By Craig Detweiler
James Cameron’s “Avatar” lives up to its eye-popping, three-dimensional promise. It offers massive spectacle, thrilling set pieces, and seamless special effects. In fact, the entire movie is a special effect, a tribute to what’s possible. The dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park” were just a warm up for the ferocious creatures lurking in “Avatar.” Over time, “The Matrix” may seem like one small step towards “Avatar”‘s giant leap into the cinematic future.
Never has so much technology been poured into getting back to nature. Cameron employs ground breaking “performance capture” techniques to turn the 10-foot, translucent blue Na’vi people into the most compelling natives possible. Their distant moon, Pandora, teems with jungle life. The mountains float, the forests glow in the dark. What a verdant, vibrant vision of a world apart!
Unfortunately for the Na’vi, Pandora is also home to a precious resource known as unobtantium (yes, we’re supposed to smile at that cheesy title). To capture it, a militaristic corporation has developed a nefarious infiltration plan–merging human and Na’vi DNA into fully functioning avatars. A paralyzed Marine, Jake Sully, is given an opportunity to walk again–via his avatar. Seeing him rediscover the gift of movement is a kick. We share in his vicarious thrills–an apt metaphor for the movie.
Jake also discovers the wonders of Pandora, from its Edenic environment to a beautiful warrior/princess named, Neytiri. Her tribe is depicted as wise, spiritual, and peaceful. A familiar cross-cultural romance ensues. Jake becomes a “dreamwalker” in search of the native experience. Instead of “Dances with Wolves,” Sully flies with Banshees.
Moviegoers may be too dazzled by the imaginative vistas to worry about the geo-politics embedded in Avatar. It promotes responsible science and celebrates diplomacy. But as a native Canadian, Cameron offers a strong critique of America’s imperialist impulses. Avatar is a $500 million enterprise critiquing rampant capitalism and unchecked development. Will environmentalists embrace such electronic advocacy for guarding our rain forests? Will native peoples appreciate the sacred rituals surrounding a Tree of Souls?
Some critics may deride Avatar as a violent plea for peace. But a surprising sincerity animates Cameron’s cinematic wizardry. When was the last action movie that inspired genuine awe? That emboldened our imaginations? Avatar pauses to honor Mother Earth. It dares to bow down in goddess worship. It makes us question who owns the land we inhabit. Who is truly the alien? And where does divine favor reside?
Avatar is a riveting example of our contradictory impulses circa 2010. We celebrate simplicity while cradling our smart phones. We long for quiet, as our entertainments grow louder. We seek community via virtual worlds. Avatar embodies all the inherent paradoxes we face as digital natives. Cutting edge technology challenges us to cherish our planet. James Cameron offers filmgoers and filmmakers a second life.
Craig Detweiler directs the Center for Entertainment, Media and Culture at Pepperdine University in Malibu. His new book, Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God equips parents and pastors to navigate virtual worlds.
posted December 18, 2009 at 10:33 pm
avatar movie showed that we don’t have rights to destroy another planets. actually if there is such a Pandora i will live there. omg, it was amazing to see that blue sparky animals. wonderful movie i have ever seen.
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posted December 19, 2009 at 12:46 pm
How refreshing to see these interesting “aliens”, their beautiful world, and their equalling interesting deity, Eywa. A goddess deity…great, I love it! Why not?
I felt my mind opening to new concepts and ways of thinking during this movie. Thinking for myself instead someone using some old reference to tell me as an American how I should be thinking.
Thinking for oneself is really such an America approach now, isn’t it? What a wild ride this movie was. I feel much more connected to this world after watching this movie rather than thinking being “not of this world”…I concept that has been emphasized for too long in my life!
posted December 19, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I WANT A COOL GODDESS SPIRITUALITY LIKE THE NA’VI HAVE. SIGN ME UP. I LIKED HOW THE MEN ALONE DID NOT CARRY THE BURDEN OF FIGHTING – WOMEN WERE JUST AS EFFECTIVE WARRIORS. MEN FIGHT; WOMEN NUTURE BABIES. TIRED OF THAT IDEA. I WANT TO BE SURROUNDED BY STRONG, EQUAL WOMEN NOT WEAK MOMMY ONLY TYPES. MAYBE I AM A WEIRD GUY BUT I LIKE THIS SOCIAL STRUCTURE. CAN I GO LIVE ON PANDORA? HA
STAN IN OHIO
posted December 19, 2009 at 4:11 pm
i thought it was pretty good but didn’t live up to the hype. expected more. avatars were awesome though. shoudl have waited for three d but brother wanted to see last night.
posted December 20, 2009 at 1:15 am
This is the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. If you’ve ever really wondered what it feels like to be in a native tribe and to be a part of a pulsing, rhythmic connection with nature, this film is about as close as you will ever get without actually joining a nature tribe.
