Posted on 02/20/2010 1:19:42 PM PST by mainestategop
Last week for the Second time, i got to see Avatar. having been watching the blog sphere lately I have been quite surprised by some of the responses to the movie, Allegations that the movie promotes environmentalism, and liberalism. probably the biggest problem I have heard is that the humans instead of the aliens are the bad guys. A major departure from traditional science fiction orthodoxy that is rare. That, and James Cameron has used his fame to attack and ridicule conservatives and libertarians.
my review concentrates on some of the ridiculous remarks made against the movie in the blog sphere. remarks that are very similar to some of the hype made against Harry Potter. You fundamentalists know what I'm talking about... starving black Christians in Africa are getting murdered and raped by Muslim terrorists in Sudan, Christians are being murdered left and right all over the world, Europe is jettisoning its Christian heritage (then again it wasn't that Christian to begin with.) our nation is going to hell, unsaved souls don't know the love of the son of God, and instead of doing your job you are only worried about a series of novels and movies about a boy wizard. Amen brother?
On a side note, Pat Robertson after making an ass out of himself by claiming that Haiti caused its own earthquake claims that another movie, the princess and the Frog promotes voodoo and gives Christianity a back seat. OH MY PAT!
Well now the big thing is Avatar. Of course its been popular for over 7weeks only to be bumped down to #2 by from Paris with love. So any of this fluff will face ridicule just like Potter gate.
Avatar is about a military expedition to the moon of Pandora, a lush jungle world occupied by a primitive race called the Na'vi that orbits a gas giant called Polyphemus (named after the cyclops Odysseus fought against.) The Na'vi are very similar to the native Americans and are in commune to nature. Their nature worship is enhanced by a biological function where they can actually neurologically hook up with trees and animals through a series of nerve cords connected to their hair. This network leads to a tree called the tree of souls. The Na'vi believe that they can communicate with the Goddess of nature Eywa this way.
The Human scientists lead by Gloria Augustine have tried to understand this function and have been successful in communicating with the Na'vi via avatars, biologically cloned Na'vi that the humans control by laying in a machine that transfers their neruo functions to the avatar. This is necessary since the air on Pandora is toxic to humans. Gloria also sets up schools to teach the Na'vi english and modern knowledge which is generally rejected in favor of nature worship and primitivism.
Unfortunately, the Na'vi and the human scientists come into conflict with the interests of mining interests back on Earth. Jake Sully, a former marine paralyzed from a bullet wound during a war that took place in Venezuela. (No doubt an attempt by Cameron for a subliminal reference to Hugo Chavez and his socialist regime.) is among a group of marines hired out as mercenaries similar to Black water to aid in pacifying resistance to mining operations on Pandora. His twin was slated to go instead but when he died Jake took his place since he was genetically similar and therefore suited to handle his brother's avatar.
The main concern is about a dwelling of Na'vi called the Home tree. A sacred giant tree that is over one of the largest concentration of unobtainable in the region. It is also populated by a large group of Na'vi. Jake is tasked by the marine leader Colonel Miles Quaritch with negotiating with the local Na'vi to move elsewhere. Jake is fully functioning in is avatar and he meets and falls in love with the tribal princess Neytiri. She is the daughter of the local clan (Omaticaya) leader Eytucan. He also meets Mo'at the spritual leader and witch doctor and mother of Neytiri. Jake has conflicts with many of the Omaticayans especially Tsu'tey, a great warrior and who is betrothed to Neytiri. Although he and many of the Na'vi were former students of Grace Augustine, (evidenced that they knew english) he promotes distrusts of Jake calling him a dream walker, (a slang directed at Na'vi Avatars)
In the three months, Jake learns about the Omaticayans and passes that information on to the humans. As Jake Matures and learns more he eventually becomes accepted by the tribe and is made a member. Trouble starts however when the dozers arrive and destroy one of the tribes sacred groves the Tree of voices. Jake reveals that he is here to collect information. The Na'vi however refuse to leave and The Marine commander orders the tree destroyed. Jake is also branded a traitor. Despite a ferocious battle the Na'vi outclassed by the human's modern weaponry are overtaken and the Home tree is destroyed.
To regain the Omaticaya's trust, Jake tames a Toruk, a powerful flying predator that only five Na'vi have ever tamed. Jake finds the Omaticaya at the sacred Tree of Souls and pleads with Mo'at to heal Grace who was shot for trying to prevent Home tree's destruction. The clan attempts to transfer Grace from her dying human body into her unconscious avatar with the aid of the Tree, but she succumbs to her injuries before the transfer is complete. Mo'at declares that she is with Eywa now.
