"Nabi Tribe Projected as Native Americans, Depiction of Colonialism"
"No Native American Actors at All"... Criticism of Discrimination
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Native American groups in the United States have announced a large-scale boycott of the film "Avatar: The Way of Water (Avatar 2)," which was released at the end of last year and became a global hit, claiming it contains racist content. They are protesting that the film's storyline includes stories of the massacres of Native Americans committed in the 19th century and heavily borrows from Native American beliefs and culture, yet not a single Native American actor was cast.
According to CNBC on the 8th (local time), Native American groups such as the Lakota and Navajo tribes announced a boycott of the movie Avatar 2. They criticize Avatar 2 for glorifying the perspective of white people who caused great suffering to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Aaron Eyes, a lawyer active in a Lakota protection organization, said in an interview with CNBC, "Director James Cameron, who made Avatar, has stated that he drew inspiration for Avatar from Lakota history, but there is not a single Native American actor in the film," adding, "He should call us, listen to our stories, and involve us."
According to The Washington Post (WP), Yu E. Burgeido, an activist from the Navajo tribe in Los Angeles, recently posted on Twitter, calling Avatar 2 "a film that satisfies the 'white savior complex'" and urged a boycott. The criticism is that it is a white supremacist film where a white protagonist assimilates into indigenous society, saves them, and resolves their crisis.
Earlier, in a 2012 interview with media outlets, director Cameron explained the plot of Avatar as "a sci-fi reconstruction of the early colonial history of North and South America," saying, "The Europeans who invaded the Americas are represented by the Earthlings in the film, and the indigenous peoples are represented by the Na'vi."
Indigenous Maori groups in New Zealand have also joined the criticism that Avatar 2 contains racist content. Cheney Pool of the Maori tribe said, "The depiction of the Na'vi in Avatar 2 is just another example of colonialism," criticizing, "This film trivializes the painful history embedded in real indigenous cultures and romanticizes it excessively."
Meanwhile, Avatar 2 recorded a global cumulative box office revenue of $1.708 billion as of last weekend, surpassing "Jurassic World" ($1.67153 billion), which previously held 7th place, and rising to 7th place in the all-time worldwide box office rankings.
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