Avatar: The Slings and Arrows of Savage Romance
Avatar is the second big-budget Hollywood movie to attract the interest of RS contributors this season. The first, Roland Emmerich's 2012, interested us for obvious reasons -- RS authors have published several books and dozens of articles on the subject of the Mayan calendar end-date. (See Antonio Lopez's piece on the movie in these pages.) Similarly, our interest in Avatar stems from its treatment of themes close to our hearts, such as environmental sustainablity, inter-cultural and inter-species communication, global networks of consciousness, the rights of indigenous people, and shamanism. My present interest in the film has to do with the way it replays old narrative lines that predate the film medium itself, and the extent to which the more interesting and apparently new thematic content might be helped or hampered by the old story lines.
“Avatar” comes from the Sanskrit avatāra (a passing down, ava down + -tāra a passing over). In Hindu myth, an avatar is a god incarnate. Right now, in a theater near you, an avatar is a 1950s B-movie US Cavalry character reincarnated and, once again, sent to parlay with the hostiles.
James Cameron's Avatar is an old fashioned shoot-em-up-bang-bang that draws on the cowboys-and-injuns clichés that played over and over from Tom Mix's silent classics of the 19-teens to television's The Lone Ranger (1949-57) and throughout the entire genre of "westerns" (including Star Trek, which was originally conceived as an updated western).
Ten minutes into it, I was imagining the pitch to the studio executive who bought the concept. "It's Little Big Man meets Terminator meets Jurassic Park, where the dinosaurs are the good guys, and the natives are naked, leggy, and have nice boobs (or pecs), but are not R-ratable because they're not really human, like the African babes in National Geographic!"
This last feature makes the love scene dispensable -- the lovers kiss, then we cut to morning's "now we are mated forever." I would have thought with all that blue flesh on display, some sort of interesting scuffle was in order.
Let's transpose the story back to where it came from, the tired (staggeringly-exhausted-should-have-died-with-great-grandpa) old style Hollywood western scenario where a disaffected or otherwise handicapped (white) Cavalry Guy (a Marine in this case) gets sent to parlay with the injuns (blue injuns in this case, not red injuns), is nearly killed on first encounter, is reluctantly taken on by the wise yet feisty Injun Princess (which seriously irks her warrior bf). Then guess what happens? She falls for the guy!
During their quieter moments, we hear the haunting sounds of the injun flutes that have lately become popular with honky wannabees. Guess what else happens. Our disaffected soldier turns against his evil boss (think George Armstrong Custer in an oversized Terminator suit), and becomes one of "the people," a true "warrior." Astonishingly, if not hilariously, we then get a dance routine right out of King Kong, 1933, where the witch doctor jumps around roaring ooga-booga syllables while grease-paint extras in feathers and grass tutus (dreads and loin cloths in this case) wave their arms and ooga booga in response. (By the 1940s this scene had become a comedy bit -- Cameron must have missed Bojangles Robinson making a mockery of this number in Stormy Weather, 1943.) Finally, Cavalry Guy finds his true mission in life, which is really the true mission of every movie good-guy honky -- to play Great White Savior to the benighted savages. That this is the template is, dizzyingly, at once a shock and no surprise.
The cardboard characters just keep on coming. There are the comic-book villain types, thinly drawn and clichéd to the max -- the snarling mining company executive whose only motive is stock price; the scar-faced colonel who lives to blow shit up; his mercenary crew who last appeared, I thought, as the Penguin's henchmen in TV's Batman series (1966-68); the tough-girl type -- the very cute, slightly butch helicopter pilot who defects to Cavalry Guy's cause; the dying injun chief whose last command to his daughter is to take his bow and protect the people. Then there are the objects of contention -- the precious mineral "unobtanium" (whew) that happens to occur in its richest concentrations (you guessed it) under the blue people's most sacred site.
Well, it was a tried and true formula fifty years ago, so why not? Finally comes the oldest theatrical cliché in the book, older even than Willy the Shake -- the deus ex machina. In this case, make that the dinosaurs (or dendrites) out of the machine, where in the last act, the hitherto hinted-at interconnectedness of all being on planet Pandora manifests as a planetary consciousness in defense of the environment that sends the nasty and practically invulnerable beasties that nearly killed CG early in his jungle adventure out in force against the bulldozers and bombing planes of the Penguin's (Custer's, Joker's, whatever) goons who are summarily shipped back to the planet Earth that, we are now told, they had killed before coming to work the same murderous routine on Pandora.
So the novelty here, the big draw or twist, or up-to-the-minute ideological firecracker turns out, interestingly, to pull the oldest trick in the book. Honest injun.
So much for the fun stuff, now let's be serious. The forest sequences are beautiful to look at, and the blue people are curiously attractive, which makes one reflect on the nature of the beautiful -- never a waste of time. And Sigourney Weaver is in it, so it has to be good, because we love her.
