Comments on: Avatar: Racist vs. anti-American?

By: Willis

Willis — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:03:40 +0000

If everyone who saw Avatar as such an offensive anti- their-shitck movie just went in with absolutely no political biases they would “see” why everything controversial was in fact NOT and had a point. This movie isnt at all about ripping a new one on society. Im not going to dissect this argument but i know the author is right in the hypocracy of the angry conservatives. About the actual movie: As a serious actor I instantly connected to and understood our own avatar, the charachter Jake. Because this movie is all about his journey i was able to clearly sense every thought and emotion he had as the story progressed. I understood why he fought, loved, explored, and changed on a very human level. To help you get into Jakes head, here’s his story: Jake is a former marine, due to being paralyzed in a future war in venezuela. He was a grunt, but a commited marine and a hero. He loved fighting for what is right and taking action. As a handicap, he now comes to grips with how awful his world is. What he fought for got him a cold, clauserphobic apartment in a filthy, toxic, and industrialized city, more so, a whole planet. He lives each day shuffling through his dying world, repeating the phrase that sums up the rest of his life “the strong prey on the weak.” His brother, an elite scientist named Tom Sully dies for something as sad as “the paper in his wallet”; the “insanity” of our greed and hostility echoes throughout this movie, starting here. Because the Avatar program is an extremely important and expensive corporate/government project, the RDA immediately offers sully the job to compensate. Sully is a twin of Tom so he can at least make up for the loss by using the genetically compatable avatar for missions. The reason jake accepts id because of his marine spirit and the paycheck that will grant him the surgery needed to get his legs back. He dosent care about pandora, or the reason hes doing this, he has needs, thats it. And there you have it, now go see Avatar as the immersive masterpiece that it is and ENJOY it! Avatar is a deep, emotional, and thought provoking peice of Sci-fi and i cant wait to see whereelse Cameron takes his creation.

By: Cousin Russell

Cousin Russell — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:37:13 +0000

Avatar…dances with wolves in space fits the plot, but boy oh boy the special effects were stunning! Really impressive use of light and color. Visually on a par with the movie “what dreams may come”…but in 3-D. Wow!

By: James Smith

James Smith — Fri, 14 May 2010 10:42:58 +0000

Personally I don’t think Cameron consciously tried to avoid racism or not, I don’t think the idea ever entered his mind. He was telling the story he had/wanted to tell. We need to get over the idea that anything that has the slightest hint of racism means that the perpetrator was a closet racist. This society was pretty sexiest and racist for a long time, and that doesn’t go away overnight. It might take a century. We didn’t all become enlightened because of the new millennium. When I saw Avatar for the first time, I didn’t necessarily see racism, but I did notice immediately a perpetuation of the white, Western ideal, that I had noticed in movies like The Last Samarai , and to a lesser extent in Dances With Wolves, where exposure to a “white guy” who in his own country is mediocre at best is able to become a better embodiment of his adopted culture than any native of that culture ever born. (sometimes this takes years, but Avatar managed it in mere months) Then because he possesses knowledge of his culture and his adopted culture he is able to “save” this culture. (or if one isn’t creating alternate history prolong their survival, or be the only survivor and go back and get the native girl)

I liked Avatar well enough. Visually I was in awe, but I don’t have any desire to see it again, or to buy it. There are a ton of better movies that I haven’t even seen yet, and many more than I could watch again. In fact I think I’ll go and watch the Maltese Falcon one more time.

By: Jama Ramires

Jama Ramires — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:34:43 +0000

I really like the Avatar 3D film, especially the story line, not solely it brings a totally new sensation however inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to watch it again…!

By: nick

nick — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:33:59 +0000

I think on the white messiah thing you’ve got the wrong end of the stick a little. The argument is more one of disagreement with the whole post-colonial patronising attitude to other races which this could be regarded as. The fact that the natives are unable to win without the assistance of one of the colonisers undermines the basic point that the natives are not inferior. Its the same problem as in blood diamond and many other films. ‘Oh look at these poor na’vi, africans, native americans etc; what they need is a white man/human to sort this out’. The allegation of racism (which i think is a bit much) is based on that not a simplistic who is fighting who argument i feel. The need for a western/white/human to lead the poor put upon natives to victory could be read in this way or just as a plot device to involve the audience. If the film was just the Na’vi kicking ass on there own the audience might have more difficulty siding with them. The same applies for the whole curiously human concept of love and relationships and the fact they’re bipeds on a planet where everything else has six legs.

By: Bill Collins

Bill Collins — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:03:25 +0000

What was interesting about Harry Reid’s comments was the fire storm of reaction in the media channeling the so-called reaction to HR’s comments. I’m with AlmostGotIt; the American people would never elect Wanda Sykes, Richard Pryor, Stokley Carmichael, or Jesse Jackson. And, oh yes, racism is American as Mom’s homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

As for Avatar, well, alas, all I could think of was “Dances With Wolves” computer cross-dressed up into a sci-fi flik with lots of images from other sci-fi / fanatsy fliks from the past 20 yrs blended in. Alas I’m simultaneously disappointed and entertained. Sigh.

By: Yep

Yep — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:51:16 +0000

There were a few things in Avatar that made me uncomfortable. The first being Jake’s betrayal of his own people – his own comrades. I felt a bit conditioned and manipulated into believing it was justified and righteous. But, there was something perverse about it that I can’t quite explain.

I also thought it was depressing to watch Jake abandon his human body curled up in a fetal position under a tree. Does he visit occasionally? What was wrong with that body? It seemed perfectly functional to me. Jake may be ten feet tall in his new blue body, but he’s still a weeny.

By: Lavenderbay

Lavenderbay — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:00:25 +0000

Heavens, what movie was I watching when I thought it was Avatar? All I saw was a root-for-the-underdog film which spent more money on special effects than on dialogue. But then my species is Canadian, maybe that’s it.

By: Nance

Nance — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:45:33 +0000

I so agree that Avatar is visually lovely, the most beautifully “imagined” thing I’ve ever seen on film and I want to see it again. Heck, I want to buy it. And a big screened TV to watch it on. For a 60+ year old lady who’s addicted to quiet little British films, that’s saying a lot.

I had the impression that Cameron and crew did everything humanly possible to avoid racism in the movie. The Na’vi (naive) bore some resemblance to every aboriginal population known to anthropology and their customs were suggestive of several such cultures. The creators of Avatar even managed to avoid dissing the disabled. Only Blackwater came out looking noir.

I’ve talked myself into going back to see it today. And I’ll be back here, too…just found you and most gratified.

By: almostgotit

almostgotit — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:09:34 +0000

@David: Thanks for your comment. I’ve been waiting for a Pandoran of Na’vi descent to comment as well, but so far no luck.

@Dennis/James: You put it much better than I did. I liked your review of the movie as well (on your James Viscosi blog – http://jamesviscosi.wordpress.com/)

@Mary: Thanks in return. “Avatar” probably is a bit preachy, but I can’t quite decide what FOR. Mostly it was just a real fun movie.

@Ashleigh: INTERESTING NPR/Pew result! In other words, as I understand you, both blacks and whites really want to identify with Obama. That’s a good thing, right? I also conclude (from the “mixed race” thing largely being only recognized by whites) that ALL races need to work on being “post-racial.” But probably the race with the most power has to take the lead. (to those who have been given much, much shall be required.)