It’s Oscar time and people are all counting the days until we can sit down, play the Oscar polls, critique the Oscar De La Renta dresses, and cringe at the hot mess that is Mariah Carey. Oddly enough I’m now eagerly waiting with them this year; not to compare my impeccable eye for style, or guess the winner of the Best Song (Weary Heart, from Crazyheart duh), but to see if James Cameron, director of that little movie that could, will put some action where his mouth is.
In recent weeks James Cameron himself has been calling Avatar a catalyst for environmental action saying he now wants to “use the spotlight that’s been put on him by Avatar’s success to bring attention to environmental causes“. This caught the eye of Rainforest Action Network’s Becky Tarbotton. On yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle website Tarbotton started a call to Mr. Cameron to help expose the “real-life Avatar” that Chevron continues to enable in Ecuador.
In the article Tarbotton asks:
“What if in his acceptance speech James Cameron mentioned the real-life Indigenous Ecuadorean heroes who are battling the real-life evil oil corporation Chevron?
She then continues:
If Director James Cameron accepts an Academy Award next month, he should let his faithful fans know that while Pandora is fictional, what is happening to communities in Ecuador because of Chevron’s actions is as real as it gets.”
Now THIS seems like something worth watching on Oscar night, help us spread word on Facebook and Twitter (where it’s already gaining) by retweeting and posting “I want Avatar director James Cameron to mention real-life Ecuador struggle against #Chevron at #Oscars: bit.ly/9Rvut8 #realavatar RT Please”.
My personal two cents is that, after taking his narrative from the all-to-familiar struggles of indigenous communities and their fights against resource extraction, colonialism, and the corporations that perpetuate the destruction of these communities, James Cameron has a responsibility to use the global venue of the Oscars to highlight communities that are more real than any 3d glasses.
Last month Josh Schrei wrote a great piece on how Avatar’s dialog mimics the rhetoric of so many corporate hacks and unfortunately there are all too many real-life Avatar plots, from India to Peru. However the case against Chevron resonates with me for two reasons. One is has the potential to share some commonalities with the films ending in the very near future. Chevron and CEO John Watson are facing a potential guilty verdict in the next 6 months for their dump and run in the Ecuadorean Rainforest. Granted this battle will not be won with majestic trees, or flying dragons; it will be won with a communities unending will for survival, and a global rally for justice. While the means may be different, the result will be the same in that one of the world’s most powerful corporations (Chevron) will be held accountable to their crimes. Which leads to my second reason to why the Chevron/Avatar connection resonates with me.
The Chevron case is already sending ripples through the oil industry on how they are operating in communities, don’t get me wrong they are still destroying communities for the black gold but they have taken notice. Now we need these corporations to move beyond “taking notice”. As the Chevron case builds to a crescendo, and if Chevron is found guilty of the over $27 billion in damages, oil corporations worldwide will be forced to take measures to rethink their operations and their consequences, and communities will have an unprecedented momentum to fight back against the likes of John Watson who enable some of the most atrocious operations and crimes in the world.
This trial is a legal catalyst and Avatar has the potential to be the pop-culture catalyst. Something as simple a mentioning the ongoing fight in the Ecuadorian Amazon would be an enormous act of solidarity with communities that inspire his narrative, and bring the real-life stories of corporate corruption and colonization to an entirely new audience waiting to take action after being inspired by Avatar.
Help ask James Cameron:
Repost this blog, the SF Chronicle, or better yet write your own blog and post on Facebook.
Help spread the word about this group
Retweet “Avatar director James Cameron should mention real struggle of Amazonians against #Chevron at #Oscars http://tinyurl.com/ybd6d72 #realavatar” on Twitter.
Additionally, Public Radio International traveled with indigenous communities in Ecuador as they bused to Quito to see Avatar. Here is there reaction to James Cameron’s film.
You can find the full PRI article here.
While I know this isn’t quite the point of the post, the direct parallels between Avatar and the Bougainville Revolution were just brought to my attention.
Like the Navi on Pandora, the Nasioi struggle in Bougainville began in reaction to Rio Tinto’s Panguna mine.
Like Jake Sully, the military leader of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, Sam Kaona, was an officer in the Australian organized Papua New Guinea Defense Force who was supposed to attack Bougainville but instead joined them and married Josie, a Nasioi woman.
