James Cameron likes his female heroines as strong and capable as possible. For instance, take Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley in “Aliens” or Linda Hamilton‘s Sarah Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” But according to Cameron, Kate Winslet‘s Ronal in “Avatar: The Way Of Water” is the director’s most “empowering” female action hero yet. How come? Well, for one, she’s fighting while pregnant.
IndieWire reports (via a Variety Directors On Directors interview between Cameron and Robert Rodriguez) that Cameron spoke about his decision to make Winslet’s character pregnant during the film’s events. His line of thinking is simple: for the most dramatic display of a strong female onscreen, have a woman onscreen fighting while she’s carrying a child. “Everybody’s always talking about female empowerment,” Cameron said during the interview. “But what is such a big part of a woman’s life that we, as men, don’t experience? And I thought, ‘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.’”
“The Way Of Water” sees Sam Worthington‘s Jake Sully and Zoe Saldaña‘s Neytiri leave their tribe to join the Metkayina reef people, a clan led by Winslet’s Ronal and Cliff Curtis‘ Tonowari. Eventually, the Metkayina clan must fend off further incursions by the RDA, leading to a pregnant Ronal fighting in battle. Cameron told Rodriguez in their discussion that he wanted Ronal pregnant in the film for two reasons. First, it reflects the real-life societies that Cameron bases the Na’vi on. But the director also wants to transcend the myths of pregnant women as helpless or unequipped to defend themselves.
“It doesn’t happen in our society — probably hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. But I guarantee you, back in the day, women had to fight for survival and protect their children, and it didn’t matter if they were pregnant,” continued Cameron. “And pregnant women are more capable of being a lot more athletic than we, as a culture, acknowledge. I thought, ‘Let’s take the real boundaries off.’ To me, it was the last bastion that you don’t see. 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.”
Cameron’s intentions are clear if one reads between the lines: he wants to do female empowerment better than the MCU or DCU ever have to make the “Avatar” films the ultimate blockbusters. But did Cameron succeed in his efforts? It’s up for audiences to decide, as “Avatar: The Way Of Water” is now in theaters everywhere. Read The Playlist’s review of the film here.
