#if fromtiers is shit too then its na'vi only. once i get bored w that. im retiring and archiving this blog lol

[sylwanin-was-right]

Rewatching Avatar 2 and its fucking me up so badly how Jake literally said he had no plan to protect the Omaticaya hiding in the mountains after knowing Spider was captured by Quaritch and the Recoms, and was basically gonna give up to "save" JUST her and the kids....

Like.... how infuriating lol.

Neytiri and her children severed from her people AND her homeland all cuz Jake wouldnt sacrifice JUST himself to protect EVERYONE, including Neytiri and the kids, AND to honor Neytiri's own duty to protect her people and their land as obliged by her faith, her will, her ancestors, her role in the clan, and the wish of her dying father (who's death Jake is partially responsible for)....

The movie is set up to make us feel like what Jake did to protect his family was noble but it was just so selfish to me??? Nothing abt Jake's decision and need to leave the clan to divert the RDA/Recom's attempt to find him in the mountains needed to glue Neyriti, Neteyam, Tuk, Lo'ak, and Kiri to it. Its giving "my wife and kids are my most important assets"; terrible implications given that Neytiri is native-coded, and Jake, despite the permanent avatar body, is still responsible for the gross displacement and death of her clan barely 1 generation removed from the events of the genocide. Jake had a lot to atone for which he did somewhat in A1 by defecting and fighting alongside the Na'vi in the great war. But that atonement was homage and sacrifice to all the Omaticaya people, and by extension, all Na'vi, since he became Toruk Makto and had harbored a duty to protect collective interests of relating clans.

Like, just "wanting to protect your family" would have included everyone in the clan, as the fortress of family is found collectively among the people, who were willing to die fighting for their land and people together. As a warrior, as a legend, as a leader, and even as a father, I'd expect Jake to make the sacrifice of leaving the clan by himself an to honor the passiom of the people to fight until the end for their liberation in war. It would have been rlly hurtful for him to leave and miss out on continuing to lead the clan and raise his family, but responsible and fair, bc he knew the RDA, who returned particularly more powerful and vengeful, mainly wanted his head as the "insurgency leader" and RDA defector, and the Omaticaya were well equipped at that point to defend themselves under Tarsem's and Mo'at's leadership and prior training on RDA tactical warfare (plus Norm, Max, and other humans were still left there to help).

But throughout the movie Jake was portrayed as a force of sensibility among the Na'vi (Neytiri, and among the Metkayina) when they expressed revolutionary suicide and vengence for their fallen, and displacement. And he was seen as justified in risking another clan's stability and safety to let him not only hide from the RDA, but to call so many shots while seeking asylum, including the call to land a metalic helicopter on their land that somehow nobody remembered could be tracked. It seemed that only Jake got to determine if group-sacrifice was noble, necessary, and family-oriented if it directly preserved himself and his interests, particularly the preservation of his role in a nuclear family.

To me, A2 was skid deep on its attempt to portray collectivity, family, and sacrifice. And its was so unpleasant seeing again how Neyriti was practically silent and silenced, only to echo what Jake was thinking when she was the one most affected by the emotional turmoil of the severence from her home, the rest of her family (including the forest), her cultural duties, and her healing.

Truly, I can barely deal w this franchise at this point 😂💀.