The scene I would like to discuss comes right at the end of the film. (I tried to find a video clip online but wasn't able to find a good one.)
The final battle for Pandora has finally been won, but Jake is dying. A window in the lab station he is in has been broken, and the atmosphere of Pandora is seeping in and slowly replacing the oxygen in the chamber. Jake is suffocating, and is slowly losing consciousness in his Avatar body.
Jake realizes what is happening as soon as he comes out of his Avatar body and finds he can't breathe. He tries to grab an air mask, but isn't able to get it in time. We see Jake, the hero, suffocate and stop breathing. Then, suddenly, Neytiri jumps through a window in the portable lab station and saves Jake from the atmosphere of Pandora.
This scene is crucially important to the film because it is the first time that Neytiri sees Jake in his human body. Despite the Na'vi's hate for the humans, Neytiri still loves Jake in his raw human form. They reaffirm their love for eachother at this moment by repeating the phrase "I see you." This phrase is a Na'vi tradition, meaning that Jake and Neytiri see eachother for who they truly are, despite their differences, and accept and love eachother despite them.
The message of this scene is actually quite simple: true love, in it's purest form, will overlook all differences (wether physical, spiritual, or emotional) in order to survive. The emotion of the scene is the primary factor in portraying this message.
The previous scene is the climax of the film - the humans are waging war against the Na'vi, and the Na'vi almost lose. After a miraculous comeback, they defeat the humans and it seems that everything will be okay. Then, the hero of the film suffocates.
This chain of events heightens the emotion and intensity of the ending scene. This heightened emotion rolls into the referenced scene here - the love between Jake and Neytiri is rhetorical and represents the longing and desire for true emotional love that sits deep within every one of us. Without the preceding scenes, this scene would not be nearly as emotional and moving as it is when seen in context.
Jake and Neytiri's love is a "fantasy" love - it is something that most people long for but can never have. This scene in the film argues the viewer into a desire for this fantasy. It causes, as discussed in class, 'post-Avatar depression,' because it is impossible for humans to actually have this type of fantasy love.
Therefore, this scene at the end of the film in which Neytiri saves Jake from death and holds him in his human form is one of the most crucial scenes of the film. It is extremely emotional, and this emotion argues the viewer into a longing for a "fantasy" love, which can never exist.
This scene is the epitome of melodrama, nothing can go right! Even after something fantastic happens for the main characters, James Cameron has to takes us all down a notch by trying to kill of Jake.
ReplyDeleteCameron also uses the age old archetype of "star-crossed lovers" to take the movie goer emotions back up to a peak.
I really liked that you talked about the scenes leading up to "I see you" scene because it shows that each scene in the movie is connected and to fully understand the significance of one scene, you have to reference back to the past.
I think that what makes this melodrama scene so dramatic is the part where Jake says, "I see you". Not only does it make ever girl long for a true love but it, like this person said, shows that even if Jake is in human form and Neytriri stays in her Na'vi body the both still care for each other for who they are.
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