Pandora: A World of Dangers... Right?

In one scene in Avatar, Jake, played by Sam Worthington, after just arriving in Pandora he goes on his first mission on the planet, through the jungle and wilderness. He is getting used to his Avatar and is separated from the group of Weaver's character, Dr. Grace Augustine, and More's character, Norm. This signifies that Jake is different from the other two, and is separated from them. He also finds himself isolated from the other Avatars, which suggests that he is somehow chosen, unique, and special. He is also carrying a gun - a signifier that represents the military aspect of Jake, and his upbringing, experience, and how he acts in the situations he finds himself in. He finds himself amongst a bunch of plants that spiral, and pop and curl up when touched. The plants suggest that Pandora is a generally hidden and closed off place, that is hidden and mysterious to outsiders. But when Jake touches the plants he finds a general pleasure in the movement of the plants, but they end up revealing a large herd of hammer-head-shark-esque rhinos, dangerous animals that defend their territory - a precursor to the Na'vi's hesitation of outsiders because of the dangers that come with unknown entities, such as Jake in Pandora. Jake reacts by pointing his gun at the creature, what he has been trained to do all his life, yet Weaver, who has an extensive knowledge of the planet, tells him the bullets will be useless against the armored skin of the rhinos. This suggests that Jake is ignorant of the world of Pandora and that he still is, for all intensive purposes, still human and carries the knowledge of humans, of Earth. This unearthing, from the plants, of something dangerous, the rhinos, signifies that humans, which Jake is very much a part of still despite being in an Avatar, do not know what they are getting in to, and that they will find a danger and violence on Pandora, which in this case overpowers them. Basically, the mercenaries, the humans, will lose eventually. But the plot thickens as a large, black cat-like creature looms above Jake, signifying the obvious power and killing prowess that the cat wields over Jake. This event reiterates the power and danger hidden amongst Pandora, and thus, the Na'vi. This cat, which hunts down Jake after this scene, wields complete power over the tiny bodies of the three Avatars. Overall, this scene acts as a precursor for what will become of the humans on Pandora in their mission to obtain unobtainium. In addition, its signifiers continue to portray Jake as a special person, whom will be isolated (being alone) and wield power (has a gun, surviving the attack of the rhino and the cat, etc.). The Na'vi are the eventual, unknown danger looming in the futures of the humans, who do not fully understand what is ahead of them, despite the pleasures they find on Pandora (unobtainium).

The connection of Pandora: Secret human longing?

I decided to choose the moment when they talk about how the forest on Pandora acts like a neural network connecting everything. I feel like this moment was meant to make us care even more for the people of Pandora even more. Humans tend to have natural affection and sympathy for nature and the fragility of it. The concept of Home Tree was also one most people can relate to as we all have some type of base in our life that keeps us grounded and alive for the most part. For me personally, this made me really mad at the bad guys when I found out they were going to try to destroy a beautiful connected forest. The connection of the forest signifies that humans long for an international connection between all people, but they wouldn’t dare speak it aloud, because they don’t want to seem primitive or foolish. This may create a reaction in a person craving more of a connection with the spirit of earth. Or questioning if there is in face a spirit of the earth. All though some may not agree, it seems there is some type of longing in every human to discover some type of spiritual power whether higher or not. Another thing is that all the people living on Pandora have the same spiritual beliefs. This also demonstrates human’s longing for peace and understanding. Imagine how calm the world would be if there were never any disputes over religion, or spiritual beliefs. But the question remains, would it be better for the entire population to all have the same spiritual beliefs, or for no one to have any spiritual beliefs? Humans are also very disconnected from each other. We all live in our separate houses, we do our daily routines alone. Here at college I notice the disconnection more than I did in high school. Of course making an effort to talk to someone new everywhere you go is tiring for most people, but still it is strange because when you walk into the union, for instance, people are all sitting in these chairs next to each other, but not a single one is interacting with those around them.

I really believe the message that is trying to be conveyed is the burning desire in human beings to create a society that is connected throughout all aspects and to become more connected with one another. To implement the idea that we are all much more similar than different and we are all like brothers and sisters.

Avatarmotional

1. The scene where the Tree of Souls has been knocked over and is burning. The avatars are watching in horror and sadness, as well as most of the humans; except for Colonel Quaritch. He seems to be pleased at watching the sight.

2. The scene tried to make me feel upset, and that what they are doing is unfair and unjust. By showing the reactions and feelings of the other characters, to whom we have already identified with, we are also persuaded into feeling the same sadness and helplessness for what just occured. This is also supported by Quaritch being pleased with what he had done. Quaritch is the main symbol of the archetypical villian in Avatar. And we are conditioned to think the villian is bad and what he wants is bad. Therefore, we already feel the sadness and helplessness of watching the tree burn and the avatars suffer, and then it is reinforced and stirs up anger when we see Quaritch pleased with himself. He even says something about buying the first round of drinks for everyone; like destroying a civilization is something to celebrate. My feelings of anger towards him are mustered up just by explaining it.

3. This scene is arguing that it is unethical to be destroying the land and attacking the people of the Na’vi. We are signified to feel sadness through the display of the sadness of the Na’vi people. The viewers are also subjected to the helplessness that they feel. Once these emotions are felt, they slightly shift more towards anger. We see the pleasure the villain, Quaritch, is receiving from this and we become outraged because we have just identified with the immortality of the attack. Through the emotions we are influenced to feel, we are lead to conclude that it is horribly unethical for the Na’vi to be attacked.

