The Dinka's Avatar

Well, it's been a long while since I have written but I am back in time for Oscar Season! I've seen a number of them but have missed many. Besides Precious, the most intriguing film story is the directorial face-off between Avatar and The Hurt Locker by ex-spouses James Cameron and Katherine Bigelow,respectively.

Hands down, Avatar is the technical marvel of the season. Like everyone else I left the theater awed by its 3-D brilliance and wanting to see it again (I never did). But the brilliance of Avatar rapidly dimmed. It has been ultimately replaced by general irritation every time I hear Cameron's stoic pontifications about having to wait 30 years for technology to catch up to his vision and the film's political implications that we as a species must be mindful of the environment....blah, blah, blah.

What Cameron hasn't shared publicly is that he had no problem finding tons of creative inspiration for his story about the rescue of the environmentally and spiritually conscious Navi people by the white guy who "went native." This character, of course, ends up with the biggest, baddest flying animal. He defends the Navi and their nature/spirit-based world from the military industrial complex that wants their land for its own selfish economic purposes. Okay, we get it. We've lived it a million times over. It's the same story of victimization that every group of indigenous people on this planet can tell and here in the 21st century in this country we are still told that these people can only be saved by a courageously transformed member of an enemy clan. It's so exhausting.

These Dinka women of southern Sudan in this photograph by Angela Fisher wear beaded collars identical to that worn by Moat, the high priestess character. Adornment on the male characters can also be traced to the Dinka people. While more difficult to prove, I suspect the physical characteristics of the Navi were also inspired by the Dinka who tend to be extremely tall, lean and muscular. At 7'7", NBA star Manute Bol is a classic example of a Dinka man. Add dread locks and tails (I can't even deal with the tail thing) and you have the Navi. I wonder how much of the mega-millions that Cameron, et al., are making off of this film will go to hellp the people that so inspired his vision?

Presently hundreds of thousands of Dinka people are war refugees and have been flung as far and wide as Canada and the United States (see film Lost Boys of Sudan.) Human trafficking and slave trade continue to plague those who remain in Southern Sudan. Supermodel Alex Wek hails from the Dinka people. You can find segment of a BBC special about her return to her home at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Wo-bo9DE&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=3FFF38F321F9B023

What a little Avatar cash money could do to assist the Dinkas' plight.

I doubt that my cultural concerns matter much to James Cameron or The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it comes to awarding or receiving an Oscar. I have found numerous film reviews that take Cameron to task about the predictable, shallow content of Avatar but none that specifically deal with his co-opting the Dinka's aesthetic. What would compel him to do so? I would anticipate a dismissive response claiming that all artists get their inspiration from somewhere. True, but the difference in this particular instance is that there is such a tremendous need. The film-going public certainly won't care. And who would tell them? Only a trained eye could recognize Dinka beadwork. Plus, we are notorious for the "entertain me" syndrome. Authenticity, cultural context, paying respects for origins of film image, thinking about the images that fill the screen before them...ah, not so much. What a sadly missed opportunity.

Happy Oscars

LAFF

Photo of Dinka man by Angela Fisher

Next: The Hurt Locker