i saw "avatar" over the weekend. it was moving. it was provoking. it was inspiring. and i was thinking further about avatar yesterday too- when i read, worldwide, its three week take is now up to $1billion (due mostly to inflated/premium ticket prices for 3D screenings).
what i was thinking, other than the stunning $1billion attention getter, was how the same old message was updated, repackaged, and resold. more so than any other movie i've seen in a while, these characters were cookie-cutter stereotypes. the corp guy was a greedy yes-man bastard, the military commander was a macho meathead jock, the scientist was a pawn, and our hero was the "disadvantaged" underdog.
this movie was so dumbed-down, so simple, so obvious, its no wonder no one thinks about the message... they don't have to think at all!
then i was thinking of all the contemporary movies with the same storyline... my list is as follows: alien, braveheart, dances with wolves, the abyss, waterworld, the day after tomorrow and pocahontas. and i'm sure there are more, older movies too, with the same story lines, i just can't think of them at this moment.
but since there really wasn't anything new in this film, other than the medium, all i can surmise is mr. cameron was just out to generate MORE income for his empire. is he an artist? is he a businessman? is he a rainmaker? has he done more good than harm? can he use the proceeds of his blockbuster to do something meaningful? what's his game? time will tell.
Monday, January 4, 2010
avatar... the goliath of the moment
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I read the reviews and thought "no". Then I read that the Pope doesn't like it because it promotes a sort of nature-worship. And now I am more curious about the film. I am assuming it's not that easy to get the Pope to issue a statement. I don't know how far it pushes this idea that we should revere nature, but...I think we can probably stand to at the very least defend nature's case more often - maybe most of the time - now that we've desecrated our planet so much.
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