Anyhow, when a movie about basic goodness, reverence, and decency is declared Marxist propaganda you know that someone has lost touch with their inner child. Because really, that's all that is being expressed. I once saw a bumper sticker that declares, 'the earth is not my mother.' I thought of that bumper sticker during the movie when Netyri tells Jake Sully, the young marine, that he is 'like a child.' Indeed, it takes a real childish personality type to declare oneself separate from the earth. But she eventually schools him.
As far as the other criticism that this is anti-soldier, that is preposterous. The director has given us some of the best action sequences of all time, and has used marines as heroes. That he comes around to identifying the destructive nature of war is a reality no director could dismiss while making a film that resembles reality and not glorified war propaganda. Furthermore, if you pay attention to the plot, you know that the marines that come in at the end are mercenaries hired by a corporation, not government soldiers. This is anti-Merc, anti-Blackwater (Xe) anti-privatization of our armed forces.
On the left, the criticism is more valid, but with equal tunnel vision. The notion that this is like the old colonial tales, masquerading as an anti-colonial tale is interesting, and the most valid notion in the article when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar. However the emphasis on race and white-guilt blocks the writer from taking in any other themes. Yes, this sci-fi fantasy is allegory, what sci-fi fantasy isn't? In this allegory we deal with actual issues, and yes, race is one of those, but it is not the ONLY issue. The exploitation of resources, our connection to nature, and the possibilities of technology are summarily dismissed in the writers obsession with all things racial.
All this aside, I really enjoyed this film. It is the best event movie since the Lord of the Rings. It has been criticized for being overly simple, but these are archetypes, mythos, not complex characters. Being overly complex would confuse the point. Also some say a lot of the dialogue is dumb. Why? I sense a certain ethnic condescension in this point. Certainly the new-age mythology can seem hokey, but no more so than it did in the Lord of the Rings. Is it somehow less hokey when inspired by Anglo-Celtic mythology rather than Afro-Indigenous mythology? No, they are equally hokey, and interesting, and a lot of fun. This was a very fun film, a beautiful world to get lost in, and the most life-affirming blockbuster since E.T.
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ReplyDeleteI often go into movies knowing little about them…I like it that way, it keeps me surprised. I went to see Avatar with such little knowledge. I had actually seen trailers for it recently in the theater, but didn’t really pay too much attention to what the story was about because I didn’t think I would go see it. I had to check out what all the hubbub was, though, so went a couple of days after Christmas.
ReplyDeleteIt was the first time I’d seen a real 3-D movie with glasses and I was looking forward to seeing what my son described as awesome. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. There were a few parts where things came out of the screen, especially the little floaters such as the jellyfish-like spirits. That was so cool that I was disappointed that there wasn’t more of it. The rest of the effect was just more depth to the movie and I questioned whether it lived up to the buildup. I wondered if some people get a better 3-D effect than others…I have trouble with those supposed 3-D posters and can stare at them for half an hour saying, “I don’t get it.”
That being said, though, the movie was visually exquisite. I loved the colorful landscape of Pandora, the vast variety of life forms on the moon, the way they move, the flying scenes on alien raptors, the floating mountains. And who can resist the beauty of calming-blue svelte humanoids? The CGI was very well done.
I mostly liked the story line, but also had some complaints about it. I had not read any reviews about Avatar and I’m glad I didn’t read the political ones that you posted, Ajai, until after seeing the movie.
Allegory was apparent to me, but I would not say to the extent of either of the reviewers you posted. I liked the message of the movie and I came out thinking of Dr. Seuss’s "Lorax" with the mother tree in Avatar. I thought the main themes were that we are all part of nature (obvious) and taking a higher moral ground over duty or personal interest, as portrayed in Jake's change of heart about his initial mission. The themes of racism and anti-colonialism were there, but to me they were secondary. Oh, and I really couldn’t help thinking that the commander represented George W. Bush, even down to the ‘Make no mistake’ phrase.
James Cameron does explain that Avatar has the socio-political messages of protecting the environment and historical oppression of indigenous Americans (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6782339/James-Cameron-says-Avatar-a-message-to-stop-damaging-environment.html), but so what? Wizard of Oz, Planet of the Apes, Gattaca, The Incredibles, and Chronicles of Narnia all have political messages, perhaps not all directly stated by the stories’ creators but by many reviewers’ accounts.
I remember doing a bit of eye-rolling over the name of the desired element, ‘unobtainium.’ I also remember early in the movie thinking, ‘Oh no, not another action movie showcasing the awesome power of military might (private company or not).’ To me this was redeemed when it played out that the military might lost in the end against the forces of good. I also thought, ‘This love story is a bit sappy’ when Jake first began to be enamored with Neytiri…I got over it, probably because there were so many other things going on and that wasn’t the only focus of the story.
One more positive is that I liked the music very much. I love world music and the percussion sounds, bits of chanting, and flute, although much mixed with symphonic and new-agey sounds, worked for me.
Oh, one last note about your review. The scientists weren’t the bad guys. Grace and group, the scientists, cared more about the Navi and Pandora, both for biological and anthropological reasons. They were being used by the resource development company to get to the Navi and hence the unobtainium, but what they really cared about was the life on Pandora.
When referring to the scientist bad guys, I was actually referring to E.T. My writing here could be more clear. (I really like Sigourny Weaver, she should be in every film as far as I'm concerned.)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your other points. It might be a bit overblown, but it was a fun way to spend a few hours. That's where my expectations were set, and the film met them, to me.
I'm also glad you didn't read it until afterwards, perhaps in the future when posting other reviews I will include a 'spoiler alert' because I also don't like t when people give away surprises. Thanks for the heads up!
I agree that it was a fun time!
ReplyDeleteOh, no, I didn't mean you included spoilers, just glad I didn't read the political interpretations of those authors...it colors movies too much (just like when simply knowing that Woody Allen was the director for Victoria-Christina, that colored the whole movie for me).
I think you do a pretty good job of not spoiling movies. I, myself, find it extremely difficult and often think I should have reworded something so as not to give it away. It's very hard!
I like Sigourney too. Loved her in Alien & Aliens. Bad ass woman!
An interesting criticism of 3D:
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2009/12/avatar_3d_headaches_look_at_th.html
Interesting. Fortunately I don't get the headache, but I do have trouble 'getting it' sometimes. It was nice to read in the comments that others have this issue too.
ReplyDeleteStill, I did get it when the bugs came out into the theater...that was fun.