Jake Sully is the white messiah

The scene that I decided to look at was the scene when Jake gathers all of the other Na'vi tribes to help fight against the military from the base. I think that this totally fits into the white messiah archetype. The fact that he is gathering all of the tribes to help fight says a lot. The tribes pretty much blindly follow him and help him. This is probably because he is riding the toruk. Jake riding the toruk means that he is the Toruk Makto. This means that he has a lot of power over the people. They immediately will look up to him and respect him. It also means that they will follow him into a battle that they do not have much of a chance to win alone. Luckily, when the Na'vi has already suffered many deaths, Eywa rallies all of the animals of Pandora to help the Na'vi army defeat the humans. Eywa most likely answers the prayers of the Na'vi because she is there to "preserve the balance of life on Pandora."
I think that this scene epitomizes the white messiah archetype. It is so easy for Jake to gather the tribes of Pandora. I dont think that there would be any way for Jake to have this affect on the Na'vi if he was not the Toruk Makto. In general, the scene argues that Jake is the only one that can save the Na'vi, and in the end, he does. The humans are defeated and they have to leave Pandora. In typical happy ending fashion, the humans all leave, Jake and Norm live on Pandora with the rest of the Na'vi and all is well. Jake will be looked at as the one who saved everyone from the humans and saved their lives. He is the white messiah.

Although we analyzed it in class, I'm going to discuss the scene in which Jake first lands among the Navi while riding Toruk as an example for a behavior that recurs multiple times throughout the film.

The first time that I saw Avatar (back when it was still in theaters), before I even got through the first half, I was aware of and bothered by Jake's unprecedented adaption into the Navi culture, and his resulting smugness. After re-watching it for class, I no longer read much of Jake's behavior as smug, and consider that his whole being "the one" thing probably has something to do with his natural abilities. That said, my initial reading is still relevant, and the scene mentioned earlier jumped out at me during both viewings, regardless of my altered opinion toward Jake's representation.

In class, someone read this scene as threatening, observing that Toruk was suggestively in view behind Jake implying 'or else' as he asked for Tsu'tey's help. I never saw the scene in that light, but rather saw it as a slap in the face to both Tsu'tey and the Navi people. Jake, after rapidly growing proficient in the Navi ways (also a bit of a slap in the face), speaks out and demands that the Navi wage war against the humans. His plea is rejected, and he is labeled a traitor. Does Jake respond with respect and humility? No, he instead decides to conquer their culture's greatest and most sacred tradition with an absurd amount of ease. After doing so, he flaunts his victory in the face of those who had spoken against him, knowing that they'll now treat his every word as if it were divine.

I may have a more balanced view of it after my second viewing, but both times I saw this scene I read Jake as a spoiled child getting his way by abusing a weakness of his mother's. I realize his intentions were sound, as he was only trying to save the forest and the lives of everything living there. It just seemed like a really disrespectful, smug, and childish way to go about it.

The Reason I want to be an Avatar

Avatar is by far one of my most favorite movies that I have ever seen. I want to dissect that scene that is right after Jake is saved by Neytiri and then discovers this new world. The scene could be started from the moment he gets there as an Avatar and given a gun to protect and becomes separated from the others. As he is chased by an angry rhino like animal and gets lost the viewer begins to sense that what this place is is extremely different from anything that we have imagine before. The other thing that I took away from this and why I be live Avatar was so successful is that unlike other movies like star wars and harry potter with concepts like people in the stars and spaceships or witches and wizards, this idea of being on a different planet with "alien" like creators but don't fit any sort of one stereotype is something most people wouldn't have been able to think of on their own. I have imagined wizards before Harry Potter and I definitely pictured spaceships in the sky, but this technology and idea and creativity with a world beyond my imagination is simply put damn cool. My overall view of this scene compares it to like a kid in the candy store when Jake is discovering this whole new amazing place.

This scene creates the idea or wants the viewer to believe and know that there is a place for anyone who is sad, depressed, paralyzed or stuck in something, like when they feel that nothing else matters that all of a sudden can be turned around. This is the idea of being in a second life which for me honestly freaks me out a bit but for someone like Jake it is the simply the best experience one could DREAM of. Before becoming an Avatar Jake is in such a sad and bad place in his life. He had gotten to the point where he felt as though nothing really mattered anymore and in my opinion was pretty confused about what he stood for. This scene does an extremely good job at emphasizing the difference and excitement Jake experiences in this new world called Pandora. As he is running, touching, discovering and experiencing the things around him that are so new he develops this passion that the view sees for the first time and it is envied and exciting.

New is something that can be taken two ways when someone experiences change, people can either go with it and like/love it or hate it. Change isn't something that is handled well by most people or in other times change can be something that is needed in order to appreciate anything else/be happy. Nature and being one with it is a concept reinforced by this scene and this film and there is something about it that is established as what make sense. For some who are environmentalists and feel a strong fulfillment when in nature or preserving it or "being one with it" this is an idea that knock the socks off of them because it is so imaginable and wanted, something that truly would make them melt would to live in world that functioned like Pandora. Then there are those that are potentially the exact opposite and find the concepts stupid and idiotic and weird. Me on the other hand, I don't feel the same amount of passion for the environment or anything but it is something that I believe about being in the world of Pandora and living life like that looks like a lot more fun that what I do day to day. When watching the movie I found myself wanting to ride a dragon and feel things that don't seem to exist in my REAL world. This scene takes us to a place that shows us all of what we don't feel or sense so that in our illusion what is shown and created for us to think is that the life we are living right now is not as exciting as it could potentially be.

Avatar ways of life

The acceptance to a new life style, Jake had to adapt to the ways of life as an Avatar. What he had to adapt to is very similar in how we adapt to other cultures. In the movie Jake had to learn their language, culture, habitat, survival tactics, and spiritual knowledge. This state’s how life is actually portrayed when learning of a new type of society and culture. We don’t know what to expect when introduced into a new culture or place. This is the same as Jake he at first didn’t know what was going to happen or if he would be accepted into their culture. But Neytiri was a big help to this, she showed him a lot and help him understand her world, which made the other Avatars start to accept him.

A significant scene in the movie is when the female avatar Neytiri was showing and teaching Jake about the home tree and how it represents life and ancestry. What it meant was how there is a life after death but it shows just like how in cultures/religions in today’s current society that, there is a life after more important or with deeper symbolic meaning. What it does to the viewer is makes you think is there a life after death and how it is like a fantasy world in Pandora, causing it to seem perfect and if there really is a greater meaning after death as it was shown in the movie. This made me wonder if Jake would ever be totally accepted into the culture as an avatar. It made me feel as if I am not as grateful for the life that I have and the meaning to me having life, stating what it stands for. The home tree is a symbol representing their past. The tree could answer any question you had. This tree makes you seem how history is a big part of the future and how it represents the past as well. This makes me wonder, Is there really life after death? Some people may or may not believe so. The movie in a strong way relates to very similar ways of our society, morals, and beliefs that we have.

