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One film critic denounced Avatar: The Way of Water as a “white man’s Native American resistance fantasy” as at least one indigenous group has called for a boycott of the hit sequel.
The film debuted to largely positive reviews (a 78 percent critical score and 93 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) and nearly half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
However, Jason Asenap, who hails from the Comanche and Muscogee Creek tribes, according to his biography, writes for Grindinghe wrote that he hoped moviegoers would seek out ‘indigenous futurism cinema’ from people other than director James Cameron, becoming the latest indigenous critic of the film.
Asenap notes that “you can make up whatever you want in a fantastical tale and even have your pie left over too,” but the problem is that Cameron based the original film on the plight of the indigenous Lakota Sioux.
One film critic denounced Avatar: The Way of Water as a “white man’s Native American resistance fantasy” as at least one indigenous group has called for a boycott of the blockbuster sequel.
Cameron told The Guardian in 2010: “I couldn’t help thinking that if [the Lakota Sioux] they had had a window of time and they could see into the future…and they could see their children committing suicide at the highest suicide rates in the nation…because they were hopeless and a dead end society, which is what is happening now. they would have fought much harder.
Asenap calls the comments from 12 years ago “deaf, condescending and not the kind of ally I want or need to help tell indigenous stories.”
He notes that a Native American group, Los Angeles Indian Pride, has called for a boycott of the film.
Asdzáá Tłʼéé honaaʼéí, co-chair of the group, tweeted: ‘DO NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water. Please join Native Americans and other indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrific and racist film. Our cultures were misappropriated to satisfy some [white] man savior complex. No more blue face! The Lakota people are powerful!’
The reviewer suggests that someone like Taika Waititi, himself a descendant of the Maori, the indigenous tribes of New Zealand, might have been more sensitive to the material.
Asenap wonders about the film’s overall point: “Do we need a white man to dress up these themes in the fantasy world where 10-foot-tall aliens fight ‘hard enough’ to save the day and prove we’re not after After all, a ‘society with no way out’?
Asenap, who hails from the Comanche and Muscogee Creek Tribes, according to his bio, calls James Cameron’s comments from 12 years ago “deaf, condescending and not the kind of ally I want or need to help tell indigenous stories.”
Asenap points out that a group of Native Americans, Los Angeles Indian Pride, has called for a boycott of the film.
Asdzáá Tłʼéé honaaʼéí, co-chair of the group, tweeted: ‘DO NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water. Please join Native Americans and other indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrific and racist film. Our cultures were misappropriated to satisfy some [white] man savior complex. No more blue face! The Lakota people are powerful!’
He concludes: “We have enough proven talent at this point that we don’t need privileged, out-of-touch directors like James Cameron to appropriate indigenous culture for their stories. We can tell our own stories. We tell you better.
It’s not the first case of someone accusing the film of cultural appropriation in the lead up to and days after the sequel’s release.
Independent film critic Kathia Woods, who has contributed to Buzzfeed News and The Philadelphia Tribune, made the comments on Twitter.
‘At some point we have to talk about the cultural appropriation of Avatar and white actors are cos playing as few. It’s just a mess and not necessary and no amount of visual effects/CGI will erase that. Bad Lace Fronts/Dry Synthetic Braids Jesus, fix it,’ he said.
Because the game is the act of dressing up to represent a specific character.
Actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in Avatar: The Way of Water, which premiered last week.
Independent film critic Kathia Woods claimed that the film was guilty of ‘cultural appropriation’ and that the white actors ‘played’ as ‘people of colour’, despite the fact that their characters are indigenous blue aliens.
Woods has now made his Twitter account private, but many seized on his comment as an awareness call that went too far.
“James Cameron didn’t even try to find native blue people to play these parts, smh,” quipped Free Beacon reporter Andrew Kerr.
“Apparently only nine foot tall blue aliens get to play nine foot tall blue aliens in the movies!” joked radio host Dan O’Donnell.
Woods made no note of the fact that the Na’vi creatures depicted in the film are not only described as ‘indigenous blue humanoids’ living on the planet Pandora, but some are played by black actors in the film.
Zoe Saldana is among the stars, along with Maori actor Cliff Curtis, African-American star Laz Alonso and Bailey Bass.
Woods, a freelance critic for The Philadelphia Tribune and Buzzfeed, has now made her Twitter account private.
Woods was immediately mocked for his portrayal of the blockbuster.
Avatar: The Way Of Water grossed $434.5 million at the box office during its worldwide debut, according to studio estimates on Sunday, after director James Cameron said he needs to earn $2 billion to break even.
The sequel earned $134 million in North American theaters and another $300.5 million internationally for a global opening of $434.5 million.
“The Way of Water” tied with “The Batman” for the fourth-highest domestic opening of the year, finishing behind several Marvel blockbusters like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($187.4 million in May). , ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ‘ ($181 million in November) and ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ ($144.2 million in July).