Jake Who? Neytiri Should Have Been The Main Character Of ‘Avatar’

He was a punk, she was a highly skilled warrior and future tribe leader. What more can I say?

I know, I know. The movie is called Avatar, which is what Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is. His journey from military grunt to avatar leader of the Indigenous Na’vi clan on the planet Pandora is the whole point of the movie. Falling in love with Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña) helps fuel Jake’s disillusionment with humans and his drive to unite the clans so they can take back their land.

But riddle me this: for a main character, the guy has very little main character energy. Who is Jake? What kind of person is he? Is he loyal? Kind of, if he likes you. Brave? Yeah, I guess. Smart? His twin brother was the smart one, as the scientists liked to point out. 

Neytiri, on the other hand, is a force to be reckoned with. She’s fierce, highly skilled, and deeply compassionate. More importantly, I remember her name way more often than I can recall ‘Jake Sully’, which is potently forgettable. So here is my business case for Neytiri to be recognised as the true main character of Avatar.

If You’re Going To Copy Disney’s ‘Pocahontas’, Go All The Way

Avatar is never living down the allegations that it’s just Pocahontas in space with blue people. Colonisers trying to mine a natural resource? Check. “Charming” white guy with the initials J.S. falling in love with the chief’s wilful daughter? Oddly specific, and yet: check.

Pocahontas is a historical figure, so perhaps it makes more sense to name a movie after her. But indulge me for a moment and imagine: Neytiri. A movie about the strong-willed Na’vi warrior, successor of the tribe leader, coping with the death of her older sister at the hands of humans, yet finding herself in a dangerous romance with an outsider and not knowing if she can trust him. I’d watch that movie — and I’d remember her name. (AND we’d sidestep the messy white saviour accusations.)

Jake Is Boring

There’s a reason Avatar, despite its box office success, is referred to as the movie that no one remembers. Jake Sully is simply the most generic man to lead an epic sci-fi fantasy film of all time. He ended up on Pandora because his twin brother died and his DNA matched the expensive Na’vi avatar that was already created. He agreed to be a snitch for the walking red flag that is Colonel Quaritch. He turned against humankind for a girl he met for like two seconds. 

Sure, he has his hero moments, like catching a dragon with his hair and a rousing fight speech, but where’s the drama? His biggest internal conflict was over turning against the Obviously Evil military colonel and greedy corporate head honcho. Tough choice.

James Cameron Knows It Too

Writer-director James Cameron has made it clear that the next several Avatar sequels are expanding the world of Pandora and moving away from Jake as the main character. We already saw it start to happen in Avatar: The Way of Water with Jake and Neytiri’s family and a new marine-adapted tribe of Na’vi. Is it a coincidence that we’re moving the plot away from the most bland main character ever? Or does Cameron actually want us to remember what happens in these movies? I suppose we’ll never know.

What I do know is that if my girl had the starring role in the first movie, as she deserved, nothing would have changed. The sequel would still smash box office records and you could keep all that digital fish footage. The bottom line is that Neytiri has that main character energy that whatshisface can only dream of. Seriously, what was his name again?