Hit Film ‘Avatar’ Receives Criticism for Alleged ‘Racist’ Theme: Reports

The hit flick ‘Avatar’ has come under criticism, with a small but vocal group of people alleging that it contains racist theme – the white hero once again saving the primitive natives, said media reports.

The film, which pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, reported AP.

Hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have made claims such as that the film is ‘a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people’ and reinforces ‘the white Messiah fable’, said report.

However, the film’s writer and director James Cameron was quoted as saying that the real theme is about respecting others’ differences.

The main Na’vi character played by actors of colour led by a Dominician, Zoe Saldana, as the princess, adds to the racial dynamics, said report.

The report said that the film also is an obvious metaphor for how European settlers in America wiped out the Indians.

Robinne Lee, an actress, said that ‘Avatar’ was ‘beautiful’ and the film reminded her of Hollywood’s “Pocahontas” — ‘the Indian woman leads the white man into wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the savior’.

“It’s really upsetting in many ways,” said Lee, who is black with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry. “It would be nice if we could save ourselves.”