It’s been just over a month sinceDonald Trump’s second US presidency began, butJames Cameronhas already had enough. The Academy- Award-winning filmmaker recently appeared on an episode ofThe F—ing News, where he shared that he was very displeased with the political climate in the United States and that he felt the country was losing its core values. Cameron was asked how he felt about the new administration, which he likened to “watching a car crash over and over.”
“I think it’s horrific, I think it’s horrifying.” He added: “I see a turn away from everything decent. America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit.”
TheTitanicandAvatardirector is, in fact, so unimpressed with the current state of US politics that he says New Zealand citizenship is imminent (although Cameron was born in Canada, he previously resided in California). Cameron currently resides in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, and has spent a lot of time in the country since 2005, when he began development ofAvatar. The acclaimed filmmaker says that finally getting that citizenship “means a lot” to him.
“If you’re going to uproot your family and move somewhere, you have to invest, you have to be part of it, you have to earn standing. I just think you’ve got to earn your right to be in a place… There’s an innate respect and a demand for respect [here]. Everybody has this kind of equal status in terms of person-hood. And I love that – that’s what I wanted my kids to experience.”
James Cameron Eager Not to See Trump “On the Front Page of the Paper”
While New Zealand and the United States are on opposite sides of the globe, Cameron doesn’t think he’ll be exempt from feeling the fallout from Trump’s presidency, as “we are all in this together globally.” But there are still advantages:
“But I certainly feel like I don’t have to read about it on the front page every single day. And it’s just sickening. There’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets — at least they’ll put it on page three. I just don’t want to see that guy’s face any more on the front page of the paper. It’s inescapable there, it’s like watching a car crash over and over and over.”
It is interesting to note that New Zealand politics have changed in recent years. While the country has an extended history of progressive policies, recent elections indicate a move towards more conservative beliefs. The country’s current Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, is a right-wing “social conservative.”
In 2023, during a press conference, Cameron announced that he planned to make movies in the country “indefinitely” while also speaking about his impending citizenship. Avatar is an ongoing project: the third installment,Avatar: Fire and Ash, is currently in the post-production stages. Cameron claims that early viewers of his latest film foundit to be the most emotionally resonantand possibly the best of the threeAvatarfeatures. There are two additional sequels planned. Along with those anticipated films,Cameron is set to work on a screen adaptationof Charles Pellegrino’s upcoming book,Ghosts of Hiroshima.
