Millions of people will be seeing the newest blockbuster movie Avatar - a story of corporate greed, as humans destroy nature and kill others in order to acquire expensive resources. But it is all just fantasy, right? If only. Human greed has already caused the extinction or near extinction of hundreds of species. But Avatar reflects the behaviour of many corporations plundering the resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over four million people have been killed since 1996 in the biggest war on our planet since World War Two. This war is partly fueled by the need to mine coltan, an element that forms an essential part of your laptop and mobile telephone. Avatar is comparable to the behaviour of Shell in the Niger Delta but it is even more reminiscent of the behaviour of Chevron-Texaco in Ecudaor, as portrayed in the documentary Crude: The Real Price of Oil. For the fictional Na'vi people in Avatar read the very real Eywa people in real life Ecuador. At the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland in 2006 Chevrolet/Texaco won the Public Eye Award for being the company with simply the worst environmental behaviour in the world, examplary in her social irresponsibilty, because the company has knowingly created a fatal disaster zone in Ecuador. Public Eye invited Jennifer DeLury Ciplet, Managing Director of Amazon Watch, to give the speech to explain why the company had been chosen as the "winner". She said:"For more than thirty years, from 1964 to 1992, the oil company Texaco knowingly and systematically dumped 70 billion liters of toxic waste into rivers, streams, wetlands, and unlined waste pits in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon. This environmental and human catastrophe became Chevron’s responsibility when it bought Texaco in a US$45 billion merger in 2001.
Over the years, the toxic contents of Texaco’s unlined waste pits have leeched into the groundwater, streams and rivers of the Ecuadorian Amazon, contaminating the larger ecosystem and sending toxins downstream into Peru. Today, 627 open toxic waste pits remain, some of which are the size of a soccer field. These waste pits continue to leak highly toxic cancer-causing waste into the ground, poisoning the land and water where more than 30,000 local people live. Local residents have no other option but to use these contaminated sources for drinking water. Thousands of people are slowly being poisoned daily as they consume the water, bathe in local waterways, and breathe the vapors in the air from the waste pits.
Chevron’s operations have resulted in an exploding health crisis. Childhood leukemia rates are four times higher in this area than in other parts of Ecuador...The effects of Chevron’s “Rainforest Chernobyl” have been especially devastating for the indigenous communities... Since Texaco began its operations, one tribe—the Tetetes—are now extinct, and the land that other indigenous communities once depended on for subsistence is now so polluted that tribal members have had to abandon these ancestral areas...
However, there is an important sign of hope. Today, Chevron is facing a historic class-action lawsuit in Ecuador. Brought by five indigenous groups and 80 communities representing 30,000 people, this lawsuit has the potential to set a precedent that could benefit millions of people worldwide who have been victimized by private corporations. This lawsuit represents the first time in history that everyday people in the Third World have forced a multinational oil company to submit to jurisdiction in their national courts on environmental grounds."
The Worldwatch Institute in Washington first made the link between Avatar and Crude: The Real Price of Oil, with clips from the trailers of both films: Avatar Meet Crude
Although I appreciate some of the ideas Avatar presented, there were some glaring race issues with the film. How many times is Hollywood going to put forth a film that portrays white people saving the indigenous people? This idea always seems to come with the expectation that the indigenous peoples should except the helps of their oppressors. I am thankful for this post as it addresses some very serious issues that the movie barely touched on. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you wholeheartedly. There are plenty of films like this - Dancing with Wolves springs to mind as one of the worst. White hero goes native and falls in love with native girl (who in D of W turns out to be white girl after all). Avatar is primarily a product made in order to make gigantic profits and no doubt their pre-production market research beforehand indicated that crowds are attracted when white hero goes native, rather than having a native hero.
ReplyDeleteThanks a million for your comment.
I agree with your post, and think it is especially interesting, as most people will regard Avatar as a “fantasy” movie, as you said, and will fail to draw such concrete parallels to the “real world”. I haven’t seen Avatar yet, and was not planning on watching it, but after watching Crude, I am in the process of reconsidering, in order to draw such parallels myself. It would be interesting to know if, and if so, which parallels the director had in mind while making the movie. Thanks for the parallels, and the movie recommendation (Crude), which I definitely will watch.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of thing has been happening since the first humans opened their eyes, the countless invasions of different countries in order to reap the benefits of their resource make up one of the main and most occurring reasons for participating in conflict. Nowadays the multinational corporations, like the one in Avatar, act like an invading army. They creep in through the backdoor and already do the damage before anyone really notices because of the real effects can only be seen in long term periods. The corporations feel like they have ultimate power and they will do whatever they can to increase profits then hire very expensive lawyers in order to combat the troubles that they have permanently caused.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the first two comments one phrase kept popping into my mind. This idea of the White Mans Burden to civilize the "savages" not of the western world. Some time ago the white population believed that they were put on earth by god with a mission to "save" the rest of the planet, even though the so called "savages" were probably perfectly content with living exactly the way they were. Do they really want our help?
