Making the Bond

The is the link for my clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE1gqq3LG_0 Tsu’tey

In this clip, Jake is with Neytiri, Tsu’tey, and other warriors from the Omaticaya’s clan. They are in the mountains where the Mountain Banshees live and Neytiri instructs Jake to trust his heart and choose a Mountain Banshee to create a bond with. She tells him that he has to also choose him and he will know that he is chosen when the Banshee tries to kill him. Jake has a struggle with the Banshee but he does eventually defeat it and makes the bond. He then goes flying with the other warriors in the skies of Pandora. This scene is important for two reasons.

This scene is important because it tries to argue us into believing one of the movie’s major themes, which is the importance of the conservation of nature and the fact that humans need to develop a relationship with nature to coexist peacefully with it. In this scene, Jake, who represents mankind, is instructed by Neytiri to defeat the Mountain Banshee, who represents nature, so that he can make a bond with the creature and fly the skies of Pandora. Neytiri tells him that he must defeat the creature and make a bond with it or else it will kill him. This is important dialogue because it illustrates the point that in order for us to coexist with nature we have to be at peace with it or in other words find a balance. If we don’t, we will end up destroying nature or it will destroy us. In this scene Jake and the Banshee has a great struggle which signifies the ever ongoing struggle between humans and the balance of nature. Eventually Jake does master the Banshee and they become essentially become one mind. Because Jake is able to find away to make a bond with the Banshee, or in other words with nature, he is able to fly the beautiful skies of Pandora and live in peace for the moment. This peaceful moment stresses the point that when humans respect nature there are rewards and a sense of inner peace.

James Cameron argues us into wanting to find this inner peace with nature like Jake does by playing up our emotions and making us feel like we want to be a part of the "fantasy" in Pandora. This scene causes me to feel so excited in a way that I become envious of Jake and I begin to wish that I too could defeat a Banshee. James Cameron makes the viewer feel this way by having a likable character like Jake, who throughout this movie has been portrayed as a brave, funny, and smart character, (which the viewer wishes they could be like), defeat the Banshee. Because the viewer wants to be like Jake, the viewer wishes that they too could have defeated the Banshee and become one with nature. The viewer is also argued into “becoming one with nature” because the setting of this scene is beautiful. Jake defeats the Banshee on top of a mountain near a waterfall and then rides on the Banshee on an ultimate thrill ride through a beautiful Pandora sky. The beautiful thrill ride and scenery makes the viewer want to live in Pandora and find peace with nature so that they too can fly on a Banshee. The background music also helps with this notion because it is beautiful music and exciting. This music causes excitement and happiness in the viewer and makes the viewer want to be in the movie even more.

This scene is also important because it makes us feel proud of Jake, (therefore happy), for achieving what we believe is a dangerous task and it makes us feel his well deserved acceptance by the Omaticaya clan. James Cameron makes us feel this way by putting a lot of significance in the defeat of the Banshee. In the Omaticaya clan, defeating and creating a bond with a Mountain Banshee is a rite of passage into the community and this event signifies the becoming of a great warrior. James Cameron creates this emotion of acceptance by the appearance of the Omaticaya clan. If you notice in the background while Jake is trying to defeat the Mountain Banshee, the other people from the Omaticaya clan, (with the exception of Neytiri), are mocking him. They laugh at him as he is losing to the Banshee and when he almost falls off the cliff. It isn’t until Jake starts to defeat the Mountain Banshee do the natives stop mocking him and instead cheer him on. In fact, one of them even yells “yeah Jake!” It is at this point when the natives start to show their acceptance of Jake into their society and the viewer can't help but feel joyed by this feeling of acceptance. The natives’ mocking in this scene is also important because it causes the viewer to realize just how important and hard it is to defeat a Banshee. Jake is a likable character and when you see him being ridiculed by others and being thrown around by a the creature, it causes the viewer to see him as the underdog and it makes the viewer want to see Jake defeat the Banshee. When Jake does defeat the Banshee you can’t help but feel proud because he was the underdog that defeated the creature and proved himself to his ridiculers. This pride makes you wish you were the one who defeated a dangerous creature and "stuck it" to the warriors. Also, when Jake defeats the Banshee he has the happiest look on his face which tells the viewer that this is an important moment and it makes the viewer want to have a share in this happiness. Overall because of the reasons mentioned above, this clip gives us the feeling of joy, happiness, pride, and a sense of envy in the fact that we can't be Jake and make a bond with nature.