I don’t have any beliefs, personally. But I do have beauty. And while watching this film I had a voice inside say, “Beauty is not external. It is a feeling. And it exists within me.” I take this to mean that the more innocent we allow ourselves to become, and the more genuine we are with ourselves, the stronger our ability to BE genuine and innocent becomes. It really feels like this is very important for one’s development….the kind of development that helps the world truly.
For anyone who has had a bit of conditioning that would paint an inner picture of native tribes as savages, this film can open a person up to the true beauty and sacredness that is the natural human in nature. Never has tribal life and the web of life been shown in such a dignified and inspirational way. Most who see this film with pure eyes and love will experience a subtle remembrance of the natural sentient being within. And a tear or two may be shed at the realization that it has not been lost in the least.
Billy Guilfoyle
http://www.everyoneisgoingconscious.com
world peace is inevitable
posted December 20, 2009 at 1:16 am
This is the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. If you’ve ever really wondered what it feels like to be in a native tribe and to be a part of a pulsing, rhythmic connection with nature, this film is about as close as you will ever get without actually joining a nature tribe.
I don’t have any beliefs, personally. But I do have beauty. And while watching this film I had a voice inside say, “Beauty is not external. It is a feeling. And it exists within me.” I take this to mean that the more innocent we allow ourselves to become, and the more genuine we are with ourselves, the stronger our ability to BE genuine and innocent becomes. It really feels like this is very important for one’s development….the kind of development that helps the world truly.
For anyone who has had a bit of conditioning that would paint an inner picture of native tribes as savages, this film can open a person up to the true beauty and sacredness that is the natural human in nature. Never has tribal life and the web of life been shown in such a dignified and inspirational way. Most who see this film with pure eyes and love will experience a subtle remembrance of the natural sentient being within. And a tear or two may be shed at the realization that it has not been lost in the least.
Billy Guilfoyle
http://www.everyoneisgoingconscious.com
world peace is inevitable
posted December 21, 2009 at 12:50 am
The problem is quite simple.
We don’t decide what to do with technology the corporations try to manipulate us into doing what they want us to do with technology. That is invariably designed for them to make money off of us.
It is like The Matrix. We are batteries to run the machine.
You don’t hear them suggesting that EVERYONE learn accounting to do it on their netbooks. Why not? These netbooks are more powerful than 1980 mainframes. Didn’t the corporations use their mainframes to do accounting back then?
How much do Americans lose on depreciation of these cars every year? What do you mean the laws of physics haven’t changed in 50 years? Then why do the cars look different?
posted December 21, 2009 at 6:19 pm
And Cameron uses plenty of explosives to get his point across. It’s funny how much filmmakers enlist war to save their pacifists. Here’s to gun-toting blue savages…
posted December 22, 2009 at 12:34 am
Cheers!!! to Cameron. A work of art…. I would not be surprised to see this film not only nominated but winning several Oscars. The film is full of exotic and provocative images of nature and sustainable existence, is an intelligent exploration of the human greed through corporate warfare and environment destruction. We have been witness of such massacres performed by our own Country in the name of God, in the name of freedon, in the name of democracy, and finally they only benefit the SUPERCORPORATIONS and their servants (study Halliburton, Black Water, KBL, etc). Perhaps the intrinsic message in this movie may be able to percolate the dense minds of the gulible masses that still think oil for profit, deforestation, super large HUMMERS, ‘preemptive wars’, invasions of countries and islands islands (Diego Garcia), fast food, etc, etc. are the way of the future
posted December 22, 2009 at 3:14 am
White Guilt Fantasy
Avatar is a classic scenario you’ve seen in Hollywood epics from Dances With Wolves, Dune, District 9 and The Last Samurai, where a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member.
