Toruk Makto

Although we already brought this scene up in class, something hit me as we moved on to another topic. The scene I chose was when Jake Sully first landed Toruk Makto in front of the Omaticaya people. They were all circled around their leaders and singing in hopes of their land and families being rescued. Their eyes were closed, but it was still obvious a shadow came across the group of bodies. What they saw was Toruk Makto, an Ikran that symbolizes power if any hunter comes across riding it. Many of their people are scared of this Ikran. When Jake Sully landed in front of the Omaticaya, they were yelling and a look of fear was on their faces.

What I wanted to point out was the fact that Neytiri thought Jake Sully betrayed her people before this scene. She did not want to talk to him or have any part of him. What I thought was interesting was the look on her face when he arrived on Toruk Makto. All of her people were intimidated and based on the way James Cameron portrayed the scene, they should have been. The music and sound effects in the background were enough to make someone worry about their life, let alone someone flying in on a huge red teradactyl looking thing.

But, since Toruk Makto is symbolized as powerful, Neytiri started walking up to him in disbelief. She immediately forgave him and said “I see you” which is equivalent to I love you by us. This goes back to the female unit and the stereotype that all females want a powerful, masculine man. Based on this, why wouldn’t she forgive Jake? He was the only one besides an elder Omaticaya that could overtake Toruk Makto, so everyone looked up to him. In my eyes and in that point of the movie, Neytiri just wanted someone masculine in her life since it is natural for a female to be attracted to that type of man. She wants to be seen as the lover of the man who saved her people and could also potentially be the leader of them.