Matt Miller
Professor Meehan
English 101
March 26, 2010
Avatar, a Mythical Frankenstein
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, there are many aspects that deal with the theatrical, as well as the written meaning. Each detail in this novel can relate to many aspects of movies. Many movies in modern day have somewhat of a hidden meaning behind Frankenstein. The Movie based off of Shelley’s novel gives us a better idea of the impact that the creature has on Victor, and vice-versa. In many different movies, we can draw resemblences to a Victor Frankenstein, and to a creature. One movie, Avatar, draws very close similarities to both.
James Cameron’s movie Avatar, delves deep into the meaning of Frankenstein. In the movie Avatar, Americans are sent to the earth like moon of Pandora to retrieve rare rock substances worth large sums of wealth. It just so happens that the largest amount of this rock is under the main living tree of the native Na’vi people. Jake Sully, the main character, who is handicapped in real life, molds his DNA with the native Naïve people, creating an avatar of himself.
This is the first time that we see a comparison between the creature in Frankenstein and Sully. Sully goes deep into the forests of Pandora and gets lost from his group of Avatars. He decides goes undercover with the Na’vi tribe to find out who and what this species is, what they like, dislike, and how they act. He becomes one with the tribe after completing their tests that are given to him, and decides to live there. He helps the Na’vi people save their world, and keep most of them safe.
This plot is very similar to the plot of Frankenstein, because of the fact that each individual is recreated into a new world. In Frankenstein, he is created into the real world world, having to fend for himself, with no friends. In Avatar, Sully is created into the Na’vi’s world, but like Frankenstein, he knows nothing of the surroundings and the culture of the world.
The two plot lines are somewhat similar. Jake Sully and Frankenstein are very compatible. They are similar in that the mind of the creature doesn’t correlate to the body of the monster, because the monster doesn’t think and act the way his body type appears. Sully is the same way. Sully adapts to his new avatar body, and is able to adapt to a new world, just like the creature.
In both movies, there is a “Victor” as well. In Frankenstein, it is of course Victor Frankenstein himself. Victor is seen as a protagonist, as well as an antagonist. The character that resembles Victor in Avatar is Colonel Miles Quaritch. He is seen as the good guy in the beginning, convincing Jake that if he gains intelligence on the Na’vi tribe, he would fix his paraplegia, which is not the case. This is similar to Victor and the creature when the Victor says he will create a mate for the monster if he leaves him alone. We later find out that Quaritch only wants to drive out the tribe in order to get to the mass sum of rock underneath the Hometree, which holds the whole Na’vi tribe. Quaritch has almost the exact persona of Victor, Dealing with some sort of a creature the whole movie, each of them, losing their mind by the end of the novel.
The movie Frankenstein, and James Cameron’s film Avatar, are very different, but also similar in specific parts. One part that is similar is when sully is put into the converter tube, which allows him to morph into the avatar. When Sully takes him first steps as an Avatar, it is just like when the creature is put to life. Both struggle with their first steps of “life”, and both seem to adjust somewhat quickly to the surroundings.
Both Frankenstein and Avatar are unique in their own right. Both have a plot in which the main character is seen as good and evil. This is why these two films can relate to each other. Jake Sully and the creature and closely related in different ways, each of them having to adapt to different climates, surroundings, people and cultures.
