Avatar: The Way of the Water is the sequel to the highly successive movie that came almost thirteen years ago.
The movie is quite a visual experience. It delights in using the power of the latest graphics technology to create a complete new planetary system with all its intricate interconnections.
The other-worldly beauty is a deep reflection of the mostly-taken-for-granted beauty of that intriguing phenomenon called life.
What David Attenborough reveals from every corner of the planet and what Jacques Cousteau brought to our television screens from under the sea, those worlds come back to us in the larger three-dimensional vision in an other-worldly drama.
Apart from the visual feast the movie is also a feast of concepts.
I: Clan Relations – Outcastes, Aliens and Aggressive Invaders
The magnificent visuals that mesmerise, excite and thrill also deliver a strong vision – the vision of the strength and fraility of the interconnections that are at once physical, ecological and spiritual.
The diversity of the sapient species which evolve along with their relations to their own ecological niche is brought out in the form of the difference between the coastal and forest clans.
There is a fine balance between accepting an alien who seeks asylum-refugee and an aggressive intruder who invades. The resistance to the invader need not necessarily mean xenophobia.
The movie shows the sea people Metkayina and the forest based Omaticaya clan with their differences which too contain prejudices and pathways to conflict, yet allows for porous clan borders and a space to build harmony.
Thus, despite their physical differences there exists unity in diversity. There is a gradual acceptance. But the predatory aggressors, despite being physically similar now, are fought against.
Beyond the outer physical it is the inner values, which determine your belonging.
II: Sacred Animals as Civilisational Soul Fraternity
Then there is the relation between the coastal Metkayina and the extremely…