12I saw Avatar, and thought it was GREAT.
Granted, it was totally predictable about 10 minutes in. And yes, none of the characters were believable or showed any true development; all were just flat caricatures of good and evil. Okay, I’ll even admit that was some pretty heavy-handed moral posturing that I was just smacked upside the head with, even though I’m one of them despicable “tree-hugger” types. =P
But are these actually faults? Or were they entirely on purpose?
All in all, I think Avatar is really just a 2.5-hour-long allegory disguised as a movie. And if this is indeed the case, then all of those “faults” suddenly seem to make sense.
That’s also why I like it. It’s a bedtime story, a fairy tale, a Hans Christian Anderson tableau gone 3-D with full orchestral backing. Even in a modern society of well-informed skeptics, there still is a place for these things. Just like how, I’m sure, society will always have a place for old-school stories like Snow White, despite its flat characters, cookie-cutter predictability, and troubling trivialization of little people. You could pick apart Snow White until the end of time, criticizing its peripheral flaws and failings, but when it comes down to it, its entire, core point is to be exceedingly simplistic, unproblematic, and easy to digest. That makes it accessible to children and adults, and that makes it resonate with human beings as a whole.
And you can argue that there’s no way someone of Cameron’s caliber did these things by accident. I’m sure he wanted the characters to be flat stereotypes, he wanted the story to be “easy” and to spin out just as the viewer knows (hopes) each step of the way. Pure manipulation. He essentially created (I’m sure this was his intent) a movie that would do for the masses what Disney did for young children in its classic glory days—awe, inspire, and unite ordinary people through an easy-to-understand yet stunningly epic story. If that were really the goal, then I think this movie does a pretty good job. The audience clapped and whooped by the end. I always love when they do that. I mean, no one who actually “performed” or contributed to this production is there to receive the offered applause. But people just can’t help it. It was so good, you just had to show your appreciation, if only to the empty air at the front of the theater.
Of course, if he can make Pocahontas this good, I’d like to see what James Cameron can do for the Little Mermaid. Arial packing heat on the back of a flying nine-legged whale? Hell yes.
Final note: Did anyone else notice the visual irony in the scene near the end when the humans were being “deported” back to Earth by the Na’vi? For once, the dusty caravan of forlorn refugees is made up of the imperialists, not the natives.
Post-final note: James Cameron says there will be a sequel. I hope this is not the case, because I think the Na’vi have had enough shit happen to them, and should go on to lead a nice boring life unsuitable for epic filmery. Besides, what could this sequel possibly be about, smallpox? Shudder.
Kaffehausdekadenzmoderne is Tina's blog about all sorts of awesome things. Mostly, this involves food, art, design, and sometimes Actionscript 3. It's a way for her to keep track of and share the many things she finds tough, inspiring, delicious, or worth pondering. Other than that, there's no real rhyme or reason to it. (more)
“Arial” — most Tina-like typo ever.
“All in all, I think Avatar is really just a 2.5-hour-long allegory disguised as a movie. And if this is indeed the case, then all of those ‘faults’ suddenly seem to make sense.”
Well, no shit. But they’re still faults.
I disliked Avatar because in order to reach the most people, it took the lowest common denominator. It’s like junk food for the mind. Of course we like the refined sugar and processed starches at fast food chains, they are made with the scientific cutting edge to appeal to the guts of as many people as possible. And yeah, they’re not great for you. But they’re ok in moderation. And viewers are taking this in moderation right? It’s not like they’re running out to see Iron Man 2 or Transformers 3 right after this. Right?
Of course the story is not new. It did not tell me anything that Pocahontas (Disney version), Dances with Wolves, Fern Gully, Stargate, The Last Samurai, or Atlantis (Disney version) did not tell me before. It takes a white guy to save a native culture.
But why does it have to tell a new story? It’s just a movie.
It doesn’t have to tell a new story. It just has to tell a story. This one fails even on that account. Sure it has a plot, but it’s not like everyone who’s seen it didn’t know what was going to happen from minute one. The story and the characters were unimportant, only the visuals and stirring romanticism were important. That’s not a movie. It’s a theme park ride. The only way Cameron, or anyone, can get away with such non-story telling is by appealing to our colonial escapism and noble savage romanticism. We notice less when we’re enthralled.
But this is a fairy tale. Well, the original fairy tales were much sinister and complex than what we feed on now (Sleeping beauty was woken not by the prince’s kiss but by her feeding twins. Fathered when the prince raped her in her sleep.) Their point is not simplistic. But let’s assume a Disney fairy tale. I don’t like those any more than I liked this. Why? Because I’m not ten anymore. And this movie is not for kids. There is a reason the Na’vi are so super model slim and have kitten eyes. They filmed a sex scene and it’ll be on the DVD. If your old enough to fap to the big blue aliens your old enough for some intellectual difficulty.
