History and Avatar

[HufweMakto]

Thought this was a good place to put this, but if it isn't, the moderators can place it in another thread.

I was going around Wikipedia when I saw an article for the Dutch East India company. I checked it out, and found an interesting piece about the Banda Islands, and how the native population was either killed off or forced into servitude when Dutch colonists forcibly took over the island. It reminded me somewhat of what happened in Avatar, and then it dawned on me.

In the original scriptment of Avatar, Cameron compared the RDA to the East India Company. It really brought it back to me while I read the part about the Banda Islands and what happened there.

Any other similarities to historical events (aside from the ones already discussed) have you noticed in Avatar?

[tm20]

well, the scenes with the Samson flying over the forest reminds me of the Vietnam War. the way the Samson just cruzies over the canopy really makes me think of how Hueys used to do the same back in Vietnam. very cool

[ScottWashburn]

Well, there's always Colonel Quaritch and that Colonel Custer guy

[tm20]

Well, there's always Colonel Quaritch and that Colonel Custer guy

leading them all to their death

but i'm sure there is some one else in history who resembles quaritch in the sense that they do things the "easy way" (no negotiations, just kill). i'm no good with history but there must be someone.

[Fko Lrrtok]

leading them all to their death

but i'm sure there is some one else in history who resembles quaritch in the sense that they do things the "easy way" (no negotiations, just kill). i'm no good with history but there must be someone.

I agree with you TM20, in that there are probably many military commanders throughout history who have performed their duties with Quaritch like zeal, problem is, it is the victors who record the events.

That's a good comparison HufweMakto using the Dutch (VOC) as an example, or for that matter, the British (BEIC) around the same period. Then again the list goes on, the 19th Century African land grab by the European nations, or colonisation in general, or the 1099 crusade slaughter of Jerusalem, or whatever was needed to be done for Church or State at whatever particular time in History.

Just to throw one out in regards to the Na'vi victory, how about during the Anglo/Zulu war, the battle of Isandlawana and Rorke's Drift, the Zulu defeat of the British (for a short while).

[ScottWashburn]

Well, Custer has more similarities to Quaritch than just getting all his men killed. As I recall, when his scouts came back and reported a LOT of Indians up ahead, his reactions was: "Oh boy, we've got them now!" Overconfidence

[tm20]

well i just remembered these:
-there was a group of people living somewhere in India who were asked to leave because a British mining company wanted to mine the place. i don't know what has happened since i last read on the issue
-the Belo Monte dam project right now in the Amazon, on the Xingu river. the tribe living here will be forced off as their home will be flooded from the damn...not same as Avatar in the sense that minerals are being mined, but similar situation.

[Sanjwale]

I'm very bad in history so correct me if i'm wrong.

I live in netherlands/dutch and I also had the history about our "oost indische compagnie" and what I learned in my history (and i'm not sure of it that it was really like that or whatever) that the people who lived there wheren't forced to anything. I didn't had a more than 2 lessons about that so I don't know much about it. but how I see it there wasn't anyone who where forced. and for us it was pure the stuff they could get there.

beside that. I think the international wikipedia is more trustable then our own history book

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

in regards to the historical similarities of the Na'vi win,how about the 1940-41 rout of a massive 600,000 man Russian invasion force,complete with armor and artillery,by a 50,000 man Finnish army on skis in the dead of winter. even though the Finns eventually capitulated,that small force utterly demoralized and decimated that Russian force,and only lost beause they ran out of ammo,supplies,and time. or again,the mighty Russian bear being defeated by the Afghan mujaheideen guerillas in the 1979-89 Russian invasion/occupation of Afghanistan. at the heigth of their strength,the Afghans were about 35,000 strong,no air support or heavy armor,and they successfully fought a 10 year campaign of attrition against a much superior Russian force,in terms of armor,artillery,air support,and total manpower,though most of the Russian frontline forces were poorly trained conscripts.

[RDAGoon]

I think the actions of SecOps towards the end of the movie also show what happens when a period of war or conflict is maintained for too long. People lose their humanity and do things they wouldn't normally do. If you look back to the Vietnam War, towards the end of the war there were atrocities committed by the US military(my lai massacre for instance). In my opinion, it was the result of unprofessional conscript soldiers being kept in a war for too long and not being able to deal with it. Even today in a conflict like Afghanistan you are beginning to see things like the "kill squad" shooting Afghans for fun. These are professional soldiers turning into killers. The point is, war makes people do terrible things and over time makes you insane.