The Nasioi literally began fighting with bows and arrows and slings against machine guns, and they eventually won the war. During a seven year blockade, they relied on the bounty of their environment to become entirely self-sufficient. Their struggle has been referred to as the “Coconut Revolution” because the gifts of the coconut were so vital to their victory.
Sorry that this is a tangent to the point about Cameron saying something worthwhile, but I couldn’t resist sharing their incredible story. Everyone should watch this great video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9073157933630784238&ei=RLiCS6_8I5G0qAKEpaDHBg&q=coconut+revolution&hl=en&client=firefox-a#
Amazing testament to courage and resistance, thanks for sharing this.
Tim, I think you nailed one of the huge points to this post. The narrative Cameron is presenting in the film is one that has played out for century’s, on all continents, in 1000′s of communities. This continues to be exemplified by the likes of Chevron in Ecuador and Rio Tinto in Paupa New Guinea.
Avatar has a far from a flawless plot-line but I hope that it will expose a new, and often complacent audience, to the real-life human rights abuses and forced colonization that come as a direct result of our fossil fuel addition and the corporations that perpetuate that addiction. Hopefully with exposure comes action.
just testing
Similiaries between Avatar and Pochontas.
The words surrounded by “xxx”s are replaced by the word that comes right after it.
xxxDisney’sxxx James Cameron’s
xxxPocahontasxxx Avatar
In xxx1607xxx 2154, a ship carrying xxxJohn Smithxxx Jake Ully arrives in the lush “new world” of xxxNorth Americaxxx Pandora. The settlers are mining for xxxgoldxxx unobtanium, under supervision of xxxGovernor Ratcliffexxx Colonell Qarites. xxxJohn Smithxxx Jake Ully begins exploring the territory, and encounters xxxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri. Initially she distrustful of him, but a message from xxxGrandmother Willowxxx Tree of Souls helps her overcome her trepidation. The two begin spending time together, xxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri helps xxxJohn Smithxxx Jake Ully understand that all life is valuable, and how nature is connected circle of life. Furthermore she teaches how to hunt, xxxgrow cropsxxx tune dragons, and of her culture. We find that her father is Chief-xxxPowhatanxxx -Eytucan, and that she is set to be married to xxxKocoumxxx Tsu’Tet, a great warrior, but a serious man, whom xxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri does not desire. Over time xxxJohnxxx Jake and xxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri find they have a love for each other. Back at the settlement, the men who believe the natives are savages, plan to attack the natives for their xxxgoldxxx unobtanium. xxxKocoumxxx Tsu’Tet tries to kill John Jake out of jealousy, but he is later killed by the settlers. As the settlers prepare to attack, xxxJohnxxx Jake is blamed by the xxxIndiansxxxx Navi, and is sentenced to death. Just before they kill him, the settlers arrive. Chief xxxPowhatanxxx Eytucan is xxxxnearly-killedxxxx killed, and xxxJohnxxx Jake sustains injuries from xxxxGovernor Ratcliffexxxx Colonell Qarites, who is then brought to justice shot with arrows. xxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri risks her life to save xxxJohnxxx Jake. xxJohnxx Jake and xxxPocahontasxxx Neytiri finally have each other, and the two cultures resolve their differences.”
I wonder what the carbon footprint of the hypocrite’s film is.
The explicit Bougainville parallels are silly.
Sam Kauona was not an outsider. Sam is a Bougainvillean, and from the area around the mine.
There are more than a dozen ethnic/linguistic groups on Bougainville, of which the Nasioi are only one. The rebels were from more than one group, although Nasioi were well-represented.
And in real life, there were at least 4 armed groups during the struggle. It was not in any way a simple struggle between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and the PNG Defense Forces/Sandline/BCPL.
There were important, long-term, and deadly Bougainvillean-against-Bougainvillean conflicts, especially those involving the Resistance forces (which the non-Bougainvillean BRA supporters never like to talk about).
The Coconut Revolution is beyond simplistic, and it’s insulting to the many Bougainvilleans who lost their lives during the conflict.
Comparing Avatar to the Bougainville situation is also insulting to them.
