Neytiri - a message

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by Tiberius

A very interesting post Eltu. I agree with some of it, but I disagree with other aspects. Yes Neytiri has many qualities I admire - Her fierce loyalty to those she loves, her unconditional love, her ability to be strong and fierce, yet very gentle; but most of all I love her spirituality. She is guided by her spiritual connection to Eywa.

When she first sees Jake she wants to kill him, but a sign from Eywa holds her back. When Jake tries to follow her he pushes him back, until once more a sign from Eywa convinces her to bring him to the village.

Although you make some points about how people should emulate her, I also believe that there is a lot of hypocrisy; - In other words, people often claim that she is their role model and that she is an inspiration, yet they are really nothing like her. I'll give you some examples.

If someone is exactly like you, they are neither an inspiration nor a role model.

1) Loyalty to her people and to those she loves

Neytiri is loyal to her people, she lvoed them and she would even lay down her life for them, however when I come to these forums I come across people who have no love for their fellow humans, and have even disowned the human race. Neytiri never disowned her own people.

I haven't disowned humans. I just wish to be something more. Those views are a world apart. Yes, I dislike the way the majority of humans are, but I still think that people COULD change if they had the chance.
I'm sure 98% of people here could assure you of my loyalty to the people I care about - the people here, my family, and a small group of AFK friends. I would do just about anything to keep them happy, together, safe. If anyone hurt them, I would hurt that person back because while there aren't MANY things I may care about that much, what there is is that important to me.

2) Neytiri's spirituality

Anyone who has seen the film knows that Neyriri is a very spiritual girl, - She Prays, She pays heed to Signs from Eywa (God), she is to be the next spiritual leader. Yet when I come here to these forums, many of the people who go on and on about how much they like her, have NO spirituality what-so-ever, and they have no intention of becoming spiritual.

Eywa and human concepts of 'god' are completely different ideas. Eywa is not some superbeing who creates life but an EMBODIMENT of the interconnectedness of life on Pandora. Everything about Eywa is physically possible, as she is basically a nervous system on a geological scale. Eywa doesn't ask for mindless devotion like most human religions, but is a physical being. the Na'vi do not wish for good things to happen to them, they know that as part of Pandora, Eywa is dedicated to balance. They aren't coerced by fear of punishment, but driven by their own experience.
There's a difference between being spiritual and blind faith. I guess that in a way, I am 'spiritual' despite not believing in the paranormal (not that I'd say that to most people because they would misunderstand, but I think people here will get what I mean ), in terms of what I think about things like love, or even happiness, or just the human need for company. There's no need to believe in an invisible being or force to do that.

3) Unconditional Love

One of the things which touched me the most about Neytiri was her Unconditional Love for Jake. When she sees him at the end in his human form, the differences between them is stark. She is a big blue beautiful woman of Pandora, and Jake is a little helpless alien from a distant planet and yet she could not care less about the differences, she loves him all the same. How many people here would be capable of this level of love.

Me, for one. There was a thread on learnnavi forums about 'what would it be like if the Na'vi were non-humanoid' and I said there that truthfully, we can't control who we fall in love with. If there was an alien species who were physically different from humans and I met them and fell in love with one, I would hold that as important as I would love of anyone else.

What I am trying to say Eltu is that most people who claim to love Neytiri are too shallow to realise that they do not deserve her, and could never deserve her in a million years.

You just contradicted your previous point.

I think too many people are kidding themselves that they want to be like her, because ultimately when it comes to making the changes in their lives that are required, most people just cannot be bothered.

Yet you claim you can? That's just pure arrogance.
Inspiration doesn't need to be complete, people cab be inspired by aSPECTS or someoen or something and it's just as valid. Neither do people need to COMPLETELY change.

I'll be honest, Neytiri is the Only woman in a film that I have felt anything for, and yes I have wondered what it would be like to be in Jake's shoes. But she is not a role model for me, My role model is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Fine for you (AS LONG AS you can accept it isn't everyone's), but don't go insulting other people's inspiration or claiming they shouldn't or aren't worthy of it, or being all superior about yours. Whatever works for someone works for them. Neytiri inspired me in many things, from wanting true love as opposed to just some random who would be willing to have a relationship, to caring a lot more about the environment.
If you want to see Avatar as an analogy for your beliefs, if it makes you happy then go ahead, but don't dismiss the fact that is is NOT that for everyone.

Originally Posted by Layzie

I agree with pretty much everything you said. The bolded part - I'm really glad you said that. It is that reason why it actually hurts to see people make stuff like that Avatar porn thing.

I also agree with Eltu for the most part, but I have to say, that yes, Neytiri IS attractive. Yes, people ARE attracted to her. I am, more than I am to any random human. In the end, people have the right to do things their own way. I may find Neytiri the most physically attractive person in existence, but I ALSO find her attractive in infinite other ways which mean that I do respect her.