What about the message about capitalism, nature, the environment, the interconnectedness of being, etc? It's pretty clear at the start that Cameron is going to make a statement about environmental devastation and the displacement of indigenous people when the biggest dump truck in the universe rolls across the screen, its giant tires pin-cushioned with feathered arrows.
The bulk of the narrative grows out of the three-sided conflict between the mining company chief and his mercenaries, the indigenous people, and the small faction of enlightened honkies (a couple of scientists and our hero and his friends) who are forced to mediate (hopelessly) between the two major factions. This is at once old hat and true to life, when we consider that some scientists in the field have found themselves at one moment producing the knowledge that enables the exploitation of indigenous people and at the next moment organizing on natives' behalf against the exploiting corporations.
This is an important film. It has earned more than a billion dollars at the box office in two weeks, so it's reaching a lot of people. It's important in its use of new technology which, one hopes, will become cheaper and easier of access, so that Cameron's replacing the major studios' massive sets and equipment with a warehouse and a computer could foretell a new localism and renewed independence in movie production. And it is important for its message -- plants and animals do speak to us if we have ears for them. I don't think there is a thoughtful person alive today who wouldn't be able to agree with that statement one way or another, metaphorically or literally, and it's a good thing to get people who might not have thought about it doing so. And maybe the clichés are OK, maybe it's more important to stop the bulldozers first before we finally do something about our persistent habit of idealizing and infantilizing people of color, and see that our heavy machinery and our savage romance are two aspects of the same compulsion to co-opt and consume.
Tweet
- 1-11-10
- Steven Taylor's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
Comments
Disappointed is an understatement
I couldn’t be more disappointed in this review of AVATAR. It’s not that the critic’s views are inaccurate, or that his character comparisons with other movies are inappropriate, it’s just that his overall portrayal of this important film was typically cynical.
While this is exactly the type of review I would expect to read in the local newspaper, I just don’t understand how the powers that be at a website which sees itself as an electronic shaman couldn't find a reviewer who would treat this movie as a little more than just a meaningless cartoon.
Where’s the expected mention of the ancient hero archetypes; the would-be heroes who, faced with impossible odds, sacrifice all for the sake of the greater good? Is this world so inescapably psychotic that even RS couldn't find (or even worse, had no interest in finding) a more prescient reviewer to consider this movie with a little more sensitivity? Perhaps someone who could even (perish the thought) encourage the quest of many here at RS toward the raising of consciousness it continuously claims to encourage? Couldn't a reviewer be found who would generate more serious and immediate comparisons in the movie with pressing current and future issues, rather than a simple mention or two after regurgitating hackneyed comments about long forgotten movie types?
Evolving Consciousness Bite by Bite? How does RS think it’s going to raise our consciousness? By reminding us how mindlessly numbing the consensus view of reality is by posting a movie review that seems to contradict its own business model, ignore its own readership, and discourage those who might be seriously moved from even bothering to go see it?
I'm sure glad I saw it (TWICE!) before I read this terrible review. C'mon RS! What up with this?
__________________________________________________
P.S. After reading this review, and posting this comment, another review, which I am reading as I write this postscript, appeared above it.
First, I wish to apologize for so quickly thinking RS had forsaken its readership. Second, I'd like to congratulate RS for posting the outstanding review of AVATAR above this one, and third, I wonder why RS bothered to post this particular review in the first place?
two sides
RS actually ran two reviews, as you note, giving two angles on the film, although both reviews said Avatar is an important film.
I and the publisher intentionally held back my more critical review until another contributor came in with a different approach, so that both could be presented at the same time.
The first review, which is at the head of the column, covered the hero archetype, and the more mythic and shamanic content of the film. The second sought to place the film in the context of Hollywood's narrative conventions, and to seed the idea that there is an element of racism in the film, in the form of stereotyping people of color. (Stereotypes that glorify are just as racist as stereotypes that condemn, only more insidiously so.) Perhaps I should have gone into more detail on that point.
In any case, we thought it was a good idea to have two views of the film.
A plurality of voices is important to our whole community, that's why we encourage you and other readers to comment.
Thoughtful criticism is an important and most welcome part of the mix. That goes for your criticism of my review, and equally for my criticism of the film. Thanks very much for joining the discussion.
Still...
So the storyline was cliche? What fable/myth/archetype isn't?! Where do you think the hackneyed Westerns got their plots?
I loved this movie, and plan on seeing it again, even though the plot is predictable. There is a spiritual message of transcendence to Avatar (as the meaning of the word implies), and I am grateful it is reaching millions, even if they are unable to see beyond the surface. And I'd suggest anyone who hasn't seen the film to forget everything they've read in this review and check it out asap with an open heart and mind.
I agree with your recommendation
Hi Marissa, I did say in my review that the film is important for its message and its ability to reach millions of people. I hope billions of people see it. It might do some good.
This feedback process has been very instructive. I'm very grateful for all the comments.
