Avatar as symptom: Hollywood mythological narrative and crisis

Resumo

The present essay analyzes Avatar (2009) by director James Cameron in the context of the great American mythological narratives. With a focus on the performance of the myth of the Frontier and of the Manifest Destiny, in addition to the American Dream, that film’s script, mise-en-scène and characters are discussed as a rupture with Hollywood and mythological conventions. Such a rupture of the conventions of the myth is understood as a symptom of an important crisis currently experienced by American society, thus reflecting the need to rethink the present of the country, as well as its future alternatives.