"You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen."

The scene that I chose to write about was Scene 4, "This is why we're here...". Dr. Grace Augustine and Parker Selfridge are having a conversation in what I would call the military command center about Jake Sully using the avatar that was originally intended for his brother to use before he died.

Signifiers (things):
This scene is full of many signifiers because as you can imagine, a military command center normally has a lot going on in it. I am only going to point out a few that stood out to me.

VISUAL
1. The first obvious signifier is the extremely advanced technology in the military command center. The computer screens are holographic images that you can touch. The military workers each have a large screen in front of them and each one is working diligently on things that we wouldn't understand.
2. The second signifier I noticed, that I doubt many people noticed, was the cigarette burning in Dr. Augustine's hand. She wasn't smoking it, she was just holding it.
3. The third signifier is Parker playing golf. He is clearly someone very important who is in charge of other people, yet he is playing golf into a cup on the floor in the middle of this complex office space.

AURAL
1. Parker golfing... "You see that?" "Yes, sir." "No, you didn't you were looking at the monitor."
2. Dr. Augustine talking... "You know, Grace...I enjoy our little talks."

Signifieds (mean):

VISUAL
1. We assume, even though we can't understand what the computer screens have on them, the military workers are working with military related projects. They are most likely getting paid a lot of money for what they are doing. The technology in this scene is extremely advanced which means the military is probably wealthy and intelligent.
2. This might mean that she is stressed out and the cigarette is her admitting she is stressed out, as if we can't already tell. It shows that the world has changed quite a bit, since Dr. Augustine is letting her cigarette burn in this military office. It's ironic that she's working in a science career and she's holding the cigarette as if she smokes often, but she would understand more than most people the negative effects this has on her health.
3. Parker has such an important job, yet he is not doing anything important when we first see him. Shouldn't he be doing something important, so we take the company's missions in this native world seriously in this film? He's in charge of the operation of this. (My friend thought that Parker was so good at his job, that he didn't need to be working on anything important!)

AURAL
1. Parker has caught his worker in a lie, but it is a good thing. He is making sure the worker is doing his job. The boss cares about him, but the boss isn't doing much himself.
2. Dr. Augustine whines to Parker often. Parker is not necessarily sick of it, he is just used to it. Dr. Augustine must be stressed out very often.

Effect (do)/Message:

• What did it (try to) make you feel? How did it (try to) do that?

VISUAL
1. This signifier made me feel inadequate, because I am not able to understand how the advanced technology works. And I will probably never have this equipment.
2. This signifier made me feel clever, because I was able to find that and question it. I am still wondering why she never put it to her mouth. What was the point of that?
3. This made me mad about people with higher levels of power. He is not working hard at all, and probably gets paid way more than I ever will get paid. Why does he get to slack off?

AURAL
1. This signifier made me feel a little better about Parker golfing. He still cares about his workers, but less in a "big man in charge" way and more in a "buddy buddy" way.
2. This signifier made me wonder if Parker ever listens to what she has to say. She has to kick the cup out of the way of his golf game to get his attention.

The Essence of Human Nature

I’ve seen Avatar three times. The first time I saw it was in super high definition on a gigantic screen; it was a magical experience, the moved sucked me in from beginning to end. The scene I am choosing to analyze is when the military destroyed the Na’vi’s home tree. This is the scene that I most vividly remember.
Many emotions coursed through body during this scene. I felt extreme anger, sadness and disbelief. I couldn’t believe that the colonel chose to issue the first major attack on the Na’vi’s home tree. I think this is the scene that was meant for the audience to really start hating the colonel, at least that’s when I started to. The fact that he felt nothing, no emotion at all (besides satisfaction) for destroying this magnificent organism that was the Na’vi’s main home, and afterwards callously offers to buy his crew drinks.
When I watched Avatar, especially the destruction of the tree scene, the message that I read from it was that James Cameron was simply trying to portray typical human nature. This scene is just trying to make you start to dislike the characters that are involved in the destruction of the tree. I strongly disagree with the critics who claim that Avatar is a “racist” film; I definitely did not buy into that. The whole movie outlines the flaws of human nature, and by us disliking the people involved in the destruction of the tree, we should really start disliking the part of ourselves and those parts of human nature that are destructive.
The colonel and the people in charge are willing to destroy an entire society solely for personal gain. People are power hungry greedy animals, and that does not ever seem to change. After watching Avatar I saw it as another portrayal of what we had done to the Native Americans, and what we are still doing to other races. The colonel is just a signifier of all the greed, power, death, and destruction in human nature. If another race has something we need we just take it; either surrender to us or we will take what we want by force, no matter what it costs.

Hallelujah Mountains

The moment in Avatar that I believe is worth noting is the moving of the Avatar program to the floating mountains or the “Hallelujah Mountains.” Watching the movie I did not catch that they were referred to as the “Hallelujah Mountains” and upon hearing them called that in research, I immediately linked them to the White messiah archetype.

The Hallelujah Mountains is the place where the scientists move the Avatar program to get away from the militaristic base so they can conduct their research. It is the place where Norm most wants to visit and is extremely disappointed to hear that Jake hasn’t even heard of them. The mountains themselves are not inhabited by the Na’vi (they are however by the mountain banshees) so when they become the home for the scientists they are now “floating” above the Na’vis. Are you starting to see a pattern with the white messiah archetype?

The mountains are basically clouds that cast shadows over Pandora. In many western depictions of heaven, the heavens are set in the clouds, which could signify the religious connection with the “hallelujah” name. It is no mere coincidence then that Jake is coming down from the mountains each day to work with the Na’vi also signifying the white messiah aspect that we discussed in class. “Hallelujah” is something that is uttered in Christian religions when prayers are answered as well. To name the mountains the “Hallelujah Mountains” shows that whoever is inhabiting the mountains may in fact be answering prayers i.e. Jesus/God.

