A Native American woman peeks through the branches of a tree watching the intruder enter the forest, the year is 1642. A blue woman hides behind the cover of a fluorescent leaf as she watches the strange man walk through the jungle in 2154. This may seem like two unrelated events, but as we have been studying the story of Pocahontas and the struggles between the Native and the English settlers the movie Avatar and the story of Pocahontas seem incredibly similar.Yes there are many differences like the fact that in Avatar the people are blue and live on a made up planet named Pandora, but the plot is almost identical to that of the classic story of Pocahontas.
In the movie Avatar the main character, Jake Sully goes to the alien planet named Pandora and walks through jungles in an Avatar remote control alien body that will allow Jake to breath the air on Pandora. Jake is sent there to try and negotiate with the natives, know as the Na’vi, to relocate them so that the humans can take their resources. As Jake discovers the new world of the Na'vi, he meets a Na'vi woman named Neytiri, who teaches him the values of her race . As Jake starts to see the world through her eyes, he realizes how much this new world matters to the Na'vi and to him. He falls in love with Neytiri and they “get married”.
Pocahontas became famous because she, a Native American, fell in love with a colonist, John Rolfe. Similarly, in Avatar Neytiri, an indigenous to the planet Pandora, ends up falling in love with human Jake sully. Both John Rolfe and Jake Sully end up in some way breaking the social norm and marrying women from the “new world”. And both go through an opinion change about the other race they met.
We can also see connections with wars fought in both stories. The wars were both over land and resources, and each side suffered casualties.
I think it is important to pay attention to the movie Avatar so that stories like this won’t become a reality. We can learn from the past by looking at the story of Pocahontas and prepare for the future by making sure we don’t become the society depicted in Avatar. We have already killed people because we didn’t understand them, let’s learn from our failure and make sure this history is never repeated.
Below is the link to a video i found on youtube that compares the Disney Pocahontas, to the movie Avatar:
Sources:
"Full Cast & Crew." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/fullc
"Censo definitivo: ¿te gusta Avatar? Entra, puntúala y vete (o quédate, como prefieras) | Página 2 | Foro
Meristation."Censo definitivo: ¿te gusta Avatar? Entra, puntúala y vete (o quédate, como prefieras) |
Página 2 | Foro Meristation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
<http://zonaforo.meristation.com/censo-definitivo-iquest-te-gusta-avatar-entra-puntuala-y-vete-o-que
date-como-prefieras-t2150518-15.html>.
"Review of Avatar 3D." Review of Avatar 3D. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=110055>.
"Archivo de la etiqueta: Pocahontas." Cine Para Aficionados. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
<http://cineparaaficionados.wordpress.com/t
This is really interesting! Its strage hwo simalar the two movie are. I would have never made the connection without reading your articale. I agree witht the point you made about both of the storys having a conflict over land and resouces. I think that this connection really shows that even a conflict from a historical story could still be relavent in a futeristic one.
ReplyDeleteWow, I was drawn in just by reading the title. I have seen both movies (who has not?) and I never even thought of this comparison. But now it is obvious, and I can completely agree with all of your points. This really shows that history does come into play from dramatic futurist fiction, to well anything else. Of course Pocahontas by Disney is not actually 100% factual.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, I learned something totally new. I've seen both the movies and never made the connection. I liked how your post flowed together, it kept me hooked and interested till the end. I also liked how you added the video at the end, it gave your post a nice ending. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog. I loved how you linked together one of the best Disney classics and one of the best movies of all time. First I thought this was crazy and as I read on it was right. They are very similar stories about conflict between two worlds and forbidden love. I really enjoyed the video clip you included. That added a lot to the post. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post because I loved both movies and I thought the connection you made between them was really interesting. After watching a bit of the YouTube video you attached to your post, I can now more clearly understand the connection between the two. You did a fantastic job of comparing these two movies and making the connection clear in your writing. I also really enjoyed the pictures you included in your post. The title you created for your post was very creative and fitting. The only criticism that I have is that I saw a few wording mistakes, but a quick read over of your post would have fixed them. I found you blog post interesting and well done; great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Haley! I really like this blog because I never made the connection between the two before and I think it is a really good comparison. You did a really good job comparing the two stories and proving your point. Now that I have read your post I really agree that these two stories are very similar. I think you could have added a little bit more detail about how this connects to what we are learning class. But, overall you did a really great job and I really enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post Haley! It really caught my attention because I saw the movie Avatar and I love Pocahontas. I really liked your introduction because it really set up your blog post. Your pictures were really good too because they gave me a better idea of what you were talking about. I love the fact that you added a video into your blog post because so far you're the first person I have seen do that. I think you could've added a little more detail about how they're similar, but overall it was perfect. :)
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good blog post. When I read the title I thought about the similarities and felt I had to read. It was a very strong introduction and made me want to read more. I also liked the video you posted at the end. I think a little more detail on the was they fought would have been helpful, but overall I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHaley,
ReplyDeleteGreat job! This pulled me in immediately because when I first read the title, I couldn't think of a single similarity between the two. Now that I have read your post, I completely understand what you were thinking and I find it interesting. I think a lot of movies today are based off of classic stories. Unfortunately, I have never seen Avatar, so your summary really helped me to comprehend where you were going. My favorite part of your post was your last paragraph. It makes a lot of sense to me and I completely agree. We need to learn from the past and it's mistakes if we don't want our futures to turn out like those of Avatar! Fantastic job.
This is really funny! My uncle saw this movie and when I asked him what it was like he said he thought it was like Pocahontas too! I know a lot of people on the internet have criticized both movies for their similarities not only to themselves but to other movies too like dances with wolves and Fern Gully. It's great that you picked up on the connection yourself I didn't realize it until my uncle pointed it out.
ReplyDeleteI love this piece! I completely agree with you, and I never realized how similar the movies are until I read this piece. I thought you did a great job of comparing and contrasting the two different movies so we can really see the similarities between them. You did a great job of wrapping up the piece nicely as well with a lesson that we can all still learn from today. I also loved the YouTube video you included, because it really showed how similar the two movies are in so many ways! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love your view on this! I never would have realized how similar these movies are without reading your piece. I love how well-thought out this is and how different and creative it is. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I would have never thought how similar the two movies are. It's funny to notice things like this. This was extremely interesting to read and even the title made me keep reading. Good job on posting a lot of pictures to go along with your thoughts and good idea for posting the video to help explain. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that before this, I never even made that connection! I think you made a really good argument as to how they're very similar stories and the video you put in was very helpful!
ReplyDelete