Cameron‘s Avatar sequel.
Yuè Begay, a Navajo artist and co-hair of Indigenous Pride Los Angeles, wrote a tweet regarding the campaign. With more than 40,000 likes, the tweet begins with the following statement:
“Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film. Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner to satisfy some 
man’s savior complex. No more Blueface!”
Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water
Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film. Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner to satisfy some
No more Blueface!
Lakota people are powerful! pic.twitter.com/NmHVU565u3—
Asdzáá Tłʼéé honaaʼéí
Of course, the desire to boycott Avatar goes back to the first film. In fact, the most recent boycott against the sequel was partially inspired by old comments made by James Cameron in 2010. Specifically, what he told the Guardian while discussing his efforts to oppose the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam:
“I felt like I was 130 years back in time watching what the Lakota Sioux might have been saying at a point when they were being pushed and they were being killed and they were being asked to displace and they were being given some form of compensation,” Cameron began.
“This was a driving force for me in the writing of ‘Avatar’ — I couldn’t help but think that if they [the Lakota Sioux] had had a time-window and they could see the future … and they could see their kids committing suicide at the highest suicide rates in the nation … because they were hopeless and they were a dead-end society — which is what is happening now — they would have fought a lot harder.”
Here are a few tweets made in response recently to James Cameron’s old comments:
James Cameron apparently made Avatar to inspire all my dead ancestors to “fight harder”. Eff right off with that savior complex, bud. And everyone, please go watch a real native movie instead of that badly appropriated blue trash. https://t.co/XndxXm3B1d
— Dr. Johanna Brewer (@deadroxy) December 17, 2022
Eww, way to victim blame & not reflect on your own positionally/ privilege. Saw original avatar; was annoyed people celebrated the story while not reflecting on how many Indigenous Nations in the present are fighting to do so.
Support Indigenous storytellers, not white saviors https://t.co/wStYTEIUvr
— Lydia Jennings, Ph.D. (@1NativeSoilNerd) December 17, 2022
Avatar was a White savior story at its core and James Cameron said the Lakota should have “fought harder” with the foresight that their descendants would all be suicidal. I won’t be seeing the new one. It does nothing for Native Americans but suck oxygen for itself at our expense https://t.co/A1Lp5rw66f
— Brett Chapman (@brettachapman) December 17, 2022
maybe donate the avatar money to Native communities. you took our land, then our children, then our skin. can’t you see this is *still* manifest destiny in action?
— Kelly Lynne D’Angelo
(@kellylynnedang) December 17, 2022
Additionally, Autumn Asher BlackDeer made an innovative response by compiling a list of films by Indigenous filmmakers. As her caption states, she made the list for anyone who doesn’t “wanna watch the colonial glorifying blue people movie.”
Don’t wanna watch the colonial glorifying blue people movie? Check out these sci-fi films by actual Indigenous people telling our own stories instead.
— Dr. BlackDeer (@DrBlackDeer) December 16, 2022
You couldn’t pay me to watch #Avatar, created by a racist white guy with a white saviour complex (and who can’t write worth sh*t). Do you want to support a dude who says something like this? pic.twitter.com/86AbkBobl4
— David A. Robertson (@DaveAlexRoberts) December 21, 2022
I already had no use for Avatar movies.
But wtf with the racist victim-blaming comments from the white savior asshole director James Cameron, such as this one calling Lakota society “dead-end” and saying 19th century ancestors should have somehow “fought a lot harder.” pic.twitter.com/bw9Liy3m2B— UAINE (ndnviewpoint) (@mahtowin1) December 17, 2022
Many people have also found issues with the film’s casting. Specifically, as noted in an open letter via Instagram, they feel that certain white actors being cast as the Na’vi is an act of “colonialism.” They’ve also started to refer to this as “Blueface.” As further elaborated, they believe that they should be the actors to portray the Na’vi if these characters are based on Indigenous cultures.
“We should’ve been the ones whose faces and voices appeared onto the screen,” the open letter begins. “We are the experts in portraying our hurt, suffering, and more importantly, our resilience.”
“White people being aliens based on actual indigenous people,” the letter continues, is “actual colonialism.”
every single in-focus character here is played by white folks.
this is just “it’s not red/blackface if we make them blue: the movie.” such a nasty racist cash-grab. pic.twitter.com/83QnqS5jR9
—
johnny
You gotta give it to yt people for finding a loophole to appropriate black and indigenous cultures and cast white people in those roles by making them blue aliens
— Lemon_boy
(@Lemon_boy89) December 20, 2022
avatar 2 is boring and racist to indigenous and black ppl at the same time pls
— LIA (@liacesp) December 23, 2022
avatar 2: still racist & white saviour-y but it looks pretty i guess
— MissContrary (@half_light) December 22, 2022
Avatar 2 somehow feels even more racist than the first one. Still super racist.
— St. Coeur D’astronaute (@coeurastronaute) December 22, 2022
If you remove every part of avatar 2 that isn’t cringe or racist all you’re left with is a talking whale
— Felix Catus
ANW (@AlleyCatCore) December 21, 2022
is avatar 2 not just white ppl cosplaying as indigenous ppl fantasy
— googldnd (@gazyae) December 23, 2022
Avatar 2 has made me realise people don’t pay attention when watching films because how are so many of you only realising now that Avatar is based on African/indigenous people fighting against colonisation they make it very obvious in the films right down to the white savour
— KM10. LMN. (@estrellamabiz) December 23, 2022
Avatar: The Way of Water was directed by James Cameron. He wrote the screenplay alongside Josh Friedman. Cameron produced the film alongside Jon Landau. The cast for the film includes Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet.
Avatar 2 is currently playing in theaters. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.
‘Avatar 2’ Backlash: Some Calling For Boycott Over “Horrible & Racist” Film
Source: Breaking Update News
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