Selfridge, actually a good guy?

[Anna23]

I noticed when I was watching the movie, after multiple viewings, that Selfridge actually seemed sad about having to fight the Na'vi.
At first I hated him, with a passion, I mean, who didn't?
But he seemed to have a remorse about going to war. Did anyone else get that vibe?

[MarkD]

He's the one trying to find diplomacy to solve the problem, but not ruthless.

[prowler]

He's the one trying to find diplomacy to solve the problem, but not ruthless.

i never really liked him anyway..

[Aihwa]

He wanted the job done. He would have preferred a nonviolent solution, which is probably why he snapped so hard at Jake. Because Jake failed to secure a peaceful move.

[ScottWashburn]

It's hard to know what's making Selfridge tick. He clearly doesn't want a war (unlike Quaritch) but is that because he truly wants to avoid bloodshed or because a war will cost money and possibly disrupt his production quotas? If the RDA sent him to so important a post as Pandora it must be because he has talent and drive (and probably the right connections) and they believe he'll get the job done. I have to believe that getting the job done (and keeping the shareholders and his boss happy) is his primary consideration. If attacking the Na'vi is the best way to get that done then I don't see him objecting on moral grounds.

[grimsoncrow]

I think that he's simply worried about the whole thing...As in: this is going to be one hell of a ****storm one way or the other...how did it come to this?
I just wanted to play with my putter and watch the money coming in, and now It's suddenly getting complicated...and I'm going to be the one getting the blame.

[iron_jones]

Poor Selfridge. I love the guy.

[Fko Lrrtok]

It's hard to know what's making Selfridge tick. He clearly doesn't want a war (unlike Quaritch) but is that because he truly wants to avoid bloodshed or because a war will cost money and possibly disrupt his production quotas? If the RDA sent him to so important a post as Pandora it must be because he has talent and drive (and probably the right connections) and they believe he'll get the job done. I have to believe that getting the job done (and keeping the shareholders and his boss happy) is his primary consideration. If attacking the Na'vi is the best way to get that done then I don't see him objecting on moral grounds.

This is the way I view him also, to Selfridge, the bottom line is the bottom line, after all he is running the whole box and dice.
Whilst he may not particularly wish for any form of genocide, he doesn't really give two hoots about the Na'vi and confirms just that when he tells Grace the reason they are there (unobtainium) and he continually confirms the utter lack of respect he shows the Na'vi.
The image his company is projecting is more important to him than the lives of the Na'vi, they are just an inconvenience to his operation, and had they been not living where he needed to mine, then they would have not even registered in his thoughts.

[Sempu]

Selfridge represents one half of the military-industrial complex. He's the yin to Quaritch's yang. Without the corporate greed, the mercenaries have no motivation to attack indigenous people, and more importantly, no funding. Selfridge doesn't have to get his hands dirty, just hand out money in the right places. So he can kid himself into feeling good about himself ("I didn't kill those people"). And Quaritch doesn't have to take responsibility for his own bloodlust ("I was just following orders").

They're made for each other.

[Zapgun]

Your confusing lack of respect for irreverence. Like bringing an Atheist into a church, he doesn't believe what everyone else there believes. He simply doesn't understand why moving would be so hard for them, or why its so hard to come to an agreement.

No doubt not all of the incidents involving guns and Na'Vi were provoked by the mercenaries alone, I am sure some of the Na'Vi thought they could get away with seeing how it was to hunt a couple of humans. Both sides arent going to turn their own out to some outsider who doesn't understand the whys and wherefores of their people, so they just overlook the transgressions. Thus, tensions escalate, cue Na'Vi movie.