And really, I wasn’t that inspired by the movie. Yeah, I had a pretty sweet dream about flying after I saw it, but I didn’t want to go paint or start a recycling club after seeing it. Also, I’ve seen most of this stuff before. In a documentary about deep sea life. Which James Cameron also directed.
And I didn’t find the nature wins in the end story line thrilling either. Because I had no emotional investment in the characters. Because Cameron dispensed with it. We knew they would win. We knew the 90ft blue people would fight the big robot suits. I find it difficult to get worked up over a foregone conclusion. I don’t like to be hit with bricks, even if they are in IMAX 3D.
At the end it’s just escapism. And what’s wrong with that? Well, nothing. I did enjoy this movie when I saw it, the same way I enjoy eating a gallon of ice cream in one sitting. And with similar results.
Holy crap. I would not have put the comments on the right side, had I known this would happen.
@Jess I’ll admit that my reasons for liking this movie were entirely selfish, based on my personal needs for entertainment. I have a need to indulge recklessly once in a while; if I didn’t I would go entirely nuts.
I do get tired of constantly being a die-hard critic of mainstream culture. Taking everything with a grain of salt makes life rather salty. Besides, the criticisms themselves become predictable in their own right. But of course there’s noble savage romanticism and notions of colonial superiority and problematic representations of what constitutes a desirable body.Thinking these things is sheer reflex, especially after what our Western upper-middle class liberal arts education has imprinted us with. It’s not even a useful mental exercise for me; it just gets me angry about how society keeps going in the same old worn-down faulty circles. For once, I really just wanted to relax and be seduced by glowing flowers.
I guess I’m further disinclined to protest this movie because I don’t feel the need to save anyone else from themselves. It would go against my belief that people should be responsible for themselves as much as possible. Being angry at James Cameron for producing dumbed-down material would be like arguing in favor of some kind of cultural inferiority censorship. But isn’t it better to teach a child how to judge right from wrong, rather than hide wrongs from him or her all the time? To borrow your analogy about food, I’d rather hope that people can make wise eating choices on their own, than obliterate all junk food. Because there are people out there (like me) who do make wise eating choices, but they still need their Cherry Vanilla Coke every once in a while.
Of course, one could argue that there are those out there who would not recognize Avatar for the junk food that it is. But that was kind of the point of my post. I just phrased it differently… I called it a fairy tale or a bedtime story rather than junk food. Both angles of looking at it recognize it essentially for what it is – over-simplistic. Divorced from reality. A childlike indulgence. Etc. Etc. And as such its consumption needs to be guarded and limited. But it does form a neccessary part of what makes us human.
Finally, perhaps I should amend this post by saying more explicitly that I am not judging this movie for others. I tried to signal this with the title, “I liked Avatar.” I have not the skill nor the knowledge to determine this movie’s empirical value across human history. I can see it as being guilty of reinforcing negative social values and stereotypes subliminally, but then again does is everything these days. I can also see it as just being a fantastic, sappy idyll that people (like me) need because… well as I said, in a life without sugar, you’d go nuts.
PS @Yang your comment is weak sauce compared to Jess’. Why don’t you write me essays ever? =P
I’m not saying this move needs to be censored, I’m saying it’s a bad movie. And saying something is bad does not mean it should be censored. It means someone thinks it’s bad. And isn’t saying that out loud part of teaching the 30-something year old child seeing thing movie right from wrong? Or would you consider that “cultural inferiority censorship”?
And the level of ire in my post is a response to just how bad I think it was. I like the escapism and motion capture graphics and everything, but it really was too much. Bad plot? It could have had great characters. Bad characters? Great acting. Bad acting? Amazing twist. It had none of that. It was all bad plot, stiff actors, and bad dialogue. Other action movies have gotten around this, mostly with lovable characters and witty banter. Avatar should have managed it too.
“But of course there’s noble savage romanticism and notions of colonial superiority and problematic representations of what constitutes a desirable body.” Two things: inevitability is not a reasonable justification for existence and we were taught to see them because they’re there and they are a problem. This criticism is not an intellectual exercise that I might get tired of. It’s my gut reaction. I’m sorry that you find them boring. I too am tired of movies getting away with this.