I’d better say that I have first-hand knowledge of Bougainville and have spent many hours talking to both BRA and Resistance fighters; I have witnessed their reconciliation ceremonies; I speak one of the Bougainville languages and also Bougainville-style pidgin; I spent years in rural Bougainville, not far from the mine, before the conflict. So I do know what I’m talking about.
Hi DM thanks for the comment. I’d be interested in any resources you could provide to your discussion. I for one am curious to learn more detail, and I think it would be a great portal for more information to other readers not as familiar to the story as you.
I was in no way equating the fictional Na’vi to the real communities or individuals impacted. I tried to be very intentional in pointing only to the parallels between the Avatar plot-line and the struggles of indigenous communities for centuries, while wondering how this film may act as a tool to highlight those struggles to a new audience.
The parallels between Avatar and what is happening with mountaintop removal in Appalachia are too clear to ignore. Anyone who has witnessed the horror of seeing a mountaintop removal mine with their own eyes will surely have flashbacks triggered by seeing the mining equipment on the screen in Avatar. The rock trucks even look similar. Then of course there is the unobtainium rock being mined in the film looking all too much like the coal being ripped from our mountains as communities and ecosystems are destroyed and depopulated. Some of the people in Appalachia have roots to that land running up to 9 or 10 generations deep, and their connection is a spiritual connection that will be lost if we don’t break our addiction to coal. Please join the fight to protect our mountains where the headwater streams for millions of Americans are being destroyed: mountainjustice.org
Ah, Nick. I’m sorry. I was directing my comment at Tim DeChristopher’s comment, not to what you wrote.
The notion of likening indigenous communities to the Na’vi makes great sense. Absolutely. And, in the comment just up (Eric Blevins) to what’s happening in our own country.
The idea of a direct parallel — taken so far as to imply that Cameron based the whole film on Bougainville — has spread widely among Pacific Island sites. I do understand that people will find in films what they’re looking for, but Avatar = Bougainville is too much of a stretch
As for the Bougainville crisis itself, I’d be glad to offer some departure points and references, if you like, but I don’t think the discussion here would profit from them. If you want to email me privately, I’ll do what I can.
My main beef with the Bougainville coverage over the years has been that it’s too simplistic, not that it’s wrong. “The Coconut Revolution,” “Our Island, Our Fight,” and “Evergreen Island” are not films made by liars or cheats. But they are incomplete.
Although “Our Island, Our Fight” is BRA-centric (how could it not be — they are the group who got Coles-Janess onto the island and kept him safe) it’s head and shoulders above the other films, and is well worth watching. I believe it’s on youtube.
Anyway, here are some useful search terms:
“Bougainville crisis”
“Bougainville + BRA”
“Bougainville + Resistance”
“Bougainville + reconciliation”
I think something most folks are missing here is that the story of Western corporations invading indigenous lands for natural resources is centuries old, and has been repeated so many times, with slight variations, that almost every instance of multinational corporations extracting natural resources follows a consistent pattern. My first thought was of MTR in Appalachia, especially after the scene where they showed the earth-movers. My second thought was of Ecuador. It would be great if James Cameron mentioned EITHER of these during an acceptance speech. Then again, I thought Hurt Locker was a better film and think it should win, but that’s beside the point…
Something else strikes me about this post – I’ve seen quite a few posts on IGHIH that don’t seem to adhere to traditional journalistic standards regarding naming women “Ms. Clinton” versus “Mrs. Clinton” (the latter is not considered acceptable by most journalists/news outlets) and in the opening paragraphs here, a rather odd statement about Mariah Carey is made. This statement, to me, suggests that submissions here should stick to the topic at hand => Avatar/environmental issues, etc etc.
Online petition to stop the BELO MONTE http://www.belomonte.org/petition/
in separate news:
Director of Avatar asks Lula reconsider the project of Belo Monte
Addressing the International Forum on Sustainability in Manaus as special guest, James Cameron, director of the block buster movie Avatar, entered the controversy over the construction of the huge hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River and asked the Brazilian president to reconsider the project. His movie Avatar features a strong environmental appeal, that many understand to be similar to the situation of the indigenous of the Amazone.
http://www.cimi.org.br/?system=news&eid=340