How Avatar Was Influenced By 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia

In the canon of classic cinema, Lawrence of Arabia, the David Lean epic chronicling the journey of British archeologist and military diplomat T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) who united the native Arab tribes to revolt against the Turks in the Middle East during World War I, is about as classic as it gets. Now in its 60-year anniversary, it has yet to lose any of its cinematic power. More than just a favorite among highbrow film scholarship, Lawrence of Arabia has influenced numerous modern blockbusters that have defined movies in the 21st century. There is perhaps no film that parallels its influence to Lean’s film more than James Cameron’s sci-fi adventure movie, Avatar.

In an interview leading up to the film’s release in 2009, Cameron cited the historical epic as a major source of creative inspiration, stating that “it owes a lot to good, old-fashioned, adolescent adventure storytelling like… Lawrence of Arabia. There are also a lot of very recognizable archetypes in the story: the American frontier and the conflict between a technical, military civilization and a nature-aligned indigenous population.” While it is admirable to know that something as populous as Avatar was inspired by something as thematically important as Lawrence, the former’s recurring storytelling and characterization missteps only highlight how precise Lean’s film is as an artistic achievement.

Crossover Iconography of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Avatar’

The visual design and aesthetic of Lawrence of Arabia and Avatar appear to drastically vary. For one, Cameron’s universe is fictitious in concept, a resourceful moon planet called Pandora, and the construction of it came from a computer through groundbreaking visual effects. On the other hand, Lean captured the mesmerizing vistas on site, from real deserts in Jordan and Spain. Both production designs coexist to capture an other-worldly place, which, in the case of Avatar, is in actuality. The audience captivation of the desert is meant to resemble Lawrence’s fascination with the geographic area, as the titular character is an adventurer at heart. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) of Avatar, a paraplegic soldier, is sent to Pandora to pose as an ally to the planet’s indigenous people, the Na’vi. In their respective narratives, Lawrence and Jake are both put in perilous situations. They were confronted by inhabitants of the environment, and eventually taken under the care of Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) for Lawrence and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) for Jake.

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The location and production design of Lawrence of Arabia works as a complementary character to the story. The elegant and classical portrait of the Arab deserts is timeless, taking on the feel of a great painting that will stand the test of time. The vast deserts, just on scale alone, heighten the stakes of an already important situation in the backdrop of World War I. Pandora is possibly an even more lively setting. Every corner of every frame in Avatar could be a story on its own. So much attention to detail is placed upon the trees, creatures, and bodies of water that inhabit the planet. Cameron understood the value of awe-inspiring image making that made Lawrence accessible for first-time viewers, as its lofty ideas and marathon-like runtime is capable of fending off viewers in fear that the film is too “academic.” Pandora is an imaginative setting, no doubt, but Lean’s construction of the real life vistas of the desert as vehicles for exploration is an even more impressive feat on its own. The wondrous and stirring iconography of the film undoubtedly left an impact on modern science fiction filmmakers alongside James Cameron, including George Lucas and Denis Villeneuve, to explore how far the magic of adventure could go, to the point of conceptualizing their own expansive universes in the case of Cameron and Lucas.

Cameron’s Storytelling Woes and Peter O’Toole’s Brilliance

With the upcoming release of Cameron’s long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, discourse surrounding the relatively quiet “cultural impact” of Avatar is predicated upon the notion that the aggregate of viewers who have seen the 2009 film cannot recall the film’s plot or character names. This argument is not entirely unjustified. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the film resonated with audiences because of Pandora and not the romance of Jake Sully and Neytiri. There is nothing wrong with a well-crafted movie that is founded upon great spectacle and awe-inspiring visual effects, but if Avatar is meant to serve as a true homage to Lawrence of Arabia, then its character work needed to be stronger. Much of this disparity between the two films derives from the performances of O’Toole and Worthington. Both actors were unknowns to filmgoers at the time of their respective casting, but the gravitas that O’Toole brings to his lead role overmatches what Worthington gives to his movie.

Worthington’s casting gives Jake Sully an Everyman portrayal, without any pre-conceived audience relationship (in an alternate universe, Matt Damon would have played Jake). However, he lacks the proper charisma that would convince the Na’vi people to be on his side. In comparison, O’Toole’s charisma is omnipotent, thus causing his ride-or-die support from the Arab people logistically sensible. His performance alone is able to add layers to the complex characterization of Lawrence, where his conflicting loyalties to Britain and the Arabian militia that has crowned him as their righteous leader is the tension that drives the film. The story arch of the conflict between two loyalties is not as effective in Avatar because of Worthington’s lack of acting range, and most notably, the lack of nuanced character development from Jake’s military base, RDA. Right off the bat, they are depicted as the purest evil of capitalist warmongers, with a wildly over-the-top Giovanni Ribisi performance as the head of RDA. The British army in Lean’s film is much more diplomatic and noble, which creates an interesting dynamic for Lawrence.

Despite the film lacking ability for thoroughly fleshed out characters, it is a great attribute that Avatar, currently the highest grossing film of all time worldwide, grapples with issues surrounding colonialism and the white savior, which of course are inspired from Lawrence of Arabia. Cameron advanced the ideas first presented by Lean and his screenwriter, Robert Bolt, by enhancing the technology and weaponry from the military complex and signaling the difference in power between it and the Na’vi militia even more. The story being set on a faraway planet in the future also highlights an aggressively amplified drive of capitalism from corporate America, a concern that plagues society still to this day. Britain’s motives behind military diplomacy in the Middle East appear noble in comparison to RDA’s sole reason for invading Pandora due to the collection of a valuable mineral, unobtanium. As an homage to the 1962 film, Avatar smartly advances its story beats to match contemporary political and sociological climates.

The importance of Lawrence of Arabia is worth reinforcing, not just because of its greatness as a standalone film, but for its impact on the most populous movies of recent times. It would be a shame if this film were to be forever lost to time as part of the cultural landscape as the content field and user-consumption rate grows ever so rapidly. In additionally, by understanding the text to Lawrence of Arabia, one can see how the film many consider to be the best of all time laid the groundwork for Avatar, a mainstream movie smarter and more curious about the world than its companion blockbusters.