Avatar: The Best Movie!!!

[Nights Mistress]

See the thing is, the Na'vi can never step outside of their own experiences. You mention that Jake Sully didn't want to - the Na'vi do not ever get a choice. If things had gone bad and they had been enslaved, you better believe that Jake would have disconnected himself from his avatar and gone on as he was, rather than be enslaved with them. He's appropriating the Na'vi lifestyle without really being Na'vi himself.

And I haven't even started with Neytiri (I think that's the spelling) and her being a exotic object of desire to be won or the hilarious American-centric focus of the story (everything is right with the world now that a US MARINE has showed up! America saves the day again!)...because pretty much every US film is going to have US citizens as the heroes who saves the world and everyone else be incompetent.

Visually the movie is spectacular. Scientifically, it's actually pretty good too. The mountains are superconducters, I thought, which is pretty much why they float. As a proof of concept film it's served its purpose and then some. I do look forward to the next film that someone does with this concept! I just think that Avatar is a little bit too problematic to be Best Film Ever.

[Birdhead]

I read something where Jake taught them strategy because he knew how the humans would fight and where their weak points were from being a Marine spy. Probably doesn't change too much about what you're saying, but it shows less that he's a Mighty Whity and more using his knowledge to others' advantage.

But actually what that *really* shows is that the movie doesn't believe any of the things it's putatively saying. I mean, a lot of the supposed defense of the movie is that it's not racist to portray indigenous peoples as primitives because of the film's so-called *respect* for the primitives. But actually, the film doesn't respect the Na'vi at all. It fantasises about their life, it goes oh wouldn't it be nice to live in a tree and go around naked and have your pick of the women; and it goes ooh look naughty military-industrial complex picking on the weak defenseless primitives!

But at the same time, these supposedly respected indigenous peoples shoot at giant helicopters and space shuttles with arrows, repeatedly, even when they see nothing is happening (this scene utterly BAFFLED me); but most importantly the film can't stop showing how "cool" the products of the military-industrial complex are; like empty-headed Marines, for example. (Here's a hot tip: between anthropologists and Marines, the group most likely to integrate best with indigenous populations is, shockingly, not usually the Marines.) And as for the scene towards the end where Jake comes in on that stupid red bird and goes "yo guys, so the bad guys are all evil and military, so obviously the solution is A MASSIVE MILITARY CAMPAIGN" - WAY TO MISS THE SUPPOSED POINT OF YOUR WHOLE MOVIE.

My point, which has now become somewhat scattered because this movie ticked me off SO much, is that Jake Sully's Special Information is only useful because the movie randomly decided that what the Na'vi really really needed was a Marine to tell them what to do. I mean, yeah, he derives his ability to lead from his knowledge of American customs, but tbh I could have designed a better campaign than the one he put forward in the forest. "So like we have the home advantage! We know these mountains and can be clever! Therefore, I will plan a terrific guerilla campaign in the SKY where I look cool and stuff, but on the ground: cavalry direct charge versus a bunch of guys with machine guns! That'll end well, right? Right? Wait, why's everyone dying?"

[estar9821]

Oh, about the floating mountains thing, I was just reading an interview with James Cameron about the movie, and yeah, it is because of the magnetic fields. They're strong enough to lift the mountains off the ground. But, he said that if magnetic fields were that strong, they would rip the hemoglobin out of our blood. So there's a plot hole, but whatever, I still liked the movie.

I saw it yesterday in 3D, and I have now decided that I hate 3D. The glasses made me nautious, and I literally felt like I was going to throw up, so I took them off and instantly felt better. I just watched the rest of it blurry.

[Ink.Knight]

The thing is guys, and I'm typing this as I watch it in class, Jake's brother couldn't have brought them together like that. Because he wasn't a warrior. The na'vi couldn't begin to respoect humans until they came to know an honorable warrior of the human race. Jake played that part while learning to respect the native people. Yes, the plot may be over-done. But I think James Cameron did find a new way to present it.