The first time the helicopter entered the Pandora forest past the high canopy provides the viewers with much insight of how the people view Pandora and the natives. Immediately, I read the situation as being that of war. When I see a helicopter coming landing in a remote area, blowing back all the plants, I think of how I have be preprogramed from other movies to think that this is a mission the people are on.
The way the chopper blades pierce through the quite aspect of Pandora ruins the beauty of the pure environment. This is displayed when all the eloquent creatures hop away. This is foreshadows that the pure environment will be tampered with. Another way that this mission can be read is how Jake sits on the helicopter; he is sitting with is legs on the landing gear with his gun in hand and to me this displays a soldier who is ready for action.
This visual representation of “a mission” is also displayed once the chopper touches down on the ground. The two marines of the bunch, Jake and another guy, jump out of the helicopter and immediately raise their guns to the sky and scope out the area. I read this as representing that Pandora is a dangerous place despite its surreal beauty. The way the marines do this also connects to what Jake says earlier in the movie when they just landed on Pandora. He says “There is no such thing as a ex marine. I may be out, but you never lose the attitude.” This basically means that the marines act the way they do because once you’re a marine you are always a marine.
The rhetoric of this scene displays that Grace is not happy with the violent nature of the military on Pandora. This gives insight to the viewers that she has a greater appreciation for the life and beauty on Pandora. When out of the chopper Grace says, “One idiot with a gun is enough.” This displays she is fed up with the violent nature and just wants to do what she loves and try to learn and connect with the natives of Pandora. All of this sets up the viewer to expect to see the beauty of Pandora, and how the military and corporate people show their wrath through violence.
I think you make a great observation about how the chopper argues the battle-war scenes and how the land it's about to touch down on is "armed", "dangerous" and "not safe, needs construction." It's interesting how you mention that a helicopter and fast-moving grass/plants usually display a scene of a war field and/or how there is a mission to be carried out. The audience, of course then learns of the mission of the marines/biologists presence in Pandora and then continues to give the argument that American's or those who go to war is always due to a source/piece of revenue that someone wants to keep/take (the hidden element).
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