1/
David Brooks is a very smart sociologist (even if he's a conservative one).
"Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence…."
"It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic.
"It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace.
"It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration"
So when he writes this, as usual, he's spot on.
This movie is a total crap. Not only because it is aesthetically questionable, not only because a 8 years old kid could have written a better scenario, and designed more convincing aliens...
It is a total crap, because it lays entirely on DEMAGOGY. (Demagogy: telling people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear)
After having seen it, I'm not angry against the public audience who appreciate this crap, but against those who created that elaborate trap. James Cameron is obviously a very smart person. Writing this lousy scenario surely was a deliberate act, because his primary goal was to make money, and nothing else. He wanted to seduce the masses, and to sell his product in the most efficient way he could possibly find.
I'm angry against Cameron and his team, because "Avatar" flatters the ego of the uneducated audience; because it flatters it in the worst possible way: in making them dumber than they previously were.
And unfortunately, the subliminal messages are perfectly clear. And I'm sure that James Cameron is aware of them, and must be laughing at how stupid people are, how easy it is to take their money away, and make billion of dollars out of their mediocre existences.
"There's a sucker born every minute".
I find the way this product despises human intelligence to be deeply offensive.
It's not their fault if masses are illiterate and stupid: it always went this way, it's part of the human condition. But to exploit that weakness rather than trying to (temporarily) lessen it is the sign of an
incredible cynism.
$$$$$
Money, money, money, money, money... $$$$$
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And in the meantime, in less than three weeks, "Avatar" will have generated more revenue than the international funds promised to help Haiti.
Pure, raw, dirty capitalism.
Plus the real goal of Cameron is the opposite of the so-called "spiritual message" he is trying to sell to blinded masses.
Money, money, money, money...
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2/ Who here has ever read
"The Society of the Spectacle", by Guy Debord?
"The Society of the Spectacle is a critique of contemporary consumer culture and commodity fetishism. Before the term ‘globalization’ was popularized, Debord was arguing about issues such as class alienation, cultural homogenization, and the mass media.
When Debord says that, “All that was once directly lived has become mere representation,” he is referring to central importance of the image in contemporary society. Images, Debord says, have supplanted genuine human interaction.[7]
Thus, Debord’s fourth thesis is "The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images."[29]
In a consumer society, social life is not about living but about having; the spectacle uses the image to convey what people need and must have. Consequently, social life moves further, leaving a state of 'having' and proceeding into a state of 'appearing;' namely the appearance of the image.[30]
"In a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the false." Thesis 9."
It's exactly that. Remember this: "the true is a moment of the false", and the more you consume images, the less you really live, the more alienated you will eventually feel.
For me it was more that the world that is Pandora pretty much resonates with my own internal world. Mine looks more European, but the flashy lights, the forest being alive, the connection between all living things...spot on. It made me realize that I'd never be able to live as in tune with Earth as they did with Eywa as our society doesn't allow for that. It's focussed on exploiting the Earth, not living in harmony with it, and I am unfortunately part of that system, unable to escape the way of life that it dictates (such as sitting behind a desk 8 hours a day, fast paced life, etc) I'm aware that it aint all peachy to live in a hazardous setting like the jungle of Pandora, but you know what...it would be worth it to me, I think.
I just felt jealous of the characters in the movie when I left and resentment towards our society.
3/ Pure escapism.
I'd say this movie is not a modern tale about ecology and colonialism, but about (crude) escapism in video-games. Video-games references are everywhere with Avatar, its a collection of clichés of this specific genre, of computer industry. The way Na'vis can "wire" themselves through a special data port (fiber-optic bundle?) and force every animal living in Pandora to submit to their will is not accidental.
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Ecology is very complex. And there is no such a thing as "Harmony", or societies that live "in tune with Mother Nature".
It's the law of the jungle out there, and men are the parasites. Whether they are parasites that live in large numbers (modern societies), or in small numbers (neolithic societies), they will always remain parasites. It's just their noxiousness that will vary according to their level of development.
Native Amerindians have also been very, very destructive to their environment. They have genocided countless species, and wiped out countless, thousand and thousand hectares of forest, even if this process took them centuries where the white man now only needs a few decades. Make no illusion about that.
The same can be said with almost every aboriginal people of the world.
We have never been expelled out of the Garden of Eden, since there never was such a thing as the Garden of Eden.
Nevertheless, Earth Ecosystems are far, far more complex and beautiful to observe than what you will ever see in "Avatar".
First, because they are real. And reality is the true source of all our imagination.
Second, because there is something to really understand out there.
For instance, when I spot a wild orchid in a tropical canopy, it's an incredible feeling, light years away that the cheap escapism this pathetic movie will ever provide.
I know I will never "feel" in harmony with these complex ecosystems, because the fantasy of harmony is only another variant of the traditional
fantasy of domination.
But nevertheless, having the possibility to study and admire them is a blessing. I am an invader and I know it, but wherever there is knowledge, there is beauty too.
Do you understand that?
