"The word avatara comes from Sanskrit and signifies something born without human intervention, i.e.: without intercourse, without sin, father unkown. Jesus Christ is an avatar ... as is the main character in the film: created without intercourse and little intervention from nature."
Bolivian President Evo Morales has praised Avatar for its 'profound show of resistance to capitalism and the struggle for the defence of nature.' He reportedly made the comment after seeing the movie with his 15-year-old daughter.
We said goodbye to 2009
without liquor, healthily watching the film Avatar by James Cameron (we
got it on the Internet). After seeing it, we hugged one another, wished
everyone the best for 2010 and later watched the fireworks display provided by
a neighboring town. It was in this way that my 2009 ended; I began 2010 with
practically no sleep because of the nearby partying, the continuous boom of
fireworks and the cheers that followed.
In 1966, Mario Moren Cantinflas
starred in a film called Su Excelencia [Your Excellency]. Anyone who has
seen it once or twice would observe that somehow, the world as it was portrayed
by Cantinflas goes on as usual - that practically nothing has changed - that
the coup in Honduras (June 28, 2009) resembles those portrayed in the 1966
film, and that Cantinflas' dialogue in the movie reflects practically the same
injustices we see today.
The word “avatar” comes from
the Sanskrit word avatara, and signifies something born without human
intervention, i.e.: without intercourse, without sin, father unkown. Jesus
Christ is an avatar, as is Krishna, Manco Capac, Mama Ocllo [both from Incan
mythology], and other illuminated ones in earth's history. These are people
born without human intervention.
The film Avatar takes
this name because the lead character is formed by terrestrial genetic
engineering, which creates a being from a mixture of human DNA and DNA from the indigenous people of an alien moon called Pandora ... a being created without intercourse
and with little intervention from nature.
For the sake of brevity, I
will focus on segments of the film that caught my attention. Fundamentally, the
plot pits imperialism against biodiversity. Pachamama [Mother Earth] is the main
“character” around which the others revolve. Mother Earth is present without
being named; it's spoken of and seen as a harmonious connection between all
living beings. It's spoken of as the reciprocity of choosing and being chosen, of
the possibility of communicating and interacting with all types of beings or
species, of respect for life and of surviving in harmony with the environment.
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On the other side, the issue
of imperialism is touched on with all the severity that fiction permits. On
this fictional moon of Pandora, the imperial army accompanying and providing
military aid to a mining company is clearly seen, as is the method of spying
on and infiltrating the natives to glean information and destroy them. They
don’t care whether children are killed or entire civilizations destroyed. All
that matters to them is extracting raw material and getting rich. It is an
attitude similar to that of NATO in Iraq or Israel in Palestine; it is the
imperial attitude with all the coarseness and fiction of cinema. And in the
cinema - the good guys win. But in reality - that reality that disrupted my
sleep - there is no change. Cantinflas' 1966 film Su Excellencia and Avatar
of 2009, as different as they are, portray a painfully similar reality.
The goal of protecting the
environment makes Cameron’s Avatar current. The intention that Bolivia
is now forcefully bringing to the world's attention are the rights of Mother
Earth. But deep down, imperial domination and abuse continues. I hope that this
year, 2010, will see substantial changes. Let’s hope that Mother Earth will be
respected, and that the methods of production will be noticeably changed. Let
us hope that we create things that don't generate as much garbage. Let us hope
that the strong desire of the film's good guys is realized.
Hopefully a little dialogue that
goes almost unnoticed in the film Avatar - about a military
campaign in the jungles of Venezuela - will not be part of our reality in the future. Hopefully
during future New Years, we won’t contaminate the night with fireworks (it's amazing
how much gunpowder we scatter across the world on the same day!)
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I speculated almost until dawn
on January 1, 2010, until I was finally able to fall asleep. I hope that this difficult
nap conveys the degree of hope needed for the coming year.
Jesus Christ is an avatar who
for more than 2010 years has struggled to give us a more cohesive society. Let
us help him. Let us help ourselves.
