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Similarities between Avatar and V for Vendetta
Introduction
Avatar and V for Vendetta are action films, which bases their storylines on fiction as a way of highlighting certain themes. In both movies, there is an apparent hero’s journey with the main mission of the leading actor being to save the oppressed and improve the society. For example, in Avatar, the passage of Jake Sully as a hero begins with the need to continue the efforts of his twin brother in his scientific venture as well as helping the humanoids from extinction through the destructive activities of human beings.
After completing his mission, he becomes a master of the two worlds, an aspect that completes his heroic journey. Conversely, in V for Vendetta, V begins his passage after his internal call to save the country from social and political turmoil. In addition to this similarity, dystopia is also a comparable element in both films. While Avatar consists of blue-colored humanoids experiencing environmental disasters, V for Vendetta emphasizes a totalitarian government that causes destructive social stratification. Based on these arguments, it is rational to assert that Avatar and V for Vendetta consist of various similarities in their storylines, motifs, and stylistic techniques.
Hero’s Journey
Similar to the outline of the hero’s journey in Avatar, the leading actor in V for Vendetta, experiences disconnection, instigation, and return as the main elements of his important adventure. In the separation phase, the journey commences when V realizes that he is not a normal human being. He refers to himself as a monster and is ready to find and punish the person responsible for this transformation. Moreover, his call for adventure solidifies when he seeks to save England from the politically instigated oppression by assassinating the responsible individuals. Since he is stronger and more intelligent than other human beings are, he accomplishes his first task by destroying Old Bailey before forcing his way into a mass communication building and persuading other citizens to join him in his mission.
This forms the foundation of his initiation stage. At this point, Evey poses as his temptress. This is evident when intense affection develops among them although Evey does not approve of all his plans. This negatively affects his mission although he later stabilizes his efforts. The last stage of the hero’s journey in this film is the return phase, which comprises of a struggle for V to return to his original environment. Although he dies in the final scene of the movie, Evey facilitates his magical flight by placing him on a locomotive for incineration purposes. However, his mission is complete since the inhabitants of England are able to override the social and political oppression by fighting for their freedom.
A similar sequence is evident in Avatar. The separation phase commences when Jake Sully sustains a serious injury while on official duty in the marine. Consequently, the condition affects his mobility. Being a twin brother to Tommy, he has to continue the genetic experiment established in a foreign planet. This negative response is evident when he utters, “the egghead and the jarhead. Tommy was the scientist, not me. he was the one who wanted to get shot light years out into space to find the answers.” He also gets fond of the Na‘vi, an element that solidifies his mission of helping these humanoids. Although Jake is initially adamant to undertake the scientific activity, he later accepts to accomplish Tommy’s goal. Like every other leading actor in a typical hero’s journey, Jake acquires supernatural assistance from various sources. For instance, Eywa introduces him to the human hybrids and helps him to fight the Skypeople.
Moreover, the Goddess sends all creatures of the forest to help him in the Final Battle. While proceeding to the initiation stage, Jake’s situation toughens when he has no choice but to help the humanoids. This occurs after mates with Neytiri. Consequently, he rises up against his people. At the onset of the initiation phase, Jake passes all tests by learning the lifestyle of the People and killing General Quaritch. Other events in this stage include his encounter with Enywa as his temptress and the success in chasing away the invaders. This instigates the return stage characterized by Jake’s refusal to return to earth. Consequently, he acquires an avatar body and enjoys the freedom obtained by his fellow humanoids away from the invading humans. His mastery of the two worlds is evident when he uses his knowledge regarding human beings to help the Na‘vi. Based on these discussions, it is evident that the two films contain a detailed similarity with reference to the outline of the hero’s journey.
Dystopia
Dystopia refers to a community created in fictional films and primarily encompasses speculative elements of the future. An analysis of Avatar and V for Vendetta indicates the emphasis of this factor. For example, in V for Vendetta, Chancellor Sutler leads the government to promote violence and insecurity among the general population. Their actions cause poverty and destructive social stratification. Furthermore, the minorities in England do not enjoy freedom due to the unfair regulations imposed by these political leaders. In contrast, V promotes dystopia by using violent activities to help the general population in regaining their freedom. To start with, he destroys Old Bailey and strives to demolish Parliament as well as assassinate all individuals responsible for the oppression experienced by marginalized groups in England. This imperfect environment comprising of political unrest and discriminative social categorization emphasizes the existence of dystopia in the film.
Likewise, in Avatar, dystopia is a primary technique used to emphasize certain motifs. To start with, the Final Battle is a clear indication of dystopia. In this violent act, Jake and such helpers as Eywa engage in a fight with the Skypeople with the aim of driving them away from their land. Additionally, oppression defines dystopia in several scenes of this film. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Jake emphasizes that the world is full of unfair occurrences. He asserts, “you want a fair deal, you are on the wrong planet. The strong prey on the weak.” This statement helps the audience to comprehend dystopia in Avatar. For this reason, it is rational to emphasize the existence of dystopia in both films as opposed to utopia. This is because both settings base their storylines on imperfect environments with social injustices.
Conclusion
The facets highlighted in this paper indicate various similarities between Avatar and V for Vendetta. Dystopia and the detailed hero’s journey are the main resemblances in these two fictional works. For instance, although the settings are different, the leading actors in these movies experience the three stages of the hero’s journey with each champion accomplishing his mission. Moreover, there is a peculiar form of oppression in both films. In Avatar, the humanoids have to fight the tyranny element promoted by human invaders while V leads the society to oppose totalitarianism from Chancellor Sutler and other cruel leaders. For this reason, the thesis of this discussion is valid with various events in both movies supporting the argument.