heros and villians in the movie Avatar

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Heroes and Villains in the Movie Avatar
Different societies have a historical relationship with heroic moments that required one of their persons to save the rest of the community from a troubling situation. However, the ease with which the heroic person goes through to win their battle is highly dependable on who the presence of the villain. Heroes differ with the qualities of their cultures. Despite the fact that there is no particular protocol utilized to ultimately chronicle the process from an ordinary citizen to an iconic individual, the plain truth remains that the hero is the ideal personification of their culture’s value and morality system. In many communities there are perceptions that a hero is a person who possesses the courage to perform duties that benefit the entire population, behaves like a soldier of virtue. At the same time contains a human spirit that inspires their action against the evil as well as defending the greater good at all costs to the extent of sacrificing their lives. According to the Avatar movie by James Cameron, the definition of a hero and villain in the contemporary society relies on the societal evaluation of the concepts of self versus greater good, good versus evil, and morality versus immorality.
A hero or villains are determined by their value of the self and greater good. In most cases, a society contains people that entirely are driven by the desires of their heart and are after fulfilling their personal interests.

“Self-serving behaviors put an individual or group’s desires ahead of others. It is the motive behind the conflict or use of power that creates positive or negative political behavior” (Marshall et al. 550). In such an incidence where one is actuated by their desires to fulfill them at the expense of the other members selfishly, the person is regarded as a villain. In the film Avatar Jake Sully, the main actor, who replaces his brother in a scientific research headed by Grace Augustine, accepts the request to replace his brother after being granted an incentive in the form of restoring his lost legs. Even though the movie depicts him as a hero, the desires in this incidence betrays him, as he does not accept the request based on his conscience but basing on the idea that he wanted to walk again. However, in the long run, Sully ends up appreciating the greater good of the impact the sky people were to induce on the avatar planet for their selfish interest. At first, Sully is deployed in the planet to help in acquiring the essential military skills for the sky people, but he later realizes the interests of these individuals who go after destroying the avatar planet. In return, Sully leads the Pandora natives in fighting against the Parker Selfridge. A hero is a person who sacrifices their life and well-being for the others, Sully understands that he will never be human again, but finds peace in helping the Pandora people restore their territories eventually turning out as a hero.
Additionally, every society has their understanding of good and evil that serves as standards for identifying a villain and a hero. It is worth noting that every society desires to have a peaceful community with people coexisting in oneness (Singh and Chakrabarti 221). However, this is not achievable in a community filled with evil deeds which are known aspects are spurring conflicts amongst members. Therefore, in the case of evil arises in such societies, there is a need for revival from the evil doors, and the person who meets the will of the society emerges as the hero. Julie Harries writes, “Along with a hero’s self-sacrificing nature is the hero’s inborn need or responsibility to combat and defeat evil” (3). The hero has to stand against all the deeds of wickedness; therefore, the hero employs all their capabilities as well as all available alternatives at their disposal to make sure that good triumph. Even though it is with the help of Parker Selfridge that Jake makes it to the Pandora’s land, once he discovers the selfish and evil-guided purposes of the project he dismisses their plan to stand against them with the help of his new Na’vi village. The essence of the project instituted by Parker was meant to access the richest natural resources in Pandora that they plan to exploit and in turn, cause the destruction of the planet. Therefore, Parker hires a mercenary force composed of military men for security that are led by the determined Colonel Miles Quaritch (Godawa 1). Quaritch is characterized by a heartless being that prefers to destroy the whole of Pandora without leaving behind any prisoners of war. Consequently, Parker Selfridge, in a society that values good over evil they regard them as the villains.
Lastly, the societal definition of a hero and villain is predominantly dictated by their understanding of morality and immorality. Morality entails what the community upholds as the actions that portray the values of good behavioral conduct. There are many cases where people rise in a community and establish some measures that compromise with the moral being of society. Once the ethics of society are tampered with, there is the likelihood of harmful actions taking place in the affected community. In such incidences, individuals will find themselves in a position to make a decision on whichever side of the society they will support. “While the circumstances are probably not going to alter the planet’s existence, there are times when mere mortals act out of courage to uphold standards of morality, right wrongs or take up for the weak” (Harris 10). Heroes emerge under such circumstances and are not dependent on rewards to get motivated for action. In the Avatar film, Cameron presents a society that has been swept by immorality and self-interests. The military men are no more used for their initial purpose of protecting the good interests of the community but have been manipulated to serving the interests of some individuals, particularly Grace and the Selfridge project. In the desire of restoration of sanity, Jake who works for the Selfridge project declines their support and rises against their objectives. Jake acts heroically to support the sustainability of the Pandora planet regardless of his initial purpose. Therefore, the villainous military is outshined by a heroic Jake and Na’vi community in the fight against immorality.
All societies are on a brim of facing any challenges at a given period. However, the causative individuals of the challenges and the rescuers of the society from the challenge are the ones who valued as either villains or heroes. Based on the Avatar film by James Cameron, a society can evolve the definition of a hero as well as a villain considering aspects of self and greater good, right and wrong, and morality and immorality. Jake comes out as a hero in the film depicting most values that a moral society would appreciate in the fight against the evils induced by the villains, Grace, and the Parker Selfridge project. However, it is until the hero portrays all these features that work towards upholding the societal morals is when they considered saintly.
Works Cited
Godawa, Brian. “Science And Faith At The Movies: “Avatar.”” The Biologos Foundation, 2012, pp. 1-8.
Harris, Julie. The Hero’s Journey: Cultural Values And The Struggle Against Evil. 1st ed., 2009,.
Marshall, Donna et al. “Self-Interest Or The Greater Good: How Political And Rational Dynamics Influence The Outsourcing Process.” International Journal Of Operations And Production Management, vol 35, no. 4, 2015, pp. 547-576.
Singh, ShubhM and Subho Chakrabarti. “A Study In Dualism: The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde”. Indian Journal Of Psychiatry, vol 50, no. 3, 2008, p. 221. Medknow, doi:10.4103/0019-5545.43624.