‘Avatar 2’ faces boycott calls by some native Americans

James Cameron's ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which released in theatres on December 16, is now facing boycott calls over allegations for Native American and Indigenous cultural appropriation.

The film follows the story of colonisers, shown to be humans, taking over land and their resources from tribes. These colonisers need a completely inhabitable planet as the resources of the Earth are becoming depleted.Now, the director has been accused of appropriating the cultures and histories of various Indigenous cultures for making the film that features a majority of white cast.

Yuè Begay, a Native American influencer and co-chair of Indigenous Pride LA tweeted, ‘Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water. Join us Native folks and other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible and racist film. Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner in order to satisfy some (white flag emoji) man's savior complex. No more Blueface! Lakota people are powerful!’

Autumn Asher BlackDeer, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, also commented on the film and said, ‘Why watch a ridiculous movie about blue aliens when you could just support actual Indigenous people and our struggle for clean water here on Earth? Yes, we do exist.’

Brett Chapman, a Native American civil rights attorney, also called out Avatar and tweeted, ‘Avatar was a White savior story at its core and James Cameron said the Lakota should have 'fought harder' with the foresight that their descendants would all be suicidal. I won’t be seeing the new one. It does nothing for Native Americans but suck oxygen for itself at our expense.’

Director James Cameron had earlier said that the fictional film tells the story of the history of North and South America in the early Colonial period.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is the second biggest opener among Hollywood films in the Indian market. The major share of its earnings has been registered from South India.

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