This post makes an interesting parallel between the two fims. I just wonder (not having seen Avatar yet myself) how obvious this parallel is. Does Avatar imply the comparisons between the actions of the company it portrays and real life companies such as Shell, Glencore and Texaco or does it depend on the worldlyness of the viewer as to whether or not they pick it up?
ReplyDeleteThe actual story is not new, it has been happening for centuries. It happened in the colonial times in Africa, Asia and America and whether it was for rubber, ivory, tea or cotton, the indeginous people were always the ones to pay the price. Now it is oil, gold and other elements needed to power our gagets and it is still the multinational corporations who are making the money. They use bribery, corruption and fraud to exploit the enviroment and the people unfortunate enough to enhabit it.
Abi
That is an interesting question you pose Oliver.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting comparison between these two movies. I had heard two different perceptions on the movie Avatar, either it was a fantasy movie or a documentary on real life. I was also not planning on watching it, but once you made the similarities between Avatar and Crude, it's definitely something I am now planning on watching. Making comments about the trailer seen from the movie Crude, it is a sad thing that in this world, major companies do anything to get rid of their waste. It seems that there is a pattern to these actions, the garbage is being thrown into poor countries probably due to their unstable government. Referring to the movie Crude, the people cannot prove their case for the poisons entering and disturbing the nature and population of their country. This is where the international help comes in, and must take action and not allow the businesses to do wrong to others. Summarizing things up, the comparisons with these two movies are surprisingly similar and therefore, we should probably watch these two movies in class.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that most people think the movie Avatar is just a "fantasy" movie. I have not seen the movie, but I don't think i would have realized that the movie might try to say something about our future and or planet, if you would not have said it in class.
ReplyDeleteAbout the documentary movie Crude, that is horrible, just seeing the oil floathing around there, wow..hopefully by seeing this documentary people will have a better understanding of what we are doing with the planet!
This type of destruction is all due to the cause of the unstoppable need for more, newer, better and more improved gadgets that will make life for humans a whole lot simpler. Avatar was not only a fantasy movie; it was made to show how easily people can get corrupt, when money is put into the picture. Crude shows how corporations do not care about the conditions that they cause for others around them. Their care for others when money comes into the picture is almost put into oblivion. This is where I see the connection between Crude and Avatar. How money causes humans to go against our human instincts and do whatever it takes to get our hands on wealth, which in the end is not what really counts. All it counts for is other lives.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, most of the ideas embedded in the big Hollywood movie Avater are completely real, happening all over the world today. The scramble for resources and land by the "power" countries is conveyed through this film at an extremely interesting point of view. I think that not only there is an extreme comparison between Avatar and Crude, but I think in this case Avatar represents all of the similar issues facing non-developed or semi-developed countries in the present time. I think Crude, though I have not personally seen it but after seeing the preview it is at the top of my list, is just a small (though extremely important) issue our global society is facing. All in all, Avatar not only represents Crude, but the complete picture of Western or "developed" nations throughout history. The movie can be compared with not only Crude, but the "scramble for Africa" by the Europeans in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Also the case with the people of the Southern Asian countries, where large mining companies are "invading" to "get the goods". What I'm trying to say is that this extreme race for resources is more like a war than a business, and many of the locals and indigenous people are carrying the burden and negative effects. Sadly, there is very small chance of these corporations and businesses stopping, because of the economic crisis we are not yet completely cleared of.
ReplyDeleteAnother point or comment that I see fit to make is that again unfortunately, though there is this hidden message of saving the planet and resources in the film, it is hard to say what the viewers will take away with them. Though the message is quite obvious throughout the movie, the real-world issues that are represented in the film have been advertised, and yet the public seems to not care. The real question is, will this Hollywood Blockbuster be able to present this issue to the public even though the real-life issues have already been seen? And, unlike the issues happening today, will Avatar be enough for the public to care?
Nice comparison! They have similarity that both movies are dealing with destroying people’s life and environment. I watched Avatar a few days ago and while I was watching the movie, I realized that the movie director made it intend to mention about what Europeans did to Latin Americans and Africans a long time ago. However, I couldn't picture myself that this kind of thing is still happening in other countries!
ReplyDeleteIn Avatar, the main actor who was mere army helped indigenous people and saved them. I don’t think it would happen in our real life. The world cannot be changed by a few people and that is the reason why the people are suffering out there. But again, if we don’t change the world, which has been being ruined so much, the contaminated earth will became unrecoverable and that means we are not only spoiling people in developing countries but ourselves.
Nice comparison! They have similarity that both movies are dealing with destroying people’s life and environment. I watched Avatar a few days ago and while I was watching the movie, I realized that the movie director made it intend to mention about what Europeans did to Latin Americans and Africans a long time ago. However, I couldn't picture myself that this kind of thing is still happening in other countries!