I might not have published my review in a venue where there was not an easy way for readers to respond. That's one of the things I love about RS. A potentially contention-inspiring viewpoint needs a two-way forum. Thanks everyone.
cheers
I know you did, and that's what I was building off of. It was a fun read and interesting analysis for a movie that can, and is, certainly be taken many ways. I'm just the type of gal who enjoys the mystery, and encourages others to do that same.
And thank you, for stirring the pot.
And this is why I don't get involved...
With anything connected with anything indigenous if there is any way I can avoid it or at least keep my involvement to an absolute minimum. Not out of any sense of malice, but because there doesn't really seem to be a way to do it without causing grave harm.
Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer
Steven is on point, IMHO
Propaganda Anonymous
Steven I agree with your take on AVATAR 100%.
Sorry, to everyone who comes to this site to NOT be challenged in their thinking about Shamanism.
Historically, people with pale skin have usually destroyed the lives and cultures of people with darker skin. That is just the truth, which may be hard to swallow for some, but as Zach De La Roche sez, "Swallow the pill that makes you ill."
James Cameron spent 500 Million dollars to make a movie to tell people to be more humble! I'm sorry but for 500 million dollars one could pretty much ensure clean water for a few countries on the "3rd World."
I say PLEASE MORE CYNICS are needed when viewing movies like Avatar.
That being said, I also think Avatar had its good points.
The visuals were great. I did the message of making right while we still have a chance. And the notion that the planet of Pandora was one giant organism I thought was pretty beautiful.
BLESS
Prop!
salute
Hi Prop, it's good to have your voice in here. As one other person noted, talking race is hard. Just bringing it up as an issue can get you flamed big time, but we have to engage with the issue. As Mr Solomon Burke sings, none of us are free if one of us is chained.
I'm not so sure. From what
I'm not so sure. From what I see, not getting involved with Shamanism at all(or anything indigenous for that matter) looks like a really good way to resolve the issues Prop brought up. Don't read it, don't practice it, don't discuss it, don't travel to it.
Actually, come to think about it, travelling to other places tends to degenerate the cultures that are native to these places so we should probibly not travel at all.
As well, we should only practice religions that our ancestors practiced(like Puritanism). Maybe the folkish Asatru were right, white people should stick with white people religion and black people should stick with black people religion. We should not have the same religions but those religions should have the same status(otherwise that would be racist). Separate but equal!
And actually, if we want to truly honor ethnic peoples, we should probibly not sully their blood by allowing sexual relations between anyone who isn't of the same ethnicity(and of course dating is right out because that can lead to sex). Otherwise you won't have a unique ethnicity to carry on the culture of these places.
Thank you for showing me that the way to be less racist is not leaving my home state, not associating with people who are different from me, and becoming a Puritan.
Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer
Huh?!
Propaganda Anonymous
Who are you directing this too Cassius?
Is that what you have inferred from what I said?
If so then, there was definitely something lost in the transmission.
Why don;t we just look at a stark shining truth of the modern era which we have inherited from those that came before.
And, yeah man, it's not pretty.
I mean really dude, "don't leave home state and become a Puritan" REALLY?
Did I say any of that?
My question to u is why those things r coming up for u.
What I am calling for is more Cultural Awareness of what has been done to people in the past under the guise of some "noble" cause.
So walk with that awareness, and step to other people with humility and just be cool.
Yeah, travel. Study other belief systems
We are all in this together, we can learn from each of other.
But remember history, and institutional racism and classism and sexism and then just be cool and don't be a dick. (not u of course, just in general)
Yes, yes I was responding to your quote..
In particular I was responding to
"Sorry, to everyone who comes to this site to NOT be challenged in their thinking about Shamanism.Historically, people with pale skin have usually destroyed the lives and cultures of people with darker skin. That is just the truth, which may be hard to swallow for some, but as Zach De La Roche sez, "Swallow the pill that makes you ill.""
Consider this. If it is true that lives and cultures have been destroyed(which I am not arguing) and that(unless a person is a sadist or is dealing with a masochist) a reasonable individual would not want to destroy lives and cultures then a reasonable goal would be to avoid doing so.
From way the subject is presented in a lot of the anti-cultural appropiation circles(which from what you said I would imagine you are in that circle, although from your response I it looks like you are more moderate than most, which is a good thing) can be summed up as follows(which, btw is a quote from a Hopi woman in regards to the whole "Go Native" affair of last year.) , "If you want to be spiritual — go be a Druid or something."
What I said was simply the logical extension of that sentiment.
I apologize if I offended you, it wasn't my intent at all.
Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer
PEACE
Propaganda Anonymous
I hear you Cassius. Though I know you misunderstood me.
You read something I wrote, and thought that it sounded a lot like
what you have heard before when associated with a group of people.
I'm not a apart of any group that says people should be apart from each other, and that people should not share.
It actually upset me that based on what I wrote you would take it there. But that's cool.
What I am saying is that we all need to respect another's cultures, especially when those who are lucky enough to actually go into other places and see other cultures.
