My Brilliant Conclusion about Disability in Avatar

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is it really a brilliant conclusion? Probably not.  Anybody who spends time thinking about disability (and all the issues that involves) while watching Avatar (repeatedly) will most likely see the same thing that I did.  The bottom line is that this film does, sadly, rely on a stereotype about the disabled, and it does so mainly as a matter of convenience in order to get its audience to accept Jake turning his back on humanity.  Even worse, this exploitation of disability is unnecessary and cowardly.  How much bolder a statement would it have made if an able-bodied Jake decided that he would rather belong to the ecologically responsible Na'vi  than the planet-raping humans?  More about this later-- I've really been thinking about this a lot.

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Is there a draft in here? (revising my research paper)

I had my conference with Dr. Toffee yesterday, and it was an eye-opener.  I was amazed at how many things I didn't notice were wrong with my draft (on one page I even misspelled Avatar!).  I knew that I had a problem with organization, and she showed me how to fix that (define terms one by one in the lit survey section of the paper, then keep all the analysis divided into the three scenes I'm looking at).  Now it seems obvious, and I can't believe I didn't figure that out for myself.  I have to drive out to NIU in Dekalb tomorrow to use their library.  Ours doesn't have the 2 books I need to quote from (I returned the copies I got through interlibrary loan already.  I was sure I was finished with them).

Anyway, I have until 8AM Monday to finish the revision, and I plan to rewatch the entire movie (during breaks from revising, so it'll probably take all weekend) before then.  I want to come up with a brilliant conclusion about what Avatar is saying about disability and the disabled.

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Better Dead than Disabled?

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Jade Jones of Great Britain looks on after her race during the Visa London Disability Athletics Challenge LOCOG Test Event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Olympic Stadium on May 8, 2012 in London, England. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

I'm taking a break from working on my draft, I just looked over my last few posts, and it hit me that I never talked about the second thing I mentioned from Siebers' list of myths about disability:  "It is better to be dead than disabled."  I don't know how I forgot about it, because Avatar says something really interesting as a kind of overall  position on disability. 

My first reaction to that myth was a memory of a guy in a restaurant (I think it was Chili's).  He was at the next table, and he and his wife (or girlfriend) were talking about a friend of theirs who had just come back from Iraq after being in an explosion.  I was trying not to listen, but he was loud, and we were all eating, so we were quiet.  Well, what he said was, "If that ever happens to me, just shoot me."  I didn't realize it then, but I've heard people say stuff like that lots of times.  And it makes no sense, now that I'm giving it some thought.  How do you know how you would feel if that really happened to you?  What about all the people who are living with disabilities and who seem to be enjoying life?  Where did this stupid idea come from, anyway?
So, what does Avatar say about it?  The movie basically says that it is better to be a blue alien on a planet millions of miles away from your home, surrounded by strangers, than it is to be a human with a disability. 

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