1. Avatar
Written & Directed by James
Cameron
Industrialization and Pollution

2. Introduction
• Release 18 December 2009
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, SciFi
• Staring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and
Sigourney Weaver
• Rated PG-13
• Innovative in computer animation and visual
effects
*No opening credits other than the title

3. Summary
Started off dreaming of a place like Pandora and flying freely around, Jake Sully, an ex-
marine, was sent to continue his twin brother’s mission in the Avatar program, who passed
away. He was introduced to Pandora and especially his Avatar. He was able to use his twin
brother’s Avatar because they shared the same DNA as twins. The connection between the
Avatar and a human is through DNA. The Avatar, is an exterior manifestation of the human
brain into a body like the natives of Pandora, the Na’vi. The Avatar program was used by
humans from Earth to study, experience, and understand Pandora. Pandora, being a foreign
planet, was extremely dangerous because the animals and natives were much larger than
humans. The Avatar program allowed the humans to live without fear of suffocation from the air
that was toxic to humans and as a more appropriate size for the planet.
Jake’s militant mission was to figure out where the rare element, unobtainiam, was found
and persuade the Na’vi people to leave. During the process he went through a personal
transformation while learning the ways of the Na’vi people and became a believer in the
importance of preserving the trees in Pandora and also became a member of the tribe. He was
the taught the ways of the Na’vi people and their spiritual value for nature. After Jake learned
new values from the Na’vi people and becomes one of them, Jake finds himself battling the
military he was once apart of to protect the Na’vi people and the planet of Pandora from
destruction.

4. Important Characters
Jake Sully – paraplegic former marine
Na’vi – native species of Pandora, blue, 10 ft. tall, humanoids, in harmony with
nature
Eywa – the “mother earth” of Pandora, worshiped by Na’vi
Neytiri – Jake’s teacher of Omaticaya culture and Ewya, eventually Jake’s mate
Avatars – Na’vi/human beings genetically connected to the humans in the
Avatar program
Colonel Miles Quaritch – head of private security force on Pandora
Dr. Grace Augustine – head of the Avatar program, scientist
Omaticaya – the Na’vi clan

5. Avatar Basics
• Based on a planet called “Pandora,” which is strikingly
familiar to Earth (Done on purpose)
• Antagonist wants to obtain “Unobtainum” for pure profit,
regardless of the damage to the wildlife and inhabitants.
– So the humans attack, killing and damaging the
Na’vi’s home
• Jake, main character, disagrees, rebels, and leads a
revolution/assault on the humans, rebuffing them away
from Pandora
– Jake then becomes a Na’vi (Tall blue guys)

6. Industrialization & Pollution
• The movie portrays the battle between mankind and
nature
• Earth devoid of natural resources
• Humans expand to Pandora
• Try to insert themselves into the Na’vi’s culture and
society to get to the valuable resource “Unobtainum”
• Humans exploit the Na’vi people violently
• Destroy their sacred land for resource
• By the end of the movie, death, destruction, pollution and
harm befalls Pandora

7. Unobtainum
• Cleverly named material
– Equal to the damages that Coal and Nuclear waste have
– Obtained through war, fighting, and coercion
• The consequences of industrialization, which haven’t touched
Pandora quite yet, are used to symbolize the beginning
industrialization on Earth.
• These conditions being brought to Pandora are a metaphor to
the pollution and destruction industrialization has on
environments.
• Extremely Valuable

8. The Struggle
• The fight between the Na’vi and the Humans is a symbolic fight
between man and Nature
– Nature (the Na’vi lost), but unlike nature on earth, retaliated and
ultimately conquered the Humans and exiled them from Pandora
• Industrialization is an incomprehensible force that often drives a world
to the brink of disaster, much like it has done throughout history.
• The driving force of industrialization is wealth and acquiring resources.
• Pollution is often a consequence of industrialization.
• Ultimately, had Jake and the Na’vi not worked together, Pandora, like
earth, would have become an empty shell of itself due to the acidic and
greedy affects of industrialization and pollution.

9. Video Clip

10. Awards
Academy Awards 2010
• Best Achievement in
Cinematography
• Best Achievement in
Visual Effects
• Best Achievement in
Art Direction
Golden Globes 2010
• Best Director of a
Motion Picture
• Best Motion Picture
– Drama

11. References
Alter, Ethan. "Film Review: Avatar." Film Review: Avatar. Film Journal International, 15 Dec. 2009.
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Anna Haines, "How do Lan Use and Development Practices Affect the Environment? " 2002 <http://
www.epa.gov/greatlakes/greenacres/landuse.html>.
Costanza, Robert, Lisa Graumlich, Will Steffen, Carole Crumley, and John Dearing. "Sustainability or
Collapse: What Can We Learn from Integrating the History of Humans and the Rest of Nature?"
AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 36.7. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://
www.bioone.org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/doi/full/ 10.1579/0044-
7447%282007%2936%5B522%3ASOCWCW%5D2.0.CO%3B2>.
Dominic Alessio. and Kristen Meredith. "Decolonising James Cameron’s Pandora: Imperial history and
science fiction." Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 13.2 (2012). Project MUSE. Web. 25
Apr. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.
Rome, Adam. "The Genius of Earth Day." Environmental History 15.2 (2010): 194-205. Web. 23 Apr.
2014. <http://envhis.oxfordjournals.org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/content/ 15/2/194.full.pdf+html>.
Starosielski, Nicole. "'Movements That Are Drawn': A History of Environmental Animation from The
Lorax to Fern Gully to Avatar."International Communication Gazette 73.1-2 (2011): 145-
63. Sagepub. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. http:// gaz.sagepub.com/content/73/1-2/145.full.pdf +html.