Posted on 12/21/2009 2:17:36 PM PST by Bob017
Since I am a certified sci-fi geek and most science fiction movies are quite bad this habit unfortunately forces me to watch a large number of bad movies. It’s one of my little perversions. I have just watched the most expensive B-movie ever made, the US$ 237 million Avatar by director James Cameron, famous for having produced films such as The Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens and Titanic. Briefly summed up I would say that while it is visually spectacular, as is everything Mr. Cameron makes, Avatar has to be one of the most anti-Western and especially anti-white Hollywood movies I have seen in a long time.
The hero is the U.S. Marine Jake Sully who has been sent to the planet-like moon Pandora because humans desire the mineral resources found of Pandora, which is inhabited by a race of tall, blue-skinned aliens, the Na’vi. They have a non-industrial civilization technologically inferior to ours but apparently spiritually richer and in perfect ecological harmony with the natural environment. The hero predictably falls in love with the native culture and connects with a native girl.
“Going native” is in itself not an original theme; it resembles Dances with Wolves, only with aliens instead of Sioux. Neither is the preference for pre-industrial civilization, which was after all shared by a good man such as Tolkien in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien had personally experienced the meaningless horrors of trench warfare during the First World War and this naturally affected his view of industrialized society. What is different about the movie Avatar is how it portrays whites as a bunch of raging monsters, something which Tolkien never did.
Basically, the white characters are portrayed as brutal, greedy and insensitive beasts who rape the environment and destroy other cultures with a smile in the search for profit. The main antagonist is the white Colonel Quaritch, a brute who hardly possesses a single positive character trait. The final climax of the movie is when he screams “How does it feel to betray your race?” to the protagonist while he is trying to murder him. Although a few of the white characters such as Jake Sully are portrayed in a more redeeming light this is only because they totally reject their own civilization and join the other team in the fight. In other words: the only good whites are the ones who utterly turn their backs on their own destructive and evil culture. As reviewer Armond White put it, “Avatar is the corniest movie ever made about the white man’s need to lose his identity and assuage racial, political, sexual and historical guilt.”
Of course, back in the real world whites are among the most self-critical and least ethnocentric people on Earth, and have been so for a long time. Whites are also disproportionately represented in the environmental movement whereas many “diverse” Third World peoples couldn’t care less about the environment. But why let the truth get in the way of making a good anti-white movie? The fact that quite a few among the predominantly white audience cheered for this movie shows that anti-white hatred and stereotypes have become so widespread and accepted that most people cannot even see it, least of all whites themselves.
Colleges have whole fields dedicated to “whiteness studies.” And I would hazard a guess that if Cameron were questioned hard he would break down into classic “evil white man” trope. But you might have a point we don’t know because no one has asked Cameron his views and what inspired him on how he wrote the characters.
Thank you for your respectful comment. If Cameron and his ilk sought to make a “message” movie, they did a poor job. The movie comes across as pure sci-fi fantasy.
Kevin was very animated when he danced around the campfire.
“Dances with Smurfs” LOL!!!
One of the final scenes when Sully lay in the arms of the native - blue - woman he loves... I kept thinking of that old song Hoyt Axton use to sing “I’m in Love with a Big Blue Frog”... ; ~ )
From what I’ve heard, the only thing positive about this movie are the special effects and high-end production technology. The script and acting are pretty much useless, except for Sigourney Weaver.
Then how do you reconcile this quote from Cameron...
"There is this long, wonderful history of the human race written in blood. We have this tendency to just take what we want. And that's how we treat the natural world as well. There's this sense of we're here, we're big, we've got the guns, we've got the technology, therefore we're entitled to every damn thing on this planet. That's not how it works and we're going to find out the hard way if we don't kind of wise up and start seeking a life that's in balance with the natural life on Earth." From here....
Cameron’s quote there is the plot line for “Battlefield Earth”
Plot is the same, just switch up the species.
I’ve seen Avatar and it is like BattleField Earth with a lousier script but niftier graphics.
I reconcile my statement by again reminding you... “IT”S JUST A MOVIE”. Cameron may make grandiose statements about his intent, but the result was a sci-fi movie that utilized new animation technology.
I guess the story line doesn't bother me as it does others. It's just a story.
Goodness, you all are some cynical suspicious people.
I am white. I saw Avatar with two white friends. We are all i would say conservatively minded. None of us felt it was an “anti-white” film. IT WAS FICTION. It was a well told fiction story, and it is ridiculous to say it was some anti white anti west film. It is just as fair to say it was an anti chinese film or any other industrialized country, you guys are incredibly arrogant to think 1) you are the only industrialized country in the world and 2) to think you are the only country in the world that has attacked and destroyed an indenigious people.
futhermore the 3d graphics were amazing. The film was pretty easy to call, but who cares? i have watched true stories I already knew the end of and still enjoyed it a lot.
One more time, say it with me, FICTION!
I guess we’re not all as blind or as gullible as you.
Hope the hero/heroine of the film have some way/connection to adopt children...
LOL! Whiteness studies. Wow, I bet there’s a huge demand out there for them huh? Another wasted major. Camersonis a just another dumb lefty who is fortunate enough to have a gift to make movies.
I must sound like a broken record in my infrequent posts here on FR but I will be interested in getting feedback from the teens I work with at Church after the Xmas break. Needless to say the Gospel is priceless but 300 million may take a few weeks to overcome! Oh well.....
If you want to respectfully share your point of view feel free to post to me otherwise keep your crappy comments to yourself.
Are you saying that fiction can't be used to promote ideology? On the contrary, fiction is a great way to make ideology more accessible to the masses (especially when presented as entertainment).
***One more time, say it with me, FICTION!***
I realise that and will probably go and see it as I enjoy sci-fi type movies. That doesn’t mean people can’t reasonably discuss the themes or broader messages a movie conveys. For instance, the noble savage idea is a fairly obvious one which shows up now & then (Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans). Or its corrollary the nasty imperial invaders (see Mel Gibson films - Braveheart, The Patriot etc). Obviously they are entertainment, but the themes can be observed and discussed in a reasonable manner.
“We have this tendency to just take what we want.”
He ought to know.
Exactly! Freud said it best....”Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar”
It was entertaining, simply because of the Sci-Fi special effects and wonderful CGI scenery.
Anti-establishment message be darned.
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