Jake sully, a messed up man

[exostrike]

After finally geting a copy of the director edition (you have no idea how difficult copies of Avatar are to get in UK shops for some reason) and seeing the orginal opening sequence, I've come to the conclusion that Jake Sully was mentally unstable before being sent to Pandora.

His monologue sounds like a man becoming increasingly depressed with himself and his life as he is unable to connect with people or culture (future shock). I mean we see him attack people (admittly against perceived injustice but that doesn't distract from the fact that he's beginning to reject society). If Tom hadn't got killed, I wouldn't have been suprised if Sully ended up throwing himself under a bus. Another sad tale in a whole world of sad tales.

[_Omaticaya_]

^Me Don't Like This.

Man, he was better than any other man you saw in the film. He's the one that went and fought for his country, for his people, he lost his ability to WALK, for his people. Jake is the true man, just because he may be 'depressed', and honestly, he's got the bloody Right to do so, doesn't mean he's messed up. He was just living by the day in that F*CKED UP world you saw in that additional scene man, and I'd feel the same.
Jake was chosen by Eywa for a mission, the greatest mission he could have accomplished, and he did, rose and fought as Toruk Makto with the Omaticaya, and Won,
The things he says in the beginning, are fulfilled at the end man, you need to see that, he was a hero in a 'crooked' body, in a crooked society and world where good and evil became the same thing... He found a cause, his majestic soul came out from that dirty pond he was thrown into out of that crummy bar, and Toruk Makto Lead the Na'vi to defeat the bad invaders and free Pandora

Messed up you say?... Watch it again mate

[prowler]

^
well said

[Pandora66]

bull****...lots of people walk around depressed for any number of reasons, it doesn't mean they're ready to end their lives, if your life is without obstacles consider yourself damn lucky

as for Jake at the beginning of the movie, the man is tired/jaded and basically fed up with the human condition, he's looking for something which means he hasn't given up, he found what he was looking for in spades

[tm20]

no i think he was actually not messed up. look at the world he lived in, a ****hole. i wasn't surprised that he wasn't the happiest person, also considering that he has to live life in a wheelchair. i guess he was one of the few people who took the time to think about what sort of world they are living in, because most people are most likely too busy to think about that sort of stuff. *my point* if you live in a world like Jake Sully did, and you're happy with it or you don't see that something is wrong...then you maybe messed up XD

[Foxhound]

Might i remind you that there are large numbers of suicides from former active combat soldiers these days. Exo did not say Sully was a bad man. If you lost your legs in a war that no one cared about while defending your country and was reduced to living in a lower class life style because your government was too cheap to pay you for proper benefits or PTSD therapy then you would have more then enough cause and probably a lot of justification to feel depressed or even suicidal.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Jake was NOT mentally unstable....he was looking for a single thing worth fighting for,in a literal world of ****. Jake was both sane and stable,and he made the right decision at the right time.




*we have your back,Toruk Makto*

[Aihwa]

After finally geting a copy of the director edition (you have no idea how difficult copies of Avatar are to get in UK shops for some reason) and seeing the orginal opening sequence, I've come to the conclusion that Jake Sully was mentally unstable before being sent to Pandora.

His monologue sounds like a man becoming increasingly depressed with himself and his life as he is unable to connect with people or culture (future shock). I mean we see him attack people (admittly against perceived injustice but that doesn't distract from the fact that he's beginning to reject society). If Tom hadn't got killed, I wouldn't have been suprised if Sully ended up throwing himself under a bus. Another sad tale in a whole world of sad tales.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Almost every military vet has it to some degree.

[Eternal Enigma]

After finally geting a copy of the director edition

Congratulations! ^_^

Hope you enjoyed the directors cut... In my opinion it's the best version because it feels more... complete.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Almost every military vet has it to some degree.

My father worked with a man that no one had anything to do with because he had PTSD.

One day my father sat down with him at lunch when suddenly the man grabbed the air and began violently shaking intensely staring into nothing.

After a minute or two he stopped... just staring straight ahead he said; "I just killed them all."

He was flashing back to Vietnam when he would fly over in a helicopter and shoot up villages. The shaking was the physical memory of shooting the gun.

PTSD causes the person to flash back and relive a traumatic moment over and over and over and over and over.

PTSD requires them to lose a grip of reality. This can be triggered by a wide range of things. One moment the person is there and functioning properly and the next moment they're running from artillery fire after someone slammed their car door. They may be in a parking lot, but all they see is a battle field. That car that just drove by them looked like a tank. They're trapped in their mind and often detached from reality. Their memories torturer them and in some cases this causes them to become a danger to their families and themselves. Some are unable to cope and that is why many war vets end up committing suicide.

Personally I wouldn't say this is a description of Jake... I wouldn't even say he's depressed. I would say he's just tired of it... the system.

He wants a better life... something worth fighting for... and that's exactly what he gets.

[exostrike]

Ok, ok, perhaps I was a little bit too cynical here about Jakes condition. I think the cyberpunk aesthetics were making my think of the bleak worlds of Blade Runner and Neuromancer.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Almost every military vet has it to some degree.

exactly, modern veterans get support from the army and charities, even longer term support for disabled veterns. However I inferred that Jake recevied little financial and/or mental support for either PTSD or his disablity. Given that he wasn't close with his brother suggests that he was disconnected with his family, a major supply of support. Given the shape of his apartment Jake was on one of the lowest rungs of society, nearly always broke. He also seemed to be becoming bitter towardss people who showed him pity (admitly this is viewed as condisending by real life disabled people). All in all, it does not paint a great picture of a mental wellbeing, I'm not saying Jake was going mad, just that his was developing problems.