I'll say this though about your post. I thought is was very well written, and had some cool satirical stuff going on. (Even though it was a misunderstanding of what I was really saying)
So, I'mma go off on a little extrapolation of my own here, so what I'm about to say is not so much directed at you but this is an "in general" type of vibe I'm about to kick.....
America, and Americans, get to have The BLUE passports. That means, if you have a blue passport you can travel almost everywhere in the world, and get to stay there for 30 days, automatically. No Questions Asked.
THAT IS A PRIVILEGE.
Because after the BLUE passport is the RED passport. People with these passports get almost the same access to other countries as the BLUES but the BLUES are still better.
All the way down the line, there are people who came from places where their passports look like they're made from GREEN construction paper. People in Bangladesh have passports like these.
They can hardly travel anywhere. They have to work hard before hand to get granted a 30 day visa to a country, where Americans get to just show up at their airport.
Historically, in America, there have been power structures that have usually been White. And I say White here in the sense of people generally from England, France, Holland...you know "The Conquerors"
Those proud men who came to a land of savages and pillaged their world in the name of Christ, hahaha!
Bit of a tangent here, but "WHITE" is a social construct that started here in America. Because The Irish weren't WHITE when they came.
They were called "Inside Out Niggers" People of direct African descent were called "Smoked Irish"
Italians, Greeks, and Jews were not considered WHITE when they came to these GREAT American shores.
WHITE is what happened to all these ethnicities when they chose to team up with the winning side, because sometimes the struggle just plain sucks.
Lots of Irish people in America chose to become Racist cops because FOR ONCE they given some form of authority, coming from a place where they too were SLAVES in their HOME country.
So they are given a billy club and told to keep "darkie" in line.
Anyway, back to the point.
I think it is extremely important for as many willing and able "WHITE" people to do the knowledge on their personal history, their family history, their ethnic history, and see how all that has interacted with other ethnicities in the past.
And basically own up to the fact that, "OK, so I'm Irish American in today's America. Though I come from a culture of hardship, today 2010, I benefit from the color of my skin in areas like my school district, where my house is, how much I can get paid at a corporate job, the likelihood that I am not going to get pulled over for no apparent reason and harassed by the cops because I 'fit the description,' whereas our brothers and sisters with darker skins tones usually have to tend with all that stuff way more than me."
Granted, Racism has so many different angles to it, and I think they all need to be spoken about in cool ways. Right now I see comedy and Hip-Hop as some of the best ways this is discussed.
And when it comes to Traveling Abroad, nothing spells success like some nice WHITE shinning skin. But be careful, if in anyway you act like "one of those people" as in the way you dress, I.E. HIP-HOP dress (backwards hat), you will quickly become shunned in some strange ways. So if you can "keep it together" with your nice skin you will be granted privileges in a foreign country that many "natives" are not even given.
That is the legacy of the might British Empire, and all those great white men that came with them (Sarcasm)
But no offense to all British people. It's like America today. When you say you are American while, say traveling Thailand during the Bush regime. People will say, "AH. America! I don't like George Bush, but I like you."
While the incestuous royal family was busy colonizing the world, there were many struggling peasants back home. For them there is love.
So what I was saying was basically what Bob Marley said,
"IF YOU KNOW YOUR HISTORY, THEN YOU WILL KNOW WHERE I'M COMING FROM"
PEACE C
PEACE RS
PEACE WORLD
Cheers Steven
Propaganda Anonymous
Totally agree man. Talking about Race tends to make kinda nervous.
And as most of us prolly know, talking about psychedelics also makes people nervous.
So why not talk about Both of them, haha.
Yeah, if we find cool ways of looking at and talking about what needs to be spoken about, then there's hope.
How can we be all balanced and in tune with the earth and the trees if we are out of tune with each other?
Let's talk about Race
Let's Talk about Gender
Let's talk about Class
Let's talk about psychedelics
And let's talk about how they all interact with each other.
yi yi yi
James Cameron spent 500 Million dollars to make a movie to tell people to be more humble! I'm sorry but for 500 million dollars one could pretty much ensure clean water for a few countries on the "3rd World."
exactly! a friend of mine says this film is for the Prius crowd (which he calls the Toyota Pious because the cost/resources used to make the car far outweigh the benefits of having one... but it helps the upper middle class feel better!).
why even consider supporting/seeing a film that cost 500 million to make? LET ALONE a film that is generally "liberal and green"?? My mind reels at this!
take your 10+ dollars that you would spend on this film, and donate it somewhere good. Or invest it in something truly "green". Or just give it to some bum on the curb.
anyone interested in ""shamanism"" out there should be supporting directors like Alejandro Jodorowsky and not the Hollywood machine.
understand it
Hi Jeff, thanks for getting in here. It's a great question. If it's so flawed, what should the director have done? One answer is, he is free to realize his vision and we are free to critique it, and both activities are necessary.
Also, I shouldn't be required to be able to re-engineer the pavement on Ocean Parkway before I'm allowed to say it's not good enough.
