AVATAR!
Okay, first post since
On to the post:
In another language because the english poster looks boring
I recall about a year ago seeing a short untelling preview for Avatar in the movie theater or somewhere and thinking: “WANT TO SEE”
Before that, however, I remember seeing another preview in the theaters for a movie called “Battle for Terra” This was a nicely done indie film all in cartoonish kind of 3D environments. Seeing that, I thought: “WANT TO SEE”
After some time, since as in indie film they had no advertising budget, I hadn’t seen Battle for Terra and found out I had missed it in theaters if it was even there. I got the movie and watched that and it was basically a watered down version of Avatar.
Mainly, humans go looking for refuge on another planet and find one full of aliens and try to take over, resulting in the militaristic humans being defeated by the primitive alien race. Now, I wanted to see this movie because it was the first movie (remember, Avatar hadn’t come out yet) I had heard of that blatantly exposed the truth of mankind and how we have a tendency to come in and take stuff and be outright douchebags.
I liked this out-of-the-box concept and enjoyed the movie. Nothing else about it was super impressive, but nothing was bad either. Definitely worth seeing, I would still say.
When the ads for Avatar started picking up and I finally knew the premise, I realized this was going to be an extremely fucking awesome version of Battle for Terra. Had Avatar not been 10 years in the making, I could have accused James Cameron of ripping off Battle for Terra. Turns out it was just a story begging to be made, and the indie developers got finished first.
Pictured: Simulated underexaggerated aftermath of the motorcycle stunt
Finally Avatar came out and I for one was ready to take a death-defying helmetless motorcycle ride across an industrial explosives and trains factory to see it. Since I do in fact own a helmet and had no motorcycle or industrial factories nearby, I saw it about a week after it came out. This was difficult because I had to duck and roll every second of the day to avoid the reviews being fired in every direction. The idea was I did not want to go in there with any influences or preconceptions about the movie. The only thing I managed to hear about it was that it set a new standard for CGI and effects, but I could have guessed that, seeing as how the ten years of making were due to 1990’s computers being the equivalent of modern PDA’s you order from the back of a cereal box. And Cameron would have none of that. They in fact use a massive section of their budget developing new film technology and paying people by the hour to sit there all day and check if the world had invented good computers yet.
All in all, I loved Avatar more than I shall love my first born child. Not just for the effects, but the story, the plot, the characters, the messages, the minimal usage of made up BS for how science works, and everything else. In fact the CGI ended up being a minor high point compared to the rest of the movie.
Now that all of my done-before praise is out of the way, I shall get to what I was thinking about when I started this post.
"Avatar sucks!"
Obviously there are many people who think Avatar was crap. The vast majority of these people just do the opposite of what societysays because they are badass rebels who don’t play by society’s rules*. For the sake of not upsetting people, I’ll say now that I respect their opinions*.
There are a select few who actually hate the movie for far more in depth and well thought out reasons*. Many of these select few have no lives and decided to post their findings on the internet. Having no life myself, I am going to address these ‘reasons’ and respond to them.
*…lol
1) Avatar vs. The Gays – as seen on http://stopavatarmovie.blogspot.com/
Now, before I get called a gay basher and an insensitive asshole, I will say now that I have absolutely no issue with gay people. I’m a huge supporter of Courage Campaign and some other gay rights activist groups. One of my best friends since I was in middle school is bisexual, I have several more good friends who are gay or lesbian, and damnit, I will support lesbian porn until death.
You look at this frame and tell me he's not attempting a nipple-grab there
But there is a point where gay rights protests stop being helpful and enter into the flat out ‘wtf’ range. The problem apparently is that
there were no hints of a single gay or lesbian alien in the whole movie. Masses of activists protested the release of the movie. Like full-blown signs and marching and what have you. This one I heard about before the movie even came out, so how these people even knew there were no gay aliens is beyond me. The plain fact is that this is not a movie made to play for or against gay rights. I recall watching Toy Story, which is essentially about a race of toys who are fighting for survival. Kind of.
