New Delhi: James Cameron's sci-fi movie 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is being slammed for allegedly appropriating Native American and Indigenous traditional practices, and a boycott campaign is pushing viewers to skip the movie.
In the first film in the 'Avatar' series, humans are colonising Pandora, a moon that can support life and is home to the Na'vi, a native species with human-like abilities. Humans are drawn to Pandora because it has a precious and rare material.
Currently, Cameron is being accused of taking the traditions and history of many Indigenous cultures in order to produce a movie with a predominantly white cast.
Yuè Begay, a co-chair of Indigenous Pride LA and a prominent Native American, demanded a boycott and labeled the movie "horrible and racist" in a tweet.
"Do NOT watch Avatar: The Way of Water . Join Natives & other Indigenous groups around the world in boycotting this horrible & racist film. Our cultures were appropriated in a harmful manner to satisfy some man's savior complex. No more Blueface! Lakota people are powerful," the tweet read.
Meanwhile, at the domestic box office, 'Avatar 2' enjoyed a phenomenal weekend with earnings as high as Rs 46 crore on Sunday. The movie has earned Rs 147.6 crore nett in India after four days of release in all languages.
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver from the original movie return in 'Avatar: The Way of Water', and Kate Winslet is included this time.
Over a decade after 'Avatar's release, 'Avatar: The Way of Water' premiered in Indian theatres on December 16.