Way behind the times, but:

I finally saw Avatar. (I know, everyone else and their dog saw it weeks ago. Sue me.) Not that this is news, but: gorgeous visuals, terrible story. I mean seriously, Cameron was just phoning it in when he came up with, oh, the characters, storyline, and dialogue. (The only line NLLDH and I liked: "Don't play with that, you'll go blind.")

Which isn't to say that I wasn't entertained. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them; for the duration that the lights are out and the big screen is lit up, I'm transformed pretty much into the lowest common denominator of movie goers. Cliches? Love 'em! Hackneyed storylines? Bring 'em on.

But yeah, the story was pretty pathetic. I mean, even leaving aside the highly questionable racial politics of the white guy showing up, learning native culture in a matter of weeks well enough to be adopted as one of the indigenous folks, and then being the ONLY PERSON who can lead the natives to victory. It's more like, what Cameron thought was the whole story is only the beginning. No one seriously thinks the "Sky People" are going to leave the Na'vi in peace to rebuild their world, right?

The interesting part isn't that a so-called "more advanced" society comes into conflict with a "simpler" one, and oh my god! the technologically advanced people are evil! the "primitive" society is good! Colonialism is baaaaaad! The interesting part is what happens after Cameron shut his cameras off: what the hell does an indigenous society do after being introduced to an entirely new and different culture? Cameron says that the earthlings "have nothing the Na'vi want," but no society is monolithic. I bet a lot of the Na'vi might decide that figuring out how to build a few of those guns for themselves could be a good idea. I bet that some of the Na'vi clans who aren't doing so well in relation to the others might decide that cozying up to the Sky People could be a good idea. I bet a lot of much more interesting, complex issues about how an indigenous society resists, adapts, persists, transforms, and survives colonialism develop long after that admittedly exciting and horrifying big battle.

I mean, I'll grant that the movie's basic message -- "Don't bulldoze another peoples' home in the pursuit of money" -- isn't anything I can take issue with. But, really, can anyone take issue with that message? Is there anything to debate about it? Can't we all get behind that message by now without needing to see a lot of pretty blue people get blown up?

I'll also grant that the final battle is pretty effective. No matter how hackneyed the story, watching the gunships fly into the sacred mountains and beat the tar out of the Na'vi is horrifying. And the way the planet ultimately responded made me cheer. It's also probably not a coincidence that there's almost no dialogue throughout this segment.

As NLLDH said, I've certainly spent $10 on worse things. Pandora is beautiful; the animation is amazing; I especially liked the way Neytiri moves, and how cat-like she looks when she hisses and bares her fangs. And I think the movie benefits immensely from the fact that Sam Worthington somehow oozes sympathetic-ness. (Sympathy for Sam Worthington's character was the only thing that kept Terminator: Salvation from being an UTTER waste of time, rather than largely a waste of time. Though it would be interesting to see if he can play anything other than a man of action [rather than words/thought/science] put into an impossible situation. God knows the new Clash of the Titans looks AWFUL.)

But, wow. What a waste of a beautiful world.

Comments

[Paige]

an't we all get behind that message by now without needing to see a lot of pretty blue people get blown up?

This was one of the things that really bugged me, because I felt that the debate of the movie changed from the straw man of "is it right to evict the native people from their home in the name of profit" to "what options do you have when you're the target of a hostile force?" And it felt like the movie's real message was "'patriotic' violence is the only appropriate strategy of response, no matter what the cost." Or in other words, better to die in the name of stubborn intransigence than consider any form of cooperation.

Of course, the need to protect the soul tree, or whatever it was called, seemed to justify this. And that's, if you ask me, where the film gets really into fantasizing about the justification of one's actions in a way that appeals to a large part of its audience: the idea of having a concrete, tangible, and identifiable object upon which one's identity (whether as individuals or as nation) depends. Such a thing doesn't ACTUALLY exist -- but if it did, it would be the ultimate justification of military force, casualties be damned.

[Janice]

I actually haven't seen it nor do I really want to do so despite the amazing visual. Cameron has such a tin ear for dialogue, nuance and social politics that I just preemptively wince every time I think about buying a ticket.

That said, I might end up seeing it because autistic youngest has finally "broken through" her movie-watching phobia (the last movie we saw in a theatre with her was "March of the Penguins") and has expressed an interest in "Avatar."

You know that there's going to be a sequel, of course? Get prepared now.

[shell]

We have not seen it, mostly because T&G didn't show an interest early on (it's like 2 hours and forty minutes!), and I didn't care.

I'm hesitant to admit this now, and this is based on only one movie trailer, but I think the Clash of the Titans looks awesome!

I also balance a lot of movie-watchign and suspension of disbelief with what appeals to the whole family. We take and give since there are four of us, and I'm the only chick. Living with teenaged boys requires this. (Still, I don't think anybody's going to see Young Victoria with me. ;)

[Anastasia]

haven't seen it but I am prepared to be annoyed. I am already very annoyed with things I've read that seem to think that if the colonizers like the native culture, that's somehow um...not colonialist. And that if they "go native" that's not colonialist. And that if eventually a colonizer helps the natives fight against the colonizers, that's somehow a new spin on colonialism. Um..hello, Lawrence of Arabia anyone? I'm irritated.

anyway...:)

[Emily]

My first instinct was to suggest that you see Bootmen, an Australian movie that's about ten years old, to see Sam Worthington in something different - though thinking about it, he is still playing a man of action, just on a smaller scale (I presume, not having seen either Avatar or Terminator). Still, I think it's a good movie, and he's very good, and very sympathetic in it, and reccomend it if you can get it.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Emily - thank you for the suggestion! I'll look for that. I have no problem with SW as a man of action, mind you - it would just be nice to see him in a *good* movie for a change. :-P

Anastasia - yes, it's pretty irritating in that respect!

shell - *I* would go see Young Victoria with you! And you know, Clash of the Titans might be great - it's just the trailer I saw looked really really bad. But the cast is good! It might be great scenery-chewing fun.

Janice - I don't even have the foggiest idea where Cameron would go NEXT in a sequel! Partly because of what Paige said - which is absolutely correct - violence is the only possible response, and, well, been there, done that. Sorry if you have to sit through it, but hopefully the next movie that appeals to youngest will be more to your taste!

Paige - that's absolutely right, about the violence and the source of identity. Which we in the US certainly don't have (that tangible ID thing), and which I don't think anyone really has. But it's clearly a compelling fantasy for some!

[AmyinTexas]

I'm late on this, but I wanted to say I totally agree. I was mesmerized by the visuals... and while I enjoyed the story (for the sake of the story) I did find it all neatly wrapped for us. My friend pointed out that they gloss over the fact that the "military" was not the US military but hired guns. She proved her point that the target audience would miss this when she asked our 9/10 yr old sons who they thought the soldiers were. Both replied in unison, "The Marines!" Excellent.

Also want to note that Sigourney Weaver has logged more time in "space sleep" (cannot for the life of me think of what that is called right now) than any other actress in Hollywood.

[The Bittersweet Girl]

I'm so with you! After the first 30 minutes of eye-popping wonder, I was bored bored bored. Such a tired old storyline -- every cliche in the book. Why can't Cameron spare just a tiny amount of his prodigious imagination on the friggin' story?

I was *shocked* that Avatar won the Golden Globe.