Not once do I recall a protest complaining there were no gay toys**, and yet it is the same scenario. There was total straight action going on between Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, between Bo Peep and Woody, yet not once did Buzz take a grab at Woody. How dare Pixar be so insensitive!
But honestly, it kind of baffles me why they decided to protest the movie just for the no gays thing. I mean, if they somehow implied gays were bad, then sure, that would be a reason for protest. But they never brought up gays because that’s just not what the movie is about. For all we know, there could be plenty of gays in the thousands of Na’vi that were not the main characters. It’s just irrational to be pissed at the movie for not showing gays.
**Moments after writing the end of this sentence, I realized how hilariously misleading ‘gay toys’ sounds. Think about it.
2) Avatar vs. Religion – as seen on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/vatican-slams-avatar-prom_n_419949.html
This one is sitting in very testy waters, and to put it short: The Vatican is pissed off at Avatar for implying that worshiping the forest is better than Catholicism, or really any other major religion.
I enjoy religious debates, but when I went to see the movie, religion was not even something I was thinking about. When they bring up Eywa, what is essentially the ‘spirit’ of the forest, my first thought was ‘oh, here we go with the made up religious crap’. What I found though, was that there was not really a deity in the movie at all. The forest was composed of a physical neurological network that made it into a living thing in the same way a human brain makes a person a living thing. Let me put this as sensitively as possible, and in all caps:
THERE IS ACTUAL PHYSCAL EVIDENCE GIVING THE NA’VI REASON TO WORSHIP THE FOREST. NO SUCH THING DOES OR EVER HAS EXISTED FOR GOD.
Now that 60% of you are pissed at me and planning a DDoS attack on my WebLog, I shall continue.
In Pandora’s case, it is not even a god they are worshiping. It’s not even neo-paganism; a word being thrown around very frantically by the Vatican. It is a working biological being. Everything is connected by science, not spirits. The concept is actually scientifically plausible with a stretch. If you can’t see that after having it spelled out for you, then I hate you, get off my WebLog.
3) Avatar on Sexism – as seen on http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100020706/avatar-james-cameron-deserves-the-worst-lefty-award-2009/
And now for a happy quote:
“The male characters’ avatars are the strongest, most powerful versions of their current selves, but they share their respective human’s facial structure, general build, and age… But then look at the avatar for Weaver’s Dr. Augustine: When we’re introduced to her, the slinky alien is wearing a belly-baring Stanford T-Shirt and sporting beaded dreadlocks, a marked difference from her usual lab coat and fine lines. So Augustine transforms from a 60-year-old scientist into a college-age Outward Bound instructor?… Is Cameron hinting that in their most idealized versions, women want to have the wisdom of a long life, but the body of a 20-year-old?”
I’m actually quoting a quote that was quoted by the above link on what some writer named Emma Rosenblum said. I have a feeling I should know who she is.
Now, this obviously comes from someone who forms their own point and attaches themselves to it with a nail gun, expecting it to never be dislodged. The whole avatar clone thing idea in the movie comes from the concept that they could age the avatar to whatever age they wanted. Sounds easy enough relative to the amazing technology they have otherwise created. If you are going to be creating a body to be running around ‘the most hostile environment known to man’***, does it not make some damn sense to make it the age where muscles and mind are at the prime of their life? Seriously, with giant scary-as-shit 6 legged cat things as big as a rhino running around, it might be a better investment to make an avatar that doesn’t have arthritis. And as far as the clothing goes, does it not occur to you that some college girls like to dress that way? Maybe our scientist misses dressing like then from back when she actually was 20 years old. Just because YOU don’t want to dress that way, doesn’t mean everyone else is being sexist for doing so.