Based off of the role of the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar as being seen as a beautiful portrayal of Pandora and a place in the sky, it can be argued that they are indeed an extension of the White Messiah archetype as a place where the messiah is to come from. Now, I know that Jake did not inhabit the floating mountains throughout the movie but neither did the Na’vis. So to say what the Na’vis though of what happened in the floating mountains is up for speculation because the viewer does not know. The difference is is that Sully and the humans were able to. By having Jake able to live on the floating mountains conveys the message that he is able to do things the Na’vis are not which is similar to Jesus and his followers, where Jesus could act out miracles.

Not Just a Movie

I can remember when the first previews came out for Avatar my reactions were that the movie was just going to be another "alien" sci-fi movie. And to my pleasant surprise i actually enjoyed the movie and am a fan. But in class when we talked about how some people go into avatar depression over it i was a little taken aback, because after all it is just a movie. However when I analyzed my scene from the movie I began to see why some people might actually connect to the movie so emotionally that depression is their answer.

I analyzed the part in the movie where all the American air-craft carriers were in line and were in sync to bomb the home-tree and when it was Trudys turn, she quote said "screw this" and turned her machine around and decided not to partake in the bombing of the "alien's" home.

To me this scene reminded me instantly of the Holocaust and a specific picture I once saw where there was a Nazi standing amongst a line of jews who were about to be shot, and the Nazi said he was not going to shot them so the other Nazis had him put his gun down and stand in line with him and go join the other jews in line to be killed.

I felt that connection where sometimes there are people in the world who say no against conformity and do what they believe is best. Trudy decided that bombing civilian's home is morally wrong and therefore she made a single decision to not do what she was being told. This i can see is a reason why some people become so emotionally attached to the movie. What would a Holocaust survivor feel if they saw this movie and saw the part when Trudy pulled away her vehicle and they instantly was reminded of maybe the reason of why they were alive?

For that reason, it is why some people see movies as not just movies.. and although depression is a little extreme.. it is naive for people to just assume that no emotion should be involved because it is just entertainment.. it is never just entertainment.

Pandora: A World of Dangers... Rigtht

Avatrocious

I watched Avatar for the first time for this class, and hated it. The argument made throughout the movie is that those that are different that us or act differently are primitive and can easily be homogenized into one clear sect. The scene I chose to analyze is when the Na’vi tribes are being described as Jake goes to each of them asking for help to fight against the humans. There has never been mention of other tribes throughout the rest of the movie, so their existence is a bit of a shock at first. What is interesting, though, is that there is literally no explanation as to why these tribes are different from one another, or why they are not a single unit. Throughout the film, we are functionally told that all the Na’vi live together in a home tree and that the community is centralized on Pandora.

Each tribe reacts the same way to Jake’s plea for help. There is never a question of the “alien” smelling avatar, particularly because we are led to believe that the other tribes have not had to interact with humans while on Pandora. The Na’vi are commodified into primitive and gullible animals that are thirsty for violence, when we were originally told that ALL Na’vi were peaceful. So which generalization and homogenization of indigenous cultures are we supposed to believe, James Cameron? The viewer is meant to feel excitement and support for the Na’vi as they rally for war against the human invaders, but we are more or less told that, not only are the Na’vi weak, but also that there are clearly some Na’vi that are smarter and more worthy of survival than most. This draws back to colonial roots of the American Empire as it expanded across North America, taking advantage of gullible indigenous people while giving preference to those who seemed more “civilized” than others. This is one of the many reasons that I really seriously hated Avatar.

Discriminating Objects

During the lecture discussion there were many comments about human influence e.g. Jake’s hands still being human hands as an avatar rather than three fingered hands. So, still analyzing the human signifiers the scene that stood out to me most is when Sigourney Weaver (in avatar form) speaks to Jake in his first experience with becoming an avatar. He runs out of the hospital unit and begins to run freely through the grounds amazed by his ability to have working legs.

What stood out most in this scene to me is that fact that Sigourney is wearing human clothes (a cut off t-shirt and shorts along with cornrow braids). This signifier signifies the human race. By Sigourney wearing human clothes she stands out from the other Avatars’ lack of clothing and body paint. This could signify the way Sigourney contrasts with the Avatar race; even though she is in Avatar form she can never truly become an Avatar. On the contrary, she is the only human before Jake that seems to genuinely care about the Avatar’s existence rather than the resources that are under their land. She is also the only human that is mourned by the Avatar population and given a proper ceremony. However, it is also interesting that Jake lacks clothing. This signifier could signify the connection between himself and the Avatars. Ultimately he ends up a true Avatar and completely embodies his new lifestyle. By lacking human clothes throughout the movie, Jake is portrayed as a person who genuinely fits with the Avatar race.

In conclusion, human clothing on the Avatars’ bodies presents a visual discrimination between ethnicities. Human clothing, which is connected to humans and the need for clothing, does not fit with being an Avatar. The human clothes are able to establish the differences between being able to be an Avatar or not. However, human clothes do not signify the “pureness of heart”. Even though the majority of the humans in the movie are looked down upon similar to the Europeans invading Native American lands, Sigourney Weaver plays the role of a woman who truly wants to understand the environment. Even though she is wearing human clothing, she is not represented as evil. The clothes again merely discriminate between who are Avatars and who aspire to be them but ultimately do not have the ability.

Comprendo?

It is easy to see America’s forceful nature in the movie Avatar. We try to dominate and “fix” everything that isn’t the same as us because the “American Way” is the right way. We killed and conquered to get our land here, so why not do the same on a foreign planet? Avatar shows us, as Americans, that we are not as dominant as we would like to believe; and that our ways are not always the right ways.

