The movie’s director, James Cameron, has come under fire from the animal rights organization PETA for the way he promoted Avatar: The Way of Water.
The first movie in the Avatar series, which came out in 2009, currently holds the record for the most money made at the box office.
Sam Worthington, who was in Clash of the Titans, and Zoe Saldana, who was in Avengers, were both in the epic science fiction movie, which made an amazing $2.9 billion at the box office.
It took more than ten years to make the sequel, and it will need to make more than two billion dollars worldwide to be profitable.
Overall, reactions to the movie have been all over the place, but director James Cameron is getting a lot of criticism for how he promoted the second part.
Watch the official trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water:
Cameron, who is 68 years old; Worthington, who is 46 years old; and Sigourney Weaver, who is 73 years old, were all at the premiere event in Tokyo the week before last.
At the event, dolphins that were kept in captivity did tricks in a pool while orchestral music played on speakers nearby.
Cameron can be heard saying the following to the crowd in a video of the event:
I’m sure everybody asked their permission to be in the show.
I love these animals, I love their intelligence.
People who care about animals, on the other hand, have said they are shocked and angry about the show, and some have even said they won’t go see the movie.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has put out a TikTok video in which they criticize the event and Cameron’s participation, saying:
Avatar: The Way of Wateris about living harmoniously with nature.
So why is James Cameron launching it by watching exploited animals at a cruel marine park in Japan?
This is the opposite of appreciating nature.
Dolphins should NEVER be ridden, forced to perform or have their faces stood on.
A lot of people have written in the comments section, and many of them agree with the organization. For example, one person wrote:
I really like the Avatar movie.
Kinda doesn’t make sense to go against its message.
Another added:
I’m not going to watch it now, even though I was really looking forward to it!
This is animal abuse and should not be allowed. Shame on the crew and cast.
A third person said:
This is so so disappointing. It’s like going against everything the movie stands for.
On the other hand, a few people replied to the comments and defended Cameron. One of them wrote:
Asked their permission to be in the show’ is him not agreeing with this.
OK you guys are pushing it,
agreed another.
Here is the text of PETA’s response to the most recent comment:
We are pushing it?!
More like, animals do NOT deserve to be exploited by human greed. They are not ours to use for entertainment.
Another person said that it didn’t matter if Cameron liked using dolphins in the experiment or not.
They argued:
The fact y’all are defending him is disgusting.
Regardless of if he was being ‘sarcastic’ at the end of it. He still stood by and let it happen.
PETA later stated that they believed the mammals were created digitally. This is because Cameron is a vegan and makes movies that have strong messages about the environment.
Lisa Lange, who is the senior vice president of communications for PETA, said that at first, she thought “movie magic” was being used, but she quickly realized that the dolphins were real.
She said:
To see James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington sitting there applauding was shocking.
The trainers were treating those dolphins like circus clowns. They were riding on the noses of the dolphins, I mean, that’s as bad as it gets.
In a statement, the World Animal Protection Group said that Cameron’s stunt was “confusingly out of step” with his reputation.
The organization that looks out for animals put the following on their Twitter page:
Captive dolphins are confined to a tiny, barren, artificial environment 200 thousand times smaller than their natural habitat.
They endure severe suffering and distress and live much shorter lives on average than their wild counterparts.
Activist Bailey Mason said:
I would love to see James Cameron pledge to never attend a dolphin show ever again and to denounce the cruel capture and slaughter of dolphins happening in Taiji.
