AvatarI started to do movie reviews, but I immediately  ran into a very serious problem. I would actually have  to sit through two and a half hours of the utter garbage and propaganda that today’s  Hollywood  shamelessly belches out. To remedy that issue, I just stopped doing movie reviews and spared myself the aggravation.

Avatar, however, was surrounded by enough hoopla and hype to get me out of my lair and into a movie theater chair – will I ever learn?

Directing

The legendary James Cameron wrote and directed the movie and this is certainly a classic James Cameron movie in all the good ways and, unfortunately, in a few bad ones, as well.
The good first.  The story is a larger than life epic struggle of good (Cameron’s far left nut job version of it) versus bad.  The special effects, concepts, and execution, especially in 3D, are truly mesmerizing.  Well, that’s pretty much it for the good. The pace of the movie is not bad, but this is no “Terminator Salvation”.  There are too many spots where it actually drags – I found myself yawning.  And there are quite a few scenes that can be justified only as political propaganda.

Acting

The acting is competent,  as one would expect from an all-star cast headed by Sam Worthington as Jake Sully.  Worthington was cast in Terminator Salvation because they were looking for someone with the acting chops to stand up to Christian Bale. They got way more than they bargained for (read my review of that performance here). That his performance in this movie is two dimensional is attributed more to the writing and the directing than to anything that Worthington might or might not have done. All the characters, including that of  Zoe Saldana (she does most of her acting from a squat position) as Worthington’s ten foot tall blue skinned, long-tailed paramour, along with  Sigourney Weaver as the good scientist and Stephen Lang as the evil Colonel are dry,  stereotypical, and, appropriately enough, cartoonish.

This movie is about political propaganda and racism delivered via stunning (and very very expensive) special effects. There is no room for character development.  If anything, Stephen Lang falls far short of the intended target as an old war horse commander of a “mercenary” outfit.  Lang just lacks the inner authority to pull it off and no amount of make-up scars or flexing of biceps will endow him with that.

Plot

(Skip the blue type if you don’t want to spoil it. )  Evil, white humans go to a far away planet to mine “unobtanium”.  That’s the stuff from which Maserati spare parts are made. On that planet live these blue-skinned, eternally fit and skinny humanoid creatures, the Navi or the ‘Na’vi, or whatever. Anywho, these Navi commune with the planet, the trees, and other creatures via the tips of their tails.

To better communicate with these Navi creatures, the evil white humans create these bodies that look like the Navi, but are controlled by the brain waves of certain humans after whom they are modeled.

Jake Sully is one such human and is sent in to figure out what makes the  aborigines tick. He does just that.  So much so that he becomes enamored of that lifestyle and of a certain female Navi, Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana.  When the evil white mercenaries come to knock down the tree that these Navi call home and mine some  more unobtanium, Jake Sully switches sides, joins the spear-chuckers, and helps to defeat the evil, mostly white, mercenaries.

Social Comment

As you figured by now, the bad guys are the  machine-dependent whites, while the good guys are the mother earth loving blue people – oh yeah the earth goddess is the supreme being in Cameron’s emasculated mind. We  see  only one minority soldier as a member of the mercenary army – and not until very close to the  end of the movie. I bet that those late scenes were added at because it was getting too obvious that Cameron desperately wishes he wasn’t white.  So they added a scene with a handful of minority bad guys.  I also bet that this  scene won’t be shown in certain parts of the world. The sole mercenary pilot who is a minority (and a woman) also switches sides at the end to fight the evil whites. Isn’t it funny how Hollywood often uses minorities when they want to portray military men and women in heroic circumstances, but use whites in lead roles when engaged in their usual military bashing?

The ecoholic message is also overwhelming.  You know the drill – living off the land = good, machines = bad. I wonder if it’s lost on anyone that this message is being brought to you by the best high-tech special effects and software that money can buy.  One really funny (though not intentionally) line in the movie comes after Jake Sully hunts and  kills an animal. First note that it’s OK to do that because he used a bow instead of a firearm and second he advises the dead beast that “I see you, brother”.  That makes it all better.  Not to mention the fact that he was no longer a white Marine with a gun, but a noble blue creature  – you real-tree clad redneck hunter you.

