China pulls Avatar: colonization theme hits a nerve?
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Chinese authorities have removed the 2D version of “Avatar” from all 4,500 theaters in China currently playing the blockbuster movie (the 3D version will still run). I have a feeling that this move may have unintended results, similar to Chinese officials’ attempts to pull “The Sun Behind the Clouds” from this month’s Palm Springs Film Festival, which turned out to be an ideal promotion for the Tibetan film.
Some commentators speculate that the Chinese authorities were scared that the film’s success – in its first week “Avatar” grossed $44 million in China – was drawing revenues from home-grown films, noting that authorities are replacing “Avatar” with a state-sponsored biography of Confucius due for release on Thursday, January 21. Recalling the Chinese government’s frequent cries of protectionism directed at the Obama Administration, this move is likely to raise some eyebrows among Hollywood’s allies in Washington.
It’s quite possible that Chinese officials did not care for the “subversive” political message featured in the film. In “Avatar,” the Na’vi people struggle to protect their land from greedy colonizers looking to suck out all of the “Unobtanium” from below the sacred Na’vi home-tree. For some Chinese bloggers, there is a connection between the Na’vi and the many Chinese kicked out of their homes by property developers.
When I saw “Avatar” with my 3D glasses on, I could not help but draw parallels between the plight of the Na’vi and the current cultural and environmental crises facing Tibetans. While the Chinese government’s methods do not (yet) employ giant robot men and enormous bomb-dropping spaceships against Tibetans, their exploitative policies have fueled deep resentment among Tibetans. After a half century of mineral extraction, heavy logging, damming and nomad resettlement in Tibet, not to mention cultural repression and assimilation, it is not surprising that “Avatar” could touch a nerve.
Subversive or successful, for whatever reason, the film will no longer be shown in 2-D. Ironically, this announcement did not come fast enough to stop Google from purchasing over 200 tickets for its Chinese employees and giving them the afternoon off last week to see the film, in a gesture in response to their announcement that they could leave the China market.
2 Responses to “China pulls Avatar: colonization theme hits a nerve?”
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Oh, how apt. Perchance this is why fredom-fighting blue aliens make the chinese oligarchy nervous?
Good observations. I think the film has strong parallels to the Uyghur situation as well.
One of the most poignant moments for me in the film was when the CEO character commented on the fact that the Na’vi people did not appreciate any of the development that had been bestowed upon them. It really reminded me of the stereotypical view among Chinese officials and even the Chinese population that Uyghurs and Tibetans are ungrateful, backward minorities.