Making the bond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE1gqq3LG_0

The scene I chose in this movie was the scene were Jake first bonded with one of the toruk. This scene tries to develop the feelings of excitement and fear into the audience. It starts off with Jake and the other Na’vi people travelling to a steep hazardous rocky area filled with the dangerous toruk dragons. Neytiri warns Jake that he will only have one chance to chose the correct toruk, and that the one that he chooses must be one that will try to kill him. Just by her warning and sseing the visual background of the area that Jake is in the audience is already building up some excitement for this scene. As Jake approaches each toruk they scream and hiss at him but soon flee away building even more excitement and terror for the scene. Finally, Jake approaches a toruk that is not afraid of him and Jake decides to approach it. All the while, the music in the background starts to build up and increase in volume and pace, which furthermore increases the audience’s anticipation. Jake soon tackles the beast and ties its beak into a not. At the same time the audience hears the natives yelling in Na’vi, while also making fun of him and laughing at him. Jake is soon thrown of the edge of the cliff by the toruk and a camera angle shows the intensity of how deep the mountain is if Jake were to fall off. This angle creates even more fear for the audience and causes them to care about Jake’s safety. Soon Jake climbs back up and is able to successfully bond with the animal. Once this happens the music simmers down back into a calm state and the peace is restored. The scenes visual background, characters actions, and increasing music pace and volume all cause the scene to develop a high level of excitement and fear for the audience.

However these simple scene development tools also have another effect in the movie. James Cameron uses them to convey the idea of a white Messiah fable archetype and to create intertextuality’s between other movies. By having Jake able to seduce the toruk, while being perceived by Na’vi tribesmen the idea of a white Messiah fable archetype is shown. It is shown because Jake, who until recently was a white male, is able to take control of one of the toruk’s which is rare for even the Na’vi people to do. This suggests that he is better than the Na’vi people and capable of leading them thus making him their messiah. Furthermore the idea of a white Messiah is also conveyed because the movie follows many of the stereotypes of the white Messiah fable archetype. One of these stereotypes, according to David Brooks, is “that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic”. This is shown through the scene because the Na’vi , a colonial victim, are using their athletics and spirituality to connect with the toruk. Furthermore this scene creates many intertextuality’s. According to Roger Ebert, a renounced movie critic, the movie constantly reminds him of star wars, lord of the rings, and many 1960’s western movies. It reminds him of star wars for the similar outstanding visual effects for the time it was made in, lord of the rings because of the use of a new made-up native language, and 1960’s westerns because of the use of othering the Na’vi people similar to that of Native Americans. It is clear that even in this scene, great visual effects, Na’vi people speaking the Na’vi language, and even othering of Jake from the Na’vi tribe are used to create intertextuality. Not only does Roger Ebert see the intertextuality but so do many others. Even in this YouTube video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dIOw2sffHI, one can see the parody of how commonly intertexuality is used in the film.

Overall this scene serves as several functions for the movie. From creating excitement and terror in the audience’s reaction to more tacit functions such as expanding the idea of the white messiah archetype.