If we think of Avatar and its ilk as white fantasies about race, what kinds of patterns do we see emerging in these fantasies?
A white man who was one of the oppressors switches sides at the last minute, assimilating into the alien culture and becoming its savior.
These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color – their cultures, their habitats, and their populations.
The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the “alien” cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become “race traitors,” and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed.
This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It’s not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it’s not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It’s a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.
posted December 24, 2009 at 1:57 pm
AVATAR is to our generation as Gone With The Wind was to our parents (or grandparents) generation. This is the dawn of a new era in movie making (not filmmaking). You will be forever changed after you experience AVATAR. I feel grateful. Awsome is the only word I can use.
posted December 30, 2009 at 5:06 am
The only film capable of surpassing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as the Fanboy Fave of 2009, James Cameron’s massively hyped Avatar at least differs from Michael Bay’s boondoggle in that it’s, you know, entertaining.
posted January 4, 2010 at 12:10 am
Just got back from this movie…wow. Had a bit of everything, including typical cliche Hollywood scenarios. However, this is a movie that will always be embedded in my mind…it made me think. Things I took away…
- incredible world…felt like I was there.
- sadness at the representation of our species (especially us Americans) as invaders and conquerers, but, hey, we’ve done that.
- the way the antagonist refers to the natives as terrorists, yet they are the heroes.
- the way corporate greed was displayed.
- the reference to Earth as a dead planet in 2154…that sucks.
- the planet/creature connection.
This movie is a great visual experience, but it’s sending a message big time…stop screwing up our planet. Earth needs unobtantium as much as she needs oil….not at all. I’m glad I paid $$ to see this as I rarely do nowadays.
posted January 4, 2010 at 12:29 am
Na’vi = Naive
Naive (definition) – having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
posted January 5, 2010 at 9:56 pm
I love this movie. I like the story line and the animation and effects.
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posted January 7, 2010 at 4:08 am
A Mission to find Our Own Trueself? We are like a baby if we don’t know where we live in, what are the elements that supports human life. Do we treasure it. Do we know what we are doing now exactly? How does this word “BABY” come from when both of them meet up for the first time?
There are three main groups in this world,
*Those who study the nature, to maintain the nature.
*Those who make profit out of the nature, make use of those who don’t know anything.
*Those who don’t know anything and ignore everything about nature.
Everyone of us could be anything if we learn it patiently, smart, even at times might sacrifice something. But do we know what we really want, need and our responsibilities? Now, which groups are we belong to? Which group is having the majority numbers now at this moment?
The movie emphasizes connection with the bird, horse, trees, tribes, natures. Did Eywa really fight back?
As human, who take our country or homeland, we would probably think of fighting back.
As animal, being attack, would probably protect themselves by making their territory.
As plant, being attack, would probably try to stay alive if there is water and sun.
As earth, being attack, would you know how does it fight back?
*As earth fight back, that will be the day of the connection between bird, horse, trees, tribes, natures has been broken seriously. *
Do we look like part of the biological link then? What is our effort so far? The Question again: Are we still a “baby”? Knowing “NOTHING” about ourself?
posted February 7, 2010 at 10:36 am
i watch AVATAR movie,its showing American mind set, to Kill innocent Women,Child and Older people, and Un-Armed Human any where in Planet and may be become in universe too, Al ready do in vietnam, cambodia, africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, and do propaganda they are Human been and others are terrorist, if One American Die in combat they kill thousand with modern ammunition and say “Save the World”
I can just pray the God, give him mind and hart to to respect other country human been, people get Food and Medicine Not Ammunition,
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posted May 5, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I think the best thing about Avatar would have to be the graphics that were used. It was those that made the movie incredible to watch! Also the different looking creatures definitely looked alien and that is what made the planet seem so distant. I know that if scientists ever find a planet like Pandora, I will be one of the first to apply for traveling there! Let’s hope they do. It was definitely one of the best movies that I’ve seen. I just finished watching Avatar on DISH Online and I love it more every time I watch it. As a customer and employee of DISH Network, I have been using DISH Online for a long time and it is one of the coolest sites. Just for being a customer of DISH, I have access to thousands of movies and TV shows that I can watch anytime I want! I definitely recommend taking a look at dishonline.com, because I know that it has something to offer everyone whether you are a customer or not!