Avatar causing depression and inciting racism?

[Amargith]

Living like what?

In tune with Nature.

 

[proteanmix]

Ooh! Here's another article about why there aren't more black superheroes in the movies (excluding Will Smith and Denzel Washington).
Comic-Con 2009 on MSN Entertainment

 

[jenocyde]

In tune with Nature.

Believe it or not, I felt that way too. Either way, it didn't make me sad - more just pensive, I guess. Wondering what it would be like to sense a stranger in the midst or something like that.

 

[Totenkindly]

Hahaha, when Hitch came out, that was the biggest movie in Germany (where I was living) at the time.

Also, Independence Day and MIB were huge with him in the lead, although there were a lot of big name supporting actors.

I agree with him not being able to draw a crowd like that on his own, though. With the (inexplicable) exception of Hitch.

Yeah, the one you mentioned are ones where he had white people costarring.
The movies I mentioned were ones he seemed to be more the "lone star." The movie "Hancock," too, since I don't consider Jason Bateman an A-list actor and Charlize didn't really become prominent until Act II. None of them seemed to really do well, although they could have been better movies.

Here's a counter-question: What's the proportion of movies written by black people (both here in the States or overseas) that feature a non-black protagonist? Is this all just basically "authors writing about what they know" or is it something else?

The Matrix movies did wonderfully to try to have a lot of black people in the prominent cast (the Oracle, Morpheus, the head general, Niobe, Link, and others) but the races all seemed muddle together a bit.

 

[proteanmix]

In tune with Nature.

What's stopping you from being in tune with nature? I think that if you were willing to give up modern conveniences (including sanitation, clean drinking water, a ready abundance of food, hospitals, etc) then getting in touch with nature isn't impossible. The thing is, most people want to go back when "nature" shows its strength and stops being about gentle breezes in a rainforest.

I think that's what some of the complaints are about: that people are romanticizing this "simpler" way of life and the people.

 

[jenocyde]

Yeah, the one you mentioned are ones where he had white people costarring.
The movies I mentioned were ones he seemed to be more the "lone star." The movie "Hancock," too, since I don't consider Jason Bateman an A-list actor and Charlize didn't really become prominent until Act II. None of them seemed to really do well, although they could have been better movies.

Here's a counter-question: What's the proportion of movies written by black people (both here in the States or overseas) that feature a non-black protagonist? Is this all just basically "authors writing about what they know" or is it something else?

Tons of black people write with interchangeable leads - normal, everyday people. People that would be seen as neutral. Directors choose to cast these leads as white.

Because, to be honest, if I were to write something I don't know if I would have that "black sound" that white people identify with black people. I mean, I didn't grow up in the projects so my voice doesn't count as black, I guess.

 

[Amargith]

Believe it or not, I felt that way too. Either way, it didn't make me sad - more just pensive, I guess. Wondering what it would be like to sense a stranger in the midst or something like that.

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.

 

[proteanmix]

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.

Yes, I understand what you're saying.

I guess I view it as having six in one hand, half dozen in another. It's truly a matter of the grass/greener syndrome. My brother just came back from Ghana and was telling me about how emulative of the British the rich in Accra are and how even the poor seek to have as many trappings of the West as they can lay their hands on. Everyone sees the other situation as better.

In terms of quality of life, I'm quite happy where I am as I surf the internet...I mean work in my climate controlled office. I think I'll head to Chipotle for lunch!

 

[Jeffster]

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 think you're able to escape if you really want to. It's a choice to be a part of any society.

 

[Totenkindly]

I think I'll head to Chipotle for lunch!

Oh great, let's drive the "whitified" hispanics into things now!

I think you're able to escape if you really want to. It's a choice to be a part of any society.

You can do anything if you are willing to pay the cost.
But often the price is more than we want to pay.

In the end, it's best to realize it up front rather than getting lost in the angst and daydreaming without making any changes. I did that for far too many years.

But I can identify with you, Amarg, I spend a lot of my youth wishing I could just enter a lot of the fantasy worlds I loved so dearly and being able to commune with things on a different level. The stories I read were far more real to me and meaningful than much of my drab reality, I felt more engaged and alive in them. Living here sometimes seems like having had my eyes and ears put out and my skin numbed in comparison to what I have felt sometimes envisioning myself in another place.

 

[proteanmix]

Quiero un burrito de pollo, por favor!!

