James Cameron Passionately Promotes Avatar's Environmental Message

If you have seen Avatar — and really, who hasn't at this point — you probably couldn't help but notice the beautifully captured yet surprisingly direct environmental message in the film. While the Navi people inhabit Pandora rather than Earth, the message director James Cameron delivered in the film was crystal clear: it's imperative to protect whatever planet you're on.

Directors often shy away from actively promoting a cause like environmentalism in their films — likely concerned it might alienate potential movie-goers — but with record-breaking box-office numbers, Cameron certainly has the freedom to share his passionate message about saving the Earth, and how that message translated into a film that's considered a front-runner at this weekend's Academy Awards.

To spread this message while simultaneously promoting his Oscar contender Cameron recently attended a benefit for the Natural Resources Defense Council and spoke with Elvis Mitchell, host of "The Treatment" on NPR affiliate KCRW, to discuss the positive environmental theme in his film.

"Avatar asks us all to be warriors for the Earth. This beautiful, fragile, miracle of a planet that we have right here is our land. Not ours to own, but ours to defend and protect," Cameron told a live audience gathered at FOX Studios for the NRDC event with Mitchell, which will be broadcast in its entirety on "The Treatment" this Friday, March 5.

"A movie can create an emotional reaction," Cameron also said during the event. "When you see the Navi people being pushed out of the way as if they're insignificant you feel an emotional reaction and that sense of moral outrage is exactly what we need to feel about what's happening right now on our own planet right here."

Cameron isn't the only Oscar-nominee sharing his or her environmental passion with the NRDC these days. Acting goddess Meryl Streep sat down with longtime friend Wendy Gordon — editor of the NRDC-affiliated publication Simple Steps — to chat about her 30-year history of advocating for children’s health and reducing public exposure to chemicals and toxins.

We still have a long way to go before the Earth gets the full protection it deserves, but with Hollywood heavyweights like Cameron and Streep coming to its aid, we sure have a lot of hope that this planet — and perhaps Pandora, too — can survive and thrive for generations to come.

Photo by Natasha Baucas via Wikimedia Commons.