ReplyDeleteIn Avatar, the main actor who was mere army helped indigenous people and saved them. I don’t think it would happen in our real life. The world cannot be changed by a few people and that is the reason why the people are suffering out there. But again, if we don’t change the world, which has been being ruined so much, the contaminated earth will became unrecoverable and that means we are not only spoiling people in developing countries but ourselves.
I find that in both Crude and Avatar there are examples of corrupted capitalism. Money rules and those with no money are shut up and oppressed. I believe that Avatar is a good metaphor for the Congo and the "white man's burden". Crude is a factual based movie which makes it more strongly evoke a feeling of caring, the same as in avatar the people of equador have no rights and are being oppressed. Supporting, I find both movies are influencial and manipulative, however thats what it needs to provide morals to a great audience, something that reminds you of the past and you don't want to be the future.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post I can see how the documentary film crude and the fantasy flick avatar have a lot more in common than I thought it would have. I also agree that our corporate greed is unfortunately responsible for killing others and nature who are incapable of defending themselves. I think it’s rather sad of what humans are capable of when they really want something so bad, they have to take inconsiderate measures to do so. Avatar is just a reflection of how humans are too blind to see that they are destroying a remarkable gift nature has giving to the people. It’s no wonder why some people became depressed after watching Avatar because they saw that something great was being destroyed and weren’t able to do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting thing about the direction in which this film seemed to go, is that if everybody loves it, then one would assume that they can identify what exactly the hidden meanings are in it (That we need to save earth/ ewa). This being said, If everybody feels that we need to save earth, then why are we still not doing it? I personally came out of the cinema asking myself this question. Who would fight to save these mythical creatures in a film from the impending doom of their plant, and who would fight for ours? I think the majority of people would say that they felt strongly against what happend on Pandora and would defintly help. If this is the case then why do we not feel the same alligence with our own REAL planet?
ReplyDeleteThe problem with us is that we never no when to stop, we always want more and more. We can see in the movie Avatar the need not only to destroy a earth, but that it is the need to have more. I think that the generations coming into the world, will not have the option to keep wanting more because there will not be anymore resources to be had.
ReplyDeleteThere will also always be the issue that it will always have to be a white male to save the day. Avatar shows this is full, and they do not seem to make it subtle at all. Why does it always have to be a white man saving the day as it were. How come we are still destroying the planet, if most of the people want to stop it all?
Andrew S.
Although both movies adresses the issue of scarce natural resources, Avatar is offered from the perspective of a superior "conquering" party and Crude offers the view of someone who has been affected by someone elses actions. Both movies urge and pledge viewers to reconsider their actions and start protecting their environment.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how Avatar brings up current global issues that are urgent in today's society but also how it is a parallel story to conquests and the battle for power and resources in the past. Although Avatar seems like a fictional story on the surface, for me it was an insight into what it must have been like for other indigenous people who interacted with, and in most cases were conquered, by an external party. A good example would be Cortez and the civilizations he encountered. There is a failure to communicate with one another and this causes conflict. In most cases the external party seems to be superior due to more advanced technology.
In a more present day scenario, successively destroying and exhausting our natural resources and is wearing out the environment and all living things that depend upon them. The groups affected by actions such as these seldom have their voices heard. In the documentary "Crude" however, there's an opportunity for these suppressed people to have their voices heard. You are offered a second perspective on a situation that media often suppresses or ignores completely.
I believe Avatar and Crude have similar purposes and address similar audiences. The movies awaken thoughts about how humanity is raping earth as both movies show the problems of a poisoned world. Avatar shows man after planet earth has been cleaned of all green and crude shows how we are destroying the planet now. I find sad that in Crude it is not only a holly wood movie but actually a documentary, which means that what Texaco does is really destroying the forest of Ecuador. Avatar is a movie made to influence a great public, it is time wise correct because we are still at the point where we could change our habits. It is devastating in both movies what man kind is capable of doing, without moral guidelines or taking responsibility, all that counts is power and greed. Disaster movies help influence the audience to become more green and with each step of influence taken towards the audience gives a bigger chance of helping our Planet.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting and clearly very true comparison. It is just such a shame that there is not a multi million dollar film that explains how this is a reflection on atrocious human activities on our own planet. Because the fact is that 90% of the people who watch this film are not going to relate it to the Congo war or Texacos behavior in equador. And if there was even just one line in the film that related to any of the eco disasters in the past 20 years it would give huuge awareness to these problems. Unfortunately there isnt and peoples attention is still undividedly directed towards which actors were in the film instead of the message it is fairly clearly trying to convey.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about this movie was the parrelels you can see to history. When first seeing the movie, the first thought that came to my mind was the Spanish dominating the Aztec civilizations with superior technology. This is where the movie itself dissapointed me though. The indigenous people really should have been destroyed if it werent for the forest creatures helping in the end, and this was something they had no control over. This is understandable as Hollywood needs to seep into the movie to make give it mass appeal. Apart from logical fallicies like these, I found it refreshing to see a block buster with at least a attempt to bring across some kind of message
ReplyDeleteMike T