Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Avatar: Path of Water.While Hollywood praises James Cameron for his many cinematic accomplishments, dare we say, not without reason, some more wary viewers are wondering how the director will put children in harm’s way again. Yes, this is a sad trend in the cinema of James Cameron. The few child actors the director allows on set seem destined to suffer for Cameron’s amusement while he builds his legacy on a pile of child corpses. And while we all hoped that Cameron had softened his heart towards the younger members of our society, Avatar: Path of Water here to prove that Cameron doesn’t care about kids.
Explaining James Cameron’s Child Hate History
While Cameron is remembered for the birth Terminator franchise in 1984, his feature directorial debut actually took place in 1982 with Piranha II: Spawning. This bizarre horror film is about people who must survive an attack by a vicious pod of genetically engineered piranha fish with wings that can actually fly. As a young filmmaker, Cameron still didn’t have much money to spend on torturing babies. However, he managed to slip a child in a horror movie, an unnamed boy who was killed by piranhas to motivate Ansil Gloudoncharacter, Gabby. It could be argued that Cameron didn’t have much choice in this matter since production. Piranha II was so chaotic that the director rarely considers this film his true directorial debut. However, throughout the year he consistently used children as targets in all of his films.
In the 1984s TerminatorCameron knew he had to redeem himself for the failure of Piranha II. So he decided not to endanger child characters. However, since a film can only be funny when children are suffering, Cameron removes the children from the film. However, after Terminatorsuccess, Cameron had enough money to make the kids suffer. That’s why Terminator 2: Judgment Day revolves around a killer robot from the future hunting for a young John Connor (Edward Furlong). And just to clarify my point, the opening scene terminator 2 shows the destruction of the playground, before our eyes, toys light up.
Before terminator 2Cameron will test the idea that one child will suffer throughout the film with aliensin which he places the young newt (Carrie Henn) alone on a planet ravaged by xenomorphs. And it wasn’t the last time the monster had kidnapped a young girl since Titanic shows the evil Caledon Hockley (Billy Zane) kidnapping a child to win a seat on a lifeboat. Yes, Cameron’s films are enjoyable to watch. But that layer of paint distracts us from the fact that every time Cameron puts a child in one of his films, he makes sure that he suffers. It’s no different Avatar: Path of Water.
Children destined to suffer in Avatar: The Way of Water
AT Avatar: Path of WaterJake Sully (English)Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldanha) formed a supposedly happy family with five children. They had two sons, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Loak (Britain Dalton) and daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Lee). They also adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), a girl born from the womb of Dr. Grace’s (Weaver) avatar’s deactivated body. Finally, Jake and Neytiri help raise Spider (Jake Champion), a human child born on Pandora before humans were driven off the planet and stranded on an alien moon, as babies cannot be placed in cryogenic sleep.
At first glance, we might think Avatar: Path of Water all about family love. However, it doesn’t take long for Cameron to dash our hopes and make sure all the kids are suffering again. First, these children are fathered by Jake, a man who cannot forget his military training and who commands his family like an army, demanding blind obedience and incapable of showing love. We then learn that Spider is the biological son of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who is even more of an asshole than Jake.
As if their biological bonds weren’t punishment enough for crimes they never committed, children in Avatar: Path of Water thrown into the epicenter of a bloody war. Death is on every corner, with the Na’vi on one side and the humans on the other. Jake and Neytiri’s children have to face the horrors of being shot, beaten, kidnapped, and held a knife over and over again for almost three hours straight. And when not being used as trade coin for militant villains, Na’vi children are haunted by Pandora’s wildlife, trying not to drown, and getting into all sorts of accidents. Not a single child will be left without warmth in Avatar: Path of Waterand some don’t even survive.
As if physical pain wasn’t enough, Cameron wants to leave scars on his body. Avatar: Path of Water children’s perfume. That’s why the Spider is forced to help Quaritch, even though he has to witness the damage people do on Pandora. And if that wasn’t enough for the poor fifteen-year-old Spider, he is also killed by Neytiri, who takes the boy hostage to force Quaritch to back down. That’s right, despite having dedicated his life to learning the Na’vi way and deliberately turning his back on humanity, Spider was nearly killed in cold blood by one of the few parents he ever knew. Why subject the Spider to this torment, if not for the pleasure of watching the torment of children?
Cameron might think we don’t see his true purpose, but we’re keeping a close eye on him. He can’t show children in his film without making them suffer, and Avatar: Path of Water just the last of his films showing how he doesn’t care about kids.
Avatar: Path of Water currently available in theaters.
- Glossary of Avatar Terms: Understanding Pandora’s Language
- Avatar: The Way of the Water Ending Explanation: Jake vs. Jake. Quaritch
- Avatar: The Way of the Water cast and character guide: who’s back and who’s new in the long-awaited sequel?
Source: Collider