Assisted by Neytiri and the new leader of the Omaticaya Tsu'Tey Jake unites thousands of warriors from many Na'vi clans in a bid to repel the humans. Jake prays to Eywa, via neural connection to the Tree of Souls, to intercede on behalf of the Na'vi in the coming battle. Quaritch notes the mobilization of the Na'vi and convinces Selfridge to authorize a preemptive strike on the Tree of Souls, reckoning that the destruction of this hub of Na'vi religion and culture will demoralize them into submission.
As the security forces attack, the Na'vi retaliate but suffer heavy casualties, including Tsu'Tey and Trudy. The Pandoran wildlife suddenly joins the attack on the corporation's forces, overwhelming them, an event that Neytiri interprets as Eywa answering Jake's prayer. Jake destroys the bomber before it can reach the Tree of Souls. Quaritch finds and attacks the avatar link unit where Jake's human body is located, exposing Jake to Pandora's atmosphere. Neytiri kills Quaritch and saves Jake. With the attack repelled, Neytiri and Jake reaffirm their love as she sees his human body for the first time.
The humans are expelled from Pandora, while Jake, Norm, and other scientists are allowed to remain. Jake is seen wearing the insignia of the Omaticaya leader. The clan performs the ritual that permanently transfers Jake from his human body into his Na'vi avatar.
The movie itself seems to be drawn on from the story of Pocahontas especially the Disney animated version as a backdrop. Jake Sully being similar to John Smith and Neytiri being similar to Pocahantas with the tree of souls being similar to grandmother willow. Another movie is also very similar and may have drawn inspiration is Dances with Wolves staring Kevin Costner. Unfortunately for the natives, they lost in that movie. James Cameron in fact had begun writing the script for Avatar in 1994 right around the time both movies had come out. The technology for portraying the film however did not come out yet as did the Na'vi language needed for the film.
The problem of course are supposed subliminal environmentalist propaganda as well as indigenous rights. That the movie is anti-american, anti business and anti patriarchal. James Cameron of course deliberately set off a lot of conservatives by remarking that the miners were NRA type rednecks among other things. But does it really meet the criteria?
well, some could compare it to native american atrocities and use it to guilt trip white americans, some could also use the film to advance radical environmentalism.
We could do this with any movie. To me, I did see but overall that's not how I came away from the film.
The movie in many aspects has libertarian values. Aliens under invasion by a foreign entity (this case us) The seizure and destruction of Home tree is very similar to eminent domain, practiced by big business against property owners all the time now thanks to liberals. In addition there is the virtue that all men (or in this case sentient species) are created equal. The Na'vi and their supporters are denied basic rights by the invading mercenaries. The same could happen to American's if the Democrats get enough power. Remember when Obama slammed gun owners and veterans as terrorists? Remember how he advocated indefinite detentions?
For me the environmental part was illogical. This is because the biology in Pandora is different from Earth. The Na'vi are able to literally commune with nature due to biological functioning. We can't do that and as far as I know there are no alien civilizations that can.
The big problem with Cameron's film is that it is a departure from science fiction orthodoxy. Instead of aliens invading Earth and persecuting humans, its the other way around. Some of us who grew up with War of the Worlds, Independence day, Aliens, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Marvin the Martian and similar titles probably weren't ready for this.
Overall Avatar gets my two thumbs up. Even though James Cameron is a left wing loon. I recommend this movie to anyone who doesn't take some of it literally the way Pat Robertson does to Harry Potter and Princess Frog.
I personally am looking forward to a movie like Avatar that erks leftists the same way. Blood thirsty liberal Human communists invading a free planet with all of the freedoms we used to have in North America to spread the glories of communism. The miners of course won't have the benefit of guns to defend themselves. SORRY COMRADE! You are a communist! Not a capitalist NRA pig! You have to rely on the state for protection from Bourgeois aliens.
YOU don’t have to if you don’t want to. Live in your coccoon and read future shock all afternoon. Your loss!
Here’s another post from today about the film.Seems to feel as i do .
To: GeronL
I can’t take it anymore. Alright first let me start off with this:
SPOILER ALERT!
If you are one of the 5 people left who havn’t seen this movie stop here.
After seeing this movie in IMAX 3D and having already heard all the political reasons why I would hate it I went in expecting to be badly disappointed. I was not. The story certainly leaned a bit left but it was by no means as bad as it is being portrayed.
Cameron gives a few “outs” to keep the movie from going ultra political.
False point 1: The movie is not about evil white military. The movie goes to great lengths to describe these people as MERCENARIES hired by corporate interests.
