# Movies and books about characters who "go native" (ala Avatar & Dances With Wolves) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595 "2010-09-04T16:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/1 "2010-09-04T16:11:34Z")
A friend of mine is planning a comparative literature/pop culture course for this coming quarter in which she makes use of parallels between pop-culture movies and books (i.e. books not necessarily of any great literary value but extremely popular) and works of “serious literature”. One of the movies she’s focused on is _Avatar_ (or as I call it _Dances With Smurfcats_) and is wanting to assign a comparison/contrast between this or _Dances With Wolves_ (student’s choice) and or other films and movies in which a character goes to live in a more technologically primitive culture and basically goes native, ultimately being more at home in that culture than their own. She’s compiling a long list for students to choose from and has asked me for suggestions. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far: _The Paradise Syndrome_ episode of STAR TREK (in which Kirk falls in love with/marries/impregnates a Space Injun _The Inner Light_ episode of ST:TNG in which Picard fights then accepts a new identity as a citizen of another planet where he has a family and spends a lifetime _Avatar_ and _Dances With Wolves_ of course _Dune_ (novels, movie and or miniseries) _Lawrence of Arabia_ (the movie anyway- I’ve never read Lawrence’s own book so I honestly don’t know how many liberties were taken) _Hawaii_ (the movie more than the book [of which the Abner & Jerusha Hale plotline was a very small part]- both characters retain their Christianity but Jerusha [Julie Andrews] comes to see the beauty of the Hawaiian culture while Abner goes on a wild arc but ultimately becomes their staunches defender) _Pocahontas_- the Disney movie (the true story is obviously completely different and a whole lot more complicated, but mindless pop-culture is allowed) _Little Big Man_ (novels and movie)- Jack Crabbe alternates between the white and the Cheyenne worlds- almost hard to say which he’s more at home in. _Robin McKinley’s Blue Sword_- I know nothing about this one but it was my friend’s suggestion Any other suggestions? It can be movies, graphic novels, short stories, TV, medieval or ancient so long as it’s relevant. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/2 "2010-09-04T16:31:30Z")
_The Last Samurai_ _Heart of Darkness_/_Apocalypse Now_ - a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/3 "2010-09-04T16:35:37Z")
[Stranger in a Strange Land](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land), although Mike was raised by natives, as opposed to choosing to “go native” as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/4 "2010-09-04T16:42:57Z")
[QUOTE=cckerberos] _Heart of Darkness_/_Apocalypse Now_ - a bit of a stretch, I’ll admit [/QUOTE] HoD may be a stretch but _Apocalypse Now_ isn’t much of a stretch at all. And speaking of Last Samurai, _Shogun_ is perfect. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/5 "2010-09-04T17:15:11Z")
_A Man Called Horse_ and the various sequels. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/6 "2010-09-04T17:18:18Z")
_The Light in the Forest_ by Conrad Richter is a youth novel about a white child who was raised by Native Americans and as a teenager was sent back to live in white society. He doesn’t feel he belongs there and tries to get back to his tribe. _At Play in the Fields of the Lord_ - I’ve only seen the movie, but it’s based on a novel. It’s about some white missionaries who go to the Amazon rainforest to spread the gospel to the natives. In the movie, Tom Berenger plays an American who is living with the local tribe and has gone native. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/7 "2010-09-04T17:19:53Z")
_Deathworld_ is similar to _Avatar_. Some of Leigh Brackett’s “Mars” stories might fit. I figure the majority of James Tiptree Jr’s output would also fall into this category (“teh humanz are teh EVIL!!!”), but I hate Tiptree and have tried to erase all memory of her works from my mind so I can’t give you specific suggestions. Oh, and then maybe Zenna Henderson’s “People” stories. ETA: And, to state the obvious, _Superman_ and/or _Gladiator_. The latter would be more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/8 "2010-09-04T17:27:33Z")
_Farewell to the King_ with Nick Nolte. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/9 "2010-09-04T17:32:22Z")
CJ Cherryh has made a career out of it, at least in her science fiction (I don’t care for her fantasy, so I don’t know if that’s the case there or not.) Try _The Pride of Chanur_ or _Foreigner_. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/10 "2010-09-04T17:38:58Z")
_Never Cry Wolf_, a cross-species example. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/11 "2010-09-04T17:39:35Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > CJ Cherryh has made a career out of it, at least in her science fiction (I don’t care for her fantasy, so I don’t know if that’s the case there or not.) Try _The Pride of Chanur_ or _Foreigner_. For sure. She absolutely loves fish-out-of-water anthropological sf. For a singleton, I’d say _40,000 in Gehenna_ is the best in this mode, because it easily the most _alien_ of her alien cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/12 "2010-09-04T18:12:14Z")
_Brave New World_ is another good example, though the main character doesn’t “go native” until near the end of the book (most of it is him gradually coming to see the flaws in his own society). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/13 "2010-09-04T19:52:54Z")
[Knock yourself out](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoingNative). What happened in Brave New World? John the Savage did the opposite (Going Tarzan?) I don’t remember it happening to Bernard, he goes exile. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/14 "2010-09-04T20:26:23Z")
I haven’t read it since high school; you may be right. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/15 "2010-09-04T21:29:39Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _At Play in the Fields of the Lord_ - I’ve only seen the movie, but it’s based on a novel. It’s about some white missionaries who go to the Amazon rainforest to spread the gospel to the natives. In the movie, Tom Berenger plays an American who is living with the local tribe and has gone native. That reminds me of _Last of the Dogmen_, also staring Tom Berenger ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/16 "2010-09-04T21:53:48Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [Knock yourself out](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoingNative). > > What happened in Brave New World? John the Savage did the opposite (Going Tarzan?) I don’t remember it happening to Bernard, he goes exile. John the Savage tried to live in isolation in an automated lighthouse, but he was simply too unusual for the strictly-controlled society to leave alone. They kept visiting him in larger and larger numbers, fascinated by his behaviour, emulating it. At the climax, love interest Lenina Crowne shows up as well, John physically attacks her, the crowd goes wild and the evening passes in a crazed violent orgy in which John participates. When he wakes up the next day, still feeling the effects of the Soma, his shame and regret is overpowering. When the fans show up to see what he’ll do next, they find him hanging. He went native, sort-of, for one night and couldn’t bear it. Bernard just got packed off to an island which, it is implied, isn’t really all that bad a fate. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/17 "2010-09-04T22:09:26Z")
The Coneheads Also, my namesake the novel Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster is about a small group adapting to a primitive culture. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/18 "2010-09-04T22:31:36Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > The Coneheads > > Also, my namesake the novel Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster is about a small group adapting to a primitive culture. By the same author:_[Sentenced to Prism](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sentenced-Prism-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/034531980X)_ where the main character quite literally goes native. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/19 "2010-09-04T22:55:27Z")
Noman’s [“Gor”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor) books have the protagonist going native in pretty short order. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595/20 "2010-09-04T23:58:13Z")
[The Emerald Forest](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089087/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-books-about-characters-who-go-native-ala-avatar-dances-with-wolves/552595.md?page=2)