Don’t for a second doubt my analysis of the level of racism present in this movie. In fact, at the end Cameron has the evil white colonel ask the heroic Jake Sully, “How does it feel to betray your own race?” Now, Sully has, if anything,  betrayed humanity, homo sapiens, as a whole so the proper wording would be “how does it feel to betray your own species,” but you see that wouldn’t  jive with Cameron’s self-loathing and his loathing of whites.

Should you go see this movie? Well, the special effects in 3D  are pretty good. Heck, Hollywood even fooled me into dishing out the $12.  Kinda like they fooled the country into voting for Obama. So, I guess you can see it like I did and marvel at the cartoons, but that’s about it.

  1. There are plenty of movies, documentaries, and TVs shows to match just about any political persuasion. Making a blanket accusation of \”Hollywood\” means you\’re not looking in the right places for something that reflects your own views.

      1. That’s a good question. Moviemaking these days is an international business so it’s unclear what the term “Hollywood” means. For example, take the current film THE MESSENGER. It’s about American military families being notified about the death of a serviceman. The director is Israeli. Or the old film BEHIND ENEMY LINES. The director was born in Ireland. Are these “Hollywood” films? Hard to say.

        1. I am referring more to the political views than the actual filming locations. I am sure that Hollywood libs have quite a lot in common with euro libs.

  2. The liberal agenda in this movie is unmistakable. However, if you can pull your head out of politics and just try to enjoy the film for the fun of it, you’ll have a great time. The dialogue is less than inspired, and the characters are a little too static, among other noticeable faults, but overall this is a very good movie and definitely worth seeing in 3D.
    As for the “racism” in this movie, I have now read several reviews from varying points of view, and every one of the critics that had an opinion on the subject stated that it was “obvious”. Funny then, that some of them have claimed that it’s racist against whites, some that it is racist against blacks, and some that it stereotypes Native Americans. Is it so “obvious”? Then why can’t anyone agree on who should be offended? It honestly didn’t even occur to me while I watched the movie, but I suppose that if you use twisted or biased enough logic, you can fabricate anything… For instance, I’m going to channel a PETA nut and all of a sudden this movie is horribly cruel toward animals as they are deprived of their freedom of thought and controlled by the natives as tools. They’re even driven into certain deadly and horribly violent situations all for the selfish motives of their humanoid slave drivers. James Cameron must be a meat eating, animal killing, right wing murderer at heart… right?
    DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE ULTIMATELY INNOCUOUS AGENDAS OF THE DIRECTOR AND JUST ENJOY THE FILM!

    …Oh, and merry Christmas!

    1. Doug your conclusions are incorrect.
      The ‘mercenaries” are overwhelmingly white. That’s not a matter of opinion. The “white mercenaries” are the bad evil guys in this movie. Again not opinion just the facts.
      Racism and bigotry against different groups is not mutually exclusive. If other groups feel offended – I believe it- that in no way nullifies the facts I presented above.
      As far as “enjoy the movie and ignore the racism bigotry and hatred”, I have to tell you that I for one can no longer do that. I will no longer compromise my values for the privilege of paying $12 to help promote an anti-white anti-Christian anti-American, agenda (not just in this movie but I’m talking in general) . And I will try to get as many people to do the same. This kind of “looking the other way” is what has gotten us state funded abortions, nationalized banking and car companies, nationalized health care, memorial crosses covered with cardboard, teenage pregnancies, Nancy Pelosi, Reid and Obama. Enough!
      Racism against whites in the media is rampant. In the coming weeks and months and years I will work hard to expose it!
      I am very happy to see that the movie fell far short of its projected revenues.

      1. While I both understand and appreciate your passion regarding the issues you reference, the fact that the movie’s antagonists are white does not denote racism. “The “white mercenaries” are the bad evil guys in this movie” is a fact. The conclusion you have drawn, however, is your opinion, and not everyone agrees with you. My original statement that each critic who claims the film is racist, states the theory from a different point of view is only meant to highlight that there are, in fact, other perspectives that cannot be reconciled with one another. Each person/group has stated contradictory opinions as fact.
        You seem to have mistaken my desire to enjoy a movie without feeling enraged for either apathy or ignorance of political issues. I do agree that folks like Pelosi, Reid, and Obama need as many sharp eyes focused on them as possible. James Cameron does not.
        The GOP has a fine platform and worthwhile goals, but narrow points of view and heavy handed criticisms where they are not warranted undermine those goals. It’s a shame that passion is so often accompanied by knee jerk overreaction.
        I couldn’t care less how much the movie made. The studio can worry about that.

