So, went to see this movie last night. Figured that my husband and I were probably the only two on the planet who hadn't seen it yet and since everyone's talking about it - yeah. I should go
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There is no doubt that “Avatar” portrays its military contractor characters as barbarous mercenaries, willing - even eager - to wipe out innocent natives in their pursuit of Pandora’s precious resources. It almost feels as if Cameron is drawing parallels, not only to the Iraq war, but to Vietnam, where the military found itself in the nihilistic position of destroying villages just to save them. Even the New Yorker’s David Denby, hardly a die-hard conservative, found himself in awe of the film’s “anti-imperialist spectacle.” But while Hollywood often makes antiwar movies, “Avatar” is something different - a peaceful warrior film, celebrating the newly aroused consciousness of a Marine turned defender of a higher faith.
What’s fascinating is that the American people, who have almost always shown strong support for our foreign wars, would happily embrace a film that portrays its military characters in such an unflattering light. My guess is that audiences have seen past the obvious because the film is set in a faraway, interplanetary future, not in present-day America. When Russian political dissidents wanted to criticize their oppressive regimes, they would often write stories or make films that were set in the past, inoculating themselves by using a 15th century czar as a stand-in for the tyrant of the day. Cameron has done the same thing, but by moving forward into the future, creating a safe distance for his veiled (and not-so-thinly veiled) social messages.
“Avatar” has, of course, far more on its mind than its politics. It’s a triumph of visual imagination and the world’s first great 3-D movie.
I think you've made a good point about some of the techniques that Cameron used to clearly differentiate his heroes from his villains. It bothered me, though, that there was no room for a moral gray area. I am no longer sure what a film is trying to say when its bad guys are pure bad. Is there some kind of warning here? Rarely in real life is evil so obvious.
Apparently you are not the only one to recognize the anti-military view of the movie as seen in this ABC news story: From its portrayal of the corporation that wants to take over the natural resources on the planet Pandora-a not-so-subtle allusion to the likes of Halliburton and defense contractor Blackwater-to distinct religious, anti-war and pro-environment themes, the film's political messaging has rubbed many conservatives the wrong way.
Movies MEAN things, to the people who make them and the people who watch them.
What’s fascinating is that the American people, who have almost always shown strong support for our foreign wars, would happily embrace a film that portrays its military characters in such an unflattering light. My guess is that audiences have seen past the obvious because the film is set in a faraway, interplanetary future, not in present-day America. When Russian political dissidents wanted to criticize their oppressive regimes, they would often write stories or make films that were set in the past, inoculating themselves by using a 15th century czar as a stand-in for the tyrant of the day. Cameron has done the same thing, but by moving forward into the future, creating a safe distance for his veiled (and not-so-thinly veiled) social messages.
“Avatar” has, of course, far more on its mind than its politics. It’s a triumph of visual imagination and the world’s first great 3-D movie.
I think you've made a good point about some of the techniques that Cameron used to clearly differentiate his heroes from his villains. It bothered me, though, that there was no room for a moral gray area. I am no longer sure what a film is trying to say when its bad guys are pure bad. Is there some kind of warning here? Rarely in real life is evil so obvious.
Apparently you are not the only one to recognize the anti-military view of the movie as seen in this ABC news story:
From its portrayal of the corporation that wants to take over the natural resources on the planet Pandora-a not-so-subtle allusion to the likes of Halliburton and defense contractor Blackwater-to distinct religious, anti-war and pro-environment themes, the film's political messaging has rubbed many conservatives the wrong way.
Movies MEAN things, to the people who make them and the people who watch them.
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