I chose to analyze the one part of this film that really pissed me off. It was near the beginning of Avatar when Parker was talking about how we would attain the desired material for our own selfish desires. He talked about how we were building the natives schools and roads and teaching them English and still they didn’t want anything from us. We were trying to assimilate their culture into being more like ours because being in touch with nature is not civilized. After he finished talking about his goal and how to attain it he said to Grace “Comprendo?” as a question. This again shows how ignorant so many Americans are. Even taking one day of an intro to Spanish class you would know that that is not how you would ask someone if they understand something; you would say Comprendes? You need to conjugate the verb, by saying that he was asking if he himself understood what he was saying which makes him look like even more ignorant and oblivious to anything other than him. So many people from other countries (and even a few natives from Pandora) take the time to learn English and it’s not uncommon for people to be bi-or trilingual; yet we as Americans hardly take the time or effort to learn foreign languages because we just assume that everyone else will have already learned ours.

Caitlyn Beck 

Na'vi Portrayed as "Animals"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEFrI-D_3c&feature=related

I analyzed the scene from Avatar where Jake has his first experience in his avatar Na’vi body. (The link to the scene is attached. The specific scene is from the start of the clip to about 2 min and 12 seconds). In this scene, Jake first wakes up lying down on a medical table with the “doctor” people who are in charge of the avatars hovering over him. They test his reflexes and urge him to get up slowly. Jake, who is excited about finally having a fully functional body again, goes a bit crazy. He gets up and starts stumbling around, knocking over instruments and hitting people. In this scene he appears to be very animal-like, and the scene ends as he bursts out of the doors of the confined room while the doctors try to sedate him.

This scene argues the viewers to see the Na'vi as savage animals. This is done through 3 main ways. 1. The doctors wearing masks and “haz-mat”-type suits. 2. Jake appearing to act as an animal and storming out of the room. 3. The use of the word “sedate.”

1. 1. One of the first things you notice in the scene is that the doctors are wearing masks that cover their entire faces and suits that cover their entire bodies. These suits are used when working with dangerous or hazardous materials, so the use of these suits in this situation signifies that the Na’vi are a danger.

2. 2. When Jake gets up and begins to stumble around, he is simply excited to be able to walk and feel his legs again. Our structure of feelings make us feel happy for Jake because 1, Jake is established as the protagonist and 2, the audience sympathizes with Jake because of his handicap and are happy to see him be able to walk. These feelings are put to rest by how the scene is portrayed. The makers of Avatar want us to understand that the Na’vi are seen as animals by the human world in the movie, so Jake is made to act like a dangerous animal, injuring the staff members and knocking over tables and instruments uncontrollably. This causes the viewers side not against Jake, but against his Avatar Na’vi body because viewers dislike the savage animal we see him act as and believe it is not Jake doing it, but the Na’Vi part of the avatar Jake.

3. 3. And lastly, viewers are encouraged to view the Na’vi as animals when the doctors use the word “sedate” when Jake is acting out. As Jake starts storming around the room, the doctors yell “sedate him, sedate him!” as if he is an animal. You do not sedate humans, so this signifies that the Na’vi are less than human.

Because of the structure of feelings that we have that encourage us to sympathize with Jake because of his handicap, viewers would likely have a positive attitude toward the avatar of the Na’vi as it is through this avatar that he regains the ability to walk. But the scene argues viewers to dislike the Na’vi as they are portrayed as savage animals through Jake’s actions even though he is simply excited and is not meaning to hurt anyone or cause any harm.

Neytiri: our first look

Happy Halloween everyone! How about a nice story?

It's dark. Alone in the wild jungles of Pandora, Jake (our questionable white messiah) is alone, stranded in "the most hostile environment known to man". As darkness slowly creeps in, Jake lights a torch using a flammable, organic sap of some tree that he just happened to get lucky enough to find. As he is stumbling to illuminate the darkness, a thousand beady eyes stare at him, their hungry lips smacking and drooling at the thought of tonight's gruesome kill. A cold sweat pours down Jake's face as the sounds get closer. The noises get louder. They're coming for him! Run Jake!
As he lights the torch, the creatures come into view. They are as black as the night that engulfs the jungle, and these things have razor sharp teeth, three sets of legs, and almost glowing, green eyes. As the tension builds, these things (later described by Dr. Augustine as Thanators, rooting from Thanatos, greek God of death) attack. Jake manages to wound a few, but to little avail. As one mounts Jake ready to rip his face off, a blue flash comes into view. A strange woman wielding a bow and arrow fights off the creatures and drives them back into the night from wist they emerged. Her eyes are large and feral, She crawls on all fours and hisses, as if part humanoid, part animal.
Jake walks up to thank the mysterious savior, but she strikes him to the ground, and in a savage voice says "Do not thank for this, this very sad only." As she's walking away, leaving Jake alone, to be once again at the mercy of Eywa. As Jake begs her to help him survive, he slips and begins to lose his balance. To make matters worse he's standing on a huge vine way up in the canopy of the Pandoran rain forest! Well that's all we have time for tonight, lets analyze this sucker! (Talk about a cliff hanger, or should I say, vine hanger)
As a viewer, I crossed over Lepert's "Fantasy bridge" (That which connects image and self image) to the subject position of Jake himself, laying in the dirt as Neytiri fights off the angry Thanators. I really got into his perspective and felt probably as he did. Scared, excited, my adrenaline pumping, my heart racing. As if everything was happening so fast I barely had enough time to take it in. Visually, this scene is stunning. With its fast moving fight scenes, to its introduction to so many new creatures, concepts, and actions that the subject is left baffled and amazed. We see Neytiri crawling around on all fours, hissing, and kicking some serious tail, writing her off in our minds as this savage, strong, wild killer. Her body seems to be more animal-like, with her tail flicking everywhere, and her large yellow eyes gleaming like a cat’s in the moonlight. Again, I was amazed at the sight of her, almost intimidated by her ability and ferocity. But the thing that made me most surprised was that Jake, with his guns and knives, and “superior government training, was so easily beaten. Yet this “savage” was able to beat off the whole pack with just a bow and arrow. Even further, Jake admits to needing Neytiri’s help, breaking the convention that “We sky people can do what we want, because we are the more advanced, dominant species”.
The argument here is “Being in accordance with Nature wins over controlling it”. This breaks down so many conventions such as “technology over nature”, “savage over civilization” even “men over women”. We all hold the convention that the Technological, civilized man should hold power over the natural, savage, woman any day of the week. Yet this is not so in this scene. The power dynamics shift, giving the savage, natural, female power and strength.
Neytiri is the signifier of the “natural way” with her physical appearance, body practice and behaviors as signifiers representing nature. We again take the subject position of Jake when we see her for the first time, seeing her as a savage until we can fully come to know her. Jake, representing us as we have dived into his position, is a signifier of humanity. He is the only “human” in this scene. He supports the argument by being powerless to defend himself in the conflict that he created. His torch, is the signifier. The signified is humanity’s addiction to artificial convenience. In our culture it seems there is an artificial solution to pretty much every thing. The effect of this signification is that our artificial solutions sometimes create bigger problems for us. Finally, the argument is completed when Jake admits that he needs Neytiri. Jake comes to the conclusion that without her help, he will die, despite all the survival training a marine should have, he is clueless on how to survive once alone and in nature. (note the irony). Thus the argument is complete, that the human Jake with his artificial light and advanced technology and training is powerless to defend himself, thus the natural, powerful Neytiri is left to save this helpless man. Feminists and Eco-activists everywhere should be so proud.

