Who's the "Bad" Avatar?

People of color. Blue color. People who can fly. People who revere the human-animal bond and ride on the backs of bird creatures. The main character, a member of the human race encourages and assists these people of color to take back their rightful place as heirs and stewards of their planet. A member of that race, half human and half Avatar groomed to assist with the rape of a land for its natural resources, turns on his own kind (humans) to save the Navi’s world. It is corporate greed and an attitude of entitlement that has placed this world in peril and one half-breed launches a campaign to stop the rape of a planet and save it from destruction. At one point during the battle for scarce resources a character turns to the enemy and says “Who’s bad?”

The antagonist is a seasoned and hardened warrior from the Military Industrial Complex who sees force as the only means to accomplish the ends. Ever the Machiavellian mercenary, even after the mission is lost, he continues the hunt-to-kill of the protagonist because being a product of indoctrinated violence, he knows nothing else.

The inhabitants of this new and unusual world have discovered a way to bond with the creatures of the planet in cooperative endeavors beneficial to both. The world and its many species are bioluminescent, glowing with their own inner light in the darkness. Initially the part human visitor does not understand that there is a deeper live connection that underlies and weaves its branches like the brain’s dendrite neurons throughout all life on the planet. He sees himself as separate from the world’s biology—a grave mistake. Because he does not know or understand there is another way to navigate the interconnected web of life and because he feels no kinship or link with them, he becomes their victim. His survival then, is dependent on making war with them and killing them.

This human Avatar is eventually educated and converted to someone in reverence to the inhabitants, the biology, telepathy and the bioluminescent and interconnected web of life. He later learns that if he uses an available bio link that allows for a sympathetic and telepathic connection, he is able to “feel” into the body and fields of the life and creatures around him.

This archetypal hero’s journey is not a new theme. The Hindu deity Vishnu is a blue Planetary Avatar who rides on the back of a giant bird. He is one of the triumvirate of deities that include also Brahma and Shiva. Brahma is the Hindu creator god, Shiva is the destroyer and Vishnu is the preserver. It’s another of the holy triunes. His vehicle for flight is Garuda the sun bird, enemy of serpents. Vishnu is said to come to Earth as an Avatar when great evil threatens to destroy the world. He can appear also as Rama and as Krishna. The next incarnation of Vishnu at the Kali-Yuga, thought to be around the year 2012, will be Kalki, the white horse.

At one point during the movie, the aggressive civilization (Earth) that wants the “Unobtanium” matter that is rare and expensive decides the diplomacy with the Indigenous is not working and resolves to take it from them by force. The audience then revisits a dark time in American history—genocide of the Native American tribes for their resource—land. Chief Seattle tried to warn of the consequences of this attitude of entitlement at the turn of the century and ignoring that message has landed us where we are today at global climate crises.

The audience is then engulfed in war-making and destruction while a giant land-mover clear cuts a path to the Unobtanium while locking in coordinates for the tree of souls which is the spiritual epicenter of the telepathic connection center of the Indigenous people’s existence. The military aggressor using giant and multiple typically over-the-top ordinance, brings down the foundation of the alien culture virtually destroying any opposition to their takeover and military-style “acquisition” of scarce resources.

The good news is that this movie has grossed more than any other movie in history. That means it is popular and the theme is popular. The contemporary message is encoded in modern mythology and it is timely; the audience is ready to get it. The bad news is that a bioluminescent little Moonwalker was spreading this message fifteen years ago while many couldn’t hear it or ridiculed the messenger.

Does any of this theme sound familiar? Avatar delivered the message in superstar fashion. Michael would have been delighted; he would have been proud. It is the kind of movie he himself would have made because he planned to make filmmaking his next creative genre. I know Michael would have loved the movie; would have squealed with excitement. In fact, I swear I felt him in the seat next to me.

There are so many parallels with Michael’s musical and visual message in “Earth Song” that I half expected to see him walk on screen during the movie. The “Who’s Bad” reference was far too stunning and deliberate to be coincidence. So were the footfalls lighting up in the forest reminiscent of Billy Jean as the romantic leads walked through. And that backhanded swipe of the mouth by the character whose nose was broken? It was the typical pensive bad-boy gesture Michael debuted in Bad short film and Come Together. I sat frozen in my seat long into the credits expecting to see Michael’s name, a dedication or mention of the homage. It wasn't there. If you didn't know Michael's work, you wouldn't notice. But I think Michael knows. Who's the "Bad" Avatar?