Comments | rae_beta: Dances With Clichés

rae_beta

Dances With Clichés

Jan 13, 2010 23:40

Guess what I just saw?

What kills me is that they could have saved it, and so easily. I almost thought they were going to, for a minute. It would have been so simple.

( Spoilers below the cut, because it's not like the movie is predictable or anything. )

cinema, snark, media

Comments 14

kouaidou January 14 2010, 08:20:31 UTC

I haven't seen Avatar, but these were pretty much my thoughts based on what I had heard about it. Seriously, why not make Sully a true "observer" character, and have it be his presence that inspires Neytiri to unleash her inner badass? It's a helluva better way to do a romance, too.

But then, everything I hear about Avatar makes me think there would be so many easy ways to make it less objectionable on the racial/gender issues, and they consciously refused the, because they were counting on the ultimate white male power fantasy to carry the box office. And thinking about the fact that it worked makes me so, so sad.

_w_o_o_d_ January 14 2010, 08:25:52 UTC

You know what kills me ?

They think they have won.

Give me just one reason why the humans wouldn't come back and bomb them from orbit this time.

I'm pretty sure this defeat is going to be mediatized on earth just like Little Big Horn at the time. With colonel whatshisname as a "fallen hero" victim of treacherous natives hostile to civilization (freedom-hating, why not) and these "eco-terrorists" traitors, to justify the expense of a new, bigger expedition.

barbarienne January 14 2010, 14:49:07 UTC

There are sequels planned. I suspect this will be part of the storyline.

Actually, I kind of hope it will be part of the storyline, as a practical demonstration to the audience of how easily their chains are yanked.

_w_o_o_d_ January 14 2010, 08:31:15 UTC

Also, the Naavi seem to know how to make war. They have a whole set of weapons, strategies, traditions related to war. What I want to know is against whom they were at war before the human came ?

I mean the males of the tribe are called "warriors", aren't they ? Not "hunters", "warriors". That's a society who is regularly at war.

comicjunkiehw January 15 2010, 03:25:45 UTC

a friend of mine gave me this link that also makes some good points:

http://www.hammertonail.com/genre/drama/avatar-cosmic-native-rape-movie-review/

the9trances January 15 2010, 19:01:42 UTC

It's well written, but this line at the end "In the way that any dissension with our government’s behavior is deemed by so many as unpatriotic and ungrateful, any heartfelt criticism with this movie will be frowned upon as pompous and insolent. That is why I contemplated swallowing my anger and not publishing this screed. But here it is, so all I can say to those of you who think I’m reading into things too deeply and am completely off the mark, you have already won." [emphasis theirs] It kind of obviates the whole point of talking about it; it's sullenly saying "well, either you understand my brilliance or you are one of the cheering moronic masses who don't understand me" rather than continuing the dialog itself.

rae_beta January 15 2010, 19:11:46 UTC

*nod*
I totally agree. That wasn't my only problem with the essay, but it was definitely the bit that stuck hardest in my craw.

rae_beta January 15 2010, 19:19:55 UTC

I can see where the writer is coming from, but I feel like he's missing the forest for the trees: in attacking Cameron for being too literal with an awkward allegory, he entirely overlooks the White Man's Burden colonialism that informs both the story and the movie-as-cultural-artifact.

Avatar isn't an allegory for anything, at least not anything real. It's an appropriative wish-fulfillment fantasy.

the9trances January 15 2010, 19:19:52 UTC

First, as a boilerplate statement about conversational criticism of Avatar, I would like to say that I view this plot structure as a trope of its own. It's a relatively new story archetype that Cameron had deliberate intent in engaging. People say "yeah, it's just like Fern Gully, Dances with Wolves, etc etc" and they are absolutely right, but I can think of a dozen other more ubiquitous tropes that a dozen other amazing movies utilize with a straight face. Therefore I tend to view things like "it's predictable" with the same grain of salt that I have when I see a kids movie and people say "yeah, there's a comic relief character; how lame." Well, yes, that's its structure by the archetypal story that's been followed. One can disagree with its execution, but to challenge the trope itself is a whole different thing ( ... )

rae_beta January 15 2010, 19:40:57 UTC

I don't mind boilerplate movies as long as they do it really well--can convince me that there's a good reason to have returned to those tropes. As far as my personal, subjective experience as a viewer? Avatar didn't balance out. It was more irritating than it was exhilarating or smart or cool.

Second, my criticism was brief because I really don't *care* that much, in this case. People are going to see Avatar because it's neat, and they're enjoying it. That's fine by me. I don't have any deep-seated hatred for it; my general attitude is closer to a slightly disappointed "meh." So, I don't really see much point in spending a lot of time deconstructing it. Other people will and are, and they're doing good jobs. I just posted some personal impressions.

Jake is part of something flawed and evil and he manages to transcend out of it by becoming part of something greater than himself. He can't do it without them; he can't do it without her.But, just as relevantly, they can't do it without him. If Jake hadn't been the Big Damn Savior at the ( ... )