But most important is the critical function itself as a vital part of human culture. It's OK, nay, imperative to hold major arbiters of cultural information to a high standard. It is absolutely crucial that when the media have so much influence over so many people, we have voices to point out when, for the zillionth time, we see the white male individual as the savior of a large group of dark skinned people who are portrayed as incapable of understanding their own situation.
We can love the movie, love the myth, appreciate the treatment of subjects close to our hearts, and still think critically about what else is going on there. A movie is an extremely complex experiential event, and if we don't understand it on many levels, we just become part of the machinery of the media.
I had a colleague who was a cognitive scientist who worked in early childhood education, and a bunch of us were talking about how much television influences young people, and how can we get the kids to stop watching television. Her answer was, "you can't get them to stop watching it, so you have to teach them to deconstruct it." That's what I'm after. Thanks for participating.
True enough
Propaganda Anonymous
This is why I think Steven has referenced old Hollywood movies in his review.Like many institutions in America and beyond, there have been racist and classist tendencies inherent within these institutions. Institutions that were set up many years ago when there was more outright racism in the system.Yes, I do think we have come a long way in this country, but large systems tend to take longer to change than individuals. When Spike Lee was making Malcolm X he was met with lots of resistance from the studio heads, before and after the process was completed.
Has anyone here who watched AVATAR notice that there were NO Black Actors in the movie? (As humans I mean.) Nah, all the black people in the movie were cast as the Na'vi. The Na'vi wise woman who spoke with an African accent.And then there was the Chief who spoke with an old Native American Chief.
Of course, it's hard for white people to notice things like that because we, in most periods in America, have been conditioned to only really see ourselves as the ultimate protagonists and "heroes" in movies like AVATAR. It's called White Privilege and it's bullshit.
Cameron made a very visually stunning movie, true enough.I think it's great that the hero of Avatar chooses to turn his back on the greed of the people he is coming from, and seeks to build with the Na'vi.I think it may inspire more white people to do similar things, like maybe look at the history of America and see where the U.S. gov't continually messed with and terrorized the "natives" here on this continent. I liked Cameron's take on Corporate Greed, but he is still working within a Corporate paradigm himself.
I think Cameron wanted to create an Epic in Mythic standards, like Star Wars. And he is doing it. So on that level, I give him props.
But again, I fond it funny that dude spent 500 million dollars to tell people that they should be humble. To me, I just think it would've been a bit cooler to see some more racial diversity in the cast of humans. That would have been a start
Left out one thing
I have found both perspectives on the film worthwhile.
I agree with Steven about the same old turgid archetypes being regurgitated. It didn't stop me enjoying the film.
What was even more interesting was that the fact that the main character that saved the day was male,as always.Yawn.
The fact he was crippled in 'real life' was an interesting metaphor.
That the most passe archetype of all,that of the male hero went completely unnoticed by both reviewers and commentators alike,speaks of old paradigms holding fast.
I think it would have been more apt to call the film 'Saviour' but then it would have been far less marketable.
Very predictable themes,nothing thought provoking for all the alienness of its backdrops.
I enjoyed the film.
Interesting
Is that the reply to my post, Steven?
reply
Hi Psrider, that wasn't my reply to your post. Your piece was to the point, and I didn't feel the need to add anything. I think I must have been suffering from a kind of time-lapse where I was mulling over the apparent assumption on the part of a few readers that I didn't enjoy the movie.
Good Point!
Propaganda Anonymous
Word up! Haha, I fell for that too, haha.
Yes, we need more Sarah Conners'
Thank you for pointing that out Psirider
ayahuasca
"Will the transformation."-Rilke
I've done yage and agree with Steven
Propaganda Anonymous
While I think the experience of Ayahuasca does have so many beautiful insights to provide about our balance with the ecosystem, I don't think experiencing Ayahuasca would drastically change a certain critique of Avatar.
I've done Ayahuasca, I've watched Avatar, and I find myself agreeing more with Steven's take on this movie more than not.
From Peru
some thoughts in response...
“And maybe the clichés are OK, maybe it's more important to stop the bulldozers first before we finally do something about our persistent habit of idealizing and infantilizing people of color, and see that our heavy machinery and our savage romance are two aspects of the same compulsion to co-opt and consume.”
I will ask, so as not to make assumption of my own, is the “our” you are referring to are white people, in general? Or is it a multiplicity cultures, ethnicities, and races of people among what may be regarded as civilized? Something else entirely? There seems to be a lack of clarification that ambiguously cancels out any individual relationships in an attempt to negate a genuine personal expansion seeking meaning, compassion, and if such a thing exists beyond being relative, truth.