False point 2: The “rape the land for its resources” issue. The characters are stereotyped but the CEO who is in charge of the mission is trying to get a job done and is portrayed as actually NOT understanding the issues at hand. Eventually, by the end, he starts to get it. The movie portrays this as the laws of unintended consequences. Sometimes things are set in motion that cannot be stopped. Whatever the original motive was, it was not inherently “evil” it simply WAS. There’s definately a desire for profit but the corporate bigwig is not really portrayed as any kind of hard core bad guy.
False point 2: The “save nature” issue. This is a BIG PLOT SPOILER. Sorry but it’s important. The movie offers a massive olive branch to politics in this area. Instead of going all “Gaia” (Think Final Fantasy the movie) they offer a solid scientific reason why this particular area of the planet needs to be left alone. The spiritual aspect of the movie is fully explained by the end and makes complete sense. Also, based on the story told, there’s no particular reason that some OTHER part of the planet couldn’t have been mined it’s just that no one right up until the end understood that what these creatures worshipped was more than just faith. It was actually a “........” (not giving it all away).
So there you have it. In my opinion the movie’s story is not good enough to be easily rewatchable a thousand times like Star Wars but it certainly was not an unbearable endless global warming love fest like your average “made for Syfy channel” movie.
Go see it in 3D while you can. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and missing it would be a mistake.
Don't hold your breath while waiting. By the way doesn't the movie make clear that a result of the expulsion from the planet will be the extermination of life on earth, and that that would be a good thing?
Actually I am looking forward to seeing the new restored version of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” with the lost scenes put in.
I would love to see “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and “The Last Laugh” in a theater setting but may have to settle for getting them on DVD.
I will see Avatar soon enough in my life, it will be on TV or something. I am sure I am missing one hell of a special effects stage show by not seeing Britney Spears or Kayne West live but somehow I will live with it.
**Go see it in 3D while you can. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and missing it would be a mistake.**
It isn’t once in a lifetime, the movie made a bunch of money so other movies is going to copy and improve the technology.
The technology and effects not the story is why everybody is saying “Dude you have to go see it” and I am like “Dude get a life”
I think this is a poor way of countering the Potter derangement. IF Potter were truly anti-Christian then it would be perfectly appropriate for Christians to be concerned about the influence of such a popular series on children. The fact is, those people are wrong on matters of fact, not priorities. Your argument is akin to saying conservatives should not worry about Democratic health care reform because millions of babies are being aborted.
The big problem with Cameron's film is that it is a departure from science fiction orthodoxy. Instead of aliens invading Earth and persecuting humans, its the other way around. Some of us who grew up with War of the Worlds, Independence day, Aliens, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Marvin the Martian and similar titles probably weren't ready for this.
Puh-leaze. Having sympathetic aliens set against selfish Earthlings is closer to being a cliche than a "a departure from science fiction orthodoxy." The concept of humans being the ignorant, destructive bad guys is about as "new" as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Star Trek's 'Devil in the Dark' (1967) and 'The Voyage Home' (1986), E.T. (1982), Starman (1984), Cocoon (1985), etc., on up through recent movies including District 9 and Battle for Terra, not to mention the *very wide* exploration of this idea in written SF.
FYI, I have not yet seen Avatar, but plan to when it gets to our local 'cheap' theater.
I didnt hear that. We are intersteallar at the time so I imagine if things on Earth don't work out theres a terraformed mars or Venus a few other worlds in other star systems ETC.
Dude, I feel your pain . NOT!
And actually the supposed property rights theme is 100% bogus too. The true theme is ANTI property rights for the simple reason that the Na'vi, like all virtuous circle-of-life native types, didn't believe in private property. To them, nature and the forests were owned by everyone and therefore by no one. It wasn't until the greedy corporate types arrived that property rights were introduced. The Na'vi would violently disagree with the notion that someone could "own" a part of nature and use it for their own purpose.
James Cameron used the Na'vi to represent humanity in Rousseau's "state of nature" which is PRE property rights. And he held this up as an ideal, which is what you'd expect a leftwinger to do. The Na'vi were perfect collectivists, perfect socialists. They weren't into property rights.
Absolutely right. Which is why I won't bother to go to the theater to watch what is a collection of warmed-over cliches of 60s-70s "post-colonial" (i.e., leftist) sci-fi (a la LeGuin's _The Word for World is Forest_).
It would be like watching yet another film with Vietnam war soldiers/vets portrayed as crazed babykillers -- both morally repugnant AND tedious.
A very lucid point, thank you. I should have made it more clear from the context that I wasn’t referring to the Navi interest in property rights, as what I actually meant was the concept of property rights as a real value standing alone.
What I meant was that when the left subverts a value, they take it and twist it. Killing a baby becomes a privacy right. Stealing your property becomes eminent domain (Kelo v. New London). Taking your freedom and killing grandma becomes Health Care Reform.
But thank you for spelling out another way the philosophy of the Left was guiding this movie.
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