Avatar fandom on TikTok is scaring me so I am going to teach you all media literacy if it kills me.
I steadfastly believe that the Neytiri/Quaritch/Spider trio is the most interesting and layered character development JC has going for him rn. Ya’ll not having the basic human empathy to understand Spider or Neytiri’s povs is freaking me out.
First, Neytiri. Neytiri is someone who has lost half her family, half her clan, and the only home she’s ever known to an oppressive colonizing force. Quaritch is the physical representation of all that pain and loss. He had not only killed countless Na’vi, killed Grace, tried to destroy their connection to all of their ancestors, and is the person who destroyed her home and killed her father, he is also the person who almost killed Jake. He also in a way, represents Jake’s betrayal. We forget, but Jake did betray Neytiri. He stayed with the Omaticaya knowing what Quaritch and Parker Selfridge had planned for them, feeding them information about their home and their strengths, and she forgave him, but Na’vi mate for life and he didn’t disclose that vital information beforehand. Jake was working and spying directly for Quaritch. He represents that hurt. For her, Spider is like a ticking time bomb. He is around her kids and she can’t ever feel safe with this child, this human child of her worst enemy who has caused all of the worst things in her life, in her life and with her family. She tolerates him for her kids but that’s it. I think her mindset totally makes sense, and I really hope she’s able to see past his parentage and accept him!
Spider is a child. He is not responsible for the actions of his parents, obviously. He has spent his entire life being raised by people that really don’t want anything to do with him. He has been basically a burden his entire life. The scientists were forced to keep him because he was too young to send to Earth, and the Sully’s were not equipped (and did not really try) to take on a human child. They are basically his family, but they don’t treat him as such. Everything that happens with Quaritch is Stockholm syndrome times 10000. And the opposite for Quaritch, which is Lima syndrome. This kid has never had an adult show him care or affection, and now he’s getting it from a weird reanimated clone of his father in a kidapping/hostage situation. Quaritch’s first move is to take Spider from torture. He says you can come with me or you can be tortured. He conditions him from the get go, that’s bad stuff here is good stuff. Even more importantly, in Spider’s eyes he saves his life from Neytiri. I would LOVE to know later if she intended to kill him (pls check out my post on my opinion on the significance of the cut on his chest) but regardless, Spider thinks she did and that Quaritch saved him. Regardless of his motives and how bad of a person he is (irredeemably sorry Quaritch girlies), Spider can’t leave him to die. It’s such a hard decision for him, but he’s a kid and a good person. One who values life like all Na’vi are taught to. And he still leaves him to go back to the Sully’s, who have not bothered to even try to be concerned about him outside of the kids.
I’m not even gonna get too far into Quaritch, because I know there’s a lot of Quaritch stans out there now which does boggle my mind. But, as awful of a person as he is, he is a super super interesting character in this movie. In the first movie, he is a blatant representation of racism and colonialism in the worst sense, in a way that makes him a great villain but not a very layered character. He is a foil for Jake, showing us the worst of Jake in an outside antagonist. It’s easy to forget by AWOW that Jake used to have a similar mindset to Quaritch. Placing Quaritch in the body of those he fears and hates the most I think is a very fun twist. But what I really loved was his fear of Neytiri and how much that is highlighted in the film. The way he looks at her arrows is just spine chilling, and I can’t wait to see her kill him again because I can’t see it culminating any other way.
The other thing relating to this is Spider’s fear of Neytiri. Her mistrust and fear of him had been a block in his life basically since birth. Her kids love and accept him as a brother easily, and Jake keeps him at arms length for Neytiri (which is a whole Jake issue but we can get into Jake another time). Neytiri stands between Spider and the family he’s always wanted, and him seeing her fight and just backing up in fear before she grabs him is so good, just a great culmination of all events. What I’d love to see from it is Neytiri and Spider having to come to terms with their fear of the other in order to move on and create a family unit. A son for a son, right, Quaritch gets Neteyam killed so Neytiri, Quaritch’s biggest fear, gets what he wants right now, which is Spider.
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Sorry to talk about it again but I'm just still flabbergasted by the whole plagiarism thing
Like... When watching hbomb's video the first time and seeing him point out the rewording of stuff to change it *just* enough to (hopefully) not get caught stealing... I flashed back to my college days of when I did exactly that. 😅
There was a limit on how many actual quotes I could use, so I got around that by literally looking at my sources and rewording it enough to get past the plagiarism checker (TurnItIn.com my belothed) without losing the meaning of the text that I honestly didn't fully understand because I was writing on topics I had no real knowledge of myself.
BUT BUT BUT
I still cited my fucking sources.
Yes, I was using other people's words so I could get through the hell that was college, but if you read my stuff, you'd know exactly where I got it from. I never claimed credit for all the ideas.
And... again... I was just doing it to survive. I wasn't making money. I didn't even end up actually graduating, so it didn't even help me academically.
Somerton on the other hand not only rarely *if ever* credited the people whose words he stole, he was doing it for money, while also putting down fellow queer creators. He *wanted* full credit for all the ideas in his videos. To cite his sources would be to pass the credit on to others. And he couldn't do that.
Edited to add: It's probably a bit extreme to say I "stole" anything for my papers. Like I said, I cited my sources. I just paraphrased what I could when needed, probably to a degree that was questionable at worst. I just have anxiety and feel like "OH NO I"M A TERRIBLE PLAGIARIST."
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You're 23, it's high time you learn to think critically instead of swallowing whatever rubbish your white faves throw at you. Or at least learn how to fucking tag.
I don’t know how old YOU are, but I’m guessing 14. Otherwise, it’s high time YOU learn to think critically and realize that everyone has different tastes than you. Also, it’s time to learn how to do things that bring you joy instead of coming into some stranger’s inbox (anonymously, because you’re apparently too much of a coward to share what artists YOU listen to) and insulting them.
I could go on about Taylor’s stats and the amount of beloved artists who have praised her and her songwriting. I could go on about the artists that *I* don’t like who are super popular despite being actual rapists, pedophiles, and bigots. But instead, I think I’m going to go listen to her music and have a grand time because I genuinely like it and don’t need to justify my taste to ANYONE. If you don’t like her, and this goes for anyone reading this who follows me as well, then stop talking about her, stop interacting on posts about her, and stop going after her fans because the more you talk about her, the more you’ll see her and the bigger she will be. Spend your time on the artists that you DO like and maybe they’ll be able to finally compete with Taylor. And maybe you won’t be so angry all the time over some “mediocre” white pop star.
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