To demean attempts to understand shamanism via your interpretation as savage romance, seems demeaning to humanity as a whole. While it is true that shamanism has been maintained and held fast for the most part by indigenous cultures, of which an intrinsic meaning is: natural, the practice has been found on every single continent among diverse ranges of people, from the Tungus to Aborigines, in the Bon tradition of Buddhism, and among the pagan practices deemed heretical by Christianity, just to name ridiculously few among the whole. If anything, shamanism seems to be a foundation of the human experience accessible to all when there is awareness and acknowledgement, and it seems to have been a part of life since pre-historical times. As such, it may be viewed as a birthright to all, and again, accessible to all. That could be a reason why so many people are becoming interested in other forms of experience than might enable us to develop a capacity to experience what is referred to as sublime and transcendental. To imply that any interest in this practice and/or the multiplicity of people that have helped to keep this practice alive, is an attempt simply to co-opt and consume is a blanket assumption that directly conflicts with the premise of seeking out alternatives to such a world-view. We know something isn't working as it could and in trying to figure our precisely what this means, and how, and why, it seems antithetical to demean the efforts people that are seeking something beyond the memetic paradigm they're told to accept.
It must be admitted, honestly, as can be evidenced through our recorded history, such practices have not always been treated with much regard. Much of the ignorance passed down to the present demystifying shamanistic practices did come from the white oligarchy of the church, which sought power and control over spiritual precedents set forth in shamanic practices, such as respect for the spirit inherent in everything, our connection and interdependence as such, and the acts of ritual(s) facilitating a connection, which were adopted and later bastardized, losing much of the meaning. Of course, this is being grossly oversimplified to make a general point. But to imply that any interest is tainted and cannot be genuine, reduced to just more blatant consumption, seems in itself infantile and pessimistic. But perhaps it is precisely because of this type of interpretation that it is fortuitous that the character of Jake is white, and has been pointed out, crippled, yet is still allowed to become whole once he experiences more of the spiritual aspects, via his avatar, inherent in all things. What would have forever remained closed to him is opened, and it then becomes his choice as to what to do with the experience. Which also brings forth the element of forgiveness, which, incidentally, never seems to make much headway in allowing humanity as a whole to heal...
And as to infantilizing people of color, as you put it, I’m not sure how that is found to be applicable in the case in point. Nothing in the movie suggested, to me at least, that the Na’vi were helpless beings in any way, shape, or form. If anything, they are much more highly developed than the humans, which I agree, would very much be idealizing their presentation as a way of life. I recall Neytiri blatantly stating that Jake, the white messiah, as it has been put, is nothing more than a (dumb) baby numerous times. Yet it is because of the decisions she and her mother, which may be viewed as symbolic representations of the Sacred Feminine/Sacred Goddess, as they are the heir and the shaman, respectively, that this baby is allowed to not only live, but to learn and be cured of his “insanity.” Accordingly, they are avatars* in their own right, centered more around compassion and love. The male political body would have simply had him killed, which of course, would have caused the credits to roll much earlier. And as a reminder, it was Neytiri that had to save Jake, yet again, at the end, just after she vanquished the “bad-guy.” So, far from being a wilting lily and leaving the fighting and/or saving to the male element, she actively creates and embodies more of the balance which comes to fruition between the male and the female principles once each finds its fullest expression in the dynamic the film sets up (which helps to point out that there is never simply one “savior”, but more of a cooperation between individuals to enact any change, which we can learn from if we take into account the historical practices of shamanism as differentiated from the monotheistic religions).
Everyone is responsible and maybe we should go about accepting this responsibility. Perhaps the issue isn’t necessarily even with race, as in the point of the white messiah, but more-so simply about the idea of a messiah in and of itself and the problem of believing that one person can come and miraculously save everyone.
(And just to be clear, I think that films should portray more ethnic and gender acceptance in heroes in every shape and form which might potentially help to realize the empowering potential within us all. In the case of this movie, though, I think the crippled white man works to illuminate the blunt, despicable history that has been predominantly perpetrated by an Anglo culture, specifically in this country.)
*1. Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.
2. an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.
3. Computers. a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.
Thank you warmyellow
Leon...
$500 Million
Several people have indicated their disdain regarding such a large sum of money having been used to produce this movie, which could otherwise have been used to feed the hungry, or help the poor, etc.
Personally, I would rather invest $500 million to raise the state of consciousness of ten thousand people and thereby make a profit. If I spent the same amount to feed ten million people, they would again become hungry.
But if I enlightened ten thousand, and with my profits could enlighten twenty thousand more, and then again, forty thousand more, etc. I could eventually change the very fabric of society for the better.
narrow reality tunnel!
the comfortable middle class kid that drove to the multiplex in his SUV, ordered a bunch of popcorn and soda (throwing the garbage on the theater floor), probably smoked a doobie of expensive weed in the parking lot, and then "freaked out" at the NOVELTY of the movie, then drove home to his giant, dry, heated, safe suburban home?
OR giving someone a break that hasn't eaten a proper meal in weeks, slept on a real bed in days, or wore clean clothes in ages? what is that saying about teaching someone to fish again?
to me, it would make more sense and probably have a better success rate of "enlightenment" by giving food, clothes and shelter to those in need, than it would to let some middle class entitled jerks in to see a 3D movie. I can't even believe anyone would consider what you suggest.
then again...