It doesn’t matter to me if you don’t care about the issues this time around and just want to look at the pretty. I just think your wrong when you say the movie was GREAT. I’ve recommended this movie to several people, the conversation usually went like this:
“Avatar? Yeah I saw it. I thought it had several major problems; number one being the horrendous plot, but I think you’ll like it and you should definitely go see it.”
“Hu. ok.”
*after the movie*
“What did you think?”
“I did like it, but wow I see what you mean.”
(That’s me and my cousin.)
I know it will appeal to his sense of black and white universal truth. And he’ll love the pretty. But I don’t want him walking away with the thought that that alone makes a good movie. People should be responsible for themselves and I don’t see how telling someone a movie is bad stops that. If anything it gives them more information/opinion to base their decision on.
Back to the junk food analogy, I never said we should obliterate all junk food. I implied that the people watching this were probably not getting a balanced cultural diet. I’m fine with the occasional cherry coke (in an analogy and in real life). I bet I’ve seen way more crap action movies than you have, but this movie is not a cherry coke. It’s a grocery store sheet cake.
tina, this comment orientation really isn’t working out at all.
Also:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/avatar-available-to-watch-in-4d-but-only-in-korea/
Sorry for misinterpreting your judgment call as an intent to censor. Of course, you are correct that Avatar was not a smarty, witty, or complex movie. I just don’t think it deserves to be so… utterly… hated. Maybe its primary failing is it was so ambitious. It raises ridiculously high expectations and then goes on to not fulfill them by a long shot. Personally, I’m absolving it of the responsibility for achieving something higher because I did not expect this to be anything but candy-coated pop culture in the first place. But other people might not get this. So I agree, it’s good to caution the clueless to the more insidious side of Avatar. Without being condescending though.
And without losing perspective. I am instinctively reacting to my gut feeling that critics are going to tear this whole movie apart and denounce it as totally worthless. It’s not. And rather than rehash what’s already been said, I want to call out some of its positive notes. The fact that a theater full of people clapped and cheered at the end was nice. Few things can do that to a crowd. The Boston Red Sox is one of them. Do I care about baseball? Not really. But I really do like what it does to a carload of happy-drunk MBTA commuters after a home win.
Does it bother me that things have to be sugar-coated to appeal to the masses? It does a little. But sometimes people have to be wooed, and not challenged. It’s just a difference of strategy. Challenging produces resistance; wooing gets people to put their guard down and ease them into a state of questioning.
Finally, I do apologize for my misleading use of the word “great.” However you should know by now not to always take me seriously when I say something is “great.” Especially not if that sentiment shares a context with nine-legged whales. I’ve used it on various occasions to refer to everything from Lobster Sticks to Magnet to a truly sublime A.R.T. production. Those things are quite different. Avatar is more on the Lobster end of things.
I wish this kind of discussion more would happen in everyday life. This makes me glad I sometimes get off my ass to blog.
Take that, left column.
OK that Korean 4D thing is totally unnecessary, over-the-top, excessive, and great.
Well, part of all the digs at Avatar are the same as the digs at Walmart. It’s easy to hate the biggest because their sin carries the furthest. But the other part it IT WON THE GOLDEN GLOBE FOR BEST PICTURE THIS YEAR. It’s nominated for an oscar. It’s not being set in the same frame of mind as, say, Transformers. People treat it like a real movie. It is not a real movie. I feel we have established my opinion on this. But the fact that it is SO simple. I mean, Iron Man 2 has more complex character development.
I do not think wooing and challenging are mutually exclusive. Studio Ghibli and Pixar pull it off constantly. So did The Dark Knight and District 9. That movie managed to make even the ugly prawn aliens sympathetic and the ones you root for in the end. Also, I would be fine with the wooing if Avatar ever got to a state of questioning. Ever. But it never really did. Seriously, how many people do you think left the movie thinking ‘I am going to apply that social message to my own life’. If they were anything like me they were thinking I have to see that again. Possibly while high.
It really comes down to the fact that I think it’s at the bottom of the barrel, even in the pop-movie genre. It’s not painfully bad, but best picture good? I am a Na’vii other-kin good? The new Star Wars good? Permanent milestone on the history of sci fi movies good? Nope.
I don’t think I’m well-versed enough in movie-land lore to continue this conversation. I clearly don’t watch enough action movies to recognize when one is worse than average. So I’m just gonna leave it at “I enjoyed it, it was shiny” =)
You know, I’ve been thinking. I’d like to take back one of my statements in my last post. Avatar is the new Star Wars good, if you take into account the current state of the whole franchise or if you consider the impact of New Hope alone. But I doubt it will be Empire good.
And it was shiny. Avatar really blew the doors off shiny forever. That part is true.