Avatar - Politically correct pabulum

[daepp]

I saw Avatar last night. I thought the effects were great, but I could not get past the political correctness.

- the evil corporations who only want to destroy the culture and the environment
- the evil ex-Marines
- they can show the good guys praying to the Tree of Souls, but we cannot show the (true story) of the Blind Side family attending church?
- "We need to fight terror with terror!"

When was this made - half way through Bush's term as POTUS? It made what could have been an entertaining evening a very distasteful 2:40.

[legion]

Yep. Cameron's not getting any of my money. I knew when I sat through and extended preview this movie was a liberal guilt-fest.

[daepp]

I had no idea before entering the theater. AND - I had to act like I liked it as my boy absolutely loved it. The P/C crap still goes over his head - but one day we will have to talk!

[m21sniper]

Liberal guilt fest?

Hardly.

That's just the excuse/plot device that is used to get the Humans and Blues to kill each other.

Anyone denying themselves the chance to see this movie in 3d on a big screen is doing themselves a serious dis-service IMO.

[Hugh R]

It's nothing that we didn't do to the Indians and lots of other cultures around the world over the last 300 years.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

It's nothing that we didn't do to the Indians and lots of other cultures around the world over the last 300 years.

Yes, but we're supposed to feel guilty about it now.

[daepp]

When are we allowed absolution from past sins? Are we guilty forever?

[legion]

I don't feel guilty for anything I myself didn't do.

[jyl]

I'd say the environmental subtext in Avatar is not so much about the past as the present (and future).

Read some articles about coal strip mining in Appalachia today. Its pretty much like Avatar, although they don't run the natives off with flamethrowers, just lawyers. Ditto oil sands in Canada and so on.



Coal Controversy In Appalachia : Feature Articles

[Shaun @ Tru6]

If I were this bitter, I'd kill myself.

Ever hear the phrase "Never Forget"? I'm guessing you guys don't know what it means. It doesn't mean feeling guilty about the Holocaust. It means remember, it means don't make the same mistakes again, it means empathy for those that were destroyed.

It does not mean you should feel guilty for past abominations, and it applies to Native American Indians and specifically things like The Trail of Tears just as much as it applies to the Holocaust.

Bitterness is a learned hardening of the heart leading to a blind eye to the human condition, not a family value.

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

I saw Avatar last night. I thought the effects were great, but I could not get past the political correctness.

- the evil corporations who only want to destroy the culture and the environment
- the evil ex-Marines
- they can show the good guys praying to the Tree of Souls, but we cannot show the (true story) of the Blind Side family attending church?
- "We need to fight terror with terror!"

When was this made - half way through Bush's term as POTUS? It made what could have been an entertaining evening a very distasteful 2:40.

The remake of Manchurian Candidate was like that, just crap. No more Communists, just evil American corporations.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

If I were this bitter, I'd kill myself.

Ever hear the phrase "Never Forget"? I'm guessing you guys don't know what it means. It doesn't mean feeling guilty about the Holocaust. It means remember, it means don't make the same mistakes again, it means empathy for those that were destroyed.

It does not mean you should feel guilty for past abominations, and it applies to Native American Indians and specifically things like The Trail of Tears just as much as it applies to the Holocaust.

Bitterness is a learned hardening of the heart leading to a blind eye to the human condition, not a family value.

yup. remember, learn, move on.

[daepp]

Yes - move on. I am tired of hearing about it. But I don't need a movie to remind me either.

[Tobra]

Shaun, WTF are you talking about? You must be a psychic MFer to be able to read the emotions and thoughts of so many disparate people.

Some people go to movies to be entertained, not to be beaten over the head with the political beliefs of the auteur.

I have to apologize for even commenting. I am pretty conservative, which of course means I am an inbred, mouth breathing racist who has nothing but bitterness and hatred in my heart for my fellow man. The altruistic deeds I do must be driven by schizophrenia. There is no other rational explanation

[Rot 911]

My daughter is still waiting for her reparations!

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by legion

Yes, but we're supposed to feel guilty about it now.

Who is guilty? It's just a plot vehicle to get the two sides to kill each other. People ***** there is no plot in most movies. A movie finally has a reasonably REALISTIC plot, and everyone has an aneurysm over it. LOL

[VaSteve]

Good grief:
(BTW, everything this guy writes is about race...)

'Avatar' is part of important discussion about race


By Courtland Milloy
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

If you thought James Cameron's "Avatar" was just a 3-D fantasy flick about nice cat people vs. mechanized mad men, think again. There's a fourth dimension, a shadowy back story about race that has the sci-fi blogosphere engaged in its own war of the worlds.

Annalee Newitz, writing last week on her science blog io9, criticized "Avatar" for depicting yet another white man as a hero in the liberation struggles of oppressed people of color.