It seems like the argument that you're making here is a personal brand of a narrow reality tunnel, albeit from a differing perspective. Making assumptions based upon the supposed socio-economic class of a potential viewer is limiting in itself, not to mention that what you're arguing is that anyone who sees this movie won't really be affected by it, seeing it solely as a "novelty." You're limiting the responses that other people may have because you do not feel the money was justified in being spent, whereas Leon Night, as he set forth, does feel it was justified. Does that mean that one is right and one is wrong? What about the possibility that one of these middle-class kids, upon seeing the movie, has some form of change occur within that causes thinking and priorities to be less about him/herself and more about what can be done for the benefit of another, which up until that point didn't exist. I think that is the basis of the polemic. Inspiration to act can come from infinite places in all mediums. And to extend the metaphor from above, what if it does foster the desire to teach someone to fish, including one's self, rather than only being fed for a day?
And admittedly, the box office tally is not a great way to determine the success or failure of a movie, but in this case, given the near-ridiculous total that this film has brought in, it's very highly unlikely that the only viewers have been middle-class kids driving SUVs smoking joints.
Hi Mazigazi
There is a tendency of those receiving international aid to become so accustomed to it that they expect, and then DEMAND to be provided for, under ALL circumstances. The result is habituated donor nations supporting habituated needy nations. No one nation nor group of nations has the capacity to support all those who would habitually demand international aid for an indefinite period, which is what a human being stripped of its self esteem, would require.
Aside from the argument about the chronic destitution of millions in desperate need, such as in Haiti, and the moral responsibility of all rich nations, such as the US, feeding the hungry is a bottomless pit full of contradictions. Thus, the famous saying: “Teach them how to fish” suggests that human needs are best served through self empowerment beginning with an individual, and extending through a society.
Raising the state of consciousness of a hundred thousand people would have a beneficial effect on millions of others, and if extrapolated, would progress until a tipping point is reached when humanity is ‘suddenly enlightened’. I call this a metanoic mutation to a state of unity consciousness and I believe it is the only hope for the survival of humanity.
You state, “I can't even believe anyone would consider what you suggest”. I wonder if you have ever really thought about it deeply.
Funny
Propaganda Anonymous
I leave room for multiple realities and interpretations in the world of International Aid.
But I find it interesting when some countries that have received "aid" i.e. Money, from rich nations, said "aid" never gets to the people. It goes right to the dictators.
Dictators who have worked in collusion with CIA and Corporate Interests and have basically been paid off (or rather, aided off) so these other institutions can go in and take said countries vital resource.
Hey, now that sounds familiar. Think I saw a movie about the same thing.
That's what was missing from Avatar. Elucidation on how "Aid" has functioned to assuage Liberal, or should I say Neo-Liberal, Guilt.
Warm and Fuzzies can look over at the "Dark" Continent and shake their heads and say, "Jeez, they just can't seem to get it together over there. Maybe it's best that some of them do die off"
Truth (as far as I see it--just me) is that We here in America have access to that good ole Black Gold (gasolina) that countries in Africa, South America, and damn near everyhwere else, do not have.
Hey you know what happened in the early 50s in Iran.
The elected and beloved Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was elected the Prime Minister of Iran, and started Nationalizing the Oil.
Yeah, he was taking the Tree back from the British and giving it to the people of that land.
British Petroleum didn't like this, and they sent word to the good and righteous Central Intelligence Agency, and at the bequest of the British company had Mossadegh deposed.
And then the Shah came in.
But Let's go deeper into "AID"
How exactly does the IMF and World Bank work into all this?
Did you know that many countries in South America received such "AID" from the IMF and World Bank in the 70s, and they are still paying off the interest at which this "AID" was given?
Hate to tell you, but nothing is free in this world, not even "AID" It all comes with red-tape. And It's all loans baby.
Who's paying? Who flipping? Who's Buying?
Just like a dealer on the corner, these global financial institutions set up terms of repayment that continue to suck at the economies they said they were helping.
My personal feeling is that Morals look real good on paper, but have only rarely been practiced by major institutions in this grand modern age.
Too Cynical?
So Sorry.
I also believe in the amazing potential of every individual on this planet to help turn the situation around.
But first I think many need to access, as Gurdjieff said, "The Horror of the Situation"
And Avatar was horrible, hahahaha (sorry, wise ass joke. I'm just not that into it)
I can see how people do like the movie though.
And I do find this tet-a-tet to be civil enough.
I am down to learn from your views, of you are down to learn from mine.