Let the clapping begin

During the President Obama's visit to the University of Minnesota there were thousands of things going on before he came, while he was at the campus and after he was gone. Out of those thousands of things only a few remained to try and represent what really went on. Of course, when you take away 99% of everything that went on and try to show it with only 1% remaining - it is impossible to do. I am going to try and tell what Obama's visit represented from what remains as our history. I did not attend the actual event and was only able to view the video and read about the visit in the news.

One of the main things that stuck out to me was clapping, clapping, clapping. A lot of the photos I've looked at had the audience in the background clapping, and the democratic party smiling. The videos had many, many scenes where speech stopped in order for clapping/applause to be heard. Although history was represented through many things on that day, I would just like to take my focus on applause used in video of Obama giving his speech.

1. Applause shows signs of approval. Those who are clapping are speaking through the gestures as to show a sign of favoritism towards the person who is being clapped at. It also brings emotions like joy and fullness.
2. Applause covers up those who are not approving/minors. For example, if even when not everyone was clapping, those who were and the sound in the video made it seem like everyone was clapping.
3. Applause softens the environment and makes it more peaceful and cheerful.

By using applause, history of that day was represented as something very significant and positive. The only breaks during the speech were breaks made for the audience to applause. Mark Dayton applause himself many times as well. The sounds we heard through the media were a positive speech, and a lot of support from the audience by their applause. We did not hear protesters, we did not hear other events going on, and we did not hear negative comments in the main video. The history represented that day was that everyone who was present at the event was in favor of the Democratic party because they were part of the media which showed applause and approval.

Just Breathe

Towards the end of the movie, Jake and the Colonel are facing off for the ultimate show-down, the Colonel figures out a way to stop Jake and defeat him. The Colonel attacks the field station where Jake is in the Avatar machine. The Colonel destroys the machine that Jake is lying in, which lets in the natural air of Pandora, which is basically toxic. Jake begins to come-to because the toxic air acts like a kick (like the "kick" from the movie 'Inception') and Jake then crawls toward the oxygen mask on the wall. Neytiri runs to the station to save him...for she knows that he is human and needs help to breathe. When she gets to the station, she realizes that he is reaching for the mask and then he becomes unconscious. She holds him in her arms and then grabs the oxygen mask and places it on his face. He then gasps for air and is brought back to the world and he and Neytiri gaze into each others' eyes.

This part of the movie makes you feel many things. The audience, who used to rely on the Colonel at the beginning of the movie as the protector of Jake, is now seen as a crazy man who just won't die AND who wants to KILL Jake. When the Colonel attacks the field station where Jake is in the Avatar machine, the audience feels that it's a low blow and a cheap, cowardly move by the Colonel in his attempt to defeat Jake. The audience is totally against the Colonel and after his cheap move, the audience basically feels that he NEEDS to die and in the worst way possible, which goes against our human kindness.

Kindness, however, does play a role in this scene, though. After the Colonel attacks the Avatar machine, Neytiri, out of kindness (and love) runs to the station in order to save Jake. She gives him the much needed oxygen mask to save him. The mask signifies life for Jake and the ultimate death for the Colonel since he failed to kill Jake there. The mask gives the audience the effect that that there is still hope for Jake and Neytiri's relationship (since he didn't die) and the ultimate hope that Pandora will be saved. Also, the fact that she HOLDS Jake in her arms signifies love and gives the effect that hopefully love will save Jake (and Neytiri) in the end.

The mask gives life to Jake and that gives life to the audience's hopes. The message in this scene is that kindness and love can do great things, and that no matter the attempts to kill the GOOD hero, evil never wins (aka the Colonel). Neytiri loves Jake and just explodes in a burst of energy to get to him at the station in time to save his life. She figures out what he needs...the mask of oxygen. She gives life back to Jake. We saw in the beginning that the Avatar machine signified a new life for Jake...one in which his legs worked. Via the machine, he became an Avatar and learned how to BE a Navi. The machine gave life to his Avatar self/species, which he later chooses over his human self/species, BUT the mask gives life to his human self/species. When the audience realizes he isn't dead when they see and hear him gasping for air as the mask is placed on his face, hope is restored. Hope for Jake and Neytiri's relationship. Hope for Pandora. Hope that the movie will end well and on a happy note.

Posting Assignment #5 (due Sunday 10/31, 11:59 P.M.): Avatarocious? Avatarific? Avatarifying?

Great discussion today.  Lots of people had stuff to say about how Avatar WORKS in culture -- what feelings it produces, what positions those feelings argue you into, and how it does all that.  (Or, in technical terms, the rhetoric and politics of Avatar's visual and aural representations.)  Unfortunately, given the realities of a 190-person class, we didn't get to call on nearly everyone who wanted to talk.  And even the people who did talk probably wanted to say more!  So, here's an opportunity to take the discussion further.  In this week's post, we'd like you to:


1)  Choose one SCENE or MOMENT in Avatar that we HAVEN'T (yet) discussed in class.

