The Avatar 2 news conference that director James Cameron held during a dolphin show in Japan angered animal rights campaigners.
Following his attendance at the dolphin show in Tokyo as part of the “Avatar: The Way of Water” publicity tour, Cameron, 68, has been charged with “endorsing the cruelty of marine parks.”
The Canadian director watched the dolphins perform in a tiny pool at the marine park while sitting next to actors Jon Landau, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang.
Before the dolphins and their two trainers entered the pool, Cameron said the show’s opening line, “Welcome to Pandora,” a reference to the fictional world the Avatar movie are set in.
The two trainers can be seen being carried into the air by the dolphins as they perform feats in the water in a press tour video.
Throughout the performance, the performers, who were seated in a row with scenes from the Avatar movie showing on a screen behind them, can be seen applauding and clapping.
After the performance, in which more than six dolphins jumped across the pool at once, Cameron jokingly remarked that he was confident “everyone asked the animals permission to be in the show.”
I adore these animals’ intelligence, Cameron exclaimed. I adore their sociability, their capacity to relate to us, engage with us, and get knowledge from us. Everyone, I’m sure, requested their consent to participate in the show.
Cameron received criticism from the animal rights group PETA for going to the contentious dolphin show.
“James Cameron waited 13 years for the creation of the perfect technology to bring the underwater world of Pandora to life,” said Lisa Lange, senior vice president of PETA US, in an interview with Plant Based News.
So, why on earth didn’t he take a moment to reflect for just five minutes before allowing himself to be perceived as embracing the brutality of marine parks?
Lange said, “The villains of Avatar would confine solitary dolphins to concrete tanks and use them as surfboards, surfing on their faces in circus-style performances.
“PETA invites everyone to avoid these inhumane parks and asks him to oppose such animal suffering altogether.”
Bailey Mason, another campaigner, told the publication that James Cameron shouldn’t ever be associated with keeping dolphins in captivity. Not conservation, dolphin exhibitions are cruel.
According to PETA, dolphins are physically and behaviorally harmed during live performances and captivity.
The practice of trainers standing on the backs and beaks of dolphins while riding them through the water is the most concerning.
Such antics put excessive strain on the marine mammals’ delicate lower jaws, endangering their hearing, joints, and muscles, as well as aggravating other problems brought on by confinement in the holding tanks where the dolphins are housed.
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