As happens in movies such as "District 9," "Dances With Wolves" and "The Last Samurai," Newitz wrote, "a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member."

I came away from "Avatar" with a similar feeling, although not nearly as strong as I had after watching, say, "Mississippi Burning," which portrayed the FBI as heroes of the civil rights movement.

And yet, I'd recommend seeing "Avatar," not only for the sensational special effects but also to participate in an important discussion about race.

As a movie summary, suffice it to say that an ex-Marine named Jake Sully uses futuristic means to transform himself from a human, or Sky Person, into a Na'vi cat person. Then he infiltrates the cat people to gather intelligence for a military invasion but ends up falling in love with a cat woman. A "race traitor" to his fellow humans, Sully leads the cat people in thwarting the military invasion.

"This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare," Newitz wrote. "It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside. Think of it this way. Avatar is a fantasy about ceasing to be white, giving up the old human meatsack to join the blue people, but never losing white privilege."

The Moving Image blogger picked up that same theme. "Sully has the power to choose between being a dominating Sky Person or a Na'vi victim, which in the end yields greater power -- the audience's empathy. Only white men are privileged enough to have such choices."

Some might wonder how blue cat people become stand-ins for oppressed people of color. It's more obvious than it seems.

You can tell some cat people are Native Americans, for instance, because, as Newitz describes them, they "wear feathers in their hair, worship nature gods, paint their faces for war, use bows and arrows, and live in tribes."

In addition to Native Americans, I saw some cat people as black people in disguise. This racial effect is cleverly accomplished by using certain speech patterns and body language. One cat man spoke with a West Indian accent, for instance.

"By the end of the film, you're left wondering why the film needed the Jake Sully character at all," the Moving Image wrote. "The film could have done just as well by focusing on an actual Na'vi native who comes into contact with crazy humans who have no respect for the environment."

Newitz concluded: "Speaking as a white person . . . I'd like to watch some movies about people of color . . . from the perspective of that group, without injecting a random white . . . character to explain everything to me."

Eric Ribellarsi, writing on the anti-imperialist blog Fire Collective, fired back at the critics:

"This is not a story about a white man who goes to lead native peoples as their condescending savior. . . . It's a story about a backward white man who is transformed and takes up armed struggle against imperialism alongside them."

He cited the radical abolitionist John Brown as a possible template for the Sully character. In leading the fateful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Brown, in effect, became a black man and gave his life in the fight against slavery.

Sully becomes blue and puts his life on the line for the Na'vi.

Personally, I prefer my sci-fi movies to be mindless escapism. But when it comes to a national discussion about race -- to the extent that there is one at all -- I accept the reality that Hollywood is the moderator and the Internet is the forum.

"Avatar" certainly keeps the discussion going

[Hugh R]

Good Grief is right. Its a Sci Fi movie. It actually has a plot to go along with the Visual Effects, compared to Transformers 2 which confuses VE with a plot.

[m21sniper]

That article is seriously whacked.

It's no wonder we have the problems we have in this country that we do, when you have so many idiots totally over-analyzing everything looking for a racist to rear his ugly head.

Avatar is just about a guy that decides he is doing the wrong thing, who then reverses himself, and tries to do the right thing. WTF, over.

It's got nothing to do with Race, Racism, guilt, or any of that other horse-****. It is just a plot vehicle to provoke the interplanetary shooting fest we all went to see to begin with...

[70SATMan]

Just saw it this evening and loved it.

It cracks me up to read the "Anti Liberal", I'm not going to pay blah blah blah posts. "Going to have to have a talk".....what a riot! It was such a morally decrepit story.

It must suck to be so twisted up inside to not be able to go to a theater and enjoy an exceptional, brilliantly made film. Sure, the story line and outcome is nothing new but, the imagination and skill needed to create this piece of art is staggering.

How do you people ever enjoy anything what with having the need to dissect the political meanings in all that you experience. Holy shyte, what if the wine you are enjoying so much was made by a professed California liberal or , egads! a French Socialist??? Better start researching every possibility...hope that makes your life fulfilling.

Art and Theater has been a medium for political dissent and messaging for thousands of years. THis film is no different and so what...I'm fortunate to live in a country where it is allowed.

As for the messages? Well, up until several hundred years ago (and even less time in our countries' history) mankind indocrinated its children in practices paralleled in this film which we now deplore. I have no issue with re-iterating mankinds' mistakes told to our children through stories either real or imagined. Sounds like some of you guys are all for lying or covering up things which you find embarrassing.

Initially I thought the "Shock and Awe" and the "Terrorist" lines were a bit hokey. After I thought about it for awhile it made perfect sense. THose tag lines are already part of our current culture and lends a sense of realism to the story as it relates to this planet's possible future. I don't find it so far fetched.

Does Beck provide movie reviews yet? Sounds like a good opportunity.