2)  Analyze the RHETORIC and POLITICS of its visual and aural representations.  What did it (try to) make you feel?  How did it (try to) do that?  In doing this analysis, you'll want to read the SIGNIFIERS (the 'things' in the film) as closely as you can, and then move to the SIGNIFIEDS (what they 'mean'), and finally to their EFFECTS (what they 'do' to the viewer).  Be as specific and detailed as you can.

3)  Based on evidence from your analysis, make an ARGUMENT about the "message" the scene or moment conveys.  Make you can DEFEND every point you make with specific, detailed evidence from your analysis. 



* 300 words or more -- you'll need some space for this. 
* No keywords required -- but you're welcome to use them if they'll help you make your points.  (And whether or not you end up using words like "intertextuality," "archetype," "psychodynamics," and "structures of feeling" in your post, you'll want to be thinking in those terms anyway.  And let's have exnay on the eyword-bolding-kay, okay?) 
* No text-references required -- but again, you're welcome to use them if they'll help you make your points.  (Anyone care to continue the debate on the "White Messiah" archetype?)



Have fun!

What We See Represented At The Obama Rally Isn’t What We ALL Feel

Obama’s visit to the U of M’s campus was truly a historical event. It isn’t every day that a president stops by to chat and see the students at the U of M. His goal was to promote the Democratic Party and show his support for Mark Dayton, the Democratic nominee for Minnesota’s next governor. The media and press had a field day with his visit and represented him in every aspect of media, from print to television. The media today is seen in our culture as very liberal, and when you have the king of liberalism coming to town, obviously he’s going to get the attention and the media will represent him as a big hero…a model to look up to and revere. I personally don’t like Obama mainly because of his views on abortion…I’m the VP of the pro-life club here at the U of M so you can see why I don’t like him very much. In this sense, it makes me mad when the media represents him as this wonderful person and how everyone loves him. This is, however, a misinterpretation.

When looking at the picture above, we see that it represents a number of things. We see that it represents Obama endorsing Mark Dayton, and we also see that it represents all of the many U of M students in the background showing their support by cheering and holding ‘Dayton’ signs. The media is trying to relate to us that the young college students support both Obama and Dayton and that they will be voting Democratic in the next week come election time. It shows the rest of the world that the U of M is liberal, which it is, and that it supports the Democratic Party since soooo many U of M students showed up at the rally.

For me and many more people out there, Obama’s visit was something that didn’t appeal to us. This picture makes Republicans like me angry that our president doesn’t seem to like our candidate, Tom Emmer. The picture also makes me angry because all of the people in the background are my peers and for some of those people that dislike Obama, seeing this picture makes them think that ALL college students feel the same way about Obama (aka they adore him) and that ALL students are liberals. This just gives people like me who can’t stand Obama a bad representation…so in a sense, what the media sought out to accomplish, they truly did.

Their representation via a photograph transforms the representation of ALL college students into liberal people, when not all are liberal people. They also managed to show the world Obama’s “greatness.” The photo suppressed the conservative Republicans and every other party out there besides the Democrats, who were advanced both by the media AND the president. Representation is KEY in getting a message/statement across, and the media definitely played a role here with this picture.

Obama at the U of M

As president Obama arrived in Minnesota, History was being made in progress. Many people idolize him, being the first black president; they rushed to the opportunity to hear him speak. This event occurred Saturday, October 23, 2010, that many people will never forget, it was a historical day. I read a news article on KSTP channel 5 news, stating there was a line almost a mile long to see our President.

Even before this day came, you would hear several people talking about his upcoming visit. This was something many people looked forward to. The reason for his visit was mainly to campaign for Mark Dayton. But really this was more centered on Obama, while Mark Dayton was put in the shadows. I never once heard, anything about “Mark Dayton’s Visit” during the talk of the historical visit of Obama coming to the University of Minnesota. It wasn’t until after the rally I found out that Obama was there to campaign and boost Dayton for senator.

Although some people thought of this as such a great thing, I had no intentions of attending. Not everyone who attend were there to support Obama, many others were there to protest against the cause. I read in the MN daily that hours before the rally protestors lined up along the opposite side of people entering the field house. The protestors held signs and chanted, they were not there to be rude just state their opinion.

What Rally?

I had no idea that the President of the United States was attending the U of M (my school) this weekend. I missed class on Thursday and I never saw any e-mails or posters or heard anything about it in prior weeks. After skimming through other peoples blog posts I can’t say much about this so called “rally” that was held by Obama. I am not sure that this will totally meet the requirements of what we need to cover in this blog post but I want to talk about it anyways- the fact that I had NO IDEA that our President and probably one of the most famous people in our country was coming to my school.

Alright, now I am only on campus three days a week but still. I feel like I should have known about this. It should have been an important event that was promoted extensively. I don’t have that many close friends who go to the U of M and I don’t watch Kare 11 every night, I pick up the news paper for its crossword puzzles and etc. Even though I just find it bizarre I did not hear one comment about it from anyone within the past month.

Having the president come to a University is a big deal, it is an even that takes a lot of planning and many things need to be done in plenty of advance. Obama can’t just get on a plane with out extensive security all around him. Sadly it isn’t that simple. So the big question is why didn’t I know? I am positive I am not alone either. I mean come on, I graduated high school I am not as dumb as a box of rocks or that oblivious to my surroundings.

I don’t know a thing about politics, it really is all just confusing to me but as a citizen of the United States I feel like I should know a little bit more about our president. I mean I always hear people either saying how god awful he is or what a great job he has been doing but I honestly have no idea what Obama has or has not done since he has been in office. I feel that I should know too, even if I do not make the biggest effort to listen to the news. I should know what is going on in my country and more importantly why it is going on.

I just feel like our government or our country or somebody should make a bigger effort to get everyone involved and everyone informed. I should know that my President is coming to my school, and yet I had no idea.

