I missed class last week so I am not really sure which points or arguments have been mentioned already. The scene which I chose and kind of stuck out to me was the closing scene of the film. It is the scene which takes place at the sacred Tree of Souls where Jakes human body and his avatar body are finally brought together again. Both are the bodies are laying right next to the Tree of Souls and Jakes human body is slowly being covered up and taken up by the roots of the Tree of Souls. This final scene is after the battle is over, all of the enemies are destroyed and Jake is back with his beloved. This scene is a scene of victory and the viewer is anticipating the final ending where Jake can finally become who he longed to be ever since he first got his avatar body. The video slowly zooms in to Jakes avatar face and his eyes open. The End.
There is a lot which is being portrayed in these last few moments of the movie but I would like to just focus on one point. Throughout the movie Jakes old body, his paralyzed body always slows him down. He is always disappointed with it. It is real, and in reality he is paralyzed. The signifier is Jakes old body, his real body and it signifies unwholesomeness, disease, pain, and failure. Another signifier would be the new avatar body made for Jake. Throughout the movie he learns all the powers and benefits which it has. This body signifies power, strength, perfection, and happiness. His old body shows reality and truth, but his new avatar body shows power and perfection. Here in this last scene they are finally brought together.
I think the argument is quite obvious for me. Jakes life goes from the old body into the new avatar body. He is changed from imperfection to perfection. He is able to become who he longed to be. The argument in the last scene is so strong in showing that change is possible if you just fight for it. You can achieve the perfection you always dreamed of. You can become who you always wanted to be. Jake finally became who he so longed to be. He became perfect. Don’t we all want to change to become the perfect ones? It was possible for Jake, it will be possible for you too. Here is an argument that Susan Bordo’s text would really relate to. The disordered body, the real body is diminished as the avatar becomes the practical body. This is the body that Jake so longed to achieve. And just as anorexic body is shown to be perfect so is the avatar body shown to be perfect. Of course this is impossible and we all know it.
I would just like to point out that it is important to remember that the Avatar body "made" for Jake is fake. And that even after the fact that they realize he is human and he has a human body, which is an imperfect body because of his leg/spine/nerve condition, he changes bodies. It is hard for me to think of the Avatar body as perfect because it is fake, not real, and it is not Jake's body, despite being his new reality in the Na'vi tribe - which the Na'vi accepted surprisingly, even if the Avatar was created.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with your argument that the Avatar body is wholesome or better because humans, in general, are portrayed as flawed and greedy, and Jake becomes enlightened through his experiences with the Na'vi and rises above the life of being a human, and lives as a Na'vi.
Eric R Best
I think it was interesting how you compared his old body and his new body. I agree with you when you say that his old body is a failure, it left him unsatisfied. But then his new body or avatar body satisfied him. It made him happy and he felt like he had power and strength to do many things he couldn’t do before with his other body due to his condition. An example of this is when he is in his avatar body a scene or two before the one you described, when he was fighting the Americans he was the strong one and the leader, leading everyone else to victory. But then when he is in his human body he had many limits, especially being in a wheel chair and being paralyzed it took away a lot from him.
ReplyDeleteGood Job on your post!