The Message From Planet Jim
Inside James Cameron’s head, there’s a place called Planet Jim (a description provided by one of his minions in the video clip below). It is a fundamentally extraterrestrial place in the purest sense of that word — ranging from the oceanic abyss to the depths of outer space. It is often depicted in shades of “James Cameron blue.” The largest audience in the history of entertainment has been there now, thanks to Avatar. His ability to captivate so many people has led him to the Academy Awards ceremony tonight with nine Oscar nominations.
Of course, all of this immersion inspired a lot of pundits to weigh in on what they thought Mr. Cameron’s social goals were in making the film, a virtual mash-up of Pocahontas, Apocalypse Now and Wall Street. The movie, a clash of corporate-led mercenaries and giant blue tree worshippers, has been interpreted variously as anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Marine and simply anti-human.
The environmental and cultural clash at the heart of the story prompted a host of environmental groups and human rights groups to seek Mr. Cameron’s support for efforts to preserve the planet and its endangered cultures. Survival International saw particular resonance between the plight of the Na’vi and that of the Dongria Kondh tribe of Orissa, India:
Five years after I interviewed Mr. Cameron about his last undersea documentary, I was able to catch him for a few minutes on the phone to get his latest reflections on Avatar. Here are his thoughts on a few core questions:
Was he looking to change the world?
We are at a real fork in the road where we can stick with business as usual or we can change. If we don’t change, things are going to get pretty dark, pretty quick. The first step to galvanizing people to action is getting them thinking about the problem. I have no illusions that an entertainment film is going to change the world. But you can have a small incremental effect by having an emotional impact. This is not a film that teaches in the way that An Inconvenient Truth did. It’s not meant to be preachy. Between the lines of what is basically kind of an action-adventure story, you can have power in creating emotional response. Read Article
