February 6, 2010

Avatar

I had been looking forward to seeing Jim Cameron's new movie Avatar. The hype had been so amazing. I went in expecting a fun, entertaining movie, and that is not what I found. It made me quite uncomfortable. So, here are some of my thoughts on the movie:

Pros:
1. The special effects are stunning. This is the best 3D movie I have ever seen.
2. Very clever creative use of so many things - for example, love the word "unobtainium". Brilliant.

Cons:
1. The destruction of Pandora was painful to watch. When the huge tree fell, I could not watch.
2. The elimination of the native populations hit too close to home. The scene where the Na'vi on "horseback" armed with bows and arrows charge the men with guns had me in tears. I saw almost too clearly what it must have looked like when the Native Americans were massacred. Or any other native peoples. Guns, Germs and Steel in action. And in that context, the Hollywood ending seemed disingenuous.

So, maybe Cameron is trying to make a political statement about the environment. And if that changed even one person's mind about how precious our planet is, then in my opinion the movie is a success. I've heard people say that they were depressed that they did not live on Pandora. (Click here to read one such article). To those I say, open your eyes. You do.

2 comments:

Maria said...

Hi E. I enjoyed the movie too. Regarding your CONs, I watched it almost as a documentary ... a comment on & observation of our times. We ARE disconnected from the source as a society. There's no arguing the point for me.

I had seen an interview with Cameron on Charlie Rose. He believes in love and strong women is what I took from the interview & thus his writing & story line. I want to say it's the only thing that will save us, but I'm not sure it will. But I enjoy it in a movie!

Curiously, I've seen headlines recently about how personal choices aren't enough. Guess I better go back and read on as those articles might hold some insight into what next. That's what I've been holding onto (personal choices) but if you and I are connected to Pandora (for argument sake) and it's not helped, but gotten us to this time of greed, oil wars, bank failures, etc. then we have to ask what next?

Big hug. Thanks for your wonderful blog! xo, Maria

Elizabeth said...

I think Eve Ensler's new book of essays puts it well - we all, men and women, need to own the girl/feminine/emotional parts of ourselves. Sometimes it is hard not to get overwhelmed with just how much darkness there is. I guess we can be a point of light in our own ways.