If I may add a little subsection here, for the sake of not double posting a link, this article also complains that Cameron is smashing people with disabilities. They use the following quote to make their point:
“Commander Quaritch (leader of the mission) says to Jake, ‘you’re going to get your real legs back’…Yet this piece of dialogue overlooks a fact that’s glaringly obvious: Jake still has his legs! Yes, he has a disability, but what’s the problem with his legs and/or wheelchair? The commander is implying that there is something not just physically, but morally, wrong with Jake’s disabled legs and wheelchair use: it is unacceptable in the military for a soldier to be disabled and, moreover, to show it.”
As you seem to have pointed out yourself here, Jake still has legs. The reason the commander tells him he is going to get his real legs back is because they don’t fucking work at the moment. You may notice when someone’s beloved cat dies, they often say “I want Mittens back!” despite holding the dead cat in their arms at that very moment. Same concept here. When things don’t work, they may as well not be there in many circumstances.
That line still gets me though:
“The commander is implying that there is something not just physically, but morally, wrong with Jake’s disabled legs”
How? Jake makes it blatantly obvious he wants ‘his real legs back’. In fact the reason he starts running around like a crazed chinchilla when he first enters the avatar body is because he can use legs for the first time in however long. Obviously there is nothing morally wrong with being paraplegic, but you can’t deny that their legs don’t work. Now you are just being ignorant. Even IF the commander was implying what you claim here, you are forgetting he is the asshole of the movie and is supposed to be wrong.
***or something like that, I don’t remember the exact quote, deal with it.
4) Avatar on Racism – as seen on: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100020488/james-camerons-avatar-is-a-stylish-film-marred-by-its-racist-subtext/
Alright! Racism! So let’s sum this one up, because I had to read a few different articles to make sure these people were serious.
The Na’vi have a lot of things in common with tribe kind of societies on earth. Here is anther fabulous quote:
“They wear Maasai-style necklaces and beaded jewellery which Cameron has borrowed from tribal East Africa. Their long, dark hair is dreadlocked. Their clothes are apparently Amerindian. They are armed with bows and poisoned arrows, and wear facepaint into battle. The main Na’vi characters are voiced by four black actors, as well as one Cherokee. The evil humans, needless to say, are white, male and middle-aged.”
So, what the hell? First off, it makes sense that the aliens who live completely off nature and are so similar to humans would develop comparable survival techniques over time. If you want to be shallow about it, you could look at many pictures of different ‘tribes’ on earth who have been kept completely isolated from each other, and point out that they have very similar appearances.
And what of the black actors? I have a question! Who cares? I don’t watch a movie to point out the actors’ skin color. If they are good actors who fit the part, you hire them.
Finally, we address the last sentence there:
“The evil humans, needless to say, are white, male and middle-aged.”
Is this like, collectively/in general? Or are you talking literally? Because I would have to disagree on… all of that. The ages ranged from some soldiers who looked fresh out of college (plus 5 years of cryogenic sleep) to the apparently 60 year old scientist. Our current military discriminates against women in the military as it is, and for some reason you are complaining in the lack of women fighting on the nonexistent Pandora? And finally, all white?
Black people?? It can't be!
5) Avatar on Imperialism/Anti-militarism/Anti-Americanism – as seen on: http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2009/12/28/avatar-and-whiteness/
Fail. Seriously guys, if I may capslock again:
THIS IS THE MORAL OF THE STORY
The whole story revolved around humans being greedy imperialistic jerks. The mind set shown in the movie is exactly how many highly powered people function: Take what I want and rape all who oppose with lead. Since it was, after all, an AMERICAN film, it makes sense that the humans in question are AMERICAN. If the military in the movie had been Asian people, you can bet these critics would be bitching just as loud over racism. There is simply no way to win these days because everyone thinks they have to point out people being racist when they did not even intend it. Really guys, it’s like calling someone a racist for saying ‘cracker’ while talking about a Ritz product. There are races and genders in the world that have indisputable differences and you can deal with that. There is no need to be accusing Cameron of these social crimes because you have nothing better to bitch about.
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