Avatar and the Male and Female Myths
What if I told you that a film could tell two very different stories at the same time? While
that may sound confusing at first, James Cameron’s film Avatar is able to do just that. Cameron
does this by telling the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine that must take over for his
deceased brother in an important mission on the planet of Pandora. Through this mission, Jake is
exposed to aspects of both the male and female myths. The male myth involves many things,
specifically physical strength, war, destruction, logic, and death. These qualities are represented
by characters like Colonel Quaritch and Parker Selfridge. The female myth relies on inner
strength, peace, creation, feeling, and birthing. These qualities are represented by characters like
Neytiri and the rest of the Na’vi. The film Avatar displays these male and female myths through
character development, love scenes, and battles. In this essay I will analyze how we see the male
and female myths in the development of Jake’s character, the romance between Jake and Neytiri,
