People Call for Boycott of 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Due to Alleged Racism
20th Century Fox
Movie

Among those who condemn the James Cameron-directed film is Native American influencer and co-chair of Indigenous Pride L.A. Yue Begay, who voices her frustration on Twitter.

AceShowbiz - "Avatar: The Way of Water" has yet to spend a week in theaters, but it has already received negative responses from fans. Many people called for a boycott of the James Cameron-directed film due to alleged racism.

Serving as the follow-up to 2009's "Avatar", the sequel narrates a story about colonizers taking over land from tribes. What upset people is the fact that the film features a largely white cast.

Yue Begay, a Native American influencer and co-chair of Indigenous Pride L.A., argued on Twitter, "Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water. Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film." Yue added, "Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner to satisfy some [white flag] man's savior complex. No more Blueface! Lakota people are powerful!"

Another user penned, "every single in-focus character here is played by white folks. this is just 'it's not red/blackface if we make them blue: the movie.' such a nasty racist cash-grab." A third added, "Ima keep it a buck. The first avatar was f**king racist trash. White man develops a fetish for indigenous women after helping a mega power to disrupt the natural order of things and then becomes their savior? F**k that s**t."

"my wife and I watched the new Avatar movie a few days ago," someone else shared. "and I think it goes without saying that it still suffers from racist problems (such as the white savior trope, & indigenous characters being played by white actors) as well as misogyny n idk left a bad taste in my mouth."

The backlash continued with one person writing, "It's weird to me how Avatar has all the ingredients of the kind of movie I'd want to see. Anti-corporate/military/colonial themes, dope mechs, neat alien ecosystems, Sigourney Weaver, etc, but it all falls apart when the blue aliens hit every note from the most racist westerns."

James previously caused controversy with his remark in a 2010 interview with The Guardian. In the article, he said he was inspired to make the first "Avatar" after visiting the Brazilian Xingu people in the Amazon which made him reflect on the history of indigenous people.

"This was a driving force for me in the writing of Avatar," the filmmaker explained. "I couldn't help but think that if they [the Lakota Sioux] had had a time-window and they could see the future...and they could see their kids committing suicide at the highest suicide rates in the nation...because they were hopeless and they were a dead-end society - which is what is happening now - they would have fought a lot harder."

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