James Cameron is on his way to revolutionizing the cinema. The director who is known for giving some of the biggest hits in Hollywood has once again served the film industry with another superhit, Avatar: The Way of Water. The film which was released earlier this month has already become a top contender for the upcoming Academy Awards. After introducing the Omatikaya clan in the 2009 film, Cameron introduced the Metkayina clan through The Way of Water.
During his appearance on Variety’s Directors on Directors with Robert Rodriguez, the Titanic director explained how the film represented his vision of women empowerment. He shared why he thinks the portrayal of female superheroes is not a good way to represent the concept of women’s empowerment.
James Cameron Shared His Idea of Women’s Empowerment
James Cameron introduced the Metkayina clan with Avatar: The Way of Water. With the introduction of the new clan, new characters were also introduced in the franchise. One of these characters included Ronal, portrayed by Kate Winslet.
Ronal is the wife of Tonowari, the chief of the Metkayina clan, and is shown pregnant throughout the film. During his appearance on Variety’s Directors on Directors, the Terminator director explained why he decided to portray Ronal as pregnant throughout the film.
“Everybody’s always talking about female empowerment. But what is such a big part of a woman’s life that we, as men, don’t experience?” Cameron said. He then went on to say that he wanted to explore the concept of female empowerment in The Way of Water.
So he decided to introduce a female warrior who was six months pregnant in the battle. Cameron said,
“Well, if you’re really going to go all the way down the rabbit hole of female empowerment, let’s have a female warrior who’s six months pregnant in battle.”
He then explained that it might not have happened for years, but back in the day, women also had to “fight for survival” and for their children’s protection. “And it didn’t matter if they were pregnant,” the True Lies director shared.
He also claimed that “pregnant women” can be more athletically capable and it has not been acknowledged that much. Kate Winslet, who portrayed Ronal in Avatar 2, agreed with the director and called his idea amazing, and said that she loved the concept.
James Cameron Has a Problem With Women Superheroes
During his conversation with Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron went on to describe how he wanted to go beyond the boundaries to explore the real meaning of women’s empowerment. He said, “To me, it was the last bastion that you don’t see.”
The Oscar-winning director further said,
“Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, all these other amazing women come up, but they’re not moms and they’re not pregnant while they’re fighting evil.”
This is not the first time Cameron has expressed his opinion toward female superheroes. Earlier, in August he called Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman “a step backward.” He once again shared his criticism of the character while calling the Amazonian superhero an “objectified icon.”
The director of Wonder Woman films, Petty Jenkins, replied to Cameron’s previous comments on the DC character. She said that the Aliens director could not understand what the character stands for and that not every female character has to look tough and strong.
Avatar: The Way of Water is playing in theatres now.
Source: Variety
