Pre-Read of Avatar

For this blog post, I decided to “read” the first trailer for Avatar. I thought it was important to look at how James Cameron wanted people to look at his movie before even seeing it.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/91116/Avatar---trailer-1

In trailer one, it opens up with a human set of eye that is casted in a blue light, signaling whomever that individual is will be turned into an Avatar. The sustained high note in the background is like a suspense character, a signifier, an insight into something exciting that will happen. Then a fighter jet surges down into overcastted skies not letting the viewer know what planet to which it is descending. The fighter jet shows power, physical power and political power. Very few things can stop a fighter jet, so it leads me to believe that there will be a conflict that arises soon. People who fly fighter jets are equally as powerful intellectually; they know what to do with the machine, what purpose it serves, and the protocol if something were to go wrong. It fits with the foreshadowing of the human in blue light. Blue is a color of something trustworthy, dependable, purity, and committed, according to sensationalcolor.com. Blue is the color of the U.S. Democratic party and also represented the North Union in the Civil War. It’s a color that makes people thing fairness and unity.

Then there is the oxymoronic solider who is wheeling himself down a ramp. His strong arms are marked with a tattoo, but his face is covered with an air mask; strength and weakness all in one individual. It cannot be determined if the person was injured while performing military duties, or if he was selected for another reason, but the underdog solider will be sent to learn about the underdog natives. Other strong, grimy looking soldiers are strapping themselves into an airplane while the man in the wheelchair rolls up next to an lighted blue Avataranium, where an Avatar is floating effortlessly in liquid.

A capsule is then guided into the shuttle and then a neurological trace leads to a live, conscious Avatar. I think Cameron decided on handicapped solider to be evolved into an Avatar to show the strength and capabilities that Avatar has compared to a normal human. Using a handicapped soldier also shows that the Avatar is controlled by the minds’ will, not the physical body’s capabilities. Over halfway through the trailer, there is the first sounds of life.

An overcast of rhythmic breathing of inhale and exhale can be heard, and then the Avatar finally speaks “This is great!”. Those are the only words spoken in the entire trailer. It could mean multiple things, that being an Avatar is great, being able to move around with legs is great; it’s hard to define what “this” is. It’s also significant that the words are spoken in American English. As an Avatar, one is turned into something else which is not human. This can be directed towards the relationship of this Avatar being the crossover between human, and new species.

After those words are spoken it switches to the land of the native blue people, but we don’t know what they are called yet. It’s a mystery for the whole trailer. This way the bond between the crossover solider/Avatar and the natives can be saved for when the viewer sees the full movie. So the viewer can also be included in that bond. On the new planet, there are dinosaur-esque creatures, huge flying machinery; the view alternates between natures and man-made products, showing both sides of the war.

There is a lot of fighting that ensues; it dominates the end part of the trailer; Flesh and Blood vs. Blue super-humans. There are very few peaceful moments in the trailer, one after the human transforms into the Avatar and dandelion looking creatures land on him and at the end where a male and female Na’vi are connected. I think Cameron does that so the viewer has a unconscious feeling of pity for the Blue Na’vi. We as viewers don’t know anything about them other than the military is trying to infiltrate them anyway they can, so they are portrayed as the underdog. The trailer and the movie follow the same storyline of peace, war, and finally peace. It’s hard to avoid that storyline in movies like this, but it’s what the viewer wants; a happy ending.