tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7769040720515260759.post7703648032242324497..comments2024-03-19T07:00:44.266-07:00Comments on Poetry, Politics, Collapse: A Review of "Avatar" for After You've Seen ItJamey Hechthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00739823758056342447noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7769040720515260759.post-15498604240995380722010-03-14T00:56:14.870-08:002010-03-14T00:56:14.870-08:00I stuck a lengthy political/psychological/theologi...I stuck a lengthy political/psychological/theological review of Avatar on my blog here: http://austeritygrub.blogspot.com/2010/03/avatar-triumph-of-will-2.html - I'd be interested to hear what you think. <br /><br />Cheers!Hubert Huberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11648804733877209296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7769040720515260759.post-65949814654530745272010-01-08T20:10:02.845-08:002010-01-08T20:10:02.845-08:00Your review is great. I agree that the overarching...Your review is great. I agree that the overarching plot is formulaic, and that it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter because the innovation and the more meaningful aspects of the story fall outside of the overarching plot.<br /><br />I felt a similar dismay in the solution having to be a violent one. Not quite right. But it does fit the formula.<br /><br />The self-referentiality presented in the juxtaposition of the immersive movie experience with the human entering into the alien body is clear, and clever. Echos of this are also present in the concept of "seeing" in the alien language. (And the touchy tail stuff, as you point out.) But I think this line of analysis leads to the fatal flaw of this most excellent movie. The fact is, the american audience will be totally immersed in the avatar experience, they will "get it", they will "feel one with the forest", and this will make them feel good about themselves. Then they will take off their 3D glasses, talk good hopeful and nature-loving words to each other, and then go back to living their incredibly nature-destructive lives. Because unlike the hero of this movie, the audience never really "sees" the trees. This is partially due to the vast gap between the movie tech and the avatar tech, as you point out. But more importantly it is due to the lack of the american human psyche to really "see" anything. By which I mean, the modern american is almost completely incapable of empathy with the forest, or for that matter, anything beyond our fellow americans, our pets, and out houseplants. Why is this? For an american to actually "see the forest" would be the equivalent of getting unplugged from the matrix. Major trauma almost always leading to death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7769040720515260759.post-70273174353016715532009-12-25T05:39:19.514-08:002009-12-25T05:39:19.514-08:00Very elegant analysis, and I agree the technical a...Very elegant analysis, and I agree the technical achievements of this film are overwhelming. But I think the one-dimensional characters, simplistic storyline, and hammer-over-the-head themes lower this to the level of airheaded entertainment.<br /><br />I can't help noticing that this was essentially the same movie as Disney's "Pocohantas," only the natives are blue instead of red, and there wasn't a tune you could hum when leaving the theater. Couldn't Cameron at least dump James Horner, who has been phoning it in since Titanic?Dating to the Death!https://www.blogger.com/profile/17342070184330487912noreply@blogger.com