In James Cameron's Avatar, an alien tribe fights to protect their home and sacred forests from human invaders bent on destroying the distant planet. The mining company brings in former marines to provide security. However, war breaks out between the two sides and genocide becomes inevitable. Cameron's film takes place on a fictional planet of six-legged rhinos and giant pterosaurs, and the struggle between corporations and natives is hardly science fiction.
For decades, indigenous tribes around the world have faced off against logging, oil, and gas corporations. These corporations, like the one in the film, often have government support and access to “security forces,” sometimes in the form of former military or state police. But unlike the film, in which indigenous groups triumph over corporate and military invaders, the real-life stories of indigenous tribes rarely end with a righteous end: from Peru to Malaysia to Ecuador, their struggles continue.
Spears vs. guns
The indigenous tribe in the film, known as the Na'vi, uses poison-tipped arrows to defend themselves against the guns, gas, and artillery shells of the human invaders. This is reminiscent of the June 2009 violence that erupted in Peru when heavily armed police clashed with indigenous protesters, some carrying spears, others unarmed.
Indigenous Peruvians protest against environmental pollution.
Indigenous tribes are protesting nearly 100 unjust laws passed by the Peruvian government – led by President Alan Garcia – that make it easier for foreign companies to exploit indigenous land for oil, gas, timber and minerals. The ensuing violence has left 23 police officers and at least 10 indigenous people dead.
Just weeks after the bloody incident, Texas-based Hunt Oil, with the full support of the Peruvian government, moved into the Amarakaeri Reserve with helicopters and large machinery to conduct seismic testing. A scene not unlike Avatar, showing a corporation entering indigenous territory with gunboats.
The seismic testing involved 300 miles of test tracks, more than 12,000 explosions, and 100 helicopter pads in the middle of a largely untouched and unexplored Amazon rainforest. The reserve, created to protect the homes of indigenous peoples, could soon be turned into an oil-stained wasteland. Indigenous tribes say Hunt Oil never asked permission to use their land.
Indigenous Peruvians teach their children about their history.
In Avatar, the Na'vi are considered “green apes” and “savages.” Both the corporation and its hired soldiers consider the Na'vi subhuman. In Peru, President Alan Garcia has called indigenous people “savages,” “savages,” “second-class citizens,” “criminals,” and “ignorant.” He has even compared tribal groups to the country’s notorious terrorists.
The brutal truth
The movie Avatar ends with the aliens successfully defending their home from the invaders. In reality, there is no happy ending for real-life indigenous peoples. Often, these conflicts last for decades, with the indigenous tribes, despite their best efforts, tragically losing their homes bit by bit. Forests die, biodiversity is destroyed, carbon is released into the atmosphere. Tribes are weakened and destroyed. Their cultures, traditions and territories are lost to the tide of history.
Unlike the ending in the movie, real-life people all face difficulties.
Avatar is one of the most remarkable blockbusters of contemporary cinema. With a production budget of approximately 300 million USD, the massive work of the “money printing machine” James Cameron has earned 2.847 billion USD in box office revenue, sitting at the top of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Up to 60% of the film's visuals were created using computer-generated imagery (CGI), including everything from the sets to the characters. It was a breakthrough in filmmaking technology, creating a revolution for 3D films to hit the screen. The success of Avatar promoted the development of digital formats and pushed the 35mm film format into oblivion.
