A letter to my brother about Avatar, the movie
Boy, am I active lately. For no real reason, either. Anyways, I wrote this to my brother because he and I have had a few disagreements over the trailer for Avatar, and I figured if I was going to put this much thought into it, I may as well post it somewhere.
Okay, then, here's my real argument.
You and I see things from a particular point of view, obviously, based on how we were raised, and our genetic makeup. We are middle class, christian, educated, and white. You also have the privilege of being male in a male-dominated society. Ergo, you are afforded a little more protection than I am, though I am certainly very protected. That is something I won't argue. I will say, however, that our society is inherently racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, ableist and homophobic. That's not to say we don't have awesome parts, but that everything tends to be laced with one of the negatives (as is normal in life).
Avatar is (from the clips I have seen) pretty ableist (the main character is in a wheelchair, and the main tear-at-our-heart part of the story is that he gets to walk again. Lots of people who are in wheelchairs are completely fine with that, and really hate storylines where the only point of the wheelchair is to make them a tragic figure who only wants his or her legs back, though this particular movie may resonate with recently disabled veterans. (ETA: Because it's a military-centric movie, with the main character having lost the use of his legs in some militaryish thing.) Unfortunately, the way the USA operates, people who are disabled are frequently made to feel like a burden, or less than a person. This way of thinking only encourages that.).
It's also misogynistic - the main female character has giant boobies/tits/breasts/mammaries that were put on a character who doesn't need them, according to James Cameron. This was just because men like boobs. Okay, fine, that's kind of a dick thing, but whatever, it's the movies. It's way easier to tell male/female characters apart by their silhouettes, if you're not paying a ton of attention. However, she also is placed in the classic role of love interest/sexbot of the main character, who has his own agenda when it comes to her "people." (See several other movies for same ingredients, such as The Fast and The Furious, and, oh, any other movie with a male "secret agent" as the main character. She, of course, is too dumb to recognize this (while being mysteriously smart about EVERYTHING ELSE) and proceeds to fall in love with someone she has known for an incredibly short period of time. She is shocked - shocked, I say! - by his betrayal, and the fact that his betrayal has implicated her in this betrayal business, too. However, contrary to all common sense now that she has discovered his traitor-esque qualities, she decides to continue trusting him to "set things right" after he has messed them up beyond all measure. Tell me how making the lead female character that dumb and sexually objectified (she has no shirt, only teasing glimpses of boobs throughout the entire movie, and wears a loincloth and not much else) is anything but misogynistic.
For kicks, Avatar made the people the US is conquering out to be aliens who, of course, only stand in our conquering way. And because we, of course, are better than every other culture out there, it's okay. This idea is thankfully counteracted by the main character, but not until he seems to grow a conscience (coincidentally after he has fallen in love with the alien boob-girl upsettingly voiced by Zoe Saldana - you'd think she'd have her pick of strong female roles after being part of a blockbuster). The racism also comes into play here - we can conquer at will because we are white, and they are...not. Also, after re-watching the trailer, I cannot find any main characters on Team USA who are not white. Correct me if I'm wrong.
So, if you lasted through all of that, this is my much more coherent argument for why I'm pissed at Avatar. They had a budget the size of the superdome, and really fucking cool visuals, and now I won't enjoy the damn movie 'cause they messed it up with all their damn 'isms.'
I noticed I didn't address the homophobia. That's not because it's not there - this was all based on a 10-minute preview, remember - but because I didn't see it in the trailer. Let me know if you find some! Since it's a military-themed movie, it probably won't be that difficult a search.
Okay, then, here's my real argument.
You and I see things from a particular point of view, obviously, based on how we were raised, and our genetic makeup. We are middle class, christian, educated, and white. You also have the privilege of being male in a male-dominated society. Ergo, you are afforded a little more protection than I am, though I am certainly very protected. That is something I won't argue. I will say, however, that our society is inherently racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, ableist and homophobic. That's not to say we don't have awesome parts, but that everything tends to be laced with one of the negatives (as is normal in life).
Avatar is (from the clips I have seen) pretty ableist (the main character is in a wheelchair, and the main tear-at-our-heart part of the story is that he gets to walk again. Lots of people who are in wheelchairs are completely fine with that, and really hate storylines where the only point of the wheelchair is to make them a tragic figure who only wants his or her legs back, though this particular movie may resonate with recently disabled veterans. (ETA: Because it's a military-centric movie, with the main character having lost the use of his legs in some militaryish thing.) Unfortunately, the way the USA operates, people who are disabled are frequently made to feel like a burden, or less than a person. This way of thinking only encourages that.).
It's also misogynistic - the main female character has giant boobies/tits/breasts/mammaries that were put on a character who doesn't need them, according to James Cameron. This was just because men like boobs. Okay, fine, that's kind of a dick thing, but whatever, it's the movies. It's way easier to tell male/female characters apart by their silhouettes, if you're not paying a ton of attention. However, she also is placed in the classic role of love interest/sexbot of the main character, who has his own agenda when it comes to her "people." (See several other movies for same ingredients, such as The Fast and The Furious, and, oh, any other movie with a male "secret agent" as the main character. She, of course, is too dumb to recognize this (while being mysteriously smart about EVERYTHING ELSE) and proceeds to fall in love with someone she has known for an incredibly short period of time. She is shocked - shocked, I say! - by his betrayal, and the fact that his betrayal has implicated her in this betrayal business, too. However, contrary to all common sense now that she has discovered his traitor-esque qualities, she decides to continue trusting him to "set things right" after he has messed them up beyond all measure. Tell me how making the lead female character that dumb and sexually objectified (she has no shirt, only teasing glimpses of boobs throughout the entire movie, and wears a loincloth and not much else) is anything but misogynistic.
For kicks, Avatar made the people the US is conquering out to be aliens who, of course, only stand in our conquering way. And because we, of course, are better than every other culture out there, it's okay. This idea is thankfully counteracted by the main character, but not until he seems to grow a conscience (coincidentally after he has fallen in love with the alien boob-girl upsettingly voiced by Zoe Saldana - you'd think she'd have her pick of strong female roles after being part of a blockbuster). The racism also comes into play here - we can conquer at will because we are white, and they are...not. Also, after re-watching the trailer, I cannot find any main characters on Team USA who are not white. Correct me if I'm wrong.
So, if you lasted through all of that, this is my much more coherent argument for why I'm pissed at Avatar. They had a budget the size of the superdome, and really fucking cool visuals, and now I won't enjoy the damn movie 'cause they messed it up with all their damn 'isms.'
I noticed I didn't address the homophobia. That's not because it's not there - this was all based on a 10-minute preview, remember - but because I didn't see it in the trailer. Let me know if you find some! Since it's a military-themed movie, it probably won't be that difficult a search.