 

[Amargith]

Yes, I understand what you're saying.

I guess I view it as having six in one hand, half dozen in another. It's truly a matter of the grass/greener syndrome. My brother just came back from Ghana and was telling me about how emulative of the British the rich in Accra are and how even the poor seek to have as many trappings of the West as they can lay their hands on. Everyone sees the other situation as better.

In terms of quality of life, I'm quite happy where I am as I surf the internet...I mean work in my climate controlled office. I think I'll head to Chipotle for lunch!

I think you're able to escape if you really want to. It's a choice to be a part of any society.

*smiles* I'm not stupid enough to think that I'd be able to survive with the current mindset and body I have, in the wild. I'm very aware that I'm a spoilt little girl when it comes to the comforts of the 21st century, that I'm also in no way genetically build anymore to even try and survive in the wild. And as much as I resent the society we've build sometimes, I also am very much aware that I'm dependent of it. Doesn't take away the yearning though. A movie like Avatar just kinda...makes those feelings surface more, I guess.

 

[Totenkindly]

Quiero un burrito de pollo, por favor!!

Taco!
Taco ggggggrrrrraaaaaaHHHHNNN-de!

 

[tinkerbell]

I didn't, I found it to be soul nourishing for my idealism.
.

It's lines like this that give me total reasurance that I'm NOT an F type

 

[Totenkindly]

It's lines like this that give me total reasurance that I'm NOT an F type

Yeah, I didn't find it nourishing either...

 

[tinkerbell]

Yeah, I didn't find it nourishing either...

ya know I don't think my soul has ever been nourished, certainly not by a film... he he

 

[Totenkindly]

ya know I don't think my soul has ever been nourished, certainly not by a film... he he

Actually, I should clarify.
I'm not sure what "nourishing one's idealism" means exactly.

Movies (and other art forms) definitely can nourish my thinking/understanding as well as my imagination/creativity. I also have aesthetic tastes and can appreciate texture and nuance.

But those seem to be less personal than whatever "idealism" stands for.

 

[tinkerbell]

Actually, I should clarify.
I'm not sure what "nourishing one's idealism" means exactly.

Movies (and other art forms) definitely can nourish my thinking/understanding as well as my imagination/creativity. I also have aesthetic tastes and can appreciate texture and nuance.

But those seem to be less personal than whatever "idealism" stands for.

Maybe anothr F/T killer question.... what did this media do for you... nourish your idealisim of expand your thinking.... LOL

Just not a way I look at the world....

I'm pretty arty too but not to foster idealaism, I get stumulus from paintings, bill posters, music, ballet, opera, movies to a lesser extent..... yes fire my thinking sometimes too much on occation

 

[Totenkindly]

Maybe anothr F/T killer question.... what did this media do for you... nourish your idealisim of expand your thinking.... LOL

It was more an experience for me. Escapism... or, less negatively, projection into another world, via the characters and immersion in the 3D experience.

I just happened to care about the world and people, and I actually had feelings stirred in me due to the size and newness of some of the world, they flying, its beauty at night, etc. I just let myself feel things and respond as if I were in the movie, rather than trying to dissect it all.

I get stumulus from paintings, bill posters, music, ballet, opera, movies to a lesser extent..... yes fire my thinking sometimes too much on occation

I'm an evokateur -- I expect art to generate some abstracted amorphous but intense feeling state in me that pulls everything together holistically. Art that doesn't resonate in some way inside is boring, bland, or meaningless. It's sort of the same thing I experienced during decent worship services, especially if I was playing piano and creating the mood myself. Transcendence of some sort.

"Idealism" sounds more specific, like affirming your faith in people or how certain values will triumph or something. It's less about that and more of a holistic immediate experience that leaves me feeling connected with everything.

 

[tinkerbell]

I just happened to care about the world and people, and I actually had feelings stirred in me due to the size and newness of some of the world, they flying, its beauty at night, etc. I just let myself feel things and respond as if I were in the movie, rather than trying to dissect it all.

I hope this makes more sense if you'd seen the film, but I haven't I was just reading through the first parts of the thread and got the soul nourisment quote... which I thought was ace....

"Idealism" sounds more specific, like affirming your faith in people or how certain values will triumph or something. It's less about that and more of a holistic immediate experience that leaves me feeling connected with everything.

Indeed....