Who is Kathia Woods? Avatar cultural appropriation controversy explained as film critic comes under fire

Kathia Woods was bashed online for her tweet. (Image via kathia_woods/Instagram, @VegasBabyKJ/Twitter)
Kathia Woods was bashed online for her tweet. (Image via kathia_woods/Instagram, @VegasBabyKJ/Twitter)

American film critic Kathia Woods was slammed online after she criticized James Cameron's new directorial film, Avatar: The Way of Water, for "cultural appropriation."

On Monday, December 19, Woods took to her Twitter handle to share her opinions on the lack of cultural representation in the film. Here's what she said:

As of this article's writing, the tweet has garnered 513 likes and over 3,000 retweets.


All you need to know about Kathia Woods and her controversial tweet

According to the Online Association of Female Film Critics, Kathia Woods, a graduate of Temple University, is an entertainment journalist and a film and television critic.

She runs a weekly podcast called CupofSoulShow that airs on several streaming platforms and discusses pop culture with an emphasis on minority creative in cinema and television.

Professionally, she has contributed to NBC News, Remezcla, Emmys, Buzzfeed, BNCGo, and even The Philadelphia Tribune. Moreover, she has covered events like The Philadelphia Film Festival, SXSW, TIFF, A3C, Montclair Film Festivals, Sundance, and Tribeca.

Kathia Woods' latest tweet about Avatar: The Way of Water garnered severe criticism online, which, at one point, made her lock her Twitter handle.

Although Woods made her controversial "person of color" opinions about the new Avatar film, she failed to note that some of the characters played in the film are portrayed by black actors. Also, the Na'vi creatures shown in the movie are "indigenous blue humanoids" who reside on the fictitious moon, Pandora.

Some of the actors in the film are Zoe Saldana, African American star Laz Alonso, Bailey Bass, and Maori actor Cliff Curtis.

James Cameron's latest directorial highly depends on critic reviews and audience scores. While speaking with GQ Magazine, the 68-year-old personality revealed that the film was "very f***ing expensive."

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He stated that the film needs to make at least a $2 billion profit. It would then become the third or fourth highest-grossing film ever made.

As mentioned above, Kathia Woods made her account private after facing backlash. However, she unlocked it and claimed that it was only "some people on the right" who got mad at her tweet.

On December 19, she finally broke her silence and addressed the backlash she faced for the "person of color" tweet.

Released on December 16, Avatar: The Way of Water is a sequel to the 2009 film, Avatar, which was also directed by Cameron. According to the news website Blaze, the latest film garnered $134 million domestically and $300.5 million internationally on its opening weekend.

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Edited by Shreya Das
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