Avatar: Not Racist, But Hollywood Might Be...Even Against Whites

Finally saw it. The 2D version though - but it was obviously a movie made for 3D. I'll get around to it. Now, is it racist? No, Avatar isn't racist but the prevailing culture of Hollywood is proving to be. At one time it most definitely was, so one could accept that the thinking hasn't disappeared just yet. We already know that leading roles for blacks are few and far between, and there are only a couple leading black names out there. One article included this rationalisation:

Robinne Lee, an actress in such recent films as "Seven Pounds" and "Hotel for Dogs," said that  "Avatar" was "beautiful" and that she understood the economic logic of casting a white lead if most of the audience is white.

The problem with this rationalisation is that blockbuster movies featuring white dominant casts are sold to all audiences around the world - and not just white audiences. Indeed, non-white audiences have been subject to white dominated US television and feature films for quite a long time, and have lived with it. Spike Lee only came out with Do The Right Thing in 1989 - still a relatively recent development and the idea that audiences can only consume material featuring their own race just doesn't compute.

Oprah, Will Smith, Tiger Woods (too soon?), Michael Jordon, Denzel Washington, Friends, Sex in The City,  The Wire, and a host of other examples, can be cited as stars and features that have a broad appeal simply because they are marketed that way, are very good at what they do or because they are part of the same species (i.e. Human). I, as a black man, have watched countless films with non-black leads (or no non-whites whatsoever) and  have yet to turn into a pumpkin as a result. 

White & American
But the idea that mass appeal equals white, dominates American media. This seeming insistence that white (and white blonde in particular for women) sells is manifest in the 'Blonding' of Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Morrison (House MD) as their careers have evolved - or to help their careers evolve? Yes, it appears that even if you are white you have to be the right kind of white to have appeal. 

Jamaican songstress Tami Chynn, former label mate of Lady Gaga, also went blonde, but perhaps too late,

Chynn claimed that her Chinese-black ethnicity hurt her in an industry where musical genres tend to be race defined. "My label made it very clear to me that they were not sure what to do with me because I was a seemingly white girl who was not white but also Chinese and Black," she said. "An (atypical) Jamaican girl is exactly what made them love me and exactly what made them not know what to do with me. That is why the first album was released in Japan only," she explained.

The gatekeepers seem to be convinced that ethnic groups (and that includes whites) only buy products from 'their own'. We know this not to be true, though it may be true to a limited extent. That said, I suggest that much of what we see in 'society' is not society but the perspective of society and its various groups manufactured by film makers and advertisers as they define markets with stereotypes and conceptual targets. 


But the bias doesn't end there. Earth is apparently made up of only one nation: The United States of America. Cameron had the opportunity to portray not only multi-ethinic characters, but multi-national characters, the plot being depicted as a Global initiative and expedition. But true to Hollywood only Americans are heroes - whatever their race (Michelle Rodriguez is Hispanic American), and the only country on earth is the USA. The main character, Jake Sully, was played by Australian actor Sam Worthington, why couldn't he simply have been an Australian Earthling? Would Americans explode upon hearing an Auzzie accent? I think not.

Avatar itself was a critique of racial prejudice (amongst other things) but, perhaps unwittingly, perpetuated prejudice in its production more than its presentation. The dominant group tends to see itself as the standard, normal - the touchstone of humanity, and is usually oblivious to its own bias. Everyone else is a novel addition to the wonderful world of 'diversity'. However, we can't ignore Cameron's efforts to make a movie with a 'universal conscience' or the unavoidable limitations of one man's universe.