Blood on Jake's Hands?

[ScottWashburn]

In the scene where Grace is trying to talk Parker Selfridge out of attacking Hometree by telling him it will mean killing children and babies, Jake says: “You don’t want that kind of blood on your hands, trust me.”

“Trust me.”? In my mind that phrase means: ‘Listen to what I’m saying, I know what I’m talking about.’

So how does Jake know this? What did he see or participate in during his time in Venezuela that left blood on his hands? What ghosts are haunting Jake’s past? Is his siding with the Na’vi partly an attempt to exorcize these old demons?

[tm20]

well i don't know the situation in 2154 Earth too well but apparently there is a serious war between eco terrorists and militaries of earth's nations. Venezuela is jungle (maybe, depends on how much is left) so i'm guessing jungle fighting like Vietnam...brutal stuff. We all know how many veterans still suffer psychologically (and physically) today from fighting that war. there isn't much we know about Jake but i'm sure he was just an average soldier fighting some pointless war and along he witnessed alot of stuff, maybe the execution of innocent people, possibly children, who knows. being a low rank he was possibly forced to participate in such executions. he just seems like someone who's been through alot of **** so i feel that he has expirienced such things.

[_Omaticaya_]

Dude, you be making a lot of interesting threads yo! :) xD yeah, by saying 'trust me' he probably knows what he's talking about... But, I don't know, either it was the war in south America as Tm20 was saying too, a Vietnam-like war with pointless meanings, and innocent deaths (like basically every war...) or maybe i just think Jake could have said trust me out of common sense, I mean, it probably doenst have to mean, that he's experienced it, but he just knows, like anyone would, that its a heavy burden to have and live with, to have killed innocent people...

[Wameyn]

You raise a very good question Scott, I think tm20 and Omaticaya could both be right, he may have experienced things first hand and had blood on his hands or maybe he's just looking ahead at the morale implications and realizing that maybe down the line Parker will regret killing these people. Seems we never run out of new Avatar things to think about and talk about.

[_Omaticaya_]

Yeah Col, its so Amazing that after months and months, we're still here discussing Avatar, I mean, I admit I haven't been on at all lately, and today being ill, i got plenty of time to come on AF, and actually read some posts and answer properly, and i have to say, it's awesome :) I'm happy i 'Came back' today ^_^ Some really cool threads like this one :)

[prowler]

You raise a very good question Scott, I think tm20 and Omaticaya could both be right, he may have experienced things first hand and had blood on his hands or maybe he's just looking ahead at the morale implications and realizing that maybe down the line Parker will regret killing these people. Seems we never run out of new Avatar things to think about and talk about.

This :p

[Wameyn]

Yeah Col, its so Amazing that after months and months, we're still here discussing Avatar, I mean, I admit I haven't been on at all lately, and today being ill, i got plenty of time to come on AF, and actually read some posts and answer properly, and i have to say, it's awesome :) I'm happy i 'Came back' today ^_^ Some really cool threads like this one :)

Glad you can spend some time here, get to feeling better friend.

Im not sure we will ever run out of things to talk about.

Curious to see if Parker will be in Avatar 2 or 3, I thought he played his role perfectly. I also wonder if we will get to see a chance at him regretting the attack on the Navi or if he is so $$$ driven that he wont see it.

[HufweMakto]

Glad you can spend some time here, get to feeling better friend.

Im not sure we will ever run out of things to talk about.

Curious to see if Parker will be in Avatar 2 or 3, I thought he played his role perfectly. I also wonder if we will get to see a chance at him regretting the attack on the Navi or if he is so $$$ driven that he wont see it.

I think I've read somewhere that Parker will be in Avatar 2. The Avatar Wiki has a good section on Avatar 2.

[_Omaticaya_]

Well see mate, I think too that Parker is a very good actor and played his role spotlessly ^_^ And I'm pretty sure there will always be something to talk about, it's 3 hours, 10800 seconds of magic, and until you watch it again you don't really remember what it feels like, just feeling like you're actually there on Pandora, on another planet, not worrying about anything, surrounded by beauty (*coughs* Neytiri *coughs) :) Irayo Col ;)

[SnowRider]

I've always assumed that Jake's statement to Selfridge is a roundabout way of him saying to Selfridge exactly what ScottWashburn posted in the first post in this thread.

That is, Jake is essentially admitted that he saw and/or did horrible things in Venezuela, things that will haunt him for the rest of his life. War is messy, and Jake is basically saying he knows this firsthand and that Parker Selfridge may one day bitterly regret his decision to use force against the Na'vi.

[Sanjwale]

I never tought about it but this is what I think.

jake has killed allot people (I think) and he knows how it feels. but back on earth his enemys have guns. and it is a fair deal (ofcourse "fair"....) but over here it isn't a little bit fair.

[Ateyo'itan]

That's some interesting insight. I think it provides further background on his character and why he makes statements like "the strong pray on the weak", other than to address what was happening at the time in the bar. His desire to have something worth fighting for suggests he regretted portions of his past in the military and did not believe those missions were justified or were not worth the cost in terms of the human and environmental toll they took. It would also explain why he is receptive to the plight of the na'vi and is willing to fight for their cause.

At first, it seems he was burying that past or disassociating from it. He is a proud ex-marine and eagerly takes on the mission from Quaritch. However, once he connects with the na'vi, he loses that confidence in the justification of his mission and these feelings and some past regrets are re-awakened in him.

[Porthos1]

I agree with several above. On earth, Jake was a veteran and fought in some “pretty mean bush!” He would have been witness and privy to the Hell that is war. And by that time, the lethality of the technology would have been a leap over what we see today. Jake’s comment/advice to Selfridge is based on experience.

And the topic of this thread is a reason why we are still talking about this movie after so long. A subtle comment or slight facial expression/body language can mean so much.

[Emil]

In the scene where Grace is trying to talk Parker Selfridge out of attacking Hometree by telling him it will mean killing children and babies, Jake says: “You don’t want that kind of blood on your hands, trust me.”

“Trust me.”? In my mind that phrase means: ‘Listen to what I’m saying, I know what I’m talking about.’

So how does Jake know this? What did he see or participate in during his time in Venezuela that left blood on his hands? What ghosts are haunting Jake’s past? Is his siding with the Na’vi partly an attempt to exorcize these old demons?

Not to be a douche, but he said "believe me" not "Trust me" Anyway he was more than likely referring to his missions as a marine in venezuela or wherever he toured.