Avatar tells the story of an indigenous tribe of alien humanoids, the Na'vi, fighting back against the American military to preserve their sacred homeland. Many have noted the rather obvious parallels to questions of indigeneity, colonization, and environmental preservation that we see in the news today. James Cameron has also been explicit about his desire to tell a story about the preservation of the environment and the integrity of native groups. However, critics have been split on the implications of this allegory.
While some critics are adamant that the film's allegory valorizes and celebrates the plight of indigenous groups, others see it as perpetuating a trope of the "white messiah," a cultural narrative that positions the white race as a saving grace for non-white populations. Indeed, the film depicts the white Jake Sully and his companions saving the Na'vi from the RDA. Annalee Newitz, for the website io9.com, wrote in an article, "The main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, aka people of colour ... then go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?"
Other critics argued that the narrative is not so simple or problematic as its detractors would suggest. For Psychology Today, Mikhail Lyubansky wrote, "[Jake] uses Na'vi methods to gain trust and unite the tribes, and communicates with the Pandora life-energy through a method accessible only to the Na'vi. And at the end of the day, Pandora isn't rescued by anyone. Ultimately, and appropriately, the planet saves itself." In his eyes, the film tells the story of the power of nature and of "the goddess" to come to mortals' rescue.
