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Molly Moar May 14, 2013 social 10-1 Economic Globalization and Cultural Contact Cultural contact is what occurs when two cultures come in contact with one another, though media, trade, or immigration. The film Avatar is based on cultural contact and the outcomes of this concept. Pocahontas, another example of a film based on cultural contact, both films are relatively alike, they show ethnocentrism to other races until two people from different cultures fall in love, and learn to accept each other’s culture.
Avatar depicts several concepts of economic globalization by portraying, ethnocentrism, acculturation, and marginalization. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture, beliefs, and values are superior to other cultures, a theme that is present throughout the movie. In Avatar, humans established a settlement on Pandora in an attempt to take away and use the NaVi’s land and resources. The humans had the idea that they had the right to take away the natives culture, ideals, and values for their own pretentious.
When the scientists argued that the tree cannot e extracted, the CEO responded “Look around, there’s plenty of trees, they are not gonna be homeless, they have a place to move to! ” That statement suggested that the humans thought the NaVi were second class, and the humans had more superiority. These motives are similar to our own past of historical globalization, such as the British Empire colonizing North America. Acculturation is the cultural and psychological changes resulted in cultural contact. Though out the film Avatar, acculturation was an outcome for the NaVi.
Because of the human’s intents, the NaVi ost many sacred parts of their culture. The NaVi had a “home tree” that was the foundation for their culture, once the humans had burned it down there society went into chaos. Their culture and ways of life had been distorted forever. The NaVi would have to learn to adapt to the changes resulted in the cultivation of their culture. This suffering caused a dramatic transformation to their way of life, and the survival of there race. Marginalization is the pushing of a group to the brink of society, where they will lose political, social, and economical power.
In Avatar, the humans pushed the NaVi off of their homeland, and use up their resources for their own benefit. By forcing the NaVi to leave meant they would have to give up their culture, way of life, and sacrifice the survival of their race. This made their society more harsh and race first, and their desires before the needs of the NaVi, Just like the Europeans did to the First Nations of America. Another example of marginalization is the Beothuk, they got pushed off of their land in a result of the fur trade. The Beothuk and the
NaVi tribe are greatly alike, for they both were tricked and betrayed by invaders, all of these examples were heavily impacted by marginalization. Cultural contact between the NaVi and the humans, resulted in war, suffering, and loss of culture. The film displayed the consequences of cultural contact, what it did not display was how cultural contact can contribute to spread ideas, and trade. Although there are downfalls to cultural contact all of the interaction contributes toward economic globalization by portraying, ethnocentrism, acculturation, and marginalization. By Molly Moar