Avatar: The Meh One
This subject came about after I read an interesting comment on a Reddit forum. The topic was about the Avatar movies and how humans are the bad guys trying to destroy the environment. Most of the comments were praising the Nav’i and saying humanity had to be more like them. I’ve seen that before. We are a species that really tears into ourselves over how we get along with our environment. I see it with every ‘Animal Post’ even on the positive ones. Anyway, the comment that got my attention went like this:
“Of course, humans are going to be aggressive while the Nav’i are peaceful when it comes to nature. The Nav’i exist on a planet where they can physically and spiritually bond with the other organisms to create peace. Humans are from a planet that actively wants to kill us with diseases, predators, and nature disasters. The Nav’i are allowed to live in true peace with their world while humans can never truly achieve this, so they will always have the mentality that they have to be aggressive to survive.”
I think this is true. Even the human cultures that live alongside nature still have to get involved in survival of the fittest. Predators won’t just ignore a human just because they’re being nice. In reality, we are prey to a variety of animals, which means we always have to fit to survive. Just that technology and other aspects of our culture have made it an unfair battle with us at the top of the food chain. Pretty much the exact opposite of the way the Nav’i could go, which really shows how environment can shape the direction of any species with higher cognitive functions.
Expanding to fiction in general, I can see how this can influence nearly every world that authors have created. Those with harsh, brutal lands tend to create characters who are tough and somewhat callous. Those with pleasant and unchallenging lands have more peaceful and relaxed characters. Shows that you really need the personalities to fit the environment. The deadlier the world, the harder you need the people to be in order to explain how they survived. I don’t know if we do this consciously or it just makes sense to us on a psychological level.
I don’t know, which I prefer as both an author and a reader. Having there be no danger from the environment does seem rather boring, but I think it would have appeal due to not be a common theme. Not sure where I would go with it besides having a dangerous entity appear to cause an upheaval. Makes me think of ‘Demolition Man’. So, I do gravitate more towards a world that isn’t easy for humans to live in. There has to be some obstacle for humanity or the stand in for us to have created a civilization. Without a need for community to survive, I don’t think they would evolve beyond simple packs moving around for food. No arts or the like would appear, so there might be something beneficial to a harsh environment.
What do you think of these two types of worlds?
Legends of Windemere 