'Avatar': New Roles for Women in Sci-Fi?

James Cameron's "Avatar" has been receiving a lot of attention for its (admittedly cool) special effects. And, yes, it is an appealing, occasionally quite stunning, film. But some critics have suggested that there may be one other thing that distinguishes it from other big-budget sci-fi / fantasy flicks that have come out recently: a story that features a number of strong female characters. Gawker highlights this comment about roles for women in sci-fi and fantasy movies from Cameron's interview with Playboy:

"Most of men's problems with women probably have to do with realizing women are real and most of them don't look or act like Vampirella. A big recalibration happens when we're forced to deal with real women, and there's a certain geek population that would much rather deal with fantasy women than real women. Let's face it: Real women are complicated."

A pretty interesting message to deliver in a magazine that recently took the practice of excessive photoshopping to its natural limit and put an actual cartoon image of a woman (Marge Simpson) on its cover. (Of course, just a few moments later, Cameron flips course with another soundbite -- this time talking about the challenges of crafting the look for 'Avatar's" heroine -- that suggests that Cameron is, to put it lightly, a pretty complicated dude himself: "Right from the beginning I said, 'She's got to have tits,' even though that makes no sense because her race, the Na'vi, aren't placental mammals.")

So, has Cameron delivered some complicated female sci-fi characters in "Avatar"? Well, we've got a helicopter pilot and conscientious objector who stages a prison break, an alien warrior princess, the leader of an alien civilization, and, a scientist who spends her time building giant blue bodies that you can control with your mind. I'd say so. The trouble is that they don't have much to do. The action of the plot swirls around the two male main characters -- the army general who launches the attack and the marine in avatar body who counters him -- and the one female character who is also a romantic interest, leaving the rest of those complicated ladies seeming a bit underutilized.

My colleague, Jeffrey Weiss, makes the point that the plot of "Avatar" -- which he summarizes as "'Dances With Wolves' on another planet" -- is certainly one we've seen before. Fair point. In fact, I imagine whoever was responsible for writing "FernGully: The Last Rainforest" is stewing right now. But, the seen-and-heard-a-thousand-times plot is no trouble, as long as the characters intrigue. Unfortunately, the best of "Avatar's" characters don't get much of a chance to do that.