Like most of my peers in 2009, I ran to the theatre when I heard about how great "Avatar" was. It was an extraordinary experience, to say the least. The visuals, the sound, all heightened by a large screen, was mesmerizing. My then 70-year-old grandmother adored the film, which proves how great "Avatar" was, seeing as she’s a tough movie critic. The credits came up, signaling the end of the fascinating adventure in the world of Pandora. I unconsciously began to feel like I had seen this story before. Later that night, my conclusions were proven correct. "Avatar," the highest grossing film of all time, is a story about colonization and slavery, more specifically, how the Spaniards and Europeans stole land from the Native Americans and the ample references to the enslavement and similarities of Africans.

Parker Selfridge is the modern day Christopher Columbus. When Columbus first reached the coast of North America, the first sentence out of his mouth to the Arawak (the native tribe then) was, “where’s the gold?” Meaning, his mind was already made up and centered on finding resources within the new land. Columbus sees the indigenous tribes as an inferior group of people sitting on a gold mine. Parker is the leader of the the expedition to Pandora. He calls the shots, and much like Columbus, he experiences some pressure to hold up his deal of the bargain, he has to return the money invested in him and his expedition. Just before the first act is over, Grace storms into Parker’s office and demands he get rid of Jake, Parker responds with, “look, look, you’re suppose to be winning the hearts and the minds of the natives, isn’t that the whole point of your little puppet show? You look like them and you talk like them and they’ll start trusting us...this is why we’re here, Unobtainium. Because this little gray rock sells for $20 million a kilo..now those savages are threatening our whole operation..” Parker is both ruthless and money hungry, much like to Columbus. The avatars are not people but an obstacle that must be overcome. Parker even calls the indigenous people “savages,” which was a word often associated with Native Americans. Furthermore, like the gold Columbus sought from North America, Parker seeks unobtainium.

The scene in which the Tree of Souls is bulldozed represents the destruction of culture experienced by African slaves. The Tree of Souls symbolizes the spirituality to the avatars, it's the most important piece of their culture and when it's bulldozed, the avatars stop and cry. When Europeans enslaved Africans, they forced them to assimilate into their culture. Africans were not allowed to talk in their native tongues, they were forced to forget their history, they were not allowed to carry any cultural ties from Africa with them. Parker dictates, “we build them a school, we teach them English.” Again, assimilation of culture.

When the avatars refuse to leave their land, Parker retaliates with violence. His men are in Pandora waiting for the go sign to start murdering the avatars. Most of this scene is shot from the waist up, which emphasizes the actors emotions. Parker is about to destroy an entire culture and land, all the while he is casually eating a bag of potato chips. He walks over to his worker on the computer and with the tip of his index finger, Parker nudges a control that makes a bulldozer destroy a tree. This scene dictates the selfishness and power colonist had. With a touch of a finger, Parker destroys a home and receives no consequence and is unashamed.

Much like the avatars, Native Americans rioted against the Europeans. Avatars faced getting their land taken away, much like the Native Americans. Colonization deals heavily with conquering land. The avatars get their homes burned down and are forced to flee and leave most of their belongings. Jake establishes, “the sky people have sent us a message, that they can take whatever they want and we will send them a message...we will show the sky people that they cannot take whatever they want and that this this is our land.” Hundreds of wars, such as the Northwest Indian War and Second Seminole War, demonstrate the resistance from the Native Americans and avatars.

Though the scientist and the head of the military were played by white actors, the avatars were played by ethnic actors, which definitely alludes to the story being about African slaves. James Cameron spent years working on "Avatar," he even hired professionals to help him create the 10-foot people, he established a new language. What this means is
"Avatar" was made with precision. The avatars could have been white, but instead, they were blue, people of color. Their noses are a little wider, their lips fuller – these are all the physical characteristics of African-Americans.

The scene Neytiri loses her mother represents the many African children who had to part with their parents. In the midst of chaos, Neytiri discovers that her mother is dying and runs toward her. Neytiri immediately drops her bow and arrow and kneels over her mother. When Neytiri drops her bow, she is dropping her culture, her hope, but she is quickly calmed down by her mother. Similar to Neytiri, when African children had to part from their parents, they, too, lost their hope and often cried. Knowing she is dying, Mo’at immediately hands Neytiri her bow. When African children had to separate from their parents, they attempted to carry on what their parents taught them. They carried bits of the language of Africa, small traditions and songs.

Colonel Miles Quaritch has ample similarities with Andrew Jackson when it comes to the treatment of the avatars. Since the beginning of the film, Colonel Quaritch has demonstrated zero tolerance when it comes to the avatars. When the avatars start to fight back against Colonel Quaritch and his men, that zero tolerance comes forth. As the arrows strike his plane he states, “You gotta be kidding me. These dumb bastards ain’t getting the message. Let’s turn up the heat. Fire!” Colonel Quaritch’s men begin to shoot fire out of their military planes, which forces the avatars to run away from their homes. Furthermore, Andrew Jackson had the same level of tolerance for Native Americans. Colonel Quaritch's violent attack on the avatars to get them to leave their homes parallels with Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. Essentially, the act pushed Native Americans from their homes into the West, so white Americans could conquer their land. Colonel Quaritch is doing the same thing, but instead of land, he wants the resources within it. Both men were ruthless in their treatment of indigenous people and did just about anything to conquer them.

"Avatar" is a film about the experiences Native Americans and Africans encountered regarding colonization and slavery. It’s important Americans do not forget who built this country and who this country once belonged to. What are we suppose to take from "Avatar"? What does the scene in which Jake is in his human form being held by Neytiri represent? Is this Cameron’s solution? Is Cameron proposing that forgiveness is what people of color must have in order to move on? Because James Cameron plans on making three more films, I hope the ending for the avatars is drastically different than how it was for many Native Americans and Africans.