PEACE
"kiss it. apologize."
or
"white guilt and the critical theory departments that keep preachin it."
who you callin a honkie, cracker?
avatar reminded me of watching the emerald forest as a kid. hope it does the same for today's kids (them not spoiled yet by Said and all the flaccids in tweed)...perhaps watching avatar will bring our singularity-obsessed obese brats outside, up a tree, into the mud for some deep breathing exorcises and a nice healthy shake of stretch. no straw. listen to mama gaia kids.
i found myself wondering what would it be if jake were a pants-to-the-ground from negropolis...the Obama card would have been pulled (our hero in brown goes blue)...what about a women...but honestly. fantasy only works when it has at least one chucka in reality. america needs to be able to swallow. raise your hand if you are sick of the spit.
i used to think jean luc-godard had something to say about society...give me back my bullets and boots: toby keith for emperor. cause thems the real people in line these days. did you see that national guard nazi recruitment ad in the beginning? are we talking about that at all?
away with cynicism and irony. bring me a na'vi. i want to have [lots] [and] [lots] of babies. and i pray they are not fat and white and man like me. amen.
but the music in this movie was absolute dreck.
Dear Mr. Cameron,
please. the people have spoken. feed us some john adams vs. amon tobin for part 2.
Bah Bah Black Sheep
Propaganda Anonymous
Hopefully Avatar will inspire some kids.Like the original Matrix did. Personally, I found that movie way cooler.
The Racial critique on Avatar is very relevant as far as I'm concerned, and among people I know. These are mostly kids involved with Hip-Hop and Taqwacore centered Punk Rock and Afro Punk. These are usually people who are not considered "white."
I find this viewpoint to have credence and it will continue to be brought up as people become hip to Identity Politics (without getting caught in the trap of reductive thought)
The Medium is the Message with Avatar as far as I'm concerned As far as I can tell right now, and this impression can indeed change, Cameron is a "White' dude, who is a powerhouse in the Corporate Hollywood Entertainment Industry. (I'm not going to start hating on this Industry, but I will elucidate some truth)
Like nearly all Institutions in America today, they hold within them bias's that were established in the past.
And to shift gears to Obama. How much harder did Obama have to work to get to be the stooge president than George Bush?
Cameron, he wrote Avatar. It was a product of his mind. And his bias's and ignorance shone through in his fantasy world. As well did his beautiful artistic images.
So we've started looking at and dissecting the 500 million dollar budget here. Good.
On that note. I just thought it was excessive in a time when we are going through so much crazy financial stuff.
How far would 500 million damn dollars go to helping the people of Haiti right now? Answer me that.
Nobody has really approached the question I posed about why Cameron would only cast "black" actors as NA'VI characters. Why would he do that?I find this a bit strange to be honest. Because being "black" would bring more credibility to the Na'vi? (no body has said this, but this is a messed up way to think)
I don't really care too too much about what is inside the movie but the container (i.e. the industry) that the movie came in, dig?
And, as an aside I am whole heartedly in favor of "white" people calling each other "honky" hahaha
And Toby Keith can suck it, I'll take Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams III over his lame ass music anyday
for the kids
the name drop shop brought 22 letters: call white people niggers.
the paste wants to climb up the legs and sit in the branches of the magical negro or the noble savage. an obvious. its safe and warm and all knowing up in there. perhaps its contagious.
wes studi, cherokee, was the leader of the na'vi. why are white people supposed to historically feel shame there?
cameron could of course casted a few more chopsticks to play the blues.
or more chocolates to play the evil jarheads.
im always recasting commercials. put a beaner there add a polack there. how would that effect sales of tampons...and i did it with avatar too. but...
i dug avatar, aside from being psy-trance on the big screen, because it highlighted a spirituality the 60's left for reagan. a spirituality america replaced with fear and greed. today's kids have forgotten about the woods. are told you cant communicate with cats. are plugged into their video games far too much to remember about the tress. or to listen to the mud.
it was a nice balance of techno-primitivism. for the kids.
i didnt like the book ishmael in college because i thought it too obvious. avatar will be the same for others. but the kids...
500 million is the only way to get the masses to move. im hearing metallica, sad but true.
and obviously hank iii over toby. but the majority of people in line at the imax in manchester, connecticut to see avatar on friday 15 january 2009, have no idea jr got a boy. and have no idea what happens when mom packs entheogens for lunch.
this ones for the kids.
The Kids Are Alright
Propaganda Anonymous
I don't think the kids needed Avatar.
But I won't fight the ECO Messagewhile some of the other stuff failed.
And Guess what..."WHITE" and "BLACK"are all social constructs. "WHITE" was born in America.I find it interesting that "WHITE" get on the ass of other "WHITE" people who reject the banner of "WHITENESS"
"What's the matter with you?" They Say "You're White."
My message to all the "WHITE" Kids, Keep rejecting it.
Let's go BEYOND WHITE
Let's go BEYOND BLACK
Let's go BEYOND
and as far as Avatar is concernedKids can watch it or notCan get inspired by it or not.
I personally feel that Inspiration can happen any momentOne doesn't need a disney ride to make it happen.
But if it happens from that
Then COOL
We need all we can get right now.
entertainment and not eco-messge
negativity
USD500Million