        1. You know what Doug, I am really getting bored with your attempts at relativism. Please provide a link to an article that claims the white mercenaries were the good guys in this movie.
          When you do that then we can discuss the merits of those your “opinions,” or those of other critics, that the blue people somehow represent a bias against some other group.

  3. Firstly, I never gave any indication that another critic claims the mercenaries are good guys, only that the movie is racist against a different group of people. Here is an excerpt and link from one such review:

    “As Left-wing conceits go, this one surely tops all the others: the ethnic Na’vi, the film suggests, need the white man to save them because, as a less developed race, they lack the intelligence and fortitude to overcome their adversaries by themselves. The poor helpless natives, in other words, must rely on the principled white man to lead them out of danger”

    -Will Heaven,
    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100020488/james-camerons-avatar-is-a-stylish-film-marred-by-its-racist-subtext/

    There are plenty of others if you just punch a couple of words into any search engine. I am sorry to have bored you. I do appreciate your willingness to engage in such a debate. It just seems to me that you have jumped to some ill gotten conclusions.

    1. Doug, I asked you to” provide a link to an article which claims that the white mercenaries are the good guys” You couldn’t find one- because it doesn’t exist and therefore invalidates your claim that there is “no consensus”- and posted instead a link to a ridiculous article that has nothing to do with my request. I will however overlook that and help you with your confusion.
      OK listen, you claimed that there were people said that the movie was racist against Indians therefore it could not be racist against whites. You also argued that becasue there is no consensus there is no racism. Both of those arguments have no value. I am not interested in the silly “opinions” of God knows what self loathing fool in the UK . I will ask you this, you do realize that the “white man” that the idiot at the telegraph.com is talking about is in fact doing all his “good deeds” as an alien aborigine. You also realize that THERE ARE NO INDIANS IN THIS MOVIE, they are ten foot tall creatures with tails form planet la di da. You got that right? You understand that the whites are Caucasian Homo Sapient, yes? My analysis is based on nothing but facts his is based on conjecture and opinions.
      Now I don’t agree with his point, its silly and convoluted -mostly because there is no hide or hair of any “Indian” in the movie and the guy is probably just projecting his own prejudice- but so be it. Please explain to me how his point invalidates mine. Explain to me how Cameron portraying aborigines as hapless fools somehow makes it impossible for him to portray whites as murderous mercenaries? That’s the essence of your argument so by all means go ahead and make it.

  4. I may have made an assumption that I should not have. I assumed that you are clinging to the fact that the bad guys in this movie are white in order to prove that the director (or at least one of his messages in this movie) is racist. If that is not the case, then you are correct, I’m thoroughly confused. The article which I provided gives an opposing assessment of this movie. You can argue that the critic who wrote that review is just a “self loathing fool in the UK”, but you cannot both be correct. I wager his opinion of you isn’t much better, but I won’t attempt to make his case for him. You asked me to provide an article that states the white mercenaries are good guys. It’s a ridiculous request, and once again, I never stated that any critic claimed such a thing.
    The meat of this issue is whether or not there is racism in this film. There is none. You have based your argument on the fact that the bad guys are white. In Lethal Weapon 4, the bad guys are all Asian. So by your logic, Richard Donner hates Asians. The Blind Side is all about a black youth being helped out of his dire situation by a bunch of rich white people. Does the director of the film then believe that getting help from privileged whites is the only way an African American can improve his or her situation?
    I despise the rampant accusations of racism by characters like Al Sharpton and others in the media, and I despise it equally from movie critics, bloggers, or anyone else. If Avatar is racist, explain how any movie which depicts a certain race of people as the antagonists is not racist. There sure have been plenty of them.

    1. Doug, I asked you to ” provide an article that states the white mercenaries are good guys.” You state that no critic claimed any such thing. Of course not because its not true. That means that, unlike arguments based on nonexistent Indians, my assessment is based on facts.
      Now the only thing that we seem to have a disagreement on is the motivation for making the bad guys white.
      OK, fine, please list for us the movies made in the past ten years where the protagonists are Christian whites and the antagonists are minorities,

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