Since Avatar was released, the decision to name the precious mineral at the heart of the story unobtainium has been criticized, but there were several reasons why this choice made sense. Of course, this wasn’t the only aspect of Avatar which was subject to criticism. Some have focused on the plot’s similarities to Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and the traditional white savior narrative, while there have also been ongoing and vocal complaints about the lack of a cultural footprint left by the movie in the 13 years since it was released.
Ironically, this has been hugely at odds with the initial reaction to the movie. Avatar was nothing short of a box office phenomenon, as it grossed $2.74 billion worldwide during its initial release. The stunningly immersive world of Pandora which writer-director James Cameron created for the movie was undoubtedly one that audiences wanted to experience again and again. As such, there should be little doubt that in 2009 there was plenty of love for James Cameron’s vision and for Avatar as a movie.
In the 13 years since being released much has changed and Avatar has been criticized for giving the name unobtainium to the rare, and immensely valuable, mineral within the story. However, there were good reasons why James Cameron chose the name. The most obvious was the fact that it was a name that was already in use because since the 1950s aerospace engineers have been using the term unobtainium to refer to any rare and/or costly materials. Additionally, there was also a compelling story-based reason, as the placeholder-like name helped to illustrate the motivations of Avatar’s human antagonists, including Quaritch, who's returning as the Avatar 2 villain. This was because the story repeatedly showed that after traveling deep into space, the humans of the Resources Development Administration were willing to do almost anything for the money they could gain from a mineral they hadn’t even given a specific name to. As such, the only property, value, or worth that the mineral had to them was the amount it could be sold for. Anything else, including its name, was ultimately irrelevant.
Avatar's Unobtainium Highlights A Major James Cameron Strength
The fact that there were both scientific and storytelling reasons for the use of the name, unobtainium, helped to illustrate one of James Cameron’s greatest qualities as a filmmaker. Understandably, there was a fundamental error in considering unobtainium lazy because it disregarded his legendary attention to detail. After all, Cameron’s extraordinary gift for worldbuilding has helped to define sci-fi classics like Aliens, his best underwater movie to date, The Abyss, The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. More than this, when making Titanic, his almost obsessive need for authenticity even led to the cutlery and silverware being stamped with the White Star Line emblem.
Although his movies, including Titanic, have still had their fair share of errors in them, James Cameron has proven to be a filmmaker who would leave little to chance. As a result, Avatar’s 15-year production process and the long delays for its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, shouldn’t be considered surprising. Avatar’s production certainly illustrated his need to find the best ways, whether through technology, or scripting, that allowed him to tell an unbelievable story in a way that was believable to audiences.
The years since Avatar’s release have given ample opportunity to pick holes in the movie. That is a reason why some have found it easy to believe that Avatar’s belated sequels are a risk or even doomed to fail. However, that may turn out to be a mistake because James Cameron has repeatedly shown that few blockbuster filmmakers have had a better understanding of the difference that little details can make in selling the biggest of pictures. His choices have often been based on his attention to detail which has extended to something as, seemingly, silly as the name unobtainium. But it has also been a major reason why it would be unwise to write off James Cameron at the box office.