Obama at the U

President Obama's historical visit to the University of Minnesota will have a very lasting impact on not only the campus, but on who will become Minnesota's next governer. I was unable to attend this political rally, but thousands of people from all over the area attended in support of the President and of Mark Dayton.
President Obama is a huge icon for America. He has made history by being our first African American president. His face and name are everywhere, not only on recent news headlines but in popular rap songs and tshirts. Because he is the President of the United States he represents power, strength and trust for all of the people. With him representing Mark Dayton, it signifies that Mark Dayton has all of these qualities too. To have the President of the United States take time from his busy schedule to come rally for the governer of Minnesota shows that Dayton might really be the best candidate for Minnesotans to pick from. This was an especially good campaign tactic for Mark Dayton because this rally happened so close to the election for governor. Even if Minnesotans don't know about Mark Dayton or his political campaign they will remember that he is supported by our president among all of the other governors in the race. To these people, Mark Dayton and President Obama possess the same qualities that we strive for in a political figure.

Caitlyn Beck

The Customer Is Always Right.

History was being made all throughout the University of Minnesota on October 23rd, 2010, when President Obama came to speak on campus. Rather than reading historical representations found in the U of M Field House or in various national publications that covered the event, I was drawn to the reactions of local business establishments.

Now, we have three layers of representation here, because I'm not so interested in the way that eateries and trinket shops perceived and represented President Obama's speech; rather, the observations that drew me in were regarding the reaction and adaptation of neighborhood businesses to the people's representation of the event. What makes this all the more interesting is the fact that the big, anticipated event hadn't even taken place during the observation period on which this entry is based.

So to break it all down, business establishments were responding to and representing the people's representation of -- wait for it -- the various advertisements for the speech, which were in turn combined representations of past speeches that Obama had given, and of positions on the upcoming speech that advertisers were aiming to impose on their viewers.

I was working at Bruegger's in Dinktown from 9:00am - 2:00pm on this date, and I got to thinking: everyone that has been and will be coming into the store to buy food before Obama's speech is outrageously excited to witness this moment in history. But, although unified through equal anticipation, many of these people had taken different and largely conflicting positions on the event; the speech-goers all had such passion for their varying political convictions. But how does a business establishment react to the situation? By telling people what they want to hear. A business, regardless of the ideologies of individual employees, aims to make the largest possible profit, and this is encouraged through the application of the classic phrase: the customer is always right (better known as kissing ass). Part-time employees at Bruegger's were equally motivated by this public service rule-of-thumb due to the presence of a tip jar in front of the registers.

So what does this mean? Although similar to the concept of history being forever represented in the way that most benefits those representing it, there is a blaring difference between the ways that a textbook and a business establishment act on the parallel motivation: at Bruegger's, history regularly changed. Depending on who was being served, the event was inspirational, laughable, or any degree in-between. To add another dimension, the event was often represented as obnoxious or annoying, mirroring the opinions of those who didn't care about the speech, and were only concerned with the unusual increase in pedestrians and/or drivers.

In a way, this is a big metaphor representing how people treat history on a large scale. It doesn't seem like it due to the apparent permanence of physically recording history, but the way we choose to represent history drastically changes depending on popular cultural ideologies. This means that history changes through both time and space, representing the societal values of each individual period and geographical location.

I feel like there's a lot to branch off to from here, but I think this is getting a bit too all-inclusive for a blog entry.

History, or a Time Line?

For this assignment, I first read the article posted on Star Tribune about Obama speaking at the rally, then I proceeded to read a number of blogs posted on star trib and I found one that was much different than the rest. It is short, so here it is to read before I begin to analyze how it represents history…or not…

OBAMA ADDRESSING RALLY AT U of M

Posted by Bob von Sternberg

Air Force One wheels down at 2:41 p.m.

President Obama, wearing a sport coat, slacks and open collar shirt, bounded down the stairs at 2:54.

He bear-hugged former Sen. Mark Dayton, whose gubernatorial campaign he came to boost. He also greeted Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and about a dozen other Minnesotans.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs, wearing an Auburn University T-shirt, kibitzed with the traveling press about Saturday’s football games.

Obama jogged over to a fenced-in pen where about 100 Minnesotans with connections to the DFL, Obama or the federal government had gathered. “Hi guys,” he called out to cheers and popping flashbulbs, shaking dozens of hands, while autographing a handmade sign three teenaged girls had made, saying “Minnesota (hearts) Obama.”

Motorcade rolling at 3:02 p.m.

In the drizzle that started when Obama had arrived, the crowd behind the fence cheered again.

Massive traffic jams on Crosstown Hwy. 62, Cedar Avenue and Interstate 35W, with hundreds of people lining parts of the motorcade route.

Sidewalks at the University of Minnesota were jammed.

A supporter of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer parked a sign-festoone pickup truck on the route at the edge of campus, flying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.

As the president's large motorcade, with lights flashing, sped away from campus after his speech, Mikey Weitekamp and his friends got to their feet on University Avenue and cheered.

"That was so worth it -- so worth it," he said.

I would argue that this blog fails at an attempt to represent history. In class this week, we talked about history always being told from a specific perspective—that you cannot tell history without telling it from a certain point of view. We talked about this with Maus. If Speigelman had simply published all the notes and recordings of his talks with his father, that would not be history; it would just be recorded information, instead of a story that represents or tells a history. I think the author of this blog post attempts to write an account of the rally without a bias, but because all history must come from a point of view, it fails to become a representation of history at all. There is no point of view in this blog, it is simply facts and notes about what happened at certain times. I can see that the author was most likely trying to display the little details that are often left out but make the event what it is, but the events mentioned are random and do not have any analysis or information connected to them. A list of times and events is not history, this is more of a time line than a history. Even though I argue that this blog is a failed attempt at representing history, I thought it was important to write about for the assignment because it is not often that you see a failed attempt. Most accounts of events these days are so clearly biased, that we don’t have a problem figuring out the point of view it is coming from. Before reading this blog, I didn’t understand how a representation of history must have a bias, but now after reading this, I realize that a time table of events